People who are especially talented in the Ideation theme are fascinated
by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate
phenomena.
CliftonStrengths
This week our guest blogger is Bob Arp. Bob’s TeamMates
journey began in the fall of 2009 when he became a mentor in Columbus, NE. Less
than a year later, he took on the awesome responsibility of Co-Coordinating the
chapter. His top five strengths are Ideation, Strategic, Achiever, Responsibility,
and Adaptability. Here’s what Ideation looks like for Bob:
Do you know
someone that seems to have a knack for coming up with that out-of-the blue,
crazy and exciting idea? Maybe that someone
is you.
Well, I have
been told many times over the years that this describes me. I never thought of it as a big deal. But I must admit that there have been many
times when I have even surprised myself with a think-outside-the-box suggestion
or solution. As a youth, our church
youth group was asked to plan a Sunday morning worship service. My ideation kicked in and we ended up with a
service that included the song Turn! Turn! Turn! by The Byrds for the anthem
and the sketch entitled Noah by Bill Cosby as the sermon. And while there was some rolling of the eyes
by a few, most in the congregation found it a refreshing change.
One of the
aspects of my role as a high school principal that I really enjoyed was in
never knowing what a day was going to bring.
I was energized by the challenge of the moment. And when that challenge came, I relied on my
Ideation along with two of my other strengths of Strategic and Adaptability to
carry me through.
While Ideation
has served me well, it has also created some additional stress. Stress in my not always being disciplined
enough to create the steps necessary to put the idea into practice. Additionally my strength of Responsibility
has at times tugged at my Ideation forcing me to be careful to not ignore rules
and procedures in pursuit of the new and exciting. Admittedly there have also been times when I
created stress in others who think ‘here he goes again with another crazy
idea.’ But you know what? I wouldn’t have it any other way. Being the person that looks at a situation
and sees more potential than many around me energizes me! And being part of creating something new, of
finding a different path to follow, of opening up new possibilities to others,
has been part of who I am in my professional, personal, social and spiritual
life.
If you are
working on an event and you want to add a unique twist, if you are responsible
for attracting new mentors and are open to something different, if you are in
need of a name for a new project or product and want something catchy, find
yourself someone who leads with ideation … and then hold on.
-Bob
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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