Practical Advice to DS Instructors from
CDS Master Trainers
TIP #3:
Writing Effective Dependable Strengths Reports - Part 1
Allen Boivin Brown
Writing good DS reports is an art, not a science. There is
no magic formula or exact rules to follow, but there are some
guidelines and principles which can help. The first one to
be discussed in this series on Writing Effective DS Reports
is…….
The Topic of "Audience"
The Issue
Many DS participants get hung up on wanting to determine
what "audience" the report is being written for.
They assume they will write it differently depending on who
is going to read it. This is usually based on experience with
resumes which generally are to be tailored to what the writer
assumes the employer is looking for. Not so with Reports!
You must get them out of this 9 Dots "box".
This is one form of "traditional" thinking which
DS tries to dispel - that the job seeker must fit what someone
else wants them to be. It is part of the larger goal of the
DSA process to get people in touch with their unique "form
of excellence" and honor and value that individuality.
It is part of the "change" DSA intends to create
in the person.
Who Is The Audience?
The original "audience" is the writer him/herself!
They are writing the best description of themselves as possible…for
their own clarification! This is a critical "mindset"
for writing the Report. I can't tell you how many times we
have had someone leave out an important Dependable Strength
from their description, or omit a great example of a strength
in the "evidence" section because they thought it
would "not be important to an employer". Big mistake!
In developing the Report, the writer is the sole audience
and "judge" of its content.
Who Else Reads It?
After the completion of the Report, of course others will
read it. This will be anyone who wants to know about the person
in terms of their strengths. That reader may or may not be
an employer, but certainly may be a Job Magnet contact. But,
again, for the reader to get an accurate picture, the Report
must be written from the writer's own self-knowledge and viewpoint
-- not from how they think someone else may want them to look.
Writing for Employers?
Now admittedly, the Report will ideally end up in the hands
of an interested employer. But with the Job Magnet approach
this will likely happen after the Report is passed among any
number of intermediaries. And since, by design, the writer
will almost never know who that eventual employer/organization
might be, they cannot forecast the expectations of that particular
situation. So to write for an expected employer is nonsense
when you don't know who that will be!
In addition, in trying to write for an employer the writer
will surely base their "distorted" Report on assumptions
and generalizations, perhaps few or none of which are true,
i.e., "All employers in my field want people who are
skilled with computers!". You can never know about everything
"out there"! In writing the Report stick with what
you really know most about and that is "yourself"!
Use All Dependable Strengths
The Report is not "selective" about which strengths
it portrays. It includes all Dependable Strengths to give
a full picture of the individual. Being "selective"
CAN happen during the job interview when appropriate Dependable
Strengths are highlighted for the interviewer. But the Report
itself must begin with the full array of strengths and convincing
"evidence" which fully describes the person's individual
excellence.
Today's Workplace
The primary value a person brings to the workplace of today
is their "uniqueness" and "individuality".
This is not the 1950's when "sameness" and "keeping
in line" were the desired traits. And it is not the '70's
or '80's when individuality was tolerated but still resisted.
Times have changed. Organizations look now precisely for individual
value - a package of talent, skill, ability which can contribute
in a unique way to the organization. If two people bring exactly
the same skills to an organization, it is likely one of them
isn't needed! Hence, the DS Report writer must work hard to
describe their uniqueness - their pattern of Dependable Strengths
- rather than try to become something they imagine someone
else wants. What the employer wants is an individual - the
unique "YOU"!
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