A LOT with Audra

ALOT_Ep16
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Audra Dinell: [00:00:00] All right, everyone. Welcome back to a lot with Audra. I'm so excited because today this is like the first series that we've done, and today we are going to have a guest and I'm gonna introduce her and then talk a little bit more about last episode, how it's gonna be connected to this episode, and then a third episode that we are going to be recording to cap off this series.

So please help me welcome Kristi Windish. She's the co-founder of True Compass. Christie co-founded True Compass alongside her partner Robin Jackson in 2019. She's passionate about helping others discover their natural gifts and [00:01:00] empowering them to pursue a fulfilling career path. She's certified in the Highlands Ability Battery and the Myers-Brigg type.

Indicator, which she uses to help clients gain clarity and confidence in their decisions. Don't we all wish we had that? Christie has supported hundreds of students and adults in identifying careers that align with their natural abilities, interests, and values through the true Compass assessment process.

Before she became a career consultant, she spent 25 years working as a speech language pathologist where she conducted assessments, developed individualized treatment plans, and collaborated with families and educators, support children in schools and clinics. This experience gave her the foundation in personalized assessment.

Coaching skills she is now bringing to work with her and career coaching. She has been married to her husband Tom for 30 years and has four children, ages 18 through 25. So she's basically a life [00:02:00] expert. Welcome.

Kristi Windish: Thanks. So good to be here.

Audra Dinell: Yeah. We're so happy to have you. I, so Christie and I first met several years ago when I saw a presentation that you did.

And I immediately called you afterwards and said, you have to come and do this for my community of women at the thread. I was just blown away by the idea of aptitudes, because aptitudes are different from strengths, and most of the testing I had done was really strengths based or personality based.

So being kind of one of those, like definitely a personal development nerd, but also someone who loves assessments and quizzes and just learning about myself in any way. I had always taken tests and assessments that were focused on you know, maybe my preferences or different skill sets, but the idea of [00:03:00] wiring was totally different to me.

So I called, you said yes, you came in worked with my community and then my team and I got to take your tests too. And it was just such a game changer for me personally to see how I was wired through working with you. Mm-hmm. So I'd love to hear from you, just like the difference between, what's the difference between aptitude and a strength?

Kristi Windish: Yes. So aptitudes really are kind of your natural strengths. They're just those god-given talents that you're born with, not necessarily something that you've learned through training or education. And they're measured differently than anything like a StrengthsFinder or a Myers-Briggs or any of those personality things.

Aptitudes are measured by. They're objective. So they're measured by your performance on timed exercises. And so it kind of compares you to other people and reveals just those natural aptitudes.

Audra Dinell: You know what's so funny? You say the timed performance, and I always say this to you, but it's like when I [00:04:00] describe this to people, I'm like, okay, this is not something that you can say, oh, I prefer to do this.

Or typically in situations I do this. These are like the standardized tests that you get in school that are just like, alright, I'm gonna buckle through and get this done. Yes. 'cause the information I get out of it is gonna be so good and so true because it's not flavored by my opinion. Right. Or my current feeling or mood or my current life situation even.

Kristi Windish: Yes. And that's really the biggest difference. So, any of those personality assessments or strength finders really kind of just reflect how we answer questions and how we see ourselves, which is vital. Mm-hmm. That's really important to know, but this just adds another level. And it might reveal why you act a certain way you do or why you have those preferences.

And it sometimes reveals strengths that we just don't see in ourselves. Mm-hmm. You know, when something comes easy to you, it's a natural aptitude. You might just take it for granted and be like, well, doesn't everybody do that? Doesn't [00:05:00] everybody solve problems that way? And so to see it in black and white.

Can be really powerful. And then you don't take it for granted as much. Yeah. And especially I would say for students, students and adults, but when students have really no idea what careers they wanna do, knowing those specific aptitudes can really help them see how they can apply those.

Audra Dinell: Okay, so the first thought I have, I've got so many.

First I wanna tell you this morning, totally kind of out, out of the blue I'm working through. Like a devotional. And it led me to read Romans 12. And the reason I'm saying this is because you said God given gifts. And literally in Romans 12, gosh, I hope I don't have that wrong, but it talks about how like God literally gives everyone different gifts.

