George Geysimonyan
Strengths Insight and Action-Planning
Guide
SURVEY COMPLETION DATE: 04-17-2017
DON CLIFTON
Father of Strengths Psychology and
Inventor of CliftonStrengths
(George Geysimonyan)
© 2000, 2006-2012 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
1
George Geysimonyan
SURVEY COMPLETION DATE: 04-17-2017
A note of caution: Because many of your StrengthsFinder responses were neutral, the themes listed
are based only on the pairs of descriptors to which you did respond with something other than a
neutral response. Some people do not choose one descriptor from any given pair because they feel
that neither — or both — descriptors fit them well. While this is acceptable, it does mean that any
feedback you might receive that is based on these results may not be as personalized as it would be if
your results were stronger. Please keep this in mind when you consider how well you feel your top
five themes describe you.
YOUR TOP 5 THEMES
1. Focus
2. Competition
3. Discipline
4. Strategic
5. Achiever
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What's in This Guide?
SECTION I: AWARENESS
A brief Shared Theme Description for each of your top five themes
Your Personalized Strengths Insights, which describe what makes you stand out from others with the
same theme in their top five
Questions for you to answer to increase your awareness of your talents
SECTION II: APPLICATION
10 Ideas for Action for each of your top five themes
Questions for you to answer to help you apply your talents
SECTION III: ACHIEVEMENT
Examples of what each of your top five themes "sounds like" -- real quotes from people who also have
the theme in their top five
Steps for you to take to help you leverage your talents for achievement
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Section I: Awareness
Focus
SHARED THEME DESCRIPTION
People who are especially talented in the Focus theme can take a direction, follow through, and make
the corrections necessary to stay on track. They prioritize, then act.
YOUR PERSONALIZED STRENGTHS INSIGHTS
What makes you stand out?
By nature, you typically document your goals and outline your action plan. By faithfully executing each
step, you usually accomplish exactly what you intended. Instinctively, you aim to deliver the best
performance in specific areas. You use every bit of the knowledge, skill, talent, and energy you
possess to snag the topmost prize. You probably let little, if anything, distract you from your goal.
Because of your strengths, you persevere in your efforts because you believe diligence is rewarded.
Reaching your goals spurs you to toil with even greater purpose. It’s very likely that you thrive in
environments where goal-setting discussions are commonplace and clearly defined objectives are
agreed upon. Driven by your talents, you usually have a blueprint — that is, a detailed outline —
showing what you plan to do in the coming weeks, months, years, or decades. Each part of your
design fits seamlessly with the step preceding it and the one immediately following it.
QUESTIONS
1. As you read your personalized strengths insights, what words, phrases, or lines stand out to you?
2. Out of all the talents in this insight, what would you like for others to see most in you?
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Competition
SHARED THEME DESCRIPTION
People who are especially talented in the Competition theme measure their progress against the
performance of others. They strive to win first place and revel in contests.
YOUR PERSONALIZED STRENGTHS INSIGHTS
What makes you stand out?
It’s very likely that you set very high expectations for yourself. Typically you push yourself until you
reach your goals. You are not content unless you deliver the best performance or produce the most
outstanding results. By nature, you are typically enthused about what you can accomplish in the
coming months, years, or decades. Your ability to think about the future naturally feeds your desire to
be the very best. Because of your strengths, you rely on reason to make sense of facts, events,
people’s behavior, problems, or solutions. You consistently outmaneuver others when comparisons
are being made between your results and theirs. Driven by your talents, you act like a rival when you
are pitted against others and only one person can be declared the very best at something. Your deepseated desire to finish in first place probably drives many of your choices and explains much of your
behavior. Chances are good that you normally toil for hours to produce topnotch results. Being the
very best at something is quite important to you. You have little, if any, tolerance for mediocrity,
especially about the things that matter most to you.
QUESTIONS
1. As you read your personalized strengths insights, what words, phrases, or lines stand out to you?
2. Out of all the talents in this insight, what would you like for others to see most in you?
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Discipline
SHARED THEME DESCRIPTION
People who are especially talented in the Discipline theme enjoy routine and structure. Their world is
best described by the order they create.
YOUR PERSONALIZED STRENGTHS INSIGHTS
What makes you stand out?
