The faces around the table were a mixture, with some looking serious, others confused and yet a few others were just blank, showing nothing. It was clear what needed to be done. Ambitious, for sure. A tight timeline, absolutely. But we all knew that because we had just spent the last ninety minutes confirming what we all believed was the right solution and even adjusted some elements so that everyone was confident it would work. But as often happened, the room was deathly still and quiet. No one said anything, which was surprising because these were all highly intelligent and experienced executives, who were rarely short on words. A few glanced at the CEO, hoping they would say something, but since he didn’t like to push people or tell them what they should do, he kept quiet. Finally, the galvanizer of the team took over the meeting. They had no official standing or authority, they were just one of the team, but you would never know it because of the confidence exuded. They rallied the team and pushed things forward toward execution. If they hadn’t stepped up, I think we still would have been in the meeting.
I’m that person. I’m the one who steps in when there is dead silence to get things moving. I have the gift of galvanizing, which I learned recently in completing the Six Types of Working Genius © assessment. Galvanizing is rallying people around an idea, activating them toward action. I’ve done it all my life and never realized it was a gift. I like getting things moving forward, action, and I’m good at it. But I’m not great at finishing, which I’ll cover in a future blog about my lack of tenacity.
Some might say if you have galvanizing as a gift, you are the cheerleader. There is some truth to that because I and those who have this gift love to cheer people on. We are also disrupters, because we must change the status quo of the work to get things moving.
For any project, initiative, or product, or any new creation to get implemented, you must have someone who can rally the team and move it forward. If not, everything will stall, or go much, much slower than it should. It’s not intentional, but people resist change. Commanding them to do it doesn’t work either, they need encouragement and yes, some cheerleading.
What are the drawbacks of galvanizers? Since I have it, I’d like to say there are none. I won’t. Instead, I’ll share what people have said to me, or to others about me. “Stop pushing me” or “He’s pushy.” Both would be true because galvanizers push. “Stop nagging me.” Also, true because I’ll keep after you until you start moving because we need to move together in a different direction. I also get accused of pushing “my ideas”, which sometimes is true if I see it as the best route to success (remember I also have the gift of discernment), but often I’m just pushing the idea that everyone already agreed upon.
As a galvanizer, we need action, and we especially need “yes, to mean yes.” I once worked on a leadership team who would agree on something, say they were committed to it, and then my job was to galvanize and move things forward. But invariably someone pushed back (which we anticipated it), and at least one of the leadership team would wilt under pressure and not follow through. Soon others pushed back, and because no one on the team wanted to be the “bad guy”, things died. For a galvanizer, we need to know we’re pushing the right plan and there is commitment.
If you don’t have a galvanizer on your team or in your department, you need one, or need to borrow one, assuming you want to make changes or improvements. Without someone like me, things will stall, and the status quo will remain in place.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25
If you would like to learn more about the Six Types of Working Genius, for your team where you work, or for yourself, please reach out to me at dale@dalekreienkamp.com.
Dale, you’re the kind of person who brings up important points when discussions hit a wall—something that’s truly valuable. I can totally relate to this post.
In meetings, it’s common for questions to be posed to spark deeper thinking, not to give directives. However, when those questions come from someone in a leadership role, they’re often interpreted as instructions. This can lead to action being taken based on something that was meant to initiate thought, not execution.
Some people process ideas out loud for clarity, which can be mistaken for setting a course of action. It’s helpful to clarify intent before the meeting ends by asking, “What actions are we actually taking?” This helps prevent misunderstandings. Often, people move forward on something discussed and later say it was because they were told to, when in reality, the intent was to encourage exploration.
Establishing clear action steps—and reinforcing that not every idea is a directive—encourages others to ask more questions and take ownership in finding solutions.