If you're an encourager, encourage well. If yes, you have the gift of giving, give generously. And so I just love that, like this totally feels like an extension of that work of like whoever you are created to [00:06:00] be. You need to figure that out. It's important. Mm-hmm. But speaking of students, how hard is it to figure out what you're naturally good at when you're a student?

Because I feel like the only thing I did at that age was listen to what people in my life were telling me if they were telling me Mm. Things that I was good at. Yes.

Kristi Windish: Yeah. I think, one of my favorite stories is we get a lot of kids who are good at everything. And if they're gifted students, I had a girl who was halfway through her chemical engineering degree and panicked, but she had always been really good at science and math.

And so as a woman, a young woman, she was really encouraged to follow that path. Oh, we need more women in stem. And she could do the work. But halfway through college, she would just questioned it. Mm-hmm. And was like, I don't think this is what I'm drawn to. And so she came to me for help and her aptitudes revealed that she's not really drawn towards those types of [00:07:00] careers.

Mm-hmm. One of the things that we look at are spatial abilities. And when you have high spatial abilities, you're drawn to really a tangible product engineers. But if you don't score high on that, you might still be good at science, but. You may really be drawn to more intangible things, like concepts and words.

And she felt drawn to law. So she ended up going into medical ethics, kind of using some of her science background. And now she's in law school. That's crazy.

Audra Dinell: Yeah. And it's like, you wouldn't know that because like you said, if you're being encouraged to pursue a STEM career and you do have the skills, the iq, the abilities, but it's not, I'm gonna use my words, fulfilling you.

Mm-hmm. But you could use your background, your experience, everything you've built on your wiring to put that into a place that's gonna allow you to shine more of your light in the world, be more [00:08:00] fulfilled, have more energy. Yes. With what you spend so much of your time on like what a gift. But I just really do not know how else people figure this out about themselves besides trial and error.

Right? It is. It is. Which that's expensive and that takes time and we all have limited, you know, time here on the earth. So I just think what you do is such a gift. And I know when my kids get to that age, they do not have a choice. They are going to be, you're doing this, working with you. But I do think it's just such a gift.

And I also think even if you are a person who is mid in your career and you're feeling that way, it doesn't have to mean you are stuck. So right as we were setting up this podcast, our fabulous host, Brian owns Forge podcast co produces all of our podcasts.

He was just talking about how he is a trained engineer, and of course podcasting wasn't around when he was in college. I think, I mean, I'm not trying to date you Brian, but, [00:09:00] and then stumbled onto this podcasting path, like who would have known how, how he could have found that path. From that same skillset, but it just looks so different his day to day.

Right. So people can kind of like avoid some level of trial and error by understanding their aptitudes. Yes.

Kristi Windish: Yeah. Well, and sometimes when you're on a path, you think, I've gotten this degree, this is the only thing I'm qualified to do. A test like this will suggest careers that here, you know, your set of abilities could be used in these other ways.

I've worked with several teachers who have left the field, but feel like. All I have is an education degree. I'm not qualified to do other things. But when they get to see how they're wired and how that same set of skills can be applied for project management or, you know, they're typically pretty analytical thinkers.

Hmm. And, and there's lots of of roles that they can do. It just opens up their world a little bit.

Audra Dinell: Well, and I bet it [00:10:00] helps you pitch yourself to your next opportunity or employer. I'm thinking if I'm a teacher and I think I just have a teaching degree, all I have is experience in the field, but I wanna go over here and do X.

Like it's gonna help you take your experience, look at it through the lens of your wiring, and be able to put a resume together that reflects. Like truly your value so that you can pitch yourself to organizations. Yes, exactly.

Kristi Windish: Here's my skills and now I know how to describe them. And I can see them clearly because it's kind of in black and white, not just this personality test that tells me my preferences.

Audra Dinell: Yeah. So, that brings me to one other point that I wanted to share is before we were recording, you and I talked about how the different aptitudes and strengths, finders and Enneagram, just any of these assessments, they're all just little pieces of your toolkit. So not any one thing is one and done.

Aptitudes are so separate in my mind than [00:11:00] any of the other tests. But each of the other tests, we'll just categorize them, can give us little pieces, little clues to help us kind of figure out more like what we want in life and work.

Kristi Windish: Yeah, I think it definitely is kind of, we take this whole person approach, meaning you need to look at your aptitudes, but the same people who are wired for engineering might be wired for surgery.

