StrengthsFinder, Me and SHRM

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I don't do conferences. This is not a belief, a position, or a rallying cry. It just is what it is. I attended a SHRM Annual Conference a few years back and enjoyed it but when I look at my days to decide how to spend my time, conferences (huge HR conferences) don't make it to the top of my list.

Checking out StrenghtsFinder 2.0, I discover I have a relator theme and, in simple terms, that means I am pulled toward people I already know. I can buy that. I am more of a one-on-one kind of a girl, groups of 11,000 make me antsy, and I simply don't like people telling me how to do what I already know how to do. Reconcile that with 10 years in the military - ha!

I don't have time for slick.

So, when I said I don't do conferences, that was only partially correct. There are conferences I do hope to attend like HR Technology Conference, BlogHer '11 and anything to do with women and leadership to learn more about these areas. It's not the same for HR. I know HR and don't want to spend my time listening to speakers who repackage what I know (albeit in an engaging, poised, and entertaining way) and redeliver that back me. It's not about the speakers, it's about me and where I find value. 

I like to think, I am fascinated by ideas (courtesy of themes of intellection and ideation) and have visions of grandeur. StrengthsFinder 2.0 describes the two as "exercising the 'muscles' of your brain and stretching them in multiple directions" and making connections, or discovering "a new perspective on familiar challenges," respectively. This is exhilarating to me. Not exhilarating like the first Airborne jump out of a perfectly good aircraft . . . but you get my drift.

I have all the time in the world to noodle.

Give me a cup of coffee, comfy couch, and group of colleagues with a question to ponder like whether or not HR can be trusted, the intersection of personal and HR credibility, or why HR pros can't successfully carry a "conference high" back into their organizations to impact change and I am hooked.

Hook, line and sinker.