Giving for Greatness

In the age of gift cards and AI services it can be a challenge to get a thoughtful and personalized present for someone on your list that they will enjoy and use. So this month I’m sharing a secret- I have found that if I know someone’s talents I can up my giving game with customized reading or listening. So with Black Friday behind us we are going to get the CoreClarity Quadrant Color Key out to help you spread tidings of greatness and strength to many of your friends and colleagues with some of our Inpowering People Book List.

Remember that the way to make a strength even stronger is to add knowledge, skills, and experience to a talent. People on your list that live a lot in the Magenta or Mobilize quadrant typically are energized when they motivate people to results and actions. Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler will inform readers with new knowledge and skills that will navigate themselves and others through difficult and challenging conversations with safe persuasion rather than harsh emotion.
The subtitle, “Tools for Talking when the Stakes are High,” says it all. (Also a great read for people with Harmony and Empathy in their top 5).

Now if that person on your list has a lot of Orange Energize talents they are probably constantly leaving a wake of things to do, things to start, things to finish and things-I-can’t-fit-on-my-calendar-but-really-need-to-somehow. The challenge they often have is finding time to read as they are pushing onward and upward in their cadre of over commitments. So we want something short, sweet, and to the point, like Donna Genett’s If you Want It Done Right You Don’t Have To Do It Yourself!  In this short narrative about two cousins, Genett rolls out six practical steps that flip the question from “How can I do this?” to “Who can I get to do this?” with the power of effective delegation. (May also be a must read for Responsibility and Maximizer talents).

As for those people who enjoy wading in the deep pool of Green Reflect talents we have a read that will give them plenty to learn, process, problem solve, and noodle on. Patrick Lencioni’s The Advantage combines over 20 years of his writings and work with corporations to bring practical insights and awareness to a huge post pandemic issue on everyone’s mind -- Organizational Health. If culture eats strategy for breakfast this is a must have on your early morning menu.

As we move to the Blue hue of the Connect quadrant I’ll suggest one of my favorite resources. When I started my work with CoreClarity I had a frustrated business owner ask me “Why isn’t there a book for people in business about character?” My response was a quick introduction to Dr. Henry Cloud’s book Integrity. His six character dimensions start with Trust and end with the transcendence of Authenticity that will change your paradigm of connecting and leading others.

And one last tip before you click off to Amazon. The most critical thing to find out is if your giftee prefers audio books, pad platforms like Kindle, or old-fashioned paper pages and covers. Once you have their favorite learning medium you are set to give a gift that will keep them growing as well as use this cheat sheet to invest in yourself for a stronger 2024!

Happy Holidays,

Bert