Driven by your talents, you often stand out as notably mature. You are reasonable in your thinking.
These two qualities usually distinguish you from many of your peers and friends. Because of your
strengths, you establish patterns of behavior to free you from having to think about how you perform
repetitious tasks. Your carefully constructed rules and procedures minimize the amount of time you
must spend handling details and managing deadlines on a daily, weekly, monthly, or annual basis.
You simply want your systems to be reliable, functional, and efficient. Plans incorporating moderation
or common sense appeal to you much more than those reflecting extremism or poor judgment. It’s
very likely that you pay close attention to due dates when designing a project’s master plan. Your
desire to finish on schedule motivates you to move methodically from one milestone to the next. You
want everyone involved to understand the plan, then faithfully follow it. When all the players perform
their duties properly and promptly, the day a project ends is simply an ordinary day. By nature, you
can invent reasonably sequenced processes for performing various tasks. Having familiar patterns to
follow makes it easier for everyone involved to handle recurring activities with ease and efficiency.
You probably think favorably about individuals who rely on your processes day after day. People who
say they cannot and will not use your system often irritate you. Chances are good that you enjoy your
work, studies, and life in general, especially when everyone abides by the processes and rules you
create. You realize that more and better results are produced when everyone does things the way
they are supposed to do them. Familiar patterns reduce the number of errors, disruptions, frustrations,
and misunderstandings. These repetitive processes often eliminate the need to do a task over
because key information, details, or steps are missing.
QUESTIONS
1. As you read your personalized strengths insights, what words, phrases, or lines stand out to you?
2. Out of all the talents in this insight, what would you like for others to see most in you?
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Strategic
SHARED THEME DESCRIPTION
People who are especially talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced
with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.
YOUR PERSONALIZED STRENGTHS INSIGHTS
What makes you stand out?
Driven by your talents, you select the right combination of words to convey your ideas or feelings. In
the middle of discussions, your vocabulary provides you with precise phrases and terminology. You
probably express yourself with ease and grace. It’s very likely that you normally find just the right
words at the right moment to express whatever you are thinking and feeling. Many people are likely to
appreciate your fine speaking abilities. You can present your ideas in a reasonable, sequential, and
methodical way. Moreover, you generate lots of options for others to consider. Because of your
strengths, you can reconfigure factual information or data in ways that reveal trends, raise issues,
identify opportunities, or offer solutions. You bring an added dimension to discussions. You make
sense out of seemingly unrelated information. You are likely to generate multiple action plans before
you choose the best one. Chances are good that you probably feel very good about yourself and life
in general when you know the exact words to express an idea or a feeling. Language has fascinated
you since childhood. Your ever-expanding vocabulary often earns you compliments. Instinctively, you
usually feel satisfied with life when your innovative thinking style is appreciated. You automatically
pinpoint trends, notice problems, or identify opportunities many people overlook. Armed with this
knowledge, you usually devise alternative courses of action. By evaluating the circumstances,
available resources, and/or the potential consequences of each plan, you can select the best option.
QUESTIONS
1. As you read your personalized strengths insights, what words, phrases, or lines stand out to you?
2. Out of all the talents in this insight, what would you like for others to see most in you?
962760567 (George Geysimonyan)
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Achiever
SHARED THEME DESCRIPTION
People who are especially talented in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and work
hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive.
YOUR PERSONALIZED STRENGTHS INSIGHTS
What makes you stand out?
It’s very likely that you are a real stickler for completing work on schedule. You certainly dislike turning
in assignments late or arriving at meetings after they have started. Driven by your talents, you
ordinarily take time and exert extra effort to comprehend what you are reading. You probably refuse to
rush through written material. Why? You likely intend to commit to memory as many facts and
concepts as possible. Because of your strengths, you throw yourself into your work even when you
are personally inconvenienced. You usually place the well-being of others above your own. Chances
are good that you see yourself as a logical, rational, sensible, and wise person. Once you establish
this reputation with people, you work very hard to maintain it. Instinctively, you can mentally zero in on
tasks for hours at a time when you have a goal to reach. When the assignment demands extra time,
you would be wise to honor your body’s natural rhythms. In other words, if you are a “morning
person,” work in the morning. Work in the afternoon if that is when you hit your stride. Work in the
evening if that is when you think better. Work around midnight after everyone has gone to bed if you
are someone who usually stays up very late.
