How to Improve Your Wellbeing With Futuristic®

Below are audio and video plus a transcript of the conversation, including time stamps.

Your CliftonStrengths^® can empower the 5 elements of your wellbeing -- career, social, financial, community and physical. But how does this happen if you are struggling in one or more of these elements? If you have Futuristic, Appendix 1 of Gallup's Wellbeing at Work book has Strengths Insights and Action Items that can move you from struggling to thriving as you apply your Futuristic talent to fuel your wellbeing. Join Jaclynn Robinson and Jim Collison on this CliftonStrengths Podcast to discover how.

When you [the person with Futuristic] take those visions of a brighter or bolder world and put them into action, you can bring new innovations and ways of thinking to life.

Jaclynn Robinson, 1:26

If you're a manager, bring that Futuristic person ... to the table, because if they've really matured that talent theme, then they can help people see, touch and taste what that future looks like. That's gonna bring a lot of inspiration.

Jaclynn Robinson, 5:10

Jim Collison 0:00
I am Jim Collison, and welcome to the CliftonStrengths Podcast. On this podcast, we'll be covering topics such as wellbeing, teamwork, professional development and more. Now enjoy this episode.

Jim Collison 0:14
In this CliftonStrengths Podcast, we'll look at the Strengths Insight and Action Planning items from Appendix 1 in the Gallup book Wellbeing at Work one theme at a time, and today's theme is Futuristic. If you're listening live, love to you have join us in our chat room. There's a link right above me there. Sign in, and you can ask your questions. Or if you're listening after the fact, you can send us an email: coaching@gallup.com. Dr. Jaclynn Robinson is our host today. She works as a Gallup Learning and Development Consultant and was the primary contributor to Appendix 1 in the Wellbeing at Work book. Jaclynn, always great to be back with you, and welcome back!

Jaclynn Robinson 0:47
Likewise. Thank you. Excited to talk about Futuristic with our futurists.

What's the definition of Futuristic?

Jim Collison 0:52
That's what we're talking about. Why don't we start with the standard definition?

Jaclynn Robinson 0:56
All right. So those that lead with Futuristic are inspired by the future and what could be. They energize others with their visions of the future.

Jim Collison 1:05
"Inspired by the future" -- I love that. I love that start with that, because it's a very, gives it a very positive start. As we think about that definition, how does it relate to you or me? And how does it relate to others?

Jaclynn Robinson 1:17
If this is you, as someone that is more visual by nature, you have a talent for envisioning the future state of situations, events, products and more. When you take those visions of a brighter or bolder world and put them into action, you can bring new innovations and ways of thinking to life. How it relates to others: The creativity, inner idealism that runs through your mind is a value-add to individuals and teams seeking to break out of stagnant ways of thinking or doing. You can help push through status quo and invite in innovation.

Jim Collison 1:48
I like that! I like that a lot. That -- you know what?

Jaclynn Robinson 1:51
Seeing my own Futuristic with these ways of describing it.

How does Futuristic look when it's thriving vs. struggling?

Jim Collison 1:54
You know what word I thought of is "hope." Bringing hope. And I just think Futuristic, like, all of them can have some element of that. But I think Futuristic has that bend towards hope. And I, you know, super, super important. We've been spending the season really kind of talking a lot about these themes and wellbeing and what they look like when they're thriving and what they're, what they look like when they're struggling. Let's talk a little bit about that.

Jaclynn Robinson 2:23
Yes, so thriving is when they can work and play in environments that embrace innovative thinking or new ideas. From a social standpoint, connecting with other futurists, so to speak, to learn about new advancements in a field or a hobby of interest can bring forth engagement and a lot of energy for this person. And then struggling is when this individual is stuck in an environment where status quo is embraced or where it requires a lot of time for changes to occur. It could be because of company policy or red tape or just the different hands that it has to cross to get implemented. But that excitement could quickly lead, lead to fizzle or frustration. It's like it's not moving fast enough. We're not making those changes fast enough.

Jim Collison 3:07
Yeah. In times of high change, do you also think that can be when, when things are happening out of the control of someone with high Futuristic, and they, they can see -- or they maybe they can't see -- because things are -- do, do you think that can lead to some struggling in wellbeing areas?

Jaclynn Robinson 3:30
I could see that. Maybe the vision -- we've talked about this before too just in kind of circles in and outside of Gallup. But if the futurist's vision is different than the vision of the company or organization, there can be some struggle -- or the person that's in front of them, there can be a struggle. So then it might be the case of helping that individual see, touch and taste the vision that is being implemented and why it's going to be innovative, or why that path is being taken, could be helpful for that individual. That's a good callout, though, a really good callout.

Jim Collison 4:07
Yeah. Yeah. Well, and may require some, like a lot of conversation. That's one of these things where, right, we need to overcome that by voicing that: Hey, I'm kinda, I was kind of thinking this was my future. And you're telling me today it's not.

Jaclynn Robinson 4:24
Yes. Let's dial it back and have that conversation.

Jim Collison 4:28
Yeah, well, and, but, but, but that's a moment, I think, as, and we've got these best practices, right, we think about in Appendix 1, which, which you did most of the work on there. We've got the 5 -- we've got these themes, and then the 5 elements. As we think about some best practices, how can we overcome that? Why don't you walk us through one of those, Jaclynn.

