Understanding and Investing in Your Achiever Talent

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

What does Achiever look like when it is in its best form? As an Achiever, you are an attainer, a doer, a pusher, a tracker, and a pace setter. It is about the stamina to complete. It is a countdown to completion. When you are at your very best as an Achiever, it looks like pushing yourself and others towards milestones. It is also about exuding and inspiring more energy than other people. Achievers are constantly on, constantly going, and constantly pushing towards the finish line. In its best state it is also about pushing other people to work harder. It is an understanding of what needs to be done, and how to get there. It is also about crushing your to-do list in a way that advances your own accomplishments.

Achiever is a great awareness piece in the back of your mind that grows and tracks progress. There's an element of counting and qualifying to move towards a goal. The thing that stands alone to an Achiever is that it is something that restarts daily. Your Achiever focus is able to look at the progress towards the day to meet your goals.

If you're an Achiever, lean into working hard. You might be tempted to stop or slow down for people who are not keeping up with you. Don't. Find ways where you can just open the gate and run. Find partners who share your stamina. There is a multiplicative effect with work ethic. Surround yourself with like-minded individuals to help increase your productivity. Pay attention to those who can keep up with you, and those that press you to work even harder.

Ask for more opportunities to dive into the work. Find ways where you can confirm when the work is ready to start, rather than being stuck in idea mode. Train your ear to listen for the word "go." Help other people hear the tasks that can be accomplished, as well as finding an environment where you can be part of creating progress for that goal.

Achievers have a commitment towards completion. Achievers can also be your best celebrators, because they understand when a milestone has been met. An Achiever will always have an awareness of where they are going, and what they want to complete that day.

If you're an Achiever, don't commit to giving your all towards everything. You're going to be asked to do a lot, because you get it done. Make sure that you're putting your time towards your highest priorities, not just everything that needs to be finished for the sake of completion. Make sure that you are known for your hard work, but it is put into a thoughtful place.

If you have someone with high Achiever on your team you can expect excitement and relaxation when tasks are in bullet form. Achievers take delight in clarity. If they know exactly what they are running towards, they can run all that much harder. You can also expect your Achievers to have more energy than other people. They have isolated stamina. They don't need you to push them. They are also going to have a high expectation of the work ethic of people around them, as well as a low threshold for boredom.

Achievers may not always look backwards, but you can. You can be the person to help an Achiever see what they've accomplished. Even if they always go above and beyond expectations, it is a good idea to recognize their accomplishments. Keep track of their hours with them. Help them see how exceptional their work load is.

If you are going to partner with someone with high Achiever, look to them for momentum on extended timelines. Honor their need for clarity and a lack of ambiguity, and check in on what's already on their list. Have an open dialogue on timelines. Know that they're going to work hard. So keep up, or find ways to get out of their way.

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

• Track your progress hours at work for at least five days. At the end of five days review how those hours are aligning with your top work priorities.
• Find your favorite app for managing a to-do list and use it.
• Have a conversation with a partner about what you're looking forward to checking off this week.