My high 5
By: Sheralle Hsieh
Tags: Leadership

FOCUS EXPERT

Your objective is to focus on the most important things. To keep the focus you need something to focus on — therefore, weekly, monthly, annual goals are your biggest friends. Goals also help you to filter out what is important and what is not. You ask yourself every day if what you are doing brings you closer to your destination and lack of such a destination can create real confusion in your mind. As the result, the others see you as a very efficient and self-regulated person. It also makes you a very valuable team member. If anyone starts to wander around exploring side avenues, you quickly bring them back to the main road and to the point.

TIME KEEPER

Your objective is to set timelines and deadlines. Because of your dislike of surprises, you love to plan. You don’t necessarily need to control everything and everyone, but there must be order and predictability in the world around you. You unconsciously impose the structure onto everything by setting up routines, timelines and deadlines. If you set up plans, you make sure you follow them through thoroughly. Your need for structure becomes very useful in a team or a project since you can bring order and discipline to maintain progress and productivity.

COMMANDER

Your objective is to take charge and direct people. In any situation, you enjoy bringing yourself forward to lead the team. Moreover, you don’t come empty handed — by that time your opinion and views are formed and you can’t wait to align others with you. Contrary to others, in this process, you are not afraid of confrontation when presenting your views. At the contrary, you feel that the confrontation and the open discussion is the first step towards an agreement. People who have a clear vision and can take a stand for it always draw followers, so will you. If you also master listening to others, this strength will help you to be a good leader without fear of confrontation.

PROBLEM SOLVER

Your objective is to solve problems. Any breakdowns are normally demotivating to the majority of people, but not for you. At the contrary, when something does not work the way it should be, it provides you an opportunity to analyze symptoms of a problem, identify what’s wrong and find the solution. In other words, you are a great problem solver. What makes you particularly special is that instead of abandoning — your goal is to restore something to its true glory. In a team, everyone knows you as a person who does not shy away from a problem, but actually fixes things to their normal functioning.

STRATEGIST

Your objective is to see the big picture. Have you heard about ‘taking the helicopter view’? In your case, you are constantly on this helicopter! That’s not even a skill, it’s a special way of seeing things — a special perspective on the world at large, where everything is interconnected. While others could be confused by your short-terms steps, in your mind you have a clear multi-step strategy on how to arrive at the desired outcome and to avoid paths leading nowhere. Such a strategist is an essential asset for any team determined to find a clear direction in a complex situation.