Breed of dog at work
As a Border Collie, your tenacious nature shines through at work. While others let go of issues, you tend to hold on until you reach the resolution you want. That's because you're trying to pave your way to the top, and you'll do everything necessary to get there.
But you're not one of those power mongers who will be happy at the head of the company if you're there by yourself. You rely on having friends as an alternative support system in the workplace. And that's a good thing. Without friends to use as a release valve, you could just burn yourself out. Your energy is as boundless as your will is strong. When conflicts arise, you don't hesitate to let everyone within earshot know. You are not one for keeping emotions bottled up inside.
One of your biggest challenges in the workplace, is to find productive ways to use up your energy and new ideas. Since you are an extremely hard worker, you sometimes need to be told to quit for the night, take off and spend some time in your personal life. With your single-mindedness and perfectionist tendencies, you can be counted on to finish any job your boss puts to you. Your quick mind and affectionate nature keeps all your colleagues and work associates on their toes, and asking to be involved in your projects.
Your need for affiliation in the workplace
Border Collies like you are especially loyal and social. You do not like being alone and you seek companionship for most activities. Whether you're grabbing a coffee or lunch, you're likely to ask others to accompany you before you leave. You don't feel the need to be surrounded by people all the time, but you do like to have your social calendar booked, and you probably take comfort knowing your Palm Pilot is full of contacts.
Having those contacts by your side is more important for you than others. You want to feel like you belong — regardless of the environment. Your co-workers are more than just people you see at work, they're often the people you spend time talking with about work and other matters. You value that since meaningful human contact helps fulfill you and drive you through your days. Beyond the work requirements, you see your co-workers as a source of friendship and emotional support, and you take pride in being one of the people who holds the group together.
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My Motivator
Xiu Ling, your Key Motivator is rooted in your need to share experiences with others. You're driven by what experts call Connection.
You are most fulfilled when you're interacting with others. You connect to the world through your connections with people. For this reason, you thrive on social attention and are apt to join groups and organizations, either formal or informal. You are fun-loving and someone people think of as caring because it's worth it to you to maintain your relationships. Your social nature drives you to seek intimacy. It is exactly this desire to meet people at a deeper level that also can make you more vulnerable than others when you are rejected or embarrassed by something. It's important for you to know that you thrive when you see the opportunity to connect.
Your score on the Connection scale indicates that you enjoy spending time around other people much more than most. You are likely to be the life of the party, an entertainer, or someone people just expect to be at any social event. As for work, you probably enjoy settings that have high interaction with the public or with numerous different kinds of people.
Your desire to be near people may be an internal drive that you were born with or it could have developed through external influences that you have experienced in your life so far. It is difficult to tell how much of your motivation is internal and how much is external, however, your life experiences will reinforce and strengthen your natural inclinations. For example, your drive for Connection could have been reinforced in your childhood if you got more attention when you were showing off, whether it was doing back flips into the pool for mom or being in the school play. Or, you may have loved to help people as a child, maybe even doing volunteer work or being part of a local community children's organization. Everyone is motivated by Connection to some extent, but the way in which this manifests itself is dependent on an individual's psychological make-up, and for you, it's a driving force.
Many people around you will be drawn to your charismatic nature. Let's face it; you are fun and easy to be around. People may tell you their secrets, ask for your advice, or just want to spend time around you and enjoy your escapades vicariously. However, your love of people may leave you vulnerable to unreasonable requests for favors. You don't want to see anyone suffer or unhappy, so you are easily spotted as softhearted. While you may love to keep others smiling, it is important for you to keep yourself happy as well. Don't be afraid to say no to people if their needs force you to over-commit yourself.
Because you so enjoy interacting with people, you may want to keep an eye on your tendency to get sidetracked. It may at times, cause you to compromise your plans for the future. For example, if you're at work talking to co-workers about non-work-related issues, you may find it difficult to gain the promotion you had been hoping for. On the other hand, if you can harness your motivation for connection and become an amazing networker — then your focused people skills may end up gaining you your promotion faster than most other people. Just know how to recognize the signs.
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7 secrets of success
Your primary strength is being: Thoughtful
You have a philanthropist's head and heart and tend to help people whenever you can. That's the way in which you find yourself rising through the ranks. You probably believe that by being in touch with other people's thoughts and feelings, you will better be able to put yourself in their shoes, and therefore, know what they're thinking. And when you can get into people's heads, you're better able to make critical business decisions. But while this is a happy byproduct of your approach, there is a genuine sincerity in your interest in other people's lives. You're not just in it for yourself.