QUESTIONS
1. As you read your personalized strengths insights, what words, phrases, or lines stand out to you?
2. Out of all the talents in this insight, what would you like for others to see most in you?
962760567 (George Geysimonyan)
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Questions
1. How does this information help you better understand your unique talents?
2. How can you use this understanding to add value to your role?
3. How can you apply this knowledge to add value to your team, workgroup, department, or division?
4. How will this understanding help you add value to your organization?
5. What will you do differently tomorrow as a result of this report?
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Section II: Application
Focus
IDEAS FOR ACTION:
When you set goals, discipline yourself to include timelines and measurements. These will provide
regular proof that you are indeed making progress.
Seek roles in which you can function independently. With your dominant Focus talents, you will be
able to stay on track with little supervision.
Your greatest worth as a team member might be helping others set goals. At the end of meetings,
take responsibility for summarizing what was decided, for defining when these decisions will be
acted on, and for setting a date when the group will reconvene.
Others will think, act, and talk less efficiently than you do. Pay attention. Sometimes their “detours”
will lead to discoveries and delights.
Stretch your goal setting beyond work. If you find yourself becoming too focused on work goals, set
goals for your personal life. They will give weight to your personal priorities and thereby help create
balance in your life.
Hours can disappear when you are intent on a task; you lose track of time. Make sure that all of your
objectives are met and all of your priorities are followed by scheduling your efforts and sticking to
that schedule.
You function best when you can concentrate on a few well-defined initiatives and demands. Give
yourself permission to reject projects or tasks that do not align with your overall mission. This will
help you concentrate your efforts on your most important priorities — and will help others appreciate
your need for focus.
Take the time to write down your aspirations, and refer to them often. You will feel more in control of
your life.
At work, be sure to tell your manager your mid-term and short-term goals. This might well give your
manager the confidence to give you the room you need.
Make sure that the focus points you set for yourself take into consideration both quantity and quality.
The integrity of your objectives will ensure that the application of your Focus talents leads to solid
and long-lasting success.
QUESTIONS
962760567 (George Geysimonyan)
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1. Which of these action items speak to you? Highlight the actions that you are most likely to take.
2. How will you commit to taking action? Write your own personalized action item that you will take in
the next 30 days.
Competition
IDEAS FOR ACTION:
Select work environments in which you can measure your achievements. You might not be able to
discover how good you can be without competing.
List the performance scores that help you know where you stand every day. What scores should you
pay attention to?
Identify a high-achieving person against whom you can measure your own achievement. If there is
more than one, list all the people with whom you currently compete. Without measurement, how will
you know if you won?
Try to turn ordinary tasks into competitive games. You will get more done this way.
When you win, take the time to investigate why you won. You can learn a great deal more from a
victory than from a loss.
Let people know that being competitive does not equate with putting others down. Explain that you
derive satisfaction from pitting yourself against good, strong competitors and winning.
Develop a “balanced metric” — a measurement system that will monitor all aspects of your
performance. Even if you are competing against your own previous numbers, this measurement will
help you give proper attention to all aspects of your performance.
When competing with others, create development opportunities by choosing to compare yourself to
someone who is slightly above your current level of expertise. Your competition will push you to
refine your skills and knowledge to exceed those of that person. Look one or two levels above you
for a role model who will push you to improve.
Take the time to celebrate your wins. In your world, there is no victory without celebration.
Design some mental strategies that can help you deal with a loss. Armed with these strategies, you
will be able to move on to the next challenge much more quickly.
QUESTIONS
962760567 (George Geysimonyan)
© 2000, 2006-2012 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
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1. Which of these action items speak to you? Highlight the actions that you are most likely to take.
2. How will you commit to taking action? Write your own personalized action item that you will take in
the next 30 days.
Discipline
IDEAS FOR ACTION:
Don’t hesitate to check as often as necessary to ensure that things are right. You feel an urge to do
it anyway, and soon others will come to expect it from you.
Accept that mistakes might depress you. Precision is a core part of who you are; however, you must
find ways to move through these moments of annoyance to prevent becoming discouraged.
