We talk about the CVI fairly regularly around here, but there’s one quadrant we don’t discuss very: the Builder. Builders, fiercely independent and often with less social diplomacy than some of the other quadrants, are often misunderstood — but we can all learn a lot from Builders.
When a Builder is a great Builder, they have faith in themselves to great effect. They know what to do and they do it. They are decisive and they tend to make great decisions. But what happens when a healthy Builder doesn’t know what to do?
The Builder’s core value is Power, so perhaps this means they suddenly become weak — or at least, feel the stress of perceiving themselves as weak. And for an emotionally unhealthy Builder, that might be true. But for a great Builder? It makes little difference at all.
Not knowing doesn’t give them doubts or fears. It won’t push them into their negative conflict strategy of intimidation. Why is that? Because a good builder is not threatened by any experience of not knowing; their faith in themselves extends to their ability to find out. This is what we can all learn from.
Part of our ability to have faith in ourselves is to recognize what we DON’T know — to be aware of our weaknesses or shortcomings — so that we can get that information in order to know better. A great Builder, when they don’t know, doesn’t judge themselves — they figure out what’s wrong. They look for answers and solutions. When doubt is used as insight, they’re willing to use better questions and approach things better.
If you see these things as weaknesses, you’ll flip into that negative conflict strategy to protect yourself whenever you face them. Instead of making progress and learning, you’ll be trying to cover up — you’ll come across as arrogant and aggressive, and you’ll waste time accomplishing little.
Faith in oneself must run deep. It doesn’t mean you believe you know everything or can do anything — it means you trust yourself to solve the problems as you face them. You don’t judge yourself for having those problems. And you know, whether or not you overcome them perfectly, you’ll be able to make progress.
And that’s what matters.
