Strengths in Action - Always colouring between the lines

Abbie Winter - Assessment Consultant

So, I have a confession. I re-took my Strength Profile a few weeks ago and my top Realised strength had changed from Adaptable to Adherent. I was far from pleased.

“Adherence? How boring is that? I’m going to take this again!”- was what I think I said.

I went home thinking I was a boring rule follower, a kill-joy bossy-boots who goes around telling everyone what to do.

Now while aspects of that may be (slightly!) true, I have tried to reflect on this strength and what it means to me personally.

Part of Adherence is about naturally focussing on taking the right approach, which I realised I do all the time, every day. This can be as a project manager, working out the right steps and actions to take. Or it can be as an expert in assessment and recruitment, balancing what is right for the candidate, client and Capp.

The next aspect of adherence- and admittedly, the bit I hated the most- is having a love of following guidelines, rules, instructions and procedures. While I’ve never considered myself a rule breaker, I do like to think that I have a curiosity that can take me outside of processes- plus the capacity to think outside of procedures and rules.

But upon reflection, I realised that I do love to follow guidelines and instructions. Whether that be following a project plan at work, following a recipe at home or religiously following Ikea instructions when assembling flatpack; I do like to approach work in a logical structured way.

Finally, having a realised strength in adherence means enjoying completing tasks which have clear steps and stages. When I think about how much I love working through a To Do list, and the satisfaction I get from ticking off each item, this makes total sense.

So, I guess what I’m trying to say is, don’t judge a strength by what it says on the tin. Think about what it means to you and how you can use it within your own work and life.