Illuminarios- Lighting Up the World Year Round

I had arranged our department in the conference room to assemble notebooks for an upcoming conference. Using my Strategic, I set up a simple assembly line that would cut the large tedious job into an efficient one-hour chore. Things started off well and after a few adjustments the room was soon buzzing with productive chatter. However, there was soon a bottleneck in the process and like any good project leader I was trying to figure out the why. Quick analysis and my CoreClarity training led me not to the why but the who. I had made the miscalculation of putting Leslie, our Illuminario, in the middle of the assembly line.

Illuminarios are natural people persons who also have an interpersonal relationship push of persuasion and motivation. They thrive on the opportunities that interaction with others bring and can turn the most mundane project into an engaging social event. We call them Illuminarios because when they are at their best they love to shine a light on others. And if they have Communication and/or Woo they can carry on several conversations at the same time, which is what Leslie was joyfully doing. Thus, creating a bottleneck of notebooks stacking up at her station while those in the second half of the line were waiting for work. So I simply moved Leslie to the end of the line where her socializing was cut in half and her attention to the task at hand a bit more focused.

People who have all their Top 5 talents in the Connect and Mobilize quadrants often have a way of bringing inspiration and encouragement to others. They naturally connect beyond a surface level and seamlessly mobilize others to feeling valued, special, or heard. While we see problems and setbacks, they see opportunities and lessons. With harder driving mobilize talents, they can push others out of their comfort zone to new heights. The softer mobilize talents not only see the potential in others but may lose sleep over how to draw it out. In either case, they get satisfaction and fulfillment from seeing others develop and grow into that potential.

Their lack of reflect talents can be mitigated when what they have to reflect on involves people - especially those close to them. Fear of missing out makes reflection acceptable if not fun. Leslie could be “detail challenged” unless it had to do with people. Calling her for a schedule of upcoming deadlines drained her, but asking her who in the office was having a birthday next month would light her up quickly like candles on a cake.  

Their lack of energize can be offset by the extrinsic pull of others. It is probably no surprise that they learn more through verbal processing with others and can bring a lot of drive when working with friends, family, and choice colleagues. They make great team players because they can light up like a Christmas tree just from participation - as long as they can interact with others. However some Illuminarios can get overwhelmed with certain crowds, like those with Relator who are outside their social circles or Empathy, Harmony, and Positivity around toxic people.

We see this profile in just less than 2% of our CoreClarity database. But when we encounter them personally, they can warm up a room and light up the brilliance of those around us.