A Guide To Understanding The Belief talent theme
Understand your CliftonStrengths (StrengthsFinder) Talent Themes over the next few weeks. We are going to deconstruct each talent theme and give you insights into what each of these talent themes is about. This week, we will be looking at the talent theme of Belief. You may either have the Belief talent theme or you know someone with the talent theme of Belief.
As the Gallup Organization defines it, people exceptionally talented in the Belief theme have certain core values that are unchanging. Out of these values emerges a defined purpose for their lives.
The Power of Belief
For people with the Belief talent theme, the way they think, feel and behave is driven by their core values. While these values varies from person to person, people with the talent theme of Belief have deeply held ideals and a strong sense of purpose in their lives.
The Belief talent theme gives people a purpose to work towards. Many people with the Belief talent theme are guided and driven by important causes, values, purpose and even mission. Often times, these values are unchanging and unwavering. They are clear and certain on what they stand for.
When people with the Belief talent theme speaks about things that aligns with their core values and beliefs, others can sense their passion. They can be extremely passionate about the causes they believe in. They bring about emotional enthusiasm and energy when speaking about these causes.
Belief Talent Theme Loves
People with the Belief talent theme loves altruism. People with the Belief talent theme are often misunderstood by others as being selfish or being self-indulgent. However, more often than not, they are others-oriented. They look into how they can contribute to things that are outside of themselves.
The Belief talent theme has the innate ability to also help other people see their own values. They can be a great advocate for others and help others speak out for their passions and causes when it is align with their own.
The Belief talent theme also loves it when they are surrounded with people who are align with their values and causes and want to help them make it a reality. They want others to embrace their values. It energizes them when they are surrounded with people who have similar values with them.
People with the Belief talent theme are great motivators. It is because of their values, they can drive themselves and motivate others to get things done. They remind others what is important about the work that they are doing and how it impacts to lives of people around them.
Belief Talent Theme Hates
Many people with the Belief talent theme hates when things or people are not meshed or aligned with their beliefs. As mentioned above, their values and purpose is what guides them in doing what they do. When someone challenges their beliefs, or are trying to get them to do things that are against their belief system, it will drain them.
If the values of an organization in conflict with one’s own beliefs and principles, it will be frustrating to the Belief talent theme. It might be difficult for them to get things done and they might be constantly questioning why they are doing certain things. If this continues, they will eventually leave the organization.
The Belief talent theme also hates it when their values and beliefs are being challenged by other people. Imagine a team of people where their beliefs and principles are completely different, they will constantly try to compete over whose beliefs are more important. You might get a team of people who are not able to work together because they don’t see eye to eye on certain values and core ideals.
Belief Talent Theme Basement Behaviours
When people with the Belief talent theme push their talent too hard, the experience for others can be severe and worrying.
Here are 3 negative behaviours of the Belief talent theme: –
1. Stubbornness – When in the basement form, the Belief talent theme can be seen as being stubborn. As mentioned above, their core values are often unchanging and they are rooted to what they believe in, because of that, others might find it hard to convince them to change certain things, especially when it is not in line with their values and purpose.
People with the Belief talent theme can be set in their ways and they want others to embrace their values and mission. When the Belief talent theme is in the basement form, they tend to forget that others have values that are different from them.
They will be insistent to ensure that everyone follows their value and if they don’t, they might not be included as part of the team.
2. Judgemental – The Belief talent theme can also be seen as judgemental in its basement form. They might judge others who set of beliefs are different from them. They might question the values and principles and try to challenge others.
In some cases, they might try to prove that their beliefs are better than others. They can be very closed off and guarded towards people who don’t share the same beliefs as them.
3. Passionate about what’s wrong – The Belief talent theme helps people to be very passionate for the causes that they believe in. However sometimes their passion is focused only towards what’s wrong instead of towards how they can make it better.
When the Belief talent theme is in the basement, they can begin to challenge everything that is wrong and against their beliefs. If a person values differs from their own, they will begin to point out everything that is wrong about those values, forgetting that not everyone shares the same values as them.
Belief Talent Theme Best Contributions
People with the Belief talent theme are seen as stewards of the organization’s values and principles. If the values of the organization is aligned with their own values, they are the ones who help others stay grounded to the values of the organization.
The Belief talent theme provides stability and trust to the team. People can often rely on them because their values are unchanging. They are very transparent and they set their expectations according to these values. When working with them, people are often clear about their expectations and what they do not tolerate.
Another brilliant trait of the Belief talent theme is that they are able to help the team focus on what’s important and why they are doing it. There is a clarity of purpose to the team and the organization. They can be a source of encouragement and remind the team of the importance of the work that they are doing.
A metaphor that can be used to describe the Belief talent theme is that of an anchor. An anchor holds the ship in place in a midst of a storm much like the Belief talent theme which helps the team stay rooted to their mission and purpose.
With the Belief talent theme, their values and principles are at the core of every action and decision that they make. Their values drives the team to progress towards a value-driven goal.
StrengthsAsia has helped many individual and corporate clients all throughout the region in identifying and maximizing their talents, in driving engagement and increasing motivation in their work and life.
If you want to learn more about the 34 talent themes or discover how you can apply your talent themes in the areas of your work and your life, feel free to reach out to us here.
Dina is a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach at StrengthsAsia. She is one of the principal architect and designer of StrengthsAsia’s wildly successful Strengths Engagement Programs. She is passionate about bringing strengths to the education sector, in helping educators and student leaders discover their natural talents, passions, interests, and building ‘strong’ foundations to do what they do best every day.