Mm-hmm. But if you don't have an interest in medicine, then don't do that. Mm-hmm. And so it's really important to know, where your interests lie. But also what are your values and your goals? Yeah. You know, um, you know, When kids come to me and they're saying, I'm not sure if I want a college degree, then that changes the results of that conversation.

But interest, values, personality, preferences, I think it's also important and. There's not one test out there that you can take, and it will tell you, here's the one right career for you. And we don't promise that either. It really needs to be a discussion and a reflection. You know, true [00:12:00] self-awareness is how you see yourself and these tools can help, but it's also how others see you.

And so kind of getting some feedback about. You know, how do I come off to other people and what strengths do I bring? And then this aptitude gives you a very objective way to see yourself. And so then you have that true self-awareness that you can use going forward.

Audra Dinell: Yeah, that's what I loved about working with you and I have said coaching before.

I'm not sure if you identify exactly as a coach, but that's definitely what it felt like. Like when I had my results. Then I could look at them in black and white. Mm-hmm. And see, okay, this is the way my brain is wired. But working with you, you were able to pull some thoughts out of me or just ask really interesting questions to help me see maybe ways my wiring was showing up in my life, or ways I could take advantage of my wiring or just sort of like roadblocks to avoid based on my wiring.

Yes. So it was definitely more than just a black and white test, but [00:13:00] really, yeah, just like a really therapeutic coaching session, you know?

Kristi Windish: Yeah. We call ourselves consultants because we don't really have coaching certificates necessarily, but it's definitely that coaching method and it's so important because, a lot of, students come in with maybe some of these specific abilities in music or art.

And then they wonder, should I go towards a career, should I not? And so we can kind of coach them through all of the important parts of that decision, but then also remind them this is part of who you are.

Audra Dinell: Mm-hmm.

Kristi Windish: And as young professionals, sometimes we get so driven and we put aside all those other parts of us.

Audra Dinell: Mm-hmm.

Kristi Windish: And then it comes to be, we're in our thirties and forties and we're like, something's missing. Mm-hmm. And that's often when people come to me. And so maybe it's one of those an outlet for your creative ideas. Maybe it's your musical abilities. It might, it's still part of who you are. And so even if you don't change your job.

Maybe you just [00:14:00] need to add something to your life to feel more fulfilled and this can be a great way to discuss all of that.

Audra Dinell: Yeah, definitely a tool for awareness. Yes. Okay. So speaking of aptitudes, I know you test for many of them. Mm-hmm. But I'd love to just like give people like an in real words, not, you know, jargon that we're not gonna understand.

Example of maybe like three or four aptitudes. I know on the last podcast I referenced ideating and how high I was at ideation, which makes great for creative work, writing, podcasting, speaking. Yes, wouldn't make great for accounting. I would assume people do not want brand new, fresh ideas in the world of spreadsheets and numbers.

But what other aptitudes are there?

Kristi Windish: one of my favorite, there's, there's two main sections of aptitudes on our test that really are the most powerful one is that personal style section. And the other is the driving abilities. So under personal style, we do talk about that introvert [00:15:00] extrovert, and that is so important.

Yeah. Um, And that's really the most, the only subjective part of the test because. You either it's how, based on how you answer questions, but the other important part of that is that generalist, specialist scale and that is just really powerful to know about yourself. And it doesn't mean you can only be a generalist or a specialist, but it lets you know, okay, this is what comes most naturally.

And so specialist basically means those are the people who wanna dive deep. They feel better when they know a lot about a subject and can come from a place of being an expert. They tend to wanna work independently. But if you're an extrovert, then you're that specialist who wants to kind of come up with ideas on your own, but then share it with everybody as soon as you can.

Audra Dinell: Mm.

Kristi Windish: Whereas a generalist really is happier learning about a lot of things. They really like variety, and so they don't stay with anything maybe long enough to become the expert. But they're happier knowing a little bit. About everything and kind of being a [00:16:00] jack of all trades. So they kind of make better leaders and managers because they don't have to be the expert and they can let things go a little bit and hand it over.

They also generalists really like collaboration.

Audra Dinell: Mm.

Kristi Windish: And really natural teammates. So knowing where you fall can really help you maybe choose a career, but also understand why certain parts of leadership are more difficult for you and where you maybe need to stretch and grow. Doesn't mean you have to stay in that specific role, but just know, okay, this is what comes naturally to me, or why I don't really love that collaborating piece.