Recognize that others may not be as disciplined as you are. More than likely, their clumsy process
will frustrate you, so try to look beyond it, and focus on their results, not on their process.
Exactitude is your forté; you enjoy poring over details. Seek opportunities to peruse contracts,
important communications, or financial documents for errors. You can save yourself and others from
making costly mistakes and looking foolish.
Increasing efficiency is one of your hallmarks. You are a perfectionist at heart. Discover situations in
which time or money is being wasted because of inefficiency, and create systems or procedures to
improve efficiency.
You not only create order, you probably also crave it in the form of a well-organized space. To
completely free your Discipline talents, invest in furniture and organization systems that enable you
to have “a place for everything and everything in its place.”
Timelines motivate you. When you have a task to complete, you like to know the deadline so you
can plan your schedule accordingly. Apply your Discipline talents by outlining the step-by-step plan
you will use. Others will appreciate your cues because they will help keep everyone “on task.”
Others may confuse your Discipline talents with rigidity. Help them understand that your discipline
helps you pack more effectiveness into a day — often because you prioritize your time. When
working with others who are not as disciplined, ask them to clarify deadlines so you can adjust your
workload to accommodate their requests.
Seek out roles and responsibilities that have structure.
Create routines that require you to systematically follow through. Over time, people will come to
appreciate this kind of predictability.
962760567 (George Geysimonyan)
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QUESTIONS
1. Which of these action items speak to you? Highlight the actions that you are most likely to take.
2. How will you commit to taking action? Write your own personalized action item that you will take in
the next 30 days.
Strategic
IDEAS FOR ACTION:
Take the time to fully reflect or muse about a goal that you want to achieve until the related patterns
and issues emerge for you. Remember that this musing time is essential to strategic thinking.
You can see repercussions more clearly than others can. Take advantage of this ability by planning
your range of responses in detail. There is little point in knowing where events will lead if you are not
ready when you get there.
Find a group that you think does important work, and contribute your strategic thinking. You can be a
leader with your ideas.
Your strategic thinking will be necessary to keep a vivid vision from deteriorating into an ordinary
pipe dream. Fully consider all possible paths toward making the vision a reality. Wise forethought
can remove obstacles before they appear.
Make yourself known as a resource for consultation with those who are stumped by a particular
problem or hindered by a particular obstacle or barrier. By naturally seeing a way when others are
convinced there is no way, you will lead them to success.
You are likely to anticipate potential issues more easily than others. Though your awareness of
possible danger might be viewed as negativity by some, you must share your insights if you are
going to avoid these pitfalls. To prevent misperception of your intent, point out not only the future
obstacle, but also a way to prevent or overcome it. Trust your insights, and use them to ensure the
success of your efforts.
Help others understand that your strategic thinking is not an attempt to belittle their ideas, but is
instead a natural propensity to consider all the facets of a plan objectively. Rather than being a
naysayer, you are actually trying to examine ways to ensure that the goal is accomplished, come
what may. Your talents will allow you to consider others’ perspectives while keeping your end goal in
sight.
Trust your intuitive insights as often as possible. Even though you might not be able to explain them
rationally, your intuitions are created by a brain that instinctively anticipates and projects. Have
962760567 (George Geysimonyan)
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13
confidence in these perceptions.
Partner with someone with strong Activator talents. With this person’s need for action and your need
for anticipation, you can forge a powerful partnership.
Make sure that you are involved in the front end of new initiatives or enterprises. Your innovative yet
procedural approach will be critical to the genesis of a new venture because it will keep its creators
from developing deadly tunnel vision.
QUESTIONS
1. Which of these action items speak to you? Highlight the actions that you are most likely to take.
2. How will you commit to taking action? Write your own personalized action item that you will take in
the next 30 days.
Achiever
IDEAS FOR ACTION:
Select jobs that allow you to have the leeway to work as hard as you want and in which you are
encouraged to measure your own productivity. You will feel challenged and alive in these
environments.
As an achiever, you relish the feeling of being busy, yet you also need to know when you are “done.”
Attach timelines and measurement to goals so that effort leads to defined progress and tangible
outcomes.
Remember to build celebration and recognition into your life. Achievers tend to move on to the next
challenge without acknowledging their successes. Counter this impulse by creating regular
opportunities to enjoy your progress and accomplishments.
