Understanding and Investing in Your Learner Talent

On this Theme Thursday Season 4 webcast, Jim Collison, Gallup's Director of Talent Sourcing, and Maika Leibbrandt, Senior Workplace Consultant, talk about Learner.

You love to learn. The subject matter that interests you most will be determined by your other themes and experiences, but whatever the subject, you will always be drawn to the process of learning. The process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting for you. You are energized by the steady and deliberate journey from ignorance to competence. The thrill of the first few facts, the early efforts to recite or practice what you have learned, the growing confidence of a skill mastered -- this is the process that entices you.

Your excitement leads you to engage in adult learning experiences -- yoga or piano lessons or graduate classes. It enables you to thrive in dynamic work environments where you are asked to take on short project assignments and are expected to learn a lot about the new subject matter in a short period of time and then move on to the next one. This Learner theme does not necessarily mean that you seek to become the subject matter expert, or that you are striving for the respect that accompanies a professional or academic credential. The outcome of the learning is less significant than the "getting there."

If Learner is one of your Dominant Themes, invest in it this week through the following challenge items:

• Revisit an unfinished project. Why did you abandon it? What do you know now about it that you didn't before? How did (even the unfinished) this project inform your understanding today?
• Identify your next learning milestone (certificate, level, course completion) and plan a party to celebrate the people who helped you get there.
• What subject is important to a partner of yours? Register for a class, a podcast series, or a challenge group that helps you know more about it.

If Learner is not one of your Dominant Themes, invest in it this week through the following challenge items:

• Ask 5 clients (people who rely on you) to list their top 3 challenges they currently face.
• Identify your best informant. Who keeps you relevant and in touch? Have a meal with them to: 1) Thank them; 2) Listen to their latest discoveries.