What's Your Top CALM Strength?

Quiz Questions

• 1.
  You have too many tasks, but little authority. Tasks get dumped in your lap daily and every task is deemed urgent. Which step do you take to improve this situation?

  • A.
    Start working on an editorial calendar to organize communications channels.
  • B.
    Create a system for managing all the good ideas and non-urgent requests.
  • C.
    Start to say no to projects that do not match the organization's priorities.
  • D.
    Step up and lead as the expert you were hired to be.
• 2.
  You were promoted from tactical worker to strategic leader. You have participated in strategic messaging and editorial planning but have never been the leader of the process. Where would you begin?

  • A.
    Take charge and fully assume your new level of responsibility.
  • B.
    Analyze and improve your personal productivity to excel at your new duties.
  • C.
    Open lines of internal communications with coworkers to hear their needs and thoughts on your new role.
  • D.
    Study communications and fundraising best practices and use those as the starting point for decision making.
• 3.
  You want to stop reacting and get more strategic. New opportunities are constantly coming up and you want to be more strategic and systematic in your work. What would you do first?

  • A.
    Limit and integrate your team's goals with larger organizational goals.
  • B.
    Take a closer look at how decisions are really being made within your team and the larger organization.
  • C.
    Spend some time planning for the unexpected so you are not caught off guard.
  • D.
    Explore tools to improve your team's efficiency.
• 4.
  Your boss won't delegate. Whenever you try to do anything different, your boss balks. You know you could do great work if allowed. What would you do to improve this situation?

  • A.
    Look for ways to shore up your boss's trust in your competence and intentions.
  • B.
    Connect the dots between the new things you want to try and the mutual goals you and your boss are responsible for.
  • C.
    Create a clear review process so that your boss can see that she won't be caught by surprise.
  • D.
    Appreciate the baby steps forward and make progress on your strategic goals every day, no matter how small.
• 5.
  You want to make big changes but your coworkers won't budge. Every time you suggest a change, you get lots of push-back about why the timing is bad and how much work it will create. What would you do to move forward?

  • A.
    Look at how you can make decisions within your control faster, freeing up time for discussions requiring more group work.
  • B.
    Create a standard creation, review, and approval process to streamline how work gets done.
  • C.
    Experiment wherever you can and celebrate what progress you do make every day.
  • D.
    Open conversations about team accountability and why difficult and time-consuming projects are necessary to reach the organization's goals.
• 6.
  You're working too much but can't let go. You want to do it all and do it right but work is taking over your life. Where would you start to change your workaholic habits?

  • A.
    Get some clarity with others on what is truly a priority.
  • B.
    Figure out ways to simplify common routines.
  • C.
    Focus on creating content that can be repurposed more easily.
  • D.
    Create a process to manage all of the new ideas that are suggested.
• 7.
  You are doing the work of three people. You assumed tasks of team members who left the organization and there doesn't seem to be any urgency about replacing them. What would you do?

  • A.
    Take charge of the situation and make it perfectly clear that you will do the work of three people for only a short time. 
  • B.
    Hold the management team accountable by asking them to agree to deadlines for interviewing and hiring.
  • C.
    Triage the workload and see what processes can be simplified and whether others in the office could pick them up.
  • D.
    Say no to new work and even currently assigned responsibilities to convey that time is up on this arrangement.

Quiz Outcomes

• 1.
  Collaborative

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  Your top strength is being collaborative. You focus on the "who". You know that great communications work depends on strong personal relationships and partnerships with others.
• 2.
  Agile

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  Your top strength is being agile. You focus on the "when and where". You know that great communications work requires you to adapt to constant change and to perform well under pressure.
• 3.
  Logical

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  Your top strength is being logical. You focus on the "why". You know that great communications work demands that you stay focused and grounded.
• 4.
  Methodical

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  Your top strength is being methodical. You focus on the "how". You know that great communications work comes faster and easier when you follow a good routine and work through challenges step by step.