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A Look at Focus

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People exceptionally talented in the Focus theme can take a direction, follow through, and make the connections necessary to stay on track. They prioritize, then act.
CliftonStrengths

This week our guest blogger is DeMoine Adams. In 2012, DeMoine came on staff with TeamMates, launching our Post-Secondary program, TeamMates+. Last year, he became TeamMates’ Program Director. In addition to being a staff member, DeMoine has also been a mentor in both Lincoln Public Schools and Gretna Public Schools. His top five strengths are Achiever, Focus, Discipline, Leaner, Strategic. Here’s what Focus looks like for DeMoine:



My Focus puts me in a zone where I can channel all of my energy into something and tune everything else out.  It allows me to boost my number one Strength which is Achiever, while complementing my number three Strength which is Discipline.

I have a lot of hats to wear in my position with the TeamMates Mentoring Program – from projects and never-ending e-mails to managing other staff and making sure their needs and the expectations of the organization all aligned.  My Focus is like a light switch – when I get Focused, it’s ‘lights….camera……action’!  I tend to get very serious and intense because when there are things that need to get done, I have to prioritize everything that’s on my plate and channel my energy to get them done.  There’s no such thing as starting work at 8AM, having lunch at noon, and getting off work at 5PM with my Focus.  When I’m focused, I’m in a zone where nothing else matters!

In my mentoring relationship, I try to use my Focus to always be a great listener and refer future conversations from past conversations based on my memory.  I make my mentoring relationships a priority by putting them on my calendar every week, same day same time.  And when the opportunity presents itself, I’m able to help my mentees stay focus in school by settings goals for themselves in their level of capacity, follow through & stay committed, and always stay focus on the end goal even through obstacles and setbacks that may come up.

My top 5 are Achiever, Focus, Discipline, Learner, and Strategic. They all blend with my Focus because they help me to stay connected to the goals I set, to prioritize my actions to ensure they correspond with my goals, and to give 100% of my time, energy and effort when accomplishing something that needs to get done.

As a kid, I feel I wasn’t born with natural talents and gifts like others.  I wasn’t born with promise, but with potential.  I wasn’t popularity or a cool.  I guess my Focus became a natural Strength which over the course of my life gave me the grit, resiliency, perseverance, and drive to work hard for everything I wanted, imagined and dreamed of.  It allowed me to set personal goals for myself so that I would stop comparing myself to other kids.  It allowed me never give up when I didn’t make the basketball team or start in football.  Whether it was the 13 I received when I took the ACT or how nervous I was when I paid for myself to attend the UNL football camp all by myself, my Focus didn’t let anything keep me from achieving my best.  And I feel I am the person I am today because of my Focus: first-generation college graduate, three-year Defensive End at UNL despite being undersized, Academic All-American despite my teachers telling me I wouldn’t make it at a school like UNL, and playing professional football for five years even though I didn’t get drafted. 

Well just recently, I had to wear multiple hats in this community that included speaking in front of a group of people to recruit mentors, speaking on a radio show about TeamMates while showing a little humor, thanking donors for their support, and then emceeing/DJ’ing a Mentor Appreciation/Recruitment event at evening.  Each hat required a different Focus switch which included a certain level of energy, a certain type of personality, and even using Strengths that are not in my top five (Woo – 32, Adaptability – 30, Communication – 31, Command – 13). 
-DeMoine


If you are interested in guest blogging about one of your Top 5 StrengthsFinder themes this school year, please email Tess at tstarman@teammates.org
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