Then I needed space; to accept I'm an Achiever...

I appreciate assessments. As someone who is curious and introspective, I’ve found they can be useful tools for better understanding myself and how I can better relate to the people and world around me.

I’m an INTJ (Architect); an unusually balanced DiSC (while leaning CD); an Enneagram Type 1 (Reformer); and my top five Strengths are: Achiever, Arranger, Learner, Strategic, and Relator.

Achiever.

It moved into my top five the last time I took a Gallup StrengthFinder assessment a couple years ago and I was skeptical. While I’ve been aware for some time that I’m driven and enjoy setting and striving for personal and team goals, “achiever” didn’t feel quite right. It felt too cut-throat; too all-or-nothing; too reductive.

Besides, even in situations where it appeared I was achieving, I knew people who were achieving much more. For example, when I was running sub-1:30 half-marathons, I had friends running sub-1:15. When I was riding my bike 5,000 miles per year, I knew someone who had surpassed 10,000 miles in one year. Once, as I was completing a multi-state bike ride across the Western U.S., I met someone who was literally riding their bike around the world. So what was I really achieving?

I recently reflected on my personal and professional journey since leaving the United Way network last August after more than a decade. My plan was to follow my curiosity to find new ways to add value to the world. I set off to intentionally immerse myself in experiences that would allow me to (as Gallup says about Achievers) “keep reading, researching, experimenting, or writing until you know all you need to know about a particular subject.”

So what have I “achieved” over the past ten months?

• I earned a Certificate in Sustainable Management from Duke University. While I’ve spent most of my career at the intersection of corporate, community, and civic collaboration, this experience allowed me to gain additional technical expertise related to corporate social responsibility management, measurement, and ethics.
• I served as Interim Executive Director for WakeUP Wake County. Fortuitously timed, this unique opportunity allowed me to help advance smart growth, merging my long-time identity as an urbanist with my rapidly growing interests as an environmentalist.
• I became a Certified Interim Executive through Armstrong McGuire’s Interim Executive Institute. For years colleagues have told me I’d be a great consultant because of my curiosity, my variety of life experiences, and my ability to synthesize new information quickly while projecting a sense of calm amidst chaos. My recent consulting experiences proved that to be true, and this program provided me a better framework for future engagements.
• I completed 12 weeks of improv classes through ComedyWorx in Raleigh. This was a blast! Along the way, people assumed I was doing this to be better at thinking on my feet. However, it was actually the opposite. This was a fun yet challenging way for me to think less and, instead, practice trusting my ability to accept and react in real-time.
• I went on a coffee networking tour, meeting with environmental leaders doing inspiring work throughout North Carolina. While not as intense as my 200 coffees over three months when I moved to the Triangle nearly five years ago, it’s been equally impactful as I’ve sought to identify how I can invest my unique skills and experiences to advance environmental justice.

In summary, I’ve come around to accepting that I’m an achiever. And, with help from my therapist, I’ve learned it’s unhealthy when I measure my personal worth by my achievements. However, it is healthy for me when I use achievements as motivators and mileposts along a bigger and longer journey.

Here’s to more healthy achieving along the new journeys ahead!