Strengths by Domain: Influencing
Activate Human Capital Group is passionate about developing natural talents and aptitudes into Strengths and helping people put those abilities to work in all aspects of life. There are numerous ways to develop these Strengths, especially when working on teams.
As we seek to build the capacity of both employees and teams, it is helpful to understand the four domains that act as an umbrella for the 34 Strengths. According to Gallup, “These domains describe how people and teams use their talents to work with information, make things happen, influence others, and build relationships.” At Activate, our goal is to sharpen individual talents and build well-rounded teams. Understanding each domain, and the Strengths they possess, is helpful in achieving that goal.
The “Influencing” domain in the Strengths language is about persuasion. Think about the most persuasive individuals you know – politicians, religious leaders, great writers, people who “sell” us ideas, products, and a vision for a better existence. The Strengths in this domain are all about being heard.
Whether the task is to sell an idea, to inform a large audience, or to take charge on a new task, Influencing Strengths propel us towards the goal. Gallup suggests that, “When teams need to sell their ideas inside and outside the organization, they turn to people with Influencing themes to convince others.” So this motivation and action can be focused internally to their own teams and business or externally towards clients or other involved parties who need to hear the message of the organization. Eyes and ears turn to those with Influencing talents easily and naturally. The eight Influencing Strengths are:
Activator- the Activator talents put movement and motion behind ideas and thoughts. They want to move forward rather than hash out the details in conversation.
Command- the Command Strength has presence and decision making abilities. Others may find themselves turning to someone with Command to take on leadership in a situation.
Communication- being able to take the thoughts and ideas of themselves, and others, and turning those into words is the Strength Communication. They are able to present and carry a conversation easily.
Competition- the Competition theme measures themselves, their team, or their organization against others with similar characteristics or goals. Striving for first or making it to the goal quickly is important.
Maximizer- a Maximizer sees something: a person, idea, organization, or project, that is good and tweaks it until it is excellent.
Self-Assurance- confidence in ability and decisions is a trademark of those with Self-Assurance. They possess certainty and an inner compass that affirms their actions.
Significance- influence and impact drive the Significance talent. Decisions are evaluated based how independent they can be and how they will be seen.
Woo- the Woo talent wants connections with people. They enjoy meeting others, learning about them, and starting a relationship.
These Strengths are vital for organizations. The Strengths that fall under the Influencing domain carry or advance ideas. Less concerned with exactly HOW we’ll get there, Influencers want movement in any form towards the goals they’re focused on.
It can be easy to write off many of the characteristics of Influencing Strengths as rash or unfocused, but the momentum they bring to a team is imperative for other domains who sometimes have difficulty launching from the idea phase to the implementation phase. An Activator would be willing to take ideas from a Strategic talent and begin working towards certain goals while the rest of the plan was researched or thought out. Someone with Communication talent can take a business reorganization made by an Arranger and explain why the new roles or teams would best benefit the entire group.
In addition to performing the “work” of the Influencing domain, these themes find creative ways to doing the work of other domains. An Activator, for instance, may set himself up to execute on a long list of phone calls that need to be made or emails that need responding to while on a long layover at the airport. Similarly, a Maximizer may apply their talent to build relationships with those they see potential in.
Individuals strong in Influencing talents develop great plans when partnered with peers strong in Strategic Thinking. When it’s time to execute the plan, Influencers need friends with Execution talents to bring the driving stamina that gets the work done.
To begin discovering which talents your employees possess and how these Strengths fall into the four domains, contact Activate Human Capital Group today. Building these talents and using the information about these talents to work towards the goals of your business will be transformative.
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