Vocation: Talents and Skills
Seeing, naming and reflecting on talents and skills is a concrete and accessible initial approach to understanding vocation.
While there are many words for our capacities, Concordia uses the shared vocabulary of talents and skills, inspired by Gallup's StrengthsFinder and the congregational gifts-based ministry approach:
Talent: A talent is a capacity that comes naturally. Using our talents energizes us. We seek opportunities to use our talents and sometimes it seems that opportunities to use our talents seek us.
Skill: While we can definitely learn to grow our talents, a skill is initially more learned than is a talent. Using our skills takes energy, even when we use them well. We might prefer to not use our skill or, if we highly value the skill, we might carve out time and energy to use them.
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The LeadNow session Vocation: Discerning Personal Talents and Skills makes a terrific introduction to vocation through participants discovering and naming some of their essential capacities. Participants learn to distinguish between talent and skills. Contact Jess Almlie to arrange for a LeadNow facilitator to come your class to lead the session. Students' participation in the session allows students to work towards LeadNow's Personal Perspectives certification, the first in the three certifications.
Alternatively, consider the quick and fun activity, The Top 10 Things I Wanted to Do/Be When I Grew Up. This can be followed up with two simple reflection questions: 1) What about your childhood dream list is current? What talents and skills are embodied in these childhood dreams?
While there are many words for our capacities, Concordia uses the shared vocabulary of talents and skills, inspired by Gallup's StrengthsFinder and the congregational gifts-based ministry approach:
Talent: A talent is a capacity that comes naturally. Using our talents energizes us. We seek opportunities to use our talents and sometimes it seems that opportunities to use our talents seek us.
Skill: While we can definitely learn to grow our talents, a skill is initially more learned than is a talent. Using our skills takes energy, even when we use them well. We might prefer to not use our skill or, if we highly value the skill, we might carve out time and energy to use them.
___________________________________________________________________________________
The LeadNow session Vocation: Discerning Personal Talents and Skills makes a terrific introduction to vocation through participants discovering and naming some of their essential capacities. Participants learn to distinguish between talent and skills. Contact Jess Almlie to arrange for a LeadNow facilitator to come your class to lead the session. Students' participation in the session allows students to work towards LeadNow's Personal Perspectives certification, the first in the three certifications.
Alternatively, consider the quick and fun activity, The Top 10 Things I Wanted to Do/Be When I Grew Up. This can be followed up with two simple reflection questions: 1) What about your childhood dream list is current? What talents and skills are embodied in these childhood dreams?