My dear friend and CliftonStrengths mentor, Dries Lombaard, has written a brilliant post. He called it “A light-hearted (positive) look at the 34 CliftonStrengths thinking patterns in reaction to COVID-19”. 

I asked him for permission to publish it here.

In my experience, it’s valuable to understand how people react in such vastly different ways to stressful incidents. It helps each of us to have more compassion and empathy for others’ reactions, when we can remember that they’re simply reacting from their strengths (and also from their trauma history, but that’s the topic for another post.)

Do you recognize yourself or others?

The Do-ers

• Achiever – “There goes my to-do list, at least working from home can be more productive.”
• Arranger – “I will simply re-organize myself.”
• Belief – “Working from home, closer to my family…yeah!”
• Consistency – “Let me check on the policy and procedure regarding working from home.”
• Deliberative – “I’ve already prepared for this, I knew the risks.”
• Discipline – “With structure, routine and order I will be fine.”
• Focus – “Yes!  My best way to get things done: isolation.”
• Responsibility – “Not coping with your workload?  Give it to me, I got this.”
• Restorative – “We need to fix this.”

The Influencers

• Activator – “Come on people, let’s get going! Stop worrying and just do it!”
• Command – “Follow my lead and you will be safe, this is a great challenge to face.”
• Communication – “Who else can I talk to about this?”
• Competition – “I wonder who will find a cure first?”
• Maximizer – “Great opportunity to step up our standards a few notches and we will be fine.”
• Self-Assurance – “I’ve got this.”
• Significance – “I wonder how we can incorporate this into our branding?”
• Woo – “I can handle getting infected….just not getting isolated!”

The Relationals

• Adaptability – “At least at home I can procrastinate as I like!  Love the pressure.”
• Developer – “We will beat this one small step at a time.”
• Connectedness – “This all makes sense, it’s all connected.”
• Empathy – “I feel so sorry for the people who have to cope with this…”
• Harmony – “If we stay calm, and stick together, all will be okay.”
• Includer – “As long as we all stick together, this is no problem.”
• Individualization – “Let me see what others need me to do for them.”
• Positivity – “It will all turn out for the best! This is an opportunity for some great new things!”
• Relator – “I am so relieved….no crowds and gatherings!  Only my own humans close to me.”

The Thinkers

• Analytical – “Don’t believe anything you read.  Get the facts from reliable sources. Stay rational.”
• Context – “Numerous generations before us went through worse than this. Let’s learn from them.”
• Futuristic – “I saw this coming, and I am already beyond this in my mind.”
• Ideation – “There are so many new ideas I have that will align brilliantly in this time!”
• Input – “What else can I read and research on this, so I can share it with others?”
• Intellection – “Social distancing = more time to think… excellent!”
• Learner – “I can use this time to upskill myself!”
• Strategic – “I have many options on the best way to handle this.”

Dries’s book “Launch your Brilliance – A Guide for Everyone towards a Strengths based Life” has recently been published. His insight and wisdom around CliftonStrengths is priceless. He has more than 10,000 hours of active Executive Strengths Coaching experience with individuals and teams under his belt – which makes him one of the most experienced Strengths Coaches in the world.

Find out more about the work he does at his website, StrengthSynergy.