This month’s issue is all about clarity—through tools, experiences, and honest self-reflection. We’ll look at recent updates to Gallup Access that can improve how you collaborate with others, I’ll share some unexpected lessons from a writing course I recently took (spoiler: it wasn’t all joy), and we’ll wrap up with a reflection on doing things we’re good at… but don’t actually enjoy. Let’s dive in.
What are our topics for today?
- Gallup Access (App) Updates: Theme comparison and Partnership Insights
- Lessons from taking a writing course
- Self-Reflection: Feeling drained while actually being good at something?
Gallup Access (App) Updates
Recently Gallup has made several changes and updates to their app as well as their online platform. For those of you who don’t regularly use either of them, I want to share the key highlights – I believe some of the changes are very valuable:
Report Sharing
First, what used to be called “Community” is now called “Connections”. This is where you see all the people you have shared your report with. Sharing reports has also been simplified. Now, when you share a report, and the other person accepts it, their report is immediately shared back. They also added a functionality where you can compare your report to someone you have shared your info with.
Partnership Insights
This allows you to get insights into the other person, for example right before you meet with them. Biggest value add here is the “What I Bring” and “What I need” section. It allows you to understand what value a person can bring to the table, as well as what they need to succeed. You can toggle between you and the other person by clicking on the name.
This is limited to the Top5 but provides great insight.
Theme Comparison
In the Theme comparison you see where you and your peers are in comparison to each other. As I mentioned in Issue #6, we tend to understand the Themes that are common or similar to our, while we may struggle to understand Themes that are more towards the bottom of our talents.
This visual can help identify potential conflict or misunderstanding early one.
Give it a try and log in to Gallup.
Lessons from taking a writing course
About 3 months ago, I decided to take a professional writing course. I signed up with a coach for 1on1 sessions to get my writing skills to a more professional level.
My goals were:
- Learn how to write more professionally
- Better understand the structure of “thought-leadership” articles
- Understand what resonates with people
- Overcome my struggles of writing and coming up with topics
- Do something that would support my Communication talent (my #5)
The course consisted of 8 1h-long sessions where I learn the structure, write about topics and then review those topics with my coach.
First of all, I significantly underestimated the amount of effort to create a good piece of writing. To get to my first article (~500 words), it took me about 5 hours and two coaching sessions. There are so many elements to consider and I really got to experience the whole process that goes into writing an article.
So at this point, I want to give a huge shout out to all the writers out there, I have a whole new appreciation for the work you do!
About 6 sessions and countless hours of drafting in, I told my coach that I found absolutely no joy in this (I may have used the word “hate”). The techniques he taught me are very valuable, he was able to identify many great topics to write about and I saw improvement but I dreaded doing it. Every single time.
Long story short, I learned a thing or two about writing and myself.
Here are two of my take-aways from this:
#1 – Only because a writing course may fit in with the Communication theme does not mean it’s a perfect match. There are so many nuances to communication that my goal was too superficial and short-sighted. Just think about the big difference between verbal and written communication.
#2 – Since I have completed the course, I actually feel relieved and a lot less stressed and pressured to write about things. Only my Responsibility (#3) made sure that I had to show something every single session. That was a real struggle.
Enjoying the things you do is a key factor to being successful.
Self-Reflection
Being good at something doesn’t always mean we enjoy doing it – today our theme is “Just because I can do something doesn’t mean I should.”
So, let’s try the following:
- Ask yourself: “What’s something I’ve worked hard at—even succeeded at—but found little joy in?”
Reflect: “Was I doing it for someone else’s approval? To meet a goal? Out of duty?”
- How can I give myself permission to stop or reduce doing things that drain me—even if I’m good at them?
Taking a few moments for self-reflection helps make us aware of our impact and provides an opportunity to appreciate our growth.
Give it a shot, try it out.
Even consider writing down your responses. Going back through those notes can really lift you up when you have a bad day or help when you are facing self-doubts.