Understanding and Investing in Your Connectedness Talent -- Season 4

To learn more about Gallup's additional strengths resources, visit
the Gallup Strengths Center: http://on.gallup.com/1l04XVZ.

Gallup's Theme Thursday is a live Webcast that targets strengths
coaches and enthusiasts to provide a deeper context behind the
language of strengths by talking in-depth about each of the 34
Clifton StrengthsFinder themes.

On this Theme Thursday Season Four webcast, Jim Collison, Gallup's
Director of Talent Sourcing, and Maika Leibbrandt, Senior Workplace
Consultant, talk about Connectedness.

Connectedness is about anticipating and embracing the seen and
unseen connection between all things. It is about being in-tuned to
something beyond the immediate. There is an aspect of timelessness
to this theme. People with Connectedness can be quite curious, but
also quite aware. They have no problem accepting mysteries. They
have a calm when things don’t make sense. They can move forward
through that mystery.



The value that Connectedness brings is a calming emotion about the
current moment. It does this by expanding our awareness of
something bigger. Connectedness is unrestrained by time and
practicality. It is about creativity and offering an enhanced
perspective. It is valuable because you can help others see the
effects that their actions have. There is an awareness that
everything that you do has a ripple effect. It is not just a linear
process. Connectedness can be about zooming out and seeing the
whole picture.


Do more sharing when you sense others might be missing something.
Understand that you are going to see more than others. Gain access
to perspectives that might otherwise be isolated. Ask for time that
you can spend with other teams and departments. The more you can do
to expand your web, the more awareness you are going to have. Be a
bridge builder. It isn’t just seeing a person right in front of
you, but seeing their whole story.



Let go of the need to have proof in order to believe. You don’t
have to have evidence with Connectedness. Let go of having to win
through logic. It is more an empathic theme rather than an
intellectual theme. Connectedness adds a depth of mystery and
feeling where you don’t have to actually come to the answer. It has
an almost spiritual embracing of the unknown.



If you have someone with high Connectedness on your team don’t
expect them to get very riled and over reactive in the moment. Do
expect an enhanced perspective beyond that moment in time. Tap into
what they are sensing. They will be able to take clues from what
they already know, and what they are noticing now, to help you
learn from where you have been in order to go somewhere better. You
can be a good partner for Connectedness by helping provide them
access to the system. Give them space to do some sensing. Ask them
what they’re noticing.



Recognize the ripples they create. Recognize the impact they have
on their community. This could mean their team, or it could be
their family. It is not necessarily about the singular person, but
rather the effect that person has on all of the individuals around
them.



You can help Connectedness develop by just asking what it is
they’re sensing. Create a space for them to explore, and don’t be
afraid to explore with them. Go into those spaces that don’t
necessarily look like they have an outcome. Ask them what the
connections and effects are of the actions that are currently being
taken. Think about using them as an advisor.


If Connectedness is one of your Dominant Themes, invest in it this
week through the following challenge items:

Try out an App that quiets your mind.
Spend an hour talking with a trusted friend about what direction
your gut is nudging you.
Ask someone to tell you their story.

If Connectedness is not one of your Dominant Themes, invest in it
this week through the following challenge items:

How do you find calmness in the middle of chaos?
How do you feel when there isn’t a concrete answer to a challenge?