Wielding My Strengths

Continued from "Sight to the Blind"


Photos by Matt Parks

A few yeas ago my employer started an initiative to build stronger store management teams.  The first step was for us to take a “Strength Finders” test.  These tests don’t necessarily reveal specific skill sets, but rather show what personality traits we possess that make us feel strong.  At first I thought this was a corporate attempt to pigeon hole us into roles deemed “suitable” by the test.  But after taking it, my entire perspective on management had changed.  

I used to focus on my staff’s weak areas and train them to improve those weaknesses.  Now that I understand strengths, I try to avoid assigning tasks in areas where they are weak, and instead look to make their strengths stronger.  This test also helped me understand the various lenses through which people think and view situations.  If I know someone’s strengths, I can better understand why they are responding in a particular way and adjust my approach accordingly.  

The results of my test were surprisingly accurate!  My top 5 are:

Responsibility

Strategic

Adaptability

Learner 

Belief

As I studied this list, I realized that strategic and adaptability are actually opposites.  At first I though, “Wow!  I have the best of both worlds!  I am so well rounded!  I can make a plan and if it doesn’t work, I can easily change!”  I laugh now because the more I look at how I am wired, the more I understand that these strengths often don’t work with each other, but against.  

The strategic part of me loves to analyze factors in an equation and develop an efficient plan to maximize results.  This strength expresses itself in my science background and operational positions at work.  The strategist in me hates when things don’t go as planned, but adapter loves it.  The adapter loves to think creatively in order to solve problems.  My artistic tendencies and love of surprises lend themselves to adaptability.  I’ve actually spent hours making a plan, then out of frustration for its ridged structure, trashed it and went ahead relying completely on improvisation.  In short, I AM CRAZY!  

Turns out, I would need both of these strengths to successfully lead the Vacation Bible School (VBS) program in Haiti.  

My Challenge:  To create a VBS program based on the children’s song “Be Careful Little Eyes,” and coordinate the production in Haiti.

The Factors:

-Produce three, two hour lessons to be taught over the corse of three days

-Teach lessons based on what Jesus did with His Feet, Hands, and Heart

-Accommodate 200-300 non-english speaking children, who ages we do not know

-Assume no electricity is available

-Size of the teaching area is unknown 

-Must divide kids into small groups to better facilitate activities

-Small group activities include a craft, game, and snack

-I’ve never coordinated VBS and haven’t been to one since I was about 12 years old

I took these factors, plugged them into my strategic brain, and developed a program I thought would be fun, entertaining, and inspirational.  The adaptive side of me knew it lacked some artistic creativity, but I figured the strategist would get me through.  The only thing to do now was set it to motion and pray that it would work out. 

VBS Day 1

We though it would be cool to decorate the school house to give it more of a festive feel.  

Pretty tacky I know, but hey, TIH!

We didn’t consider that even duct tape was no match for the high humidity, and our decorations fell almost as fast as we put them up.  After two hours of work, only these balloons were left.

We cleaned up the fallen party supplies and prepared for the children’s arrival.  

The program was to start at 2:00 PM, but by 2:15, there were only about 20 kids milling about.  “UMMM, where are the 200,” I muttered?  Apparently in Haitian culture, activities don’t necessarily begin at a specific time, but more so when everyone gets there.  The rush came around 2:30, and it took another several minutes to get them calmed down.  Finally, by 2:38 we were ready to begin.

Our team was nervous and I sensed that the kids were guarded.  They didn’t know what we were going to do and we didn’t know how they would react.  One of our students, Kyla, and myself were the MC’s for the show.  All of our words were spoke through translators.  Earlier that day I pictured use being smooth and savvy, delivering an exciting performance for the children who would hang on our every word.  It didn’t quite happen that way!  If speaking through the translator was repetitious and boring for me, I can’t imagine how it was for the kids.  

   

Despite the late start, we went through our lesson quicker then anticipated and had to scramble to keep their attention.  We couldn’t come up with much on the fly so we transitioned right into small groups.  Each child had a colored wrist band that corresponded to a group.  

There were suppose to be five groups, each accompanied by translator.  The problem was we only had two translators and a whole lot of rowdy kids.  Our trip leader John knows French, which is similar to Creole, so he translated the best he could.  Unfortunately, two groups were left without a translator and had to fend for themselves. 

  

The translators tried going back and forth between groups, but it was mostly chaos.  Our students lead the small groups, and despite the difficult situation made the best of it.

Most kids were manageable, that is until we started handing stuff out.  We were approved to give away craft supplies and candy because it was in a structured setting (laugh) and we had enough for everyone.  Treats are hard to come by in Haiti, and we didn’t expect the kids to be so aggressive.  The adult leaders had to patrol the groups and take away the treats if the kids got too out of hand.  

Everyone was pretty exhausted by the end of the session.  Our students were beat and we were all a little frustrated by the lack of communication and discipline.  It wasn’t a total loss, but I knew we could do better.  The strategist had put together a good framework, but didn’t quite have the depth.  We needed to bridge some gaps in order to connect with these children.  It was time to adapt.  

The leadership team got together that night and debriefed.  We prayed for direction and clarity on how to proceed with the next session.  I knew I needed to release control of my plan and allow Him to establish His plan.  As I looked around the room, I remembered what I had learned in Strength Finders.  There were seven other people there who possessed strengths, talents, and experience that far exceeded my weaknesses.  I felt God leading me to seek them for help.  “What do you guys think," I asked?

I grabbed a pen and paper and wrote as fast as the ideas flowed.  God brought His plan to us in a huge way.  By the end of the meeting, I felt our new strategy was 10 times stronger then the one we used a few hours earlier.  I let people cover my weaknesses and I covered theirs.  God was our leader and we were His team.   

 With renewed excitement, we went to bed eager to see what He would do with tomorrow’s VBS.  

 
Coming Soon...

"From School Play to Broadway"

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