Oh, the joy of learning something new! Few things are as invigorating and life-giving, even loved as much as learning something new. FWIW, In Gallup’s database Learner is the second most common CliftonStrengths® talent found in people’s top 5. My favorite question to ask people with a top-5 Learner talent when I coach them is, “what are you learning this year?” The answers range from knitting to canning, to painting, and yoga, to the most popular answer… playing guitar. Read more about this CliftonStrengths talent theme in my latest blog post and learn why this puts you in the talent “bonus round” if it is in your top 5.
There is a process to learning, and it is that process that “Learners” (those with Learner as a top 5 talent) love. The material is immaterial. As long as it is of interest, a Learner will go after it because it is really about the process of learning, even mastering new things that is invigorating, not the subject itself. For some Learners, discovering new facts, rehearsing a skill over and over, the feeling of increased comfort and confidence with your new knowledge or skill may be more important than the subject.
As I have mentioned before, our talents do not exist independently of each other. Instead, our talents are constantly interacting with and influencing one another. As a Learner, your interests will be influenced by your other talents. If you have a lot of talents related to people then your interests will likely trend towards people skills or skills that benefit people and enhance relationships. For those with talents that are more energetic, you may be more interested in gaining skills that involve using your hands and creating or fixing things.
As an adjunct professor and as a coach, I happen to coach a lot of people pursuing advanced degrees who have Learner in their top 5. Many times, my students and clients already have multiple advanced degrees.
People with Learner in their top 5 excel in cutting-edge environments where learning new skills and subjects is a frequent need. This makes them very valuable on teams. Where others on the team may become discouraged or intimidated by a knowledge or skill gap, a Learner is eager to jump in and fill the void. They are mentally astute and tend to have a wide variety of interests. If you are a leader who has a team member with Learner in his or her top 5, be grateful, keep giving your team member new things to learn, and give them opportunities to share their learnings.
Many Learners that I talk with are eager to share their learnings with others. I think that has more to do with their other talents influencing Learner rather than something inherent in the Learner talent. If you like to share your learnings, what other talents might be prompting that?
Here are some other words that may describe a Learner:
- Inquisitive
- Curious
- Nosy
- Lifelong-Learner
- Dynamic
Welcome to the “Bonus Round.” It is not uncommon for someone with the Learner talent in their top 5 to be able to learn how to utilize other talent themes. For instance, a Learner who does not have Communication® in her top 5 is more likely to quickly gain communication skills than someone who has neither Learner or Communication in his top 5, though not as easily as someone who does have Communication as a top 5 talent.
Is Learner in your top 5? What are you learning this year? How do you experience the Learner talent theme? What are you doing to grow this talent into a true strength? I hope you’ll leave a comment. Thanks for stopping by.
CliftonStrengths” and the 34 CliftonStrengths theme names are registered trademarks of Gallup, Inc. The graphic elements copyright © CoreClarity, Inc.