StrengthsFinder 1.0

Recently, I got the book “Now, Discover Your Strengths” by Marcus Buckingham and took the quiz.  There is a newer version out I know, but this will do for now..

So without further delay, here are my top 5..

Strategic 

The Strategic theme enables you to sort through the clutter and find the best route. It is not a skill that can be taught. It is a distinct way of thinking, a special perspective on the world at large. This perspective allows you to see patterns where others simply see complexity. Mindful of these patterns, you play out alternative scenarios, always asking, “What if this happened? Okay, well what if this happened?” This recurring question helps you see around the next corner. There you can evaluate accurately the potential obstacles. Guided by where you see each path leading, you start to make selections. You discard the paths that lead nowhere. You discard the paths that lead straight into resistance. You discard the paths that lead into a fog of confusion. You cull and make selections until you arrive at the chosen path—your strategy. Armed with your strategy, you strike forward. This is your Strategic theme at work: “What if?” Select. Strike. 

Woo 

Woo stands for winning others over. You enjoy the challenge of meeting new people and getting them to like you. Strangers are rarely intimidating to you. On the contrary, strangers can be energizing. You are drawn to them. You want to learn their names, ask them questions, and find some area of common interest so that you can strike up a conversation and build rapport. Some people shy away from starting up conversations because they worry about running out of things to say. You don’t. Not only are you rarely at a loss for words; you actually enjoy initiating with strangers because you derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection. Once that connection is made, you are quite happy to wrap it up and move on. There are new people to meet, new rooms to work, new crowds to mingle in. In your world there are no strangers, only friends you haven’t met yet—lots of them. 

Communication 

You like to explain, to describe, to host, to speak in public, and to write. This is your Communication theme at work. Ideas are a dry beginning. Events are static. You feel a need to bring them to life, to energize them, to make them exciting and vivid. And so you turn events into stories and practice telling them. You take the dry idea and enliven it with images and examples and metaphors. You believe that most people have a very short attention span. They are bombarded by information, but very little of it survives. You want your information—whether an idea, an event, a product’s features and benefits, a discovery, or a lesson— to survive. You want to divert their attention toward you and then capture it, lock it in. This is what drives your hunt for the perfect phrase. This is what draws you toward dramatic words and powerful word combinations. This is why people like to listen to you. Your word pictures pique their interest, sharpen their world, and inspire them to act. 

Input 

You are inquisitive. You collect things. You might collect information—words, facts, books, and quotations —or you might collect tangible objects such as butterflies, baseball cards, porcelain dolls, or sepia photographs. Whatever you collect, you collect it because it interests you. And yours is the kind of mind that finds so many things interesting. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity. If you read a great deal, it is not necessarily to refine your theories but, rather, to add more information to your archives. If you like to travel, it is because each new location offers novel artifacts and facts. These can be acquired and then stored away. Why are they worth storing? At the time of storing it is often hard to say exactly when or why you might need them, but who knows when they might become useful? With all those possible uses in mind, you really don’t feel comfortable throwing anything away. So you keep acquiring and compiling and filing stuff away. It’s interesting. It keeps your mind fresh. And perhaps one day some of it will prove valuable. 

Maximizer 

Excellence, not average, is your measure. Taking something from below average to slightly above average takes a great deal of effort and in your opinion is not very rewarding. Transforming something strong into something superb takes just as much effort but is much more thrilling. Strengths, whether yours or someone else’s, fascinate you. Like a diver after pearls, you search them out, watching for the telltale signs of a strength. A glimpse of untutored excellence, rapid learning, a skill mastered without recourse to steps—all these are clues that a strength may be in play. And having found a strength, you feel compelled to nurture it, refine it, and stretch it toward excellence. You polish the pearl until it shines. This natural sorting of strengths means that others see you as discriminating. You choose to spend time with people who appreciate your particular strengths. Likewise, you are attracted to others who seem to have found and cultivated their own strengths. You tend to avoid those who want to fix you and make you well rounded. You don’t want to spend your life bemoaning what you lack. Rather, you want to capitalize on the gifts with which you are blessed. It’s more fun. It’s more productive. And, counterintuitively, it is more demanding.

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What are your strengths?

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Alright so I am still alive and in Edmond. I’m currently writing this from my “new” iPhone.

Really liking it so far. With this new wordpress app I may actually write more but no promises.

Go check out http://www.tulsaloop.com

..finds Life. And for me, that life is leading to Edmond, OK..

After 3 years of employment at RHEMA Bible Church/Kenneth Hagin Ministries and 13 years growing up in the church, I am leaving to take an IT position at LifeChurch.tv.