Audra Dinell: I think things like that too, really help fight comparison that can be so rampant, especially now with social media. But even when you're, you know, you're looking at someone that you don't know or you're working on a team with people you do know, I just think it's helpful to see your skills and [00:17:00] your aptitudes, I guess in a certain light, and just give yourself grace and self-compassion that it's like, maybe I don't need to be a special ed specialist at X, Y, Z if I'm more wired to be a generalist, but how can I be the best generalist I can, which means, like you said, maybe I'm gonna go into a leadership role or give other people.

Opportunities to shine with their expertise, which is also, I guess, leadership. But I just think knowing this about yourself is important to fight that comparison. That can come up of, well, gosh, this person, you know, knows X, Y, Z, and I'll never get there. Right. Well, it's like maybe you're not meant to get there.

Right. And we need your gifts. The world. We need your gifts exactly

Kristi Windish: as they do

Audra Dinell: in another way. Yeah,

Kristi Windish: Yeah. That's, I mean, I think that's kind of why I got into this, you know, just kind of thinking of when I did compare myself to other people, oh, I wish I was more like this. I wish I was more like this.

But then when you kind of see it in black and white, [00:18:00] you can kind of give yourself grace of like, oh, it's not because I didn't try hard enough. It's just not how I'm wired. It doesn't come as naturally to me, and so I can put more time, energy, and effort in order to develop that skill, or I can really lean into these other areas that are more natural and really embrace those and celebrate those instead of spending too much time thinking about.

The things I'm not.

Audra Dinell: Yeah. Yeah. And I love that I tend to focus more on the positive. I mean, I think that's just, again, like who, who I was created to be. Mm-hmm. But I do love, I've always loved focusing more on strengths or aptitudes or interests than weaknesses. Yes. And so I just think this learning or aptitudes is very helpful.

Yeah. In that way too. It helps you really decide, am I gonna focus in on this and get really good at the way I'm wired because it's gonna take less energy because I'm gonna be energized. Right. If, if I'm focusing on things that I'm wired to [00:19:00] focus on, I guess. Yes. Yeah. And

Kristi Windish: drained. If you are spending a lot of time and energy. Trying to do something that doesn't come as naturally,

Audra Dinell: which again, like you said, you can do that. It's just energy management. Like know that yes You know, you can be a specialist if you're a generalist perhaps, but it's going to, or maybe not. You can be a specialist if you're a generalist, but you can deep dive and become an expert on something.

Mm-hmm. If you're a generalist, but it might take a lot of your energy. Yes. Okay. So what El what

Kristi Windish: else? So one of the other set of aptitudes are kind of your problem solving skills and, okay, there's two, it's classification, which kind of tells you do you make connections quickly? Do you like fast-paced problem solving, or do you prefer to take a little bit more analytical approach?

Mm-hmm. And the other one is concept organization, which is that analytical problem solving. And these, this is an example of what I wish I would've known about myself about 20 years ago. So, you know, on a strengths finder and a personality test, I'm empathetic and I'm patient, and I'm [00:20:00] relational, and all of those things are true.

But my problem solving style, I score on the higher end on both of those, which doesn't mean that I'm. Smarter. It just means that I kind of like a consultative problem solving approach. And so as a speech language pathologist, I loved consulting. I coming in the classroom, let me troubleshoot. I could kind of think on my feet, but then when it came to implementing this step by step process of therapy, I kind of lost my groove.

I'm like, oh, this isn't as much fun. And so I really probably would've been happier in a different environment. Maybe a medical environment where it was a little bit more fast-paced evaluations and not the slow-paced implementation of therapy.

Audra Dinell: Yeah.

Kristi Windish: So even though I saw myself this way and that it was a good career, knowing this information about myself could have helped me maybe shape and find the right fit for those job roles and [00:21:00] responsibilities.

Audra Dinell: Mm. That's so good. Yeah. And you and I are very similar in that specific aptitude. Mm-hmm. I know we've talked about it before, whereas implementation, and even on the StrengthsFinders, none of my strengths fall under execution, which can be a problem sometimes.

But I know that about myself and I surround myself with really strong executors who get energy from executing. Mm-hmm. And we'll save that conversation to the next podcast. Yes. But I do just think that that knowledge, gosh, could have been a game changer. Mm-hmm. Way back when. So that's why it's so important to figure that stuff out about yourself as soon as you can.

