Introducing My Strengths
John S. Oliver
Begun March 28, 2006 last
revised April 1, 2006
Here is the kind of information that a resume does not normally contain. But it can be helpful in getting to know me quickly.
It could take you several years of talking and working with me to discover half of these.
I have sent a copy to close friends and relatives. I have asked for their candid comments. I have asked for them to confirm, deny and/or modify any of these.
Then I plan to revise this essay with their feedback.
The purpose of this document is to help others quickly and accurately understand me. I am moving into a very different chapter of my life. I am moving from behind the scenes in to lime light. It is necessary for me to meet many dozens of people and quickly work with them effectively in the wake of hurricanes. I am the founder and executive director of Four Bridges Ministry www.FourBridges.org During the coming months I will work with dozens of volunteers to cooperatively serve the hurricane evacuees, rebuilders plus the families and friends of both. I will be coming into a community that was impacted by a major natural disaster a short time before. I will bring with me a large collection of networking contacts and relationships with those who are ready to pray, donate and volunteer. I will be doing all I can to better connect the body of Christ in that region as well as nationally and internationally. As the new kid on the block during the intense season of relief, recovery and rebuilding I do not have the luxury to gradually make the rounds to share lunch with each community leader. Here is a way for them to get to know something about me in a matter of minutes.
One of my few past times is to view DVDs from Netflix www.netflix.com I enjoy watching documentaries and biographies. It is fascinating to me to examine the life of a person in 60 to 90 minutes. At the end of these shows and often along the way there are comments about what character qualities that person had. These shaped what they did and why. Every person has a very unique mix that came from parents, teachers, experiences, etc. Often relatives, close friends and biographers make these kinds of comments. In this essay I am offering you a shortcut to those insights.
Let me be very careful to also state that I have plenty of weaknesses. I am well aware of these. Most of the strengths I have today were formerly among my weaknesses. I am often reminded of what Jesus told Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” This gives me hope sometimes when I am encountering yet another limitation due to one of my weaknesses. I assure you that I am working on the weaknesses that God has put his spotlight upon with the aid of prayer, intercessors and accountability partners.
A few years ago I came across a book that I highly recommend Now, Discover Your Strengths byMarchs Buckingham and Donald Clifton http://gmj.gallup.com/book_center/NDYS/ one of the nifty features of the book is that after learning the theory and noticing the possible applications each book has a code that goes into an interactive web site. http://gmj.gallup.com/book_center/strengthsfinder/ According to their online assessment my signature themes are
Relator: People who are strong in the Relator theme enjoy close relationships
with others. They find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to
achieve a goal.
Learner: People strong in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and
want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather
than the outcome, excites them.
Intellection: People strong in the Intellection theme are characterized by
their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual
discussions.
Ideation: People strong in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are
able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.
Input: People strong in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they
like to collect and archive all kinds of information.
According to my own intuitive assessment my essential strengths are as follows.
Adaptability
Application orientation
Creativity
Curiosity
Determination
Expressive
Faith
Flexibility
Generosity
Giving
Honesty
Interviewing
Investigation
Networking
Openness
Patience
Perseverance
Problem Solving
Research
Resilience
Risk taking
Systems Design
Teachability
Tenacity
Trusting
Willingness
How can these strengths and assets aid me in my journey to authentic manhood?
Teachability and Application Orientation - As I continue on my Christian pilgrimage I learn and apply the lessons that God teaches me along the way. I have learned the hard way that gaining knowledge about a theory about Christianity without practical application is less than half of what God wants. Being a doer of the Word and not just a hearer lead to understanding that a book can never provide.
Faith - Jesus Christ as the author and finisher of my faith. He does His work in my soul of improving and refining my faith.
Flexibility - I must remain flexible to adapt to the many changes needed along this winding path of following Jesus Christ daily.
Openness and Honesty – I have found that it is useful to be open and honest with God as well as people. This allows the light of Christ to continue to dispel the spiritual darkness in the unregenerate corners of my soul.
Willingness, Trusting and Risk Taking - Sooner than later following Jesus Christ leads to challenging steps that require willingness to trust God and take risks.
Adaptability and Resilience - Often things do not turn out as expected so that leads to the necessity of adapting and be resilient.
Curiosity, Research and Investigation - There are many mysteries about God, life, women, human nature and spirituality that are best explored by following the instinct of curiosity as well as research and investigation.
Giving and Generosity - The Bible says that if I sow bountifully then I will reap bountifully. It says that I am to give according to the measure I choose. And I have chosen repeatedly and at depth to give generously when God opens the door. (2Cor 9:6,7)
Patience and Perseverance - Repeatedly I have discovered that God is never in a hurry. My flesh and the devil often want me to rush. But this can lead to less than desirable outcomes. Thus after three decades of following Jesus Christ I sometimes hear others thanking me for being so patient. That just comes naturally these days. And when patience is stacked on top of more patience the results are perseverance. Nearly every important improvement in my life involved much perseverance.
Determination and Tenacity – Beyond patience and perseverance there are some challenges that require determination and tenacity. During these times it is essential to be certain that what is being done is fully in the will of God according to the Word of God, Holy Spirit and inner witness.
Creativity and Expressiveness – I recall that during the late 1970s and early 1980s there was a continual longing in my soul to write but it rarely happened. These days I would guess that I write about 20 hours a week. I have dozens of projects that are calling to me to write more.
Problem Solving and Systems Design – I embrace what the Bible says and believe it is the responsibility of believers to trust God while obeying the Word as prompted by the Holy Spirit. The more I examine realistically the human condition inside and outside of the local church the more I recognize the gap between what the Bible sets as a standard for faith and practice and what is happening among most of the church members most of the time. The great need is to develop practical bridges between the ideal of scripture and the reality of those in the pews. From this desire to solve this complex collection of interrelated problems in systematic ways came Four Bridges and the other systems before it.
Interviewing – I am fascinated by people in general and especially to learn what God has been doing in their life. I enjoy asking all kinds of open ended questions and listening attentively to the replies. God has used this earnest interviewing skill to learn much about people and Himself. Often people tell me that thank you for asking. Many have said they told me more of their story than they have told anyone.
Networking – It is very easy and natural for me to network with people of various backgrounds and interests. Yet I know a few people that do this much better than me. Mostly my new networking is as part of a quest to answer a question or solve a problem. This could be for myself or someone else. Then months or years later God reminds me of previous contacts to meet current challenges. The result is that I have a very diverse collection of people in my contact database.