Jaclynn Robinson 4:49
Yeah, so from a career wellbeing perspective, this person thrives when they're living in the future. So asking them to connect the task at hand to where it all leads can be helpful. They can really energize the team and customers by sharing their vision of the future. So again, just what's, what's the future that you see? And if you're a manager, bring that Futuristic person to the, to the conversation, to the table, because if they've really matured that talent theme, then they can help people see, touch and taste what that future looks like. That's gonna bring a lot of inspiration into your point, hope.

Jim Collison 5:27
Yeah, and that hope can spread across all 5 of those, plus all the other ones that people want to talk about. Like, I just think there's some great power in this to really -- not just for the "me," but for the "we," right. To those around me -- family, teams, the, where I work, whatever, organizations I'm a part of, I think there's, you know, and maybe even today, as we think about para organizations or volunteer, or some of those kinds of things, where people don't have to be there, right. And they've been, I mean, it's been difficult times, things have all changed on them. And I think someone with high Futuristic can look ahead and say, Hey, look, I know this is the way it is today. But I'm seeing some things ahead where there's some hope, and maybe hold some of those organizations that aren't glued by natural things but just by people volunteering, and we're gonna need those. We're gonna need some of those things in the future here, right? Any, anything else you want to add?

Jaclynn Robinson 6:26
I think you're really touching on how they build relationships or can be the glue for people, even though it's a Strategic Thinking theme. A lot of people might struggle with this sometimes to say, How do I build relationships with Futuristic? And it's through that sense of inspiration and hope that we often see in helping people remember that a brighter future can come or a brighter future lies ahead. And Hey, this is what I see.

For those with Futuristic, how can it be used to support others?

Jim Collison 6:51
Four other helps in there for the other ones we didn't talk about it in this in the appendix, and you can go back there and take a look; use those as a resource. So Jaclynn, with those, thinking with Futuristic in mind, and this is really what it's all about. We've alluded to a few things, but how can we use it to help others?

Jaclynn Robinson 7:08
If you're a manager or leading a team, your natural inclination to think about the future can help employees see how what they're doing today is leading to a better tomorrow for customers. In addition, you can help them think about their future in the organization and help craft a plan to, to get them there. If you're on a team, your dreams of the future or ideas for new products and innovations can bring forth inspiration and enthusiasm on the team when you take those ideas and help others see it and realize it. And you can do this by translating those visions in your mind into words or visuals for the team to also see and visualize.

Jaclynn Robinson 7:45
As an individual, I shifted this a little bit. I thought, continue to hone your talent for the future. You can take those pictures in your mind and make them purposeful intentions, by way of vision boards, a picture of where you see yourself in the future, words of affirmation or even a social group or podcast related to the future state of things. So continue to feed that Futuristic. And when you have those ideas, depending on other themes that surround it, sometimes you just need to ground it. Vision boarding, thinking of yourself in that future state, social groups -- that can, that can help you really lean into it with intention.

Jim Collison 8:23
I'm going to add one to this list. We haven't done this this way. But as a coach, I think there's an opportunity to, with those with high Futuristic, to, to ask great questions that lead individuals to thinking about how things could be better in the future, right, of crafting those questions in a way that leads them there. You know how to get there; you do it for yourself all the time. You know how to, you know how to get yourself there. I think the key is, is, is crafting those questions in a way and leading an individual there to be able to help them see -- I'm a firefighter, not a farmer. I live in the day to day. It's great when someone can walk me down, Hey, let's, let's look a little bit ahead on this. And I think that's kind of a coach's job, right, it can be to lead them ahead.

Jim Collison 9:10
So challenge you, coaches, especially those of you with high Futuristic -- if you don't have it, borrow it somehow; put it on the credit card. But I think it's a great opportunity, right, to do that in them. In Appendix 2, we have this framework to work through. Coaches, let me encourage you to use that framework as you're coaching individuals. Jaclynn, give us an example of what this would look like maybe for Futuristic.

Jaclynn Robinson 9:31
Yes, I'm glad you brought up community earlier as well, because I selected from the community wellbeing piece of Appendix 2. So Ask Yourself: How can my community get better? What can I help change? Ask Your Team Members: How does the work we do have an impact on our communities? And Take Action: Volunteer for a community event you feel passionate about as a team. So ways that you can lean into Futuristic, and I think it would also even start from asking yourself, How can my community get better? What can I help change? Or asking the team, What do we want to get involved in? And how can we help change that? And then shaping it actually on the ground and seeing those ideas you have come to fruition.

Jim Collison 10:12
Thank you so much for listening to today's episode of the CliftonStrengths Podcast. Make sure you like and subscribe wherever you listen, so you never miss an episode. And if you're really enjoying this podcast, please leave a review. This helps us promote strengths globally.

Jaclynn Robinson's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are Achiever, Strategic, Maximizer, Positivity and Relator.

Gallup^®, CliftonStrengths^® and each of the 34 CliftonStrengths theme names are trademarks of Gallup. Copyright © 2000 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.