I stepped into my new job at a perfect time. Initiative360 was just beginning a new program to assess staff skills, strengths, hindrances, motivations and personality. Hopefully, this test will be used one day to help churches, teams and families better understand their gifts and calling in life.
The test took me a little over an hour and covered everything from preferred tasks to logical problems. It was an interesting test and I would be SO curious for all of you to take it!
I got my results last Thursday and nothing suprised me. So, would you like a run-down of who I am (according to this test)? You don't have a choice... (the scale is 1 to 10, with 1 being on the low side of the description and 10 being identical to the description. I did not type out the whole descriptions, but the key words and characteristics.) I also put things in green bold that I agreed with about myself and italicized in orange thoughts I had about the results. Let me know if you have questions or if something surprises you! :-P
Thinking Style
Learning Pace 9- Learning, reasoning and problem solving potential.
Verbal Skill 10- Vocabulary skills.
Verbal Reasoning 8- Using words as a basis in reasoning and problem solving.
Numerical Ability 9- Numeric calculation ability. This surprised me at first, but then I remembered how easy the mathematical questions had been!
Numeric Reasoning 10- Numbers as a basis in reasoning and problem solving. I LOVE logical math problems such as "What number comes next in this pattern 1, 3, 6, 8, 11, 13?"
Occupational Interests
Enterprising 5- Seeks to promote change through ideas, products and services.
Financial/ Administrative 8- Interested in activities such as organizing information. Seeks consistency, predictability and control. Umm, yes. This is not so much financial, like accounting, as it is administration. Although, I do enjoy some accounting and attention to financial detail.
People Service 8- Seeks to be of genuine help to others in need. Which, as you see later, is my "motivational" ie, spiritual gift.
Technical 2- Interested in scientific activities, technical data and research. Usually good at trivia. HA. I think the only thing that I can slightly agree with is the research. NEVER force me to play a game of trivia. I might cry. I am all about logic, not random facts.
Mechanical 5- Interested in working with tools, seeks to see tangible results as a result of labor. Usually fond of the outdoors.
Creative 10- Interested in activites using imagination, creativity and original ideas. Seeks to be different. If I am not allowed to let my creative juices flow, either in serving others, teaching or organizing, I will eventually go crazy.
Personality Behavioral Traits
Energy 4- Tendency to display endurance and capacity for a fast pace. Since I am on the lower end of the spectrum, this means that I like a more paced day instead of one that is completely crammed. I can handle a full load for a while, but need a break- especially if the schedule involves a lot of interaction with people.
Assertiveness 4- Tendency to take charge of people and situations and speak up. With this definition, I am surprised that I did not score higher. One of the reasons I scored lower is because I like to have a lot of facts before jumping into a situation.
Sociability 4- Tendency to be outgoing, people-oriented and mixes with others. I score low because after a while, people drain me.
Manageability 5- Tendency to follow policies and work within the rules. Most of the time, but I need to be able to be creative, without crossing moral boundaries. I will follow procedures, unless I think there is a better way to get things done.
Attitude 2- Tendency to have a trusting attitude regarding people and outcomes. When I saw a 2 next to attitude I thought, "Oh dear." But after reading the definition I can totally relate. I am more guarded when I first meet people. I do not trust immediately. I want to see what you are about and then relate to you accordingly. The person who did the assessment said that a low score means a person is VERY discerning.
Decisiveness 4- Tendency to make decisions quickly without additional information. The more facts the better.
Accommodating 6- Tendency to be friendly, cooperative, agreeable and team-minded. I go with the flow, for the most part. I am not hard to please, nor do I get upset easily.
Independence 5- Tendency to be self-reliant, self-directed, and pursue own agenda. Tell me what to do or let me figure it out by myself- either way I am good with it. Being alone is great, being with people is great. Making my own decisions is nice and working things through with advice is good too.
Judgment 5-The Higher scores tend to think clearly (logical and head driven) while lower scores tend to express emotion and feeling (heart driven). I was happy and feel like this score is accurate of me. When making a judgement about something I use about the same emotional energy as I do factual perspective. I will not make a decision based on only facts or only emotions.
