By Mary Jean Billingsley
Strengths Educator
He was known for his personality. He liked to meet new people — especially those who were not in the mainstream. At JCCC his favorite activity was the International Club teeming with people from all over the world.
Through the people he knew in the club, he met a student from South Korea. She came to the U.S. to go to high school, continued with her bachelor’s degree and was finishing her master’s degree.
In a leadership course, she had taken the StrengthsFinder. She liked the class and knows her Top Five Strengths: Significance, Input, Focus, Individualization and Competition. His are: Includer, Empathy, Positivity, Communication, and WOO.
She liked the way he was accepting of others and made an effort to make her feel included. He liked the way she listened to him and could see his unique qualities and his empathy for others. Soon they were spending a lot of time together.
He is a giver and can be generous to a fault with his time, sometimes leaving too little time to rejuvenate himself. He is learning to set boundaries on his time and make sure he has energy to meet his commitments.
She is learning how to keep her commitments for work balanced with the time she prefers spending just with him.
They both feel lucky they took the StrengthsFinder. It’s one more resource to help guide them in this new relationship.