Your drive for action might cause you to find meetings a bit boring. If that’s the case, appeal to your
Achiever talents by learning the objectives of each meeting ahead of time and by taking notes about
progress toward those objectives during the meeting. You can help ensure that meetings are
productive and efficient.
Continue your education by attaining certifications in your area or specialty in addition to attending
conferences and other programs. This will give you even more goals to achieve and will push your
existing boundaries of accomplishment.
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You do not require much motivation from others. Take advantage of your self-motivation by setting
challenging goals. Set a more demanding goal every time you finish a project.
Partner with other hard workers. Share your goals with them so they can help you to get more done.
Count personal achievements in your scoring “system.” This will help you direct your Achiever
talents toward family and friends as well as toward work.
More work excites you. The prospect of what lies ahead is infinitely more motivating than what has
been completed. Launch initiatives and new projects. Your seemingly endless reserve of energy will
create enthusiasm and momentum.
Make sure that in your eagerness to do more at work, you do not skimp on quality. Create
measurable outcome standards to guarantee that increased productivity is matched by enhanced
quality.
QUESTIONS
1. Which of these action items speak to you? Highlight the actions that you are most likely to take.
2. How will you commit to taking action? Write your own personalized action item that you will take in
the next 30 days.
962760567 (George Geysimonyan)
© 2000, 2006-2012 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Section III: Achievement
Look for signs of achievement as you read these real quotes from people who share your top five
themes.
FOCUS SOUNDS LIKE THIS:
Nick H., computer executive: “It is very important to me to be efficient. I’m the sort of guy who plays a
round of golf in two and a half hours. When I was at Electronic Data Systems, I worked out a set list of
questions so that I could conduct a review of each division in 15 minutes. The founder, Ross Perot,
called me ‘The Dentist’ because I would schedule a whole day of these in-and-out, fifteen-minute
meetings.”
Brad F., sales executive: “I am always sorting priorities, trying to figure out the most efficient route
toward the goal so that there is very little dead time, very little wasted motion. For example, I will get
multiple calls from customers who need me to call the service department for them, and rather than
taking each one of these calls as they come and interrupting the priorities of the day, I group them
together into one call at the end of the day and get it done.”
Mike L., administrator: “People are amazed how I put things into perspective and stay on track. When
people around the district are stuck on issues and caught on contrived barriers, I am able to pole-vault
over them, reestablish the focus, and keep things moving.”
Doriane L., homemaker: “I am just the kind of person who likes to get to the point — in conversations,
at work, and even when I am shopping with my husband. He likes to try on lots of things and has a
good time doing it, whereas I try one thing on, and if I like it and it is not horribly priced, I buy it. I’m a
surgical shopper.”
COMPETITION SOUNDS LIKE THIS:
Mark L., sales executive: “I’ve played sports my entire life, and I don’t just play to have fun — let me
put it that way. I like to engage in sports I am going to win and not ones I am going to lose, because if
I lose, I am outwardly gracious but inwardly infuriated.”
Harry D., general manager: “I'm not a big sailor, but I love the America’s Cup. Both boats are
supposed to be exactly the same, and both crews have top-notch athletes. But you always get a
winner. One of them had some secret up their sleeves that tipped the balance and enabled them to
win more often than lose. And that’s what I am looking for — that secret, that tiny edge.”
Sumner Redstone, chairman of Viacom (now known as CBS Corporation), on his efforts to acquire
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that company: “I relished every minute of it because Viacom was a company worth fighting for and I
enjoyed a contest. If you get involved in a major competitive struggle, and the stress that inevitably
comes with it, you’d better derive some real sense of satisfaction and enjoyment from the ultimate
victory. Wrestling control of a company like Viacom was warfare. I believe the real lesson it taught me
was that it is not about money, it’s about the will to win.”
DISCIPLINE SOUNDS LIKE THIS:
Les T., hospitality manager: “The turning point in my career was attending one of those timemanagement courses some years back. I was always disciplined, but the power grew when I learned
how to use that discipline in an organized process every day. This little mobile device means that I call
my mom every Sunday rather than letting months go by without calling. It means I take my wife out for
dinner every week without her asking. It means that my employees know that if I say I need to see
something on Monday, I will be calling on Monday if I haven’t seen it. This mobile device is so much a
part of my life that I have lengthened all of my pants pockets so that it fits right there on my hip.”
