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From the S.E.T and \\u201cAspirational You\\u201d concepts in the previous episode, we now move towards a seemingly favorite topic for discussion: troublemaker talents!
When talking about strengths, curiosity about the other side -- the so-called \\u201cshadow side\\u201d or \\u201cblind spots\\u201d -- tends to surface. And that\\u2019s exactly why our next core concept is worth discussing.
Troublemaker talents are natural talents that have the potential to make you great yet may be causing pain or trouble to you, or to others within the team, due to misapplication, talent overuse, or squashing down of talent.\\xa0
Note that you may be squashing down a talent or not developing it because you don\\u2019t see the necessity. But when it does come out inevitably, it doesn\\u2019t come out looking good.
Join us explore these \\u201cT\\u201d talents, and towards the end you will get these takeaways:
Let\\u2019s say a member of your team leads through Learner and Input. Coming out of such strength is her love for learning, such as data gathering. As she\\u2019s bent on really getting to know the stakeholders and the end-users before beginning a project, she spends time on the front end of the projects not only collecting stakeholder specifications, the end-user information, and the end-user preferences but really digging into these items.\\xa0
This is showing up as a troublemaker talent for her because in the process of thorough and in-depth learning, you would see her as being too slow-paced or a \\u201cdeadline-misser.\\u201d This is rooted in the following:
1) Her non-communication of how her workflow looks (70% of the time on front end then hastened towards completion)
2) Her lack of awareness that would make someone else nervous
As you are following a more sensible timeline, and it\\u2019s clear that the troublemaker talent is going to make her miss the deadline, you have no choice but to step in. In this scenario, she\\u2019ll keep getting her projects pulled as she\\u2019s getting them started because you think she\\u2019s not going to complete them on time.
For this same person who loves gathering information, it also comes out as a talent overuse when she spends most of a meeting with a colleague, asking too many questions -- to the point that she causes skepticism and guardedness on her colleague.\\xa0
While the main point of the meeting is to explore and learn as much as she can, \\u201ctoo much curiosity kills a cat\\u201d as they say, and may spell trouble by way of perceived intrusion.\\xa0
In the end, when the colleague senses that she\\u2019s prying into their business, she might not obtain the information she was driving for.
Maximizers also want to think about things longer and improve on them through constant reworks. However, they tend to get stuck on that phase rather than just jumping in and executing it. Naturally they go for the highest quality output, which requires that everything must be thought through. In effect, it keeps them from getting ahead along the timeline. But if high stakes are involved, Maximizers must not let themselves be okay with a B+ work.\\xa0
Another concept to watch out for in troublemaker talents is the \\u201cyin-yang complex\\u2019 where within a team, we often find talents that look the opposite of someone else\'s.\\xa0
Consider the previous example of the leader through Learner and Input. As her boss, you happen to lead through Activator. That means you want to get things moving, and in contrast to her Learner-Input themes, you are really fast on the front end of projects.\\xa0
Now due to self-awareness or team awareness about each other\\u2019s talent themes, you will know in advance how to handle and address potential \\u201ctrouble\\u201d brought about by varying cadence and preferences in approach. Action steps may look like the following:
This challenge may take a little thinking through or maybe backtracking.\\xa0
Suppose you\'re a visionary, and while you\'re passionately presenting about the vision of a project, you feel that your team or a team member is dragging it down into something that\'s irrelevant at present. It can be quite maddening.\\xa0
If you recognize the troublemaker talents in your team, you can avoid the frustrations of being derailed in your vision presentation by talking to that person in advance. Example:
\\u201cHey, I\'m going to give you the high level in the meeting, and then let\'s book an hour after because I know you\'re gonna have a lot of detailed questions."
This short and direct approach will most likely provide the win-win situation where you can cast an inspirational vision for the team. At the same time, these \\u201ctroublemakers\\u201d are given the opportunity to raise questions, be heard, and add value to company-wide results.
So rather than merely point out to them what\\u2019s wrong that needs fixing, it\\u2019s far more constructive to focus on the team member\\u2019s potential, to inspire them to further develop their strength and express confidence that they can be among your top talents in the world. As you both commit support towards this person\\u2019s development, imagine the fulfillment for you both if they transform from a \\u201ctroublemaker\\u201d to a superstar!
Bottomline: It\'s so much more inspirational to craft and develop something that is already strong in you or others than to feel like you need to squash something and stamp it out.
Up next: Learn how to regulate by situation. Stay tuned!