(An article I am writing for a dear friend’s mission to value-add to the gig economy. And for everyone out there who is on the journey to discover your unique personal branding & contribution)

Key Questions for the Independent Talent

• Q1: Why should customers & clients choose us?
• Q2: What sets our service apart from the rest of the market?

These are key questions that face the successful Independent Talent (IT) everyday. The answer involves identifying how one can “uniquely value-add” to customers & clients, then elevating the service to become a “compelling draw” for clients.

Operating with Talent

“Unique

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In my previous article, I mentioned that from the database of more than 11 million people, there are 5 talent themes with the highest differentiation between men and women.

Women (21.1%) far exceed men (11.2%) in having Developer in their Signature themes.

As I’ve stated previously, it is important we do not stereotype that “only women are nurturing”.In today’s article, I’ve therefore chosen this video (on the left) of a man who exhibits the Developer talent theme. In this video, you will see that he:

1. Gives in order to nurture
2. Encourages in order to build others’ confidence
3. Helps in order to see incremental growth
4. Cultivates in

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From my previous article, I mentioned that from the database of more than 11 million people, there are 5 talent themes with highest differentiation between men and women.

• Women (25.8%) far exceed men (12.0%) in having Empathy in their Signature themes.

Below are 9 contributions of people with Empathy talents.

1. They make others feel valued. People with strong Empathy talent can sense the emotions of those around them. This enables them to make others feel valued (“You really understand and value me!”).2. They take time to understand and accept others. They can feel what others are feeling as though the emotions were

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Last night, I was at a small group gathering and the ice-breaker prompt given was “The husband is the Head (of the household) and the wife is the neck”. Who makes what decisions in our families? The first few couples shared typical viewpoints like, “Being a husband, I am the disciplinarian and my wife is the more caring type…” or “I help to nurture the children but my husband is the more logical type”. When it came to the last couple to share, they were the total opposite: My wife is great with figures (numbers) and I am super friendly with children!

This …

The BEAUTY of Harmony talent theme

A person with Harmony talent feels unease with tension & conflict because he believes that tension is unnecessary & not helpful. This motivation of seeking consensus & agreement empowers him to look for common ground to mediate & reduce conflict. Often, those in conflict are absolutely blind as to how to resolve their conflict because their differences seem insurmountable. But the person with Harmony talent can spot the platform of consensus to bridge the gap of differences. He is indeed the glue that holds relationships together, and gets along with people to

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The cup is half full, not half empty. People with Positivity talent themes naturally look at the positive side – where it is half full. But there are many types of ‘HALF FULL’s:

1. One’s personal life
2. Other individuals
3. One’s community
4. Other communities

Level 1: I want to be HAPPY

This person with Positivity talent is contented just being optimistic, hopeful, fun-loving. There is a Chinese phrase 自嗨 that best describes this person – just to make myself high in spirit. He/ she finds ways to make everything more exciting and more lively. Some cynics may reject his/ her energy, but he/ she is rarely dragged

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The Beauty of Belief

A person with Belief talent theme is naturally guided & driven by important causes, purposes or values. He is ethical, altruistic and stedfast. He has some very deeply-held beliefs about what is true, what is unchanging, what can be, and always will be. These beliefs go very deep, and provide personal power to stand strong no matter what. This person generates meaning, purpose & direction for life, resulting in a tremendous amount of power, drive & motivation from within. So long as he revolves his life around his deepest values and beliefs, he will experience motivation, drive

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A Futuristic Person Dreams

Between the age of 11-18, I only had 5 ‘dream jobs’. No, they were not the typical ‘lawyer, doctor, pilot…’ dream jobs. My dream jobs were to be a teacher, principal, pastor, missionary and entrepreneur. Incredibly, at that age, my Futuristic talent theme was creating a big challenge because these 5 jobs are in 3 very different spheres: education, religion and business. The good news is that I fulfilled all 5 dream jobs by the age of 40.

These are the 4 elements that help my Futuristic talent theme perform at Balcony level (at its very

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I usually utilise my Activator theme in the following phases:

1. What is available out there that excites me because it has potential?
2. How can I cut off all unnecessary discussion and get into action?
3. How can I motivate others to join me in the initiative (especially in pioneering)?
4. How should I change my course of action as I gain a better feel of what works and what doesn’t?

In 2002, I was in a leadership task force to expand our outreach to the youth. Even though there were about 12 of us with diverse views and conviction, I managed

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An 18 year old student got her StrengthsFinder profile. After scrutinising her Strengths Reports, she approached me with a troubled look at the end of a Strengths Introduction session.

“I’m unsure about these three talent themes – they don’t seem to describe me” #activator #individualization #deliberative

STEP #1: Define Talent Themes Precisely & Concisely

To check for her understanding, I asked…

(1) What do you understand by these three themes?

Some people are still unable to pinpoint & confirm their top 5 with these reports. In

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