Because you're thoughtful, you have the ability to relate well to others. In fact, you may see yourself as someone who brings people together. While it can be tiring at times, the fact that you devote so much energy to maintaining harmony in your social circles or workplace is likely of great worth to you. Because you care about people's welfare, you think that making the world a better place — even on a small scale — is a worthwhile endeavor.
Being thoughtful to others is one of those golden rules most of us learned early and wish everyone would practice. Amazingly, a small fraction of people know how to put this into practice and therefore don't have the potential you do to succeed in their careers. Fortunately, you're one of those types who took the lesson to heart. Indeed, the world can become a better place when people like you take on positions of authority. This is especially true in the business world where the human factor is sometimes pushed aside. More than most, you understand that people are at the heart of every business success. As a result, when you become successful, you're not likely to "forget the little people." On the contrary, you'll probably find ways to make it a positive experience for everyone around you, including your co-workers, friends, and family.
With your unfailing concern for others, you might find yourself burning the candle at both ends. Thoughtful people often forget to take care of themselves because they put everyone else's needs above their own. Working late to meet deadlines, taking on new clients to help your boss, skipping meals to drive your kids to baseball practice — all of these things can tap into vital energy reserves. Try to be aware of your inner resources so you'll know when they're running low. You are much more useful to others when you're personally fulfilled and not running yourself ragged.
You seem to understand that you can't succeed entirely on your own, and as a result, you tend to focus heavily on assisting others. While helping people is good, deep down you might be concerned that others will abandon you if you don't meet their needs. More than most people, you need to feel connected to those around you. As a result, you probably don't like to rock the boat in your work life. Instead, you likely strive to keep your colleagues happy by meeting or exceeding their expectations. When you find yourself working too hard to please people, try to remember that it's okay not to be perfect.
In the workplace, taking into account other people's needs when making decisions may seem counterintuitive for the power-hungry types. But you appear to recognize that there is a certain amount of interdependence in any enterprise. There's little use in damaging a relationship for short-term gains. Why alienate others when you might need them someday? Because of this attitude, your reputation likely precedes you as someone who treats others fairly. This trait can serve you well in developing valuable short and long-term business relationships.
Your secondary strength is being: Imaginative
Your ability to look at the world from fresh perspectives keeps you both in touch with what's current and able to come up with novel solutions to vexing problems. Unlike many people, you're not one to stick to tradition if something isn't working. Most of the time, you'd rather make up your own new-and-improved traditions. By creating fresh ideas from old ones, people like you can become pioneers in their chosen fields.
Being inventive is a gift. While others rely on tried and true methods, your natural tendency is to seek out innovative alternatives. This trait can make you a great leader in creative brainstorming sessions, business process improvement taskforces, and other areas where innovation is a must. People likely recognize your ability to see a situation from a new perspective and will compliment you more often than not. Being at the receiving end of this kind of adulation can be a boost to your confidence and your career.
One thing to keep in mind as you conceive new possibilities is that old is not always bad and new is not always good. There's a reason some things are called "classics." Certain ideas or products will always be effective and resonate deeply for people. Rather than put too much pressure on yourself to re-invent the wheel, try to focus your efforts where they're most needed. This can be easier said than done for innovators like you. It may sometimes be a challenge to practice the motto: If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
In a world that rewards conformity most of the time, imaginative types can sometimes find it hard to fit in. It can be difficult to feel validated at work or at home when changing familiar routines isn't always rewarded. This being the case, you may wonder where your need to alter the status quo comes from.
Part of your creative intensity may stem from a fear of getting stuck in a rut. You might feel that you don't want to be tied down to a system or process that may eventually suffocate you. Dreading stagnation may also mean that you're frightened of settling for second best. Hopefully these apprehensions don't extend to a fear of committing to other people. Another possibility is that you're worried your creativity will vanish if you're not consistently using it. This belief can cause you to become bored easily and may make you abandon projects before they're completed. After all, who wants to get bogged down in the details of executing an idea when there are so many more great ideas to be hatched? But regardless of what has made you so innovative, ultimately, people put an unbelievable premium on it.
Your imagination is one of the things people probably find special about you, particularly in the business world's competitive marketplace. There, innovation can be the difference between success and failure. You're able to tap into an aspect of yourself that most people never fully discover. Because of this strength, you might find that you are a highly sought-after candidate in the employment pool or if you're in a job, often tapped to tackle complex projects.
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