A Purpose-Driven Leader with both Vision and Action
Since the very start of my career, two main goals have guided my decisions: Have much positive impact as possible, and surround myself with people I enjoy being with, who I can learn from.
I'm blessed with clarity of vision, and the innate ability to see things, not as they are today, but how they could be. I'm also very hands-on and have worked hard throughout my career to build the skills needed to be able to produce work at a high level myself and/or mentor and support those I collaborate with.
It's been important to me to be able to authentically "speak the language" of expert practitioners in whatever field I'm working in, so that I might better understand their needs and concerns, and understand how best to guide them. I'm both visionary and implementor, as a "quick starter" (see below), I'm at my best when I'm working collaboratively with others and helping to quarterback ambitious efforts.
How Best to Work With Me
In collaborative pursuits, I value purpose and alignment most of all. I'll work hard to make sure everyone is heard, and has a clear understanding of what our goals are and why they're important. From there, I view it as my job to create opportunities, remove roadblocks, provide coaching, and ensure a high standard of excellence.
I'm at my best when I have all the information available, and can "see the whole board." One of my superpowers is distilling elegant solutions to complex problems, that work for all stakeholders. The more accurate information I have at my disposal, the more effective I'll be as a leader and contributor.
My door is always open to everyone on my team, and I enjoy being challenged in constructive ways. I firmly subscribe to the maxim that, "Smart people surround themselves with other smart people, but very smart people surround themselves with smart people who disagree with them."
In leadership roles, I reject the idea that my teammates work "for" me, in favor of the reality that we're teammates working collaboratively towards a shared goal, just with different roles and responsibilities that are hopefully complementary and synergistic.
Personality Tests
Tests like these aren't the end-all-be-all, but I've always found them useful tools for understanding myself better, understanding the best tasks to take on, and understanding how best to collaborate with others. Hopefully you'll find them useful as well!
Myers-Briggs: ENTP-A
I've taken the Myers-Briggs test several times, and have had a few different results over the years, depending on what's going on in my life at the time. Most recently, my result was ENTP-A, otherwise known as The Debater.
Key personality traits include: creative ideation, adaptability, quick learning, persuasive communication, independent thinking.
Learn more at 16 Personalities
Enneagram - Type 2: The Helper
My full results are Type 2, with a tie between 5 (Investigator) and 8 (Challenger) for my secondaries. In general, twos are caring, empathetic, warm, thoughtful, appreciative, generous, other-oriented, tactile, affectionate, well intentioned, and demonstrative. At our best, twos are are sincere and warm-hearted, with immense good will and enormous generosity of spirit. We have an extraordinary ability to feel the feelings and needs of others.
Download the full results
Kolbe: 5-2-8-5
I'm a quick starter, uniquely able to take on future-oriented challenges. I lead the way to visionary possibilities and create what others said couldn’t be done. I'll say "Yes" before you even know the end of the question – then turn it into a productive adventure.
Learn more at Kolbe.com
Clifton Strengths
Many frameworks identify weaknesses and provide coaching on how to improve on them. Clifton Strengths takes the opposite approach, identifying top strengths and giving insights for how to make them even stronger. My top 5 Themes are: Ideation, Individualization, Arranger, Strategic, and Adaptability.
Download the full results
PrinciplesYou: Shaper
In Ray Dalio's fantastic book Principles, he outlines several different personality types, as they relate to how people function in the workplace. When I took the personality test at PrinciplesYou, I very clearly came out as a Shaper.
"Shapers visualize ambitious goals, set plans in place, and push through relentlessly to make them happen. They tend to be independent, original, driven, demanding, adaptable and at times impatient and single-minded."
Learn more at PrinciplesYou.com
