How Our Talents Show Up During Hard Times

By Antje Bauer

A byproduct of being a Strengths Coach is being able to understand who a person is through their talents. Through the years of understanding talent themes and the 34 CliftonStrengths® I have learned to spot people’s motivations or understand them on a deeper level. However, there are occasions where I’m absolutely surprised by reactions or responses. It is in these situations I am reminded of how incredibly complex we all are and that there’s always room to grow as a coach.

Speaking from the heart, after my recent trip to Germany, a significant change in the life of my parents started emerging. My Mom suffers from dementia and it has become increasingly challenging to take care of her at home. She will now be moving into a special care nursing home. The situation is quite stressful for all of us and of course most of all, for Dad. My two sisters and I have been conversing on the matter for several weeks now and preparing for the shift.

This very personal situation was a great one to observe talents at work and also, how they can rub you up the wrong way.

My sisters and I are very different from each other.

My youngest sister is the most empathic of us three, she has an outstanding ability to connect with people at the emotional level. Combined with her artistic and aesthetic talents, she was able to contribute best in preparing my mother's new room and making it look and feel homely by selecting personal items to bring along, decorating the walls, and preparing photographs. She demonstrated her Restorative™  talent to the best.

My middle sister is very good at influencing the larger group to be organized. She coordinated all the administrative details with the special care institution, she ensured that the insurance was lined up and the financials were sorted. Her attention to detail is amazing and she made sure all the contractual stuff was properly managed. She demonstrated a combination of her Deliverative® and her Maximiser® talents in this situation.

So, how do I fit in?

Of the three of us, I believe I am the coolest head. I stay fact-oriented when others heat up. I am not without emotion, but my emotions do not drive me. Even when I was in India, and hearing about everything going on in Germany, I was going through every step in my mind here. I am not sure I was helpful. My cool-headedness sometimes is hard for others to tolerate. Maybe, of all my accessible talents, the Positivity® was the one that helped me best in this situation.

My knowledge about the talents is always a great help to stay calm and maintain a cool head. It makes my role as a coach and in this case, as a family member, so much more explorative.

That’s why I approach each client or corporate company with a different set of workshops or programs because one cookie-cutter workshop isn’t going to fit everyone or take into consideration real-life issues.

So, if you’d like to know about my style of coaching, and what my company StrengthMiner can do for your organization, reach out to me in the comments section.

Thanks for reading, and allowing me to share this personal and significant insight of my life.