TALENTS AND THEIR “ENCANTO” - Part 2

“And the Oscar goes to… TALENT!!!”

Since its launch, Disney's Encanto has been collecting awards, good reviews and a huge audience. As if it wasn't enough to have a song for five consecutive weeks at the 1st position of the highly competitive Billboard Hot 100, the feature has just won the Best Animation award at the 2022 Oscars (it was nominated in 3 categories), completing a series of important awards such as the Golden Globe and BAFTA.

In addition to all the technical quality, Encanto is another Disney film that touches us deeply for presenting fascinating stories and characters and for providing us with excellent reflections and applications in our lives and careers, especially in this case talking about human development.

We hope that by now you have already watched the movie, because now we won't skimp on spoilers!

In Part 1,? (Haven't you read it yet? Then read it, so that this article makes much more sense!) we made a parallel between the members of the Madrigal Family and our unique lenses, with which we see the world around us, reinforcing the need for self-knowledge and the urgency to focus on what is best, most natural and most productive in each of us, our Talents.

This time we want to broaden the look at something as important to our development as knowing and understanding the particularities of each individual: human interactions!

Leading role

Although Mirabel assumes the role of the “Disney Princess” of the moment, if we pay close attention, we will see that the entire Madrigal Family plays a leading role in the film, showing the challenges, anxieties and the whole fun (but also painful!) process of growth and the natural maturation of a main character.

But the innovation doesn't stop only at the protagonist. This is also one of the few Disney movies (if not the only one!) that doesn't have a villain. At least not personified. Perhaps the fruit of the company's own maturation after the acquisition of Pixar (which had already used this same method in Inside Out, for example), in Encanto the antagonism is more abstract and takes place through the rupture in the relationships between the residents of the Casita, a direct consequence the attempt to mask the flaws and defects inherent to any family, in an attempt to show the village the image of the perfect family.

5 Guiding Principles for Talents

Gallup, through its decades of expertise in the study of the human mind and behavior, has provided us with the CliftonStrengths? (or the Strengths of psychologist and researcher Don Clifton), whose premise is to focus efforts and resources on the development of our Talents. (recurring and natural patterns of feelings, thoughts and behaviors, which can be productively applied) to obtain excellent and constant results in what we set out to do. The expansion and potentialization of this methodology takes place precisely when we begin to intentionally interact with the people around us and their respective Talents.

To help in this journey of self-knowledge and interaction with the members of our families / teams / teams / organizations, Gallup listed 5 Guiding Principles for Talents that help us to understand, value and apply, intentionally and collectively, what we have best.

1 - Talents are Neutral

This principle tells us that our Talents are, by nature, neither good nor bad. They carry all the productive potential and energy, but they bring good or bad results according to how we use them.

Among the many examples of Encanto who do not know how to use their gifts in a productive way, we can highlight the strong Luisa. Due to using her super strength in an unregulated way and having the immense responsibility of literally carrying the village on her back, she begins to feel overwhelmed and on the verge of a burnout. For the villagers it may seem productive, but for her it becomes a burden and source of her ticks and anxiety attacks.

The tip here is to identify your Talents through some serious and reliable tools (such as the CliftonStrengths?) and develop them to become Strengths, that is, to perform with constant excellence in specific tasks.

2 - Talents are not Labels

We have the (bad) habit of taking natural and striking characteristics of people and turning them into labels, almost always pejorative. This is not exactly the case with “Perfecta” Isabela. In this case, the label even has a positive intention, but unnecessarily created an expectation that she would only produce symmetrical and pink flowers, even at the cost of her creative freedom and real happiness. In her solo song “What else I'll do” she sings:

“ (...) I make perfect, practiced poses

So much hides behind my smile.

What could I do if I just grew what I was feelin' in the moment?

(Do you know where you're going?)

What could I do if I just knew it didn't need to be perfect?

It just needed to be? And they'd let me be?”