I leave Rhema with much affection and still plan on being involved as an alumni of Rhema Bible Training Center. I’m going to miss my good friends and co-workers, but the internet will help with the distance.

My transition will take place over the next four weeks and I will start down there mid-July. Looking forward to new adventures and new peoples.

I’m both excited and scared as this is the first real time away from home. Good thing is, it’s not too far from home!

More later. If you aren’t, follow me on twitter..

For it has been to long since I have blogged, I bid your forgiveness, oh blogging world.  Alas, the toils of life and work have sorely separated me from my abilty to write in leisure.

 Soon shall there be writings again, however, poor (which normally is so) they are!

Until that time, click thy mouse o’er and on these links.

• My Friend Seth has a question he needs answered about the church and world hunger
• Non-Friend Seth Godin has a great post about talking to Apple Support
• Church IT King, Jason Powell, has an IT staff position open..(chance of a lifetime if you ask me)
• SAN’s are pretty!  Though they lack blue LED’s…  (Take Note Dell Equallogic.. blue leds in the future..)
• Lastly for tonight, go check out, join up, find someway to join up.  http://www.ONEPrayer.com

Pike’s Peak, originally uploaded by churchiee.

Ok bad pun, but alas I do work IT..

This is a picture I took this past summer while in Colorado Springs, CO looking towards Pike’s Peak.

I had this big post about strategic planning and thoughts about looking forward but.. I lost it.. I’ll have to do it later.

Enjoy!

*Edit* Oh and go check out Derrick Henslee’s blog.  He is the worship pastor for Tulsa’s Lifechurch.tv’s campus.

Yes, I sort of borrowed the idea from Andrew Conrad, so go check his blog out.

• Craig Groeschel over at LifeChurch.tv’s Swerve has been talking about church metrics.  A good read for any church leader.
• Terry Storch and the Digerati Team of LifeChurch.tv pushed out some new features of YouVersion.com, including the NIV version.  Youversion is an awesome tool.
• Ed Young is blogging!  He did a funny little video..
• Mark Batterson writes just a little bit about the reach of technology over at TheaterChurch
• Tim Stevens, Exec Pastor over at GCC, announced that his new site for his book, Pop Goes the Church, is up and running!  I cannot wait to read the book.
• Josh Scott gives some great thoughts on marketing, go check out his blog. He also is hooked on twitter and posted a cool video on what twittering is.
• Shawn Wood from Seacoast church is getting ready to release his book, gonna be a good one.

Thats all for now!  You can always check the Church IT aggregate feed for more.

  The Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera will be coming to Tulsa this June.  The first and last time I saw this show was in 2002 in Oklahoma City.  I went in very skeptical; thinking that I was not going to enjoy the show at all.  Afterwards, I really was surprised about how much I liked it.

    Needless to say, I’ve got tickets on the floor of the TulsaPAC for June 28th.  Very excited!

Anyone else seen Phantom or any other Broadway show you liked?

I’ve seen a lovely handful of concerts the past few years including: Josh Groban, Michael Buble, Elvis Costello, Coldplay, and Tony Bennett.  Last night I was able to see B.B. King finally after many years of having to miss his concerts.

The concert was fantastic, other than the security staffs close to violent measures to keep photographs from being taken.  I even saw them make an elderly lady delete her photos or they threatened to take her camera. The unmistakable King of the Blues played for nearly two hours.  There was no stage set, but you didn’t need it.  He sang, played Lucille, told stories and jokes.  I had tickets in the 8th row and was completely satisfied.  It was a great experience.

In other news, I have been fighting a cold/cough for over a week; mainly brought on by my excessive working. So on those nights I couldn’t sleep the past 10 days and those few days I took off from work, I caught up on watching all of Heroes seasons 1 and 2.  Next, the last two episodes of Chuck!

People keep telling me I should watch Lost.. whats everyone think?

I read a decent amount of blogs anymore.  I like to read what other people are going through and what they are experiencing in their life, as well as, news feeds and other sundry items.

I do have some people I regularly read on the blog rolls on the right of my site, but here are the links to my google shared items.  I share what I find interesting or what I think is very beneficial. 

Formatted Page: 
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/01644697255255336668

RSS Feed:
http://www.google.com/reader/public/atom/user/01644697255255336668/state/com.google/broadcast

Well ok, not really, it got bigger!

I got B.B. King tickets for my birthday!!!!!!!  8th row in the orchestra area!

I also got

• Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman
• The Great Mouse Detective  (I love Disney films…)
• James Bond: Ultimate Edition Vol 2  (yep love bond films as well..I’m a tech guy.. what’d you expect =] )