#CoachHG Collection 9: CliftonStrengths Findings In Gender (Competition)

From my previous article, I mentioned that from the database of more than 11 million people, there are 5 talent themes with highest differentiation between men and women.

• Women far exceed men in having Empathy and Developer in their Signature themes – a powerful combination for nurturing others.
• The number of men with Analytical, Ideation and Competition in their Signature themes far exceeds the number of women with these themes in their Signature themes.
• Men (16.3%) far exceed women (6.5%) in having Competition in their Signature themes.

In this article, I shall focus on the 4 factors to develop the Competition talent theme.

Factor 1: Awareness of “I want to win” drive

Your Competition talent creates a tremendous energy, drive and determination within you. You want to succeed. You demand success for yourself and you measure that success in terms of where you stand in comparison to others. Your rate of betterment increases when you identify any task as a ‘competitive project’.
Factor 2: Attitude towards competition
It is crucial to know when it’s time to say “winning isn’t everything in this situation” because any overdrive of this talent can potential hurt yourself and others. You should desire to create as many win-win solutions that can lead to positive relationships with others while maintaining your own motivation. Guard against the ‘sore loser’ attitude and embrace ‘I will come back stronger’ mentality.
Factor 3: Attracted to ‘winning elements’
They constantly upgrade themselves by:

• Learning from the best people
• Laying hold of the best resources
• Trying the best practices
• Reflecting on “how can I be better?”

Factor 4: Affecting your organisation towards “let us win”
But the drive to win, succeed and achieve isn’t focused on you alone. It can be a basis for leadership and impacting the lives of others. First, your “win attitude” is a model for others. Second, your competition is often turned into being a source of inspiration for others. And finally, you can use your competition talent to stimulate others to strive for higher levels of performance and productivity. You are someone who grabs the attention of others and they begin to believe that they too can achieve.
Ivan Misner, the  the founder and Chairman of business networking organisation BNI shared his philosophy on Competition. I briefly translate his philosophy with a CliftonStrengths lens:

People with Competition talent theme:

• never bothers about his competitors; not a spirit of rivalry
• Instead, they focus on creating positive impact; a spirit of positive influence

They

• never project their dominance over other; not a spirit of insecurity
• Instead, their process is a journey to improve; a spirit of improvement towards excellence

In conclusion,

• Is Competition talent one of your Signature (Top 5) Themes?
• Which of the above 4 factors are manifesting in your past successes?
• Supposed tomorrow, you are contributing these traits to your family or organisation and you are extremely well received and appreciated by others. What are some different approaches you are using then compare to how you used to utilise Competition talent?

Having dived into the Competition talent, what are your thoughts on the global statistic differentials in gender for this talent theme? Do you have any observations to share from people surrounding you – at work, in the home or among your friends? The genius and beauty of Competition is certainly in our midst, eradicating complacency, aiming for excellence, generating positive push among team members and celebrating wins with the team.