In my last Artistry at Work post, I talked about the Playmakers. Let’s now look at the Taskmasters.
Taskmasters have the practical talents of providing and protecting that keep us all more focused and productive. Structured and disciplined, they’re all about order, details, propriety and logistics. They seem to be driven by a natural need for duty and safe haven, and they’re at their best when they’re sure and steady.
Taskmasters find themselves compelled to take responsibility for ensuring that safety, security, and stability abound. Thriving on details, they are logistics experts by nature, and seek order, consistent processes, and high standards.
At the team level, Taskmasters are highly valued and sought-after assets, because as teammates they anchor the group with an uncanny steadfastness, consistency, cooperation, and dependability. Perhaps this is due to the strong value themes of membership and close community they tend to hold dear.
Ruining a Taskmaster’s day is anything depriving them of clear structure and conservative, methodical action. As with the Playmakers, high concepts and abstract ideas are all but lost on them. Conversely, they are firmly in their element when strong authority and tradition govern the effort, for knowledge of the tried and true is to be respected.
The Taskmasters’ broad themes of natural talent derive from the logic, interpersonal and kinesthetic aptitudes, and run along the lines of:
Safekeeping: Taking responsibility; keeping commitments; being dependable, reliable, and trustworthy
Enforcing: Monitoring, measuring and ensuring adherence to established rules and regulations
Equalizing: Maintaining stability, balance and equilibrium; leveling and delegating workload fairly
Economizing: Procuring and conserving assets and resources; managing/administering capital and collateral
Organizing: Archiving and categorizing information and objects; meticulously attending to details
Legislating: Establishing discipline, order and standards (policies, procedures, laws, norms)
Deliberating: Planning with methodical diligence; creating predictability; favoring conventional methods
Teaming: Fully participating in groups and organizations (companies, teams and communities)
Protecting: Caretaking and providing for others; guarding and gatekeeping to ensure safety and security
Coordinating: Sequencing and scheduling activities and events; juggling/arranging people, plans and resources
Keeping in mind that we all have some Taskmaster in us, are you a natural born Taskmaster?
Try this: print the list above. Put a checkmark on each talent area that comes easily to you. Then put a checkmark on each one that you truly enjoy. Put a third checkmark on each one at which you demonstrate excellence.
If the majority of themes have all three checkmarks, consider yourself a Taskmaster.
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