Third in a series that explains components of the Leading From Your Strengths profiles
Leading From Your Strengths (LFYS) Profiles are personalized, detailed 20-page reports which accurately describe your individual habitual patterns of behavior, thought, emotion, and communication. They provide you with sophisticated, objective insights and action steps about your unique strengths – data you can use immediately and long-term.
Teams, couples, families, and employers use the profiles in order to work together more effectively. Although the profile questionnaire is quick and simple to complete, it provides sophisticated data in a 20-page report in six sections:
- Your Natural Strengths
- Your Checklist for Communicating
- Your Ideal Environment
- How Others Can Best Lead and Motivate You
- Your Perceptions
- Your Adapted Strengths
This article explains how your report outlines the Ideal Environment suited to your strengths.
About the Ideal Environment Section
Rather than describe you, this section describes the circumstances in which you operate naturally well.
Image: Animationews
While you may think of your environment is the physical bricks-and-mortar that surrounds you, this section in the profile report takes a more conceptual approach. Here, your environment encompasses the cultural, professional, and relational surroundings in which your strengths are most likely to flourish, based on your natural style.
In your profile report, your ideal environment is listed in bullet points. This list may not touch upon every strength you possess, but rather lists key conditions in which your strengths can thrive.
Cultural environment: group behaviors
Teams, families, and couples are organisms. Each develops a group approach or “culture.” Your ideal environment describes the team atmosphere that allows your strengths to prosper. For instance, you may do best in a process-oriented approach over a results-oriented approach (or vice versa.) Perhaps you operate best when the environment is stable and predictable – or when change is always in the air.
Professional environment: work behaviors
What kinds of work activities suit you best? Maybe you need constant challenge with plenty of assignments to juggle … activities that are difficult or challenging … or you prefer assignments that are practical or follow procedure … or work that is innovative, requiring you to think outside the box.
Relational environment: interactive behaviors
Each individual has relationship strengths that can be maximized in an ideal environment. Perhaps you thrive on a team or do your best work when you go solo. Maybe you respond well with group direction … excel with one-on-one attention … or prefer a balance.
Ways to Use the Ideal Environment Section
Know your ideal environment. When you know the conditions and surroundings that bring out your best, you can cultivate that environment at work and at home.
Share about your ideal environment with others. Tell your colleagues and family members what works for you. Show them this section of your report. Find out what environment is their ideal. Work together to build culture, activities, and relationships that allow all of you to prosper.
Invite God to move. As you examine your surroundings to see how your strengths fit, you may experience varying degrees of frustration or growth. Can your strengths thrive in an environment that is not ideal to you? Yes.
Your “ideal” environment is just that: ideal, idyllic, or perfect for your strengths. You may work in it now or you may not ever find your way there. You may come close. God may led you to change your situation to an environment more suited to your strengths or have you to stay put to grow in a different way.
Whether to stay in your current environment, seek to change it, or move away to another one is a question to bring before God.
One thing is for certain: God can use your strengths in your environment, ideal or not, to accomplish great things through you. He “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20, NIV).
More about Your Profile Report
A Map of Your Profile Report, Part 1: Your Natural Strengths
A Map of Your Profile Report, Part 2: Your Checklist for Communicating
A Map of Your Profile Report, Part 4: How Can Others Best Lead and Motivate You?
A Map of Your Profile Report, Part 5: Your Perceptions
A Map of Your Profile Report, Part 6: Your Adaptive Strengths