You need to be careful using your superpowers

If you've never worked with Lesley Klue, consider this my strongest recommendation. Among the most keenly insightful people I've ever met, she is a master of Effective Intelligence, one of the most useful personality tests I've ever submitted to. (Effective Intelligence was founded by the now-deceased Jerry Rhodes, and Lesley is surely the most experienced and powerful interpreter of the system still in the world).

Once you've answered the questions, Lesley provides you with a report that scores you (from zero to 100) across a wide variety of thinking styles called "thunks". What's interesting, though, is that the 'goal' is not to score as highly as you can across all thinking styles. In fact, that's explicitly impossible. A rising score in one category demands a falling score in one or more other categories. The more your brain thinks in some ways, the less it thinks in others.

Low scores indicate a deficiency, something you struggle to do or understand.

On the other hand, high scores (especially 100) might indicate a tool you turn to too often, even when it's not the ideal solution. Scores of 100 are often as much the source of a weakness as they are the indication of a strength.

Every light casts a shadow.

This is useful to understand both as a warning and as an invitation. The warning is not to rely too heavily on your superpowers, to realise that they can be used too often, or inappropriately. The invitation is to realise that what you perceive as your greatest weaknesses might also be signposts to hidden strengths.

Every shadow points to the light.


PS - If you’d like an empathetic guide to help unlock the most powerful leader you can be, get in touch. I work one-on-one with just three leaders or executives at any given time. (col@colfink.com).

Photo by Klaus Nielsen from Pexels
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You speak for the wrong reasons (and I do too)