We are too complex to be reduced to a mere label! Not even Mirabel with all her sensitivity could imagine how difficult it was for her sister to have to correspond only to the adjective “Perfect”. When we encourage and see in people their potential beyond labels, they feel free to be who they really are and use their Talents in a productive way that brings them well-being.

3 - Look / Lead with Positive Intent

Mirabel and Abuela Alma have very different views on the gifts of each family member.

The matriarch, in order to “tame” the talents of her children and grandchildren so that they are in accordance with her own expectations, ends up undermining the potential of each one. By default, she even becomes conniving with an injustice done to her son Bruno (yes, this time we will talk about Bruno!).

Mirabel — using her Talents intuitively, even when neglected and undervalued by her grandmother — seeks to help her relatives through a positive look and attitude, thinking about family unity and the collaboration of each of the members.

We have a huge opportunity to create productive partnerships when we learn about each other's Talents. This type of vision motivates others to get to know each other and to seek development and positive interaction, unlike what happens when we are in a rigid environment that only focuses on failures and gaps.

4 - Differences are advantages

Let's talk about Bruno!!! His gift is so misunderstood that he has been practically exiled from the rest of the family. How many times have we not done the same, excluding and removing Brunos from our social circles just because they are different or because we don't accept their "quirkinesses"?!?

On the other hand, this 4th principle says that our advantage as a team / group / family lies precisely in diversity!

By seeking Uncle Bruno's gifts, Mirabel not only brought him back to family life, but also saved The Miracle by empowering the group with this forgotten Talent. Mirabel realized that each member of the family added something different to the Casita and this is what made them strong and exceptional. Differences are not an issue. They are resources for solving various problems.

5 - We need each other

In their eagerness to solve problems individually, the members of the Madrigal family became disconnected and let cracks grow in their coexistence, weakening the Miracle and leading the Casita to destruction.

For a whole to exist, there must be interdependence between the parts. Each member alone can even act with their superpower for a while, but it will soon weaken. On the contrary, when we unite the gifts and talents of the whole group, the sum will be infinitely greater than the value of each part alone. That's the definition of synergy!

Strengths are not developed where there is no such interaction and synergy. Talents are individual, but it is in the community and mutual support, combined with intentionality, that they grow, mature and complement each other.

Mature talent is not self-absorbed. It is turned outwards, to those outside. Mature talent aims at the growth of those around us, and when they find another mature talent they receive the same consideration back. This is how this system feeds itself and causes an enormous and positive impact on the context in which we operate.

Metamorphosis

The final binding of the film to the sound of the touching song “Dos Oruguitas” is one of the most beautiful metaphors ever seen! Through an explicit tribute to the Colombian and Nobel Prize winner for Literature Gabriel “Gabo” García Márquez and his yellow butterflies, it reinforces why the film was widely awarded and sums up all our conversation as well.

Our protagonist, the Madrigal Family, is compared by the writers to a caterpillar that crawls in “a world that changes and continues to change” and that needs to build a cocoon to have time to get to know, understand, accept and grow. In this process, the chrysalis remains at its original size and, as it does not support the mature being inside, it breaks, releasing a beautiful butterfly capable of taking much higher flights in the company of other yellow butterflies. With more members arriving and with the maturation of each individual, the Casita becomes small and can no longer accommodate the whole family. Hence the need to be torn down. But its glorious new form can now impact and bless the village of Encanto even more.

“Ay, mariposas (butterflies)

Don’t you hold on too tight

Both of you know

It’s your time to go

To fly apart, to reunite

Wonders surround you

Just let the walls come down

Don’t look behind you

Fly till you find

Your way toward tomorrow”

The maturation process of our Talents is similar to this metamorphosis. It starts slowly, it doesn't seem to go forward because we spend energy on just improving our weaknesses, but when we stop to look at who we really are, we accept ourselves and develop the best we have, we start to grow and break chrysalis to transform ourselves into our best versions!

What about you? How is your transformation going? At what point are you in your metamorphosis?

Comment below so we can develop together!

Until next time

Rebecca and Vinicius Rios (AKA the Strengths Couple)

Gallup Certified Strengths Coaches

@rebeccamrios