Just When You Thought You Knew…
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I’ve never thought of myself as a strategist, so when I read Penelope Trunk’s blog today I was surprised to see a topic devoted to how people who think they are strategists really aren’t. Is it trendy to be a strategist these days? I know strategists can make big money in corporations, but so do CEOs and other executives. I’ve personally never heard anyone describe themselves as a strategist, but I guess Penelope knows people.
So I decided to take the 4 question Meyer-Briggs test she links to. I think we’ve all taken this test about 20 times, read a little paragraph, said, “Yep, that describes me,” then promptly forgotten our results. Oh, that’s just me? Anyway, I take the test, knowing full well there are 16 different combinations and I had 15 chances of not being a strategist, which was fine with me since I wasn’t quite sure why I would want to be a strategist anyway.
Once I get my results and say “Yep, that describes me,” I go back to Penelope’s post to see how far away I am from the combo that labels you a strategist.I do a double take. Err… I have the exact same combo she lists.
So apparently I’m a strategist. Now I have to go figure out what a strategist actually is and what careers one might have so I can see if my current course of study/goals/life fits into this new label I’ve received. I also need to reevaluate the work I’m doing at my job and see if I’m doing any “strategizing” in my current role, as a true strategist strategizes all the time.
I guess that’s my exciting tidbit today - I basically won the lottery, but instead of collecting $34.2m I get a homework assignment – reflect more about who I am.
Please take the Meyers-Brigg Test if you desire, but don’t be too disappointed if you aren’t a strategist. Penelope wrote an entire paragraph about how you can still be brilliant and might make a great leader/manager instead.
And if you are a strategist… let me know how you’re handling it. With my 24th birthday right around the corner, I was getting pretty confident that I “knew” myself at this point and could start conquering these huge goals that played to my strengths. It’s disconcerting to now have to figure out what this new information actually means to me, and even worse, if there’s a whole part of me I never noticed before.
The curse of finding yourself is you’re never quite done.
Note: I don’t know Penelope Trunk personally, but her blog is fantastic. Trunk’s posts can exasperate and enlighten at the same time, so her blog is perfect for someone interested in professional and personal development. There are feeds you read and there are feeds you look forward to reading every day; Brazen Careerist is in the latter group for me.
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Monica O'Brien is the founder of Twenty Set, a website about personal and professional growth and development for the Millennial generation. She has been a blogger since 1998 when blogging was still in its “Dear Diary” form and in May 2007 began blogging for personal branding and profit.
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