Kristi Windish: Yes. Yeah. And you know, I know you talked about idea productivity and. You know, that's kind of an example of you kind of know that about yourself, but we were able to give you proof of Yes. Compared to other people. You really do score 95th percentile on this ideation on our test. And it's one of those driving abilities.

And so what we find is that when people are mid-career [00:22:00] and they're dissatisfied or restless, it's because one of these driving abilities. Isn't the right fit at work. They don't have an outlet for it. So imagine if you went to work and did the same thing in the same way almost every day.

Audra Dinell: Yeah.

Kristi Windish: No, you'd be so restless and you'd, you know, be, you know, giving suggestions of how can we make this better?

And just really, really restless. Do you Oh, I was gonna say, on the other hand, people who score low, I just met with a guy who wanted to become an accountant. Mm-hmm. And decided. In college to go a different way. And right now he's in a, like a sales role and he's introverted with low idea productivity and really high analytical skills.

Mm-hmm. He's wired to be an accountant. Yeah. But now he's in this role and he's drained mm-hmm. By something that would really fulfill you. Yeah. But he's drained by this, you know, constant need to have to talk to other people and persuade other people. And so we talked [00:23:00] about, you know, how he's gonna maybe make some changes.

But it's just an example of being high or low on one of these aptitudes isn't better or worse. It's really just finding the right fit for you.

Audra Dinell: And that's what I loved about learning my aptitudes is it's like you said, it's just about finding the right fit for me or you, anyone.

It's just about finding the right fit. It's not, this is good, this is bad. I will say when you mentioned ideation, the crazy thing about this is my very first job at an ad agency, at an ad agency or a marketing company, it is literally your job to work with clients and come up with a lot of ideas for them on how they can market their business, their service, their product. And I had a lot of self-doubt in that role because I had come from corporate marketing and corporate marketing.

You still wanna ideate, but the process is slower. You know, it's you representing one company. It's just a little slower, I would say. When you're an [00:24:00] agency and you're juggling lots of clients and need to come up with lots of ideas, it's just more fast-paced. So making that switch for me from corporate marketing to ad agency marketing, I really felt self-doubt that I didn't have enough ideas.

I just wasn't the idea person. Isn't that crazy?

Kristi Windish: I know it's, I feel like every time I see you, you have 10 ideas for me. I know.

Audra Dinell: I'm sorry. No, I love it. I love it. But I just think if I would have known my wiring earlier on in my career, I would not have let self-doubt. Right. Who knows how that got in my way back then?

But I mean, I, I remember feeling it strongly. Mm-hmm. Just feeling that, man, I'm not the best idea generator. And what did that story do to the way I showed up for my clients, my team, et cetera.

Kristi Windish: And that's really what my goal is, you know, clarity and confidence. Mm.

Audra Dinell: Coming back to that.

Yes. I love it. Okay, so we are going to have another episode with Christie and we are going to talk with her about how Christie came in and helped my [00:25:00] team. So this podcast was a ton about how learning aptitudes can be really, really helpful for you to find work that is fulfilling or build a life that is fulfilling to you.

But now we're gonna talk to her on the next episode about what could it mean for a team that you knew everyone's aptitudes and everyone knew yours, and how you could work together and utilize this data to become a super solid team, like the one I have here at the Thread. So listen, in the next episode, until then though, Christie, can you tell our listeners where they can find you?

Actually, let me pause. Cut off before I say where you can. Where I can find you. Okay. Okay. So we also have some exciting news. If you are hearing this and you are like, I need to know my aptitudes. I don't know this about myself. I need to work with Christie. She has generously offered a discount to any of our podcast listeners.

You can book with her [00:26:00] on her website, she'll tell you where that is, and use a special code to get a discount to work with her and learn your aptitudes. So Christie, can you tell our listeners where they can find you?

Kristi Windish: Yes, we are@truecompassllc.com. And you can also find us on Facebook or at True Compass Wichita on Instagram.

I'm excited to get to work with as many adults as I can because I love working with students and adults.

Audra Dinell: Ugh, me too. Okay, so use the code thread 10. If you want to work with Christie, and you're a listener of this podcast, she's generously offered you a discount using the code via her website, thread 10.

That's T-H-R-E-A-D number 10. All right. Thank you everyone. I hope you tune in next week to hear how Aptitudes have helped me build a strong team. [00:27:00]