Troy T., sales executive: “My filing system may not look that pretty, but it is very efficient. I write
everything by hand because I know that no customer is going to see these files, so why waste time
making them look pretty? My whole life as a salesperson is based on deadlines and follow-up. In my
system, I keep track of everything so that I take responsibility not only for my deadlines and follow-up
but for all of my customers’ and colleagues’ as well. If they haven’t gotten back to me by the time they
promised, they’re going to receive an e-mail from me. In fact, I heard from one the other day who said,
‘I may as well get back to you because I know you’re going to call me if you haven’t heard from me.’”
Diedre S., office manager: “I hate wasting time, so I make lists — long lists that keep me on track.
Today my list has ninety items on it, and I will get through ninety-five percent of them. And that’s
discipline because I don’t let anybody waste my time. I am not rude, but I can let you know in a very
tactful, humorous way that your time is up.”
STRATEGIC SOUNDS LIKE THIS:
Liam C., manufacturing plant manager: “It seems as if I can always see the consequences before
anyone else can. I have to say to people, ‘Lift up your eyes; look down the road a ways. Let’s talk
about where we are going to be next year so that when we get to this time next year, we don’t have
the same problems.’ It seems obvious to me, but some people are just too focused on this month’s
numbers, and everything is driven by that.”
Vivian T., television producer: “I used to love logic problems when I was a kid — you know, the ones
where ‘if A implies B, and B equals C, does A equal C?’ Still today, I am always playing out
repercussions, seeing where things lead. I think it makes me a great interviewer. I know that nothing
is an accident; every sign, every word, every tone of voice has significance. So I watch for these clues
962760567 (George Geysimonyan)
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and play them out in my head, see where they lead, and then plan my questions to take advantage of
what I have seen in my head.”
Simon T., human resources executive: “We really needed to take the union on at some stage, and I
saw an opportunity — a very good issue to take them on. I could see that they were going in a
direction that would lead them into all kinds of trouble if they continued following it. Lo and behold,
they did continue following it, and when they arrived, there I was, ready and waiting. I suppose it just
comes naturally to me to predict what someone else is going to do. And then when that person reacts,
I can respond immediately because I have sat down and said, ‘Okay, if they do this, we’ll do this. If
they do that, then we’ll do this other thing.’ It’s like when you tack in a sailboat. You head in one
direction, but you jinx one way, then another, planning and reacting, planning and reacting.”
ACHIEVER SOUNDS LIKE THIS:
Melanie K., ER nurse: “I have to rack up points every day to feel successful. Today I’ve been here
only half an hour, but I’ve probably racked up thirty points already. I ordered equipment for the ER, I
had equipment repaired, I had a meeting with my charge nurse, and I brainstormed with my secretary
about improving our computerized logbook. So on my list of ninety things, I have thirty done already.
I’m feeling pretty good about myself right now.”
Ted S., salesperson: “Last year I was salesperson of the year out of my company’s three hundred
salespeople. It felt good for a day, but sure enough, later that week, it was as if it never happened. I
was back at zero again. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t an achiever because it can lead me away from a
balanced life and toward obsession. I used to think I could change myself, but now I know I am just
wired this way. This theme is truly a double-edged sword. It helps me achieve my goals, but on the
other hand, I wish I could just turn it off and on at will. But, hey, I can’t. I can manage it and avoid work
obsession by focusing on achieving in all parts of my life, not just work.”
Sara L., writer: “This theme is a weird one. First, it’s good because you live in pursuit of the perpetual
challenge. But in the second place, you never feel as though you’ve reached your goal. It can keep
you running uphill at seventy miles an hour for your whole life. You never rest because there’s always
more to do. But, on balance, I think I would rather have it than not. I call it my ‘divine restlessness,’
and if it makes me feel as if I owe the present everything I have, then so be it. I can live with that.”
962760567 (George Geysimonyan)
© 2000, 2006-2012 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
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QUESTIONS
1. Talk to friends or coworkers to hear how they have used their talents to achieve.
2. How will you use your talents to achieve?
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