What's Your Advantage?
I found this incredible assessment through one of my online Facebook groups and I'm very excited about it and had to share. There are many themes to love: Helping someone find their true value, finding your authentic self, and playing to strengths. Take it now and you’ll know what I’m talking about! Five minutes to answer a few questions – it is a simple assessment, don’t overthink your selections. When you complete the assessment, Sally Hogshead gives you a free report educating you about your primary and secondary fascination advantages. Super fun and insightful. CLICK HERE and then come back to me (I have no connection, nor do I make a commission from her site).
Pretty neat huh? This reminds me of when I became a detachment commander, my first time in a formal leadership position and responsible for an entire unit. We were a small with a big mission. I loved the job and increased responsibility; however, my first year I spent feeling stressed mainly because I felt the need to compensate for myself. I felt I could lead but also had glaring weaknesses, and I spent a lot of energy trying to improve upon my perceived defects. I’m more of a big picture, vision kind of gal and don’t like to get caught up in the silly details (shrug with a sheepish grin). I also could be on the cluttered, okay fine - messy side. I was focusing on improvement, but not in a healthy manner. My approach was to be harsh on myself; “I would be better if…” and I kicked myself for my shortfalls. I spent a lot of effort on the attempts to be more organized, detailed, etc. yet due to my perspective and approach, I was miserable. In addition, focusing on those aspects caused others to do the same and it allowed room for judgment from all around.
One day I woke up hit by a ton of bricks; I realized – I’m a people person. I genuinely care about others and get excited for their accomplishments. I love building up confidence and relish feeling connected to my co-workers. I may not have all the regulations memorized, but I know the ‘spirit’ and intent of the job. Furthermore, I love the generation and execution of long-term impact ideas. Digging deep into email land and taskers drains energy from me; however, not everyone has the same desire as me to gently tug at threads to bring out the best in someone. It finally occurred to me, why not play to those strengths? Why not lean into what works for me and maybe that will naturally compensate for the shortcomings?
I didn’t have the luxury of the Fascination Advantage Assessment and decided to experiment…I let ME loose, spent more time with my crew and did what I could to encourage their success. Lo and behold it worked! When I embraced what I was good at, versus scrambling with what I was not. I felt much better about myself and I’m sure the team felt better as well. As with many great life lessons, I learned the hard way. When we painfully focus on what we aren’t, we do not allow ourselves to embrace and lean into who we truly are. What’s exciting is in Sally Hogshead’s “How the World Sees You” she asserts that we all are truly of value and we have unique advantages that draws people to us. When we allow ourselves to be our true selves, we are happier and others value us more as well.
Anyone that knows me, knows this truly applies when I let myself loose and allow myself to be ME.
When I took the assessment, it told me I was “The Catalyst: Out of the Box, Social, Energizing.” Anyone who knows me would likely agree the assessment is spot on! My primary advantage is Passion and secondary is Innovation; it also identified my dormant, my most exhausting form of communication as Mystique (I have the WORST poker face ever). My free report (usually $37) also gave me a breakdown of how I scored in each advantage and Power was also very high for me. In reading the results, it was a gratifying moment for me to realize I previously knew these things about myself. My more recent years of embracing my uniqueness paid off; I was on the right path, aware of what makes me authentic to others and myself.
Then of course, being that one of my description words is "social"…excited to share as I am in this forum; I immediately harassed others to take the test as well. Hubby is the “Wise Owl: Observant, Assured, Unruffled,” with Mystique as primary, Trust as secondary, and Passion as his dormant advantage. Opposites do attract and I see how we balance each other in our partnership. These reports also helped me gain a deeper appreciation for our differences in strengths. When looking for a business or life partner, a strong partnership could form from oppositional archetypes.
How well do you know your partners and co-workers?
Assessing co-workers is great fun as well. I printed out the entire (above) matrix with all 49 personality archetypes in the Fascination Advantage Report. Then all of us guessed who we thought would be which archetype; I’m proud to report my guesses have a pretty good track record. Hah! This exercise also showed me what happens when someone takes the quiz and answers in the way they "feel they should be" versus being honest about how they really are. Sometimes this happens with these assessments, we answer how we think we should be and not authentically. Answer to who YOU are, not how you think you need to act according to your job or position in life.
For example, when my co-worker took the assessment his results were, the “Veiled Strength: Realistic, Intentional, To-the-Point,” instantaneously and unanimously, we vetoed his result. He is a highly expressive, intelligent, and I think he might actually talk more than me...He is action oriented and dedicated to throwing himself at the task until he sees results. His (first) results showed Mystique as his primary and Power as his secondary. We all recognized Power was clearly one of his advantages; however, he like me - has a "glass face," there's nothing mysterious about his persona. Perhaps he emphasized Mystique inadvertently because of his career field, due to the nature of his background, in his perspective he must hold back all he wants to communicate; therefore, he attempts to portray himself with a little more mystique even though it is against his true nature. We knew his strengths lay in the warmer colored end of the spectrum versus the cooler "Mystique." As he read his report, he even agreed the description did not match his personality at all. With my (pushy :) assistance, he took the test again and Power then showed as his primary advantage, and Innovation as his secondary. His (far more appropriate) archetype was the “Change Agent: Inventive, Untraditional, Self-Propelled,” far more descriptive of his strengths and how we view him in the workplace. For the record, I must also mention, his work partner's results were "The Archer: On-Target, Reasoned, Pragmatic," a most excellent pairing to the power/innovative ways. Though they may not always understand each other; they appreciate the balancing strengths and have accomplished an incredible amount in their endeavors.
As a leader, everyone on your team has value. Recognizing their strengths maximizes their role and contributions.
I’ve taken multiple personality type quizzes; this “How to Fascinate” assessment is the best I’ve seen. Whether on your own or teambuilding with co-workers and friends. This is a great way to identify the primary communication styles in order to appreciate and enhance the partnerships. It is so much easier to learn the strengths through this tool and when taking the assessment, if the initial results seem odd; then simply retake and try to answer authentically to you, not how you should be. I took the tough road by first playing to my judgements and when I embraced my strengths, I knew I had my own advantage.
Of course I bought Sally Hogshead's book too! It's outstanding! Check it out:
I earn a small commission for purchases made through links in this post.