Enviable Energizers

Two Energize talents have enough similarities to be cousins. Discipline and Focus both show up in the CoreClarity database about 7% of the time and when it comes to getting stuff done they take a more concentrated approach than other Energize talents.

People with the Focus talent see the bullseye and pursue it with bulldog tenacity, cutting out all distractions. They center in on their objective and narrow down priorities to accomplish their mission in the most direct means available. Single-minded, tunnel vision, eyes on the prize are all descriptors often used to describe those who have Focus in their Top 5. They can keep a team on track.

Focus intensifies the effects of other talents. I recently coached a team leader who made this discovery. “When my Focus combines with my Strategic I cut to the quick of a solution with much more clarity and efficiency.”

Interruptions do not play well with the Focus talent. But beware of the Orange Cone of Silence -- the Kryptonite of Focus. You can be so locked into your pursuits that you may not be tuned into the life that is happening around you. People are talking to you but you are not hearing or even in the room with them mentally. Providing margin for inevitable human interruptions is essential to keep this talent from working against you.

Discipline looks a lot like Focus. For years I knew that I needed more of an online presence in my business. I’d post a blog with intentions to do it monthly but it regressed into something like an annual Christmas letter. I needed Discipline. While Focus locks into a goal, Discipline is the talent that brings the structure and routine to get you there.

Discipline is the synergy of tasks and timelines that drives you to a desired goal. It organizes activities and effort into outcomes. They take an elephant sized problem and eat it one bite at a time. From personal health to corporate productivity they bring order to disorder by setting up schedules, parameters, and processes that will bring desired results over time.

The Kryptonite for Discipline is it can feel exasperated in a world that lacks structure. It may need to develop plans B and C for the times when their more effective and efficient plan A falls off schedule due to the lack of discipline in the rest of the world.

A little over two years ago, I was coaching a young woman named Ester who had recently lost her job. It hit me on the drive home that her talents and skill set would be a good match for someone with my social media dilemma. She had Discipline to go with her Achiever and Maximizer. If anyone could kick my butt into an effective online presence it was her. Ester accepted the challenge and has become my digital disciplinarian. Her structure and routines have kept me blogging monthly for over 2 years.

So if you are lacking Focus and Discipline in your life (and most of us are) tap into those who have them as talents. Because just as sure as you are reading this -- it will be a game changer.