Contributor . EXHORTER . Facilitator . Mercy . Perceiver . Server . Teacher
PROFILE . More Detail of Exhorter
As an Exhorter, you are conscious in the part that links together the Mercy and the Teacher modules; these handle emotion. You get excited, it turns out, about whatever, in experience (Mercy) or speech (Teacher), has the highest (positive or negative) emotion.
You are subject to real enthusiasms-what you are doing now is always the best and the most important. You get totally involved in it; you put your whole effort into it. You can go from enthusiasm to enthusiasm. Each time you drop what you are doing and move on to what is more exciting.
You seem to have boundless energy. You are having so much fun that you can keep going long after everyone else is exhausted. True, it may take some time for you to get started in the morning, but you continue late into the night. Others get their energy from you.
As a child, incidentally, you were probably into everything. You were the one who played the trumpet and the saxophone; you had the loud voice and the loud noise. There was also the bubbly smile and the happy disposition, but your parents despaired-you bounced off the walls; nothing they said had any effect.
Even now, you do what is important. Everything that you do is important, or you wouldn't be doing it. You simply don't notice the minor details, until they intrude on your thinking. Somehow you know which details are important-the rest you ignore, and leave for others. You are moving on!
Actually, it would be a major miracle if you were reading this, starting from the beginning of the book! You learn from experience, watching what works and what doesn't work. Abstract theory, such as we covered in the last sections-Yuk!-I would have lost you for sure! You'll be interested only when others start analyzing you, based on what I'm going to say.
You seldom get depressed or discouraged (or bogged down in theory). You won't let it happen. When you feel low, then off you go to a party, or to your friends. You'll 'paint the town red.' For some reason, you seem to have a peculiarly high tolerance for alcohol; you can drink others 'under the table.' The next morning, you don't seem to have much of a hangover.
You are very persuasive; others might call it manipulative. You know precisely the right emotional 'hot buttons' to push in order to get people around you to do for you what you do not wish to do for yourself. You use this information to tease and to push others-your friends, your kids, your dog-and your zest for living and sense of humor let you get away with it. Those around you love you, even when you eat their candy after eating and sharing yours.
You can always think of something to say. It is not necessary for you to know a lot about a subject in order to start talking-you could give a speech on almost anything. It takes effort to stop talking; if there is nothing to interrupt you, you naturally keep going. In public, you could easily talk for an extra half hour, or even an hour, if you weren't careful.
You find it easy to exaggerate. You say it the way it could or should be. You want to arouse enthusiasm-the important thing is the decision that people will make, not necessarily the facts. When others get involved, then your statements will become true. You may try to control your exaggeration, but it takes effort; your imagination always makes things bigger than they are.
You are a great salesman-you could sell refrigerators to Eskimos. You are totally sold on your (present) product. You know that everyone should buy it. You are good at sharing your enthusiasm with others. You tell them what they need, and then you push them for a decision. Up and down go your eyebrows as you make your points. It is easy for you to sell over the telephone-listeners can find it hard to resist your warm persuasiveness.
You hate the 'red tape,' though, that is associated with selling. Filling in forms, typing letters, spelling words correctly, and horrors-dealing with government regulations, you get the secretary to do that. Even with mechanical things, you are often clumsy with your hands. Things seem to break around you.
When forced to do something boring-homework, for instance, or 'red tape'-you are strongly tempted to daydream. You stare into space, and you escape into worlds of your own imagination. You can live in 'what could be' for hours.
You also make sure that you spend at least some of your time at the beach, preferably out on the water boating or sailing. You find it mentally relaxing to travel on the water; it frees up your imagination. Others may sit in one place and fish; you prefer to keep moving-it is a world without limits.
I am certain those of you who read this, who are not Exhorters, will be asking, "Doesn't he like Exhorters?" Sure I do. But you, as an Exhorter, know very well that it's not possible to 'get through' to you unless I speak very plainly. When those close to you ask you to do, yourself, what you want them to do, your first response is often, "You don't love me!" Usually, you are offended, very deeply, long before you are affected personally.
But sometimes you dig in your heels and stop 'moving on.' Now, you have a 'vision.' You're going to see some changes! Perhaps you want to help the 'down and out' in the city core; maybe you wish to start a new 'computer education' program. It's really exciting!
You, Mr. Enthusiasm, begin to gather an 'in-group' of like-minded individuals around you. They believe in you, and in your vision. They insulate you from a cold and uncaring world. You promote. You speak. You motivate. You gather in more excited people.
Enthusiastically, you get started, without checking everything out. You stir up excitement and action, in exactly those areas where nobody is doing anything: "Let's get going!" You will deal with problems as they arise.
You quickly act like an expert, even in areas where you have very little experience. You learn the right 'buzz words,' the official terms. In a short time you may even be telling others, who have done it much longer, what to do.
As for you, you're having more fun than you ever thought possible. What you do, in your role, is what other people would like to do for a vacation. You maintain a very fine line between work and play: for example, your staff meeting may be held at the pool or on a speedboat. Others don't notice how hard they're working for you; they're caught up in the fun of it all.
You increase effort when you meet opposition; you don't usually alter strategy. If things don't work, then you do the same thing, working your staff three or four times as hard. You meet problems head on, and you defeat them. The shortest distance between two points, for you, is a straight line-even when it cuts across what others are doing.
Let me say to those of you who are not Exhorters: he packages things beautifully. Suppose he starts a business-he gets lovely letterhead, and a big sign. Developing a computer education program, he has the latest machines, networked together. But the contents are often missing: shelves in the store on opening day, for example, are decorated, but somewhat empty; software is not always there for the computer.
And so things don't work out. Sometimes you take the same vision and try it in another location; you don't notice that it's the identical thing all over again-my, are you ever setting yourself up for a terrific mid-life crisis. Other times you develop in character. Soon you are sharing 'steps of action' to personal maturity. You encourage others to 'stick with it' in difficult situations, so that they too can learn.
In your speaking, you notice the individual with potential. Before, you saw the one person who was not paying attention to your words. Now, you are aware also of the individual who can make choices, as you have, and develop in character.
You give personal interviews before others join your group; it can strike terror into subordinates. Character is the essential: when someone close to you is disloyal, you may not ever trust him again. You are immensely disciplined: up at 5 am, reading books, memorizing essential points. You change lives. You give 'hope' in situations that seem hopeless. You thrive in times of crisis.
If this sounds like you, then you may have the traits of an Exhorter.