Motivational Gifts
Serving 10- Driven to quietly free up others by tirelessly taking care of routine and short-term tasks and details without complaining. Likes to entergetically pitch-in without being asked. Needs to be appreciated. Obviously, since I scored the highest possible number, this must describe me well. And it does. I get so excited and energized by doing small things for people, without being asked. I cannot say that I ALWAYS do it without complaining, but if I know that there is a need I can meet, why complain? I usually am complaining that others are not helping meet needs. I do need to be appreciated. A simple thank you means the world to me.
Leadership 7- Ministers to improve the business side of ministries by increasing efficiency and effectiveness. Irritated by chaos, waste and disorder. Can set goals and delegate. Good creative problem solver.
Prophesying 3- Driven to speak up and assert the truth and stand up for principle. Sees in black and white. Hates evil. Dislikes deception and poor leadership. With this description, I was surprised that I scored low. I think the difference for me in this category, is that I am not brazen or harsh when I assert the truth. I want to be well educated and be able to persuade you instead of beat you up over the truth.
Contributing 4- Driven to accumulate then generously give money, time and other resources to worthwhile causes. Thrifty and economical. Low-key approach.
Mercy 6- Ministers to the hurting and less fortunate. Forgiving. Mantains loving relationships. Non-judgemental unless loved ones are under attack. Self-sacrificing. Avoids confrontation. Genuinely values others. This is the first time I have scored high on mercy in a spiritual gift test. I think part of it is the definition and the other part is growth in my life. I can see how God has shaped me the last year to be a more merciful person. There is too much suffering around me to not see how God can get the glory through ministering to those in need.
Encouraging 6- Offers hope and optimism. Offers positive influence to others. Promotes discipleship. Dislikes criticism, details and inflexibility. I hate it when the very essence of a person's personality is being criticized. I want to see how God has designed people before I judge. I want to encourage them to be more than they are to the best of their abilities to the glory of God. I still have work to do.... for there are some people it is harder for me to encourage than others.
Teaching 8- Driven to accurately clarify the truth. Dislikes ignorance and false teaching. Thorough. Finds new insights others do not see. Likes to share knowledge. In almost every siritual gifts test I have taken since I was a pre-teen these three have been the top: serving, teaching and leadership. Every time. I love to do research and learn. I love to take what I have learned and share it with others in a way that challenges them. I hate ignorance, yes, NOT innocence. Some people should know different... and others have just not yet been taught. There is a difference. False teaching scares me and so I want to know the Truth- the Person and the facts.
4 comments:
If you enjoy logic puzzles, I've found this site to be a great diversion. A new puzzle is added each week, usually on Fridays. The old puzzles list is more accurate here rather than the link on that site. This week's puzzle is unfortunately not too difficult, luckily I'm still working on the last two weeks, though :).
I would think decisiveness, assertiveness, and enterprising would be useful for a leader.
I've never taken a test for gifts before; although looking at the descriptions I could guess at where I would expect to score higher. I find it interesting that I match much of the description for leadership since I don't generally think of myself as a leader. But that could have something to do with thinking my low decisiveness, mild assertiveness, and low enterprising skills would be a detriment. ;)
Low decisiveness, assertiveness and enterprising does not mean that I lack them completely. I also think that a good leader will rank in the middle for those three and allow those who are followers to use their gifts to assist the leader. If you have a leader that scores high in those three he/ she will be a lone leader and frustrate the plans of the followers by being commanding and demanding. Does that make sense? I think a leader can be one that presents ideas, direction and guidelines for people to follow. Though, as every leader can tell you, there will be times that decisions have to be made... which is why I scored a 4 instead of a 10 :-P
That serving definition sounds like something I need...and every mother out there! Sheesh!
Funny...the tests I have taken rank me lowest in your highest. :-P
I guess it is a good thing that I want a lot of children... :-P I think everyone needs serving, well, I guess in order to be like Jesus we should score a high in all of them. :-P
Lowest just on the spiritual gifts side? I would think that you would score pretty high in creative, where I scored a 10!
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