My talents Mark De Winne
My talents : top 5
1.
DESCRIPTION - ROCK
I have a well-developed inner
compass. I know what the right thing
to do is and dare to go for it. This
doesnt mean I never doubt, but I
remain calm, know what Im worth and
rely on that. I can deal with new
situations without forgetting myself.
2. DESCRIPTION - OPTIMIST
If the roof comes down, we at least
get to see the blue sky! However
hopeless the situation may be, I
always see the positive aspects and
opportunities. For me, the glass is
always half full and my infectious
enthusiasm motivates people to
continue. I use humour to defuse
tensions.
Justify by means of one or more concrete
examples for the use of that talent in
studies/daily life/professional experience
I believe that whatever I will do in life, I will land
on my feet. Perhaps it is the inner compass
inside of me. It guides me through life and it
gives me certain state of peace in my mind.
For example when I started the IBM program, I
was pretty confident I would do good. Id learn a
lot, make new friends, make some amazing
moments.
Whenever I start working at a new place in
summer vacation I have the same feeling. As
long as I am certain I wont lose myself into
anything stupid, I always remain calm. Thats
why I really like new things and discover them.
Travelling, doing student jobs that dont relate
with my studies. I really like personal enrichment
in any kind of way.
I was always raised optimistic. Perhaps because I
am half Belgian-half Filipino. The mentality of the
Philippine people is quite different than the
Belgians mentality.
I do believe that everything you do in life starts
with a decent amount of optimism.
Whenever a group project or an assignment
seems to fail, I keep always in mind that it will
work out and work towards that mindset. If
something seems impossible I always think
Inhale, exhale and kick ass.
Recently we had a big oral test for Spanish. And
a friend of mine send me a message I am really
stressed, I really cant fail on this one.. The
immediate response I had in mind was: Dont
stress, you have studied really good. You got
this. So in that kind of way I do think you never
have to underestimate your own strength and
doubt your talent. I always put myself in the
position of Im going to achieve it. I do not know
how, but Ill figure it out..
Of course you shouldnt overestimate yourself
either, but you should start with a decent

3. DESCRIPTION - ENJOYER OF THE
MOMENT
If other people ask me if I have a lot of
stress, I always say: What do you
mean by stress? I dont experience
stress like other people do: I take days
as they come and try to make the
most of it. I dont suffer from my
agenda, Im in control of it. A day that
goes according to plan is fine, but
unexpected events give me extra
energy.
I live in the here and now and do what
is important now. Im not really
concerned with the future: if the day
has a certain basic quality, Im
satisfied. After all, you build the bridge
as you walk on it.
4. DESCRIPTION - CONJOINER
I can easily approach new people, and
vice versa. Im known to be a good
host and like to meet new people. I
also like to bring people in touch with
each other. When there is a silent
moment in a conversation, I can easily
break it. I try to involve people who do
not take part in the conversation
amount of optimism. And thats how I approach
things
I think that Enjoyer of the moment and Rock
go well together. They are sort of complimentary.
Because of my inner compass I do experience a
different kind of stress, I suppose. Of course I do
have a lot of stress at some moments.
For example, last summer I went to the
Philippines on my own because my family
already departed a couple of days earlier. I had
my plane at 10 in the morning. So what I wanted
to do is go by train to the airport, because of the
good line between my home place and the
airport. But of course it wouldnt be NMBS if
something was working correctly. A fire occurred
in Brussel South, so I had to get off the train in
Brussel North. And it was still a distance from
Zaventem from there. So I looked at the screen
of departures of the trains and it coloured all red.
No train was riding until noon. But I kept calm
and I was thinking how to solve this. Because I
believe that when people have to make
decisions when they stress, they often make the
wrong ones. So I couldnt call anyone, and I was
kind of stuck there.
So I walked around in the station to look for
solutions. All the stressed people were thinking
how to get to the airport by train through several
stations. But luckily due to my calmness, I saw
that there where taxis a couple of blocks away.
So I managed to take the taxi and arrive on time
at the airport.
Of course I do experience stress, but I believe I
deal different with stress or stressful moments
that most people do. And I really believe thats a
good thing to have.
I am open towards new cultures and new things.
Thats also one of the reasons I chose IBM,
because of the international aspect.
I remember our first year IBM, we were with a lot
of Flemish students in one class and only a few
international students. And it was sort of a clique
of Flemish students. So what we did was kind of
approached the international students as best as
we could. Though they felt a bit excluded still
because of the big amount of Flemish students.
So as a result of that we were all spread over
several classes next year. So the diversity in the
classes was bigger. That really helped, because

5. DESCRIPTION - TEAM PLAYER
I like being part of a club, group or
community. I like to go to places that
are full of people and that give me the
feeling of being part of a bigger whole.
It makes me feel good. I also play my
part: being part of something does not
only give you rights, but also
obligations. I like to take my
responsibility for this.
in my current class there are more international
student than last year and now I have bigger
interaction with the international students. And
because of the diversity everybody is much
more approachable.
When I sit in class next to someone I do not
know, I try to start a conversation to get to know
that person. And that is a nice thing to do
because most of the people in IBM are really nice
and have a story to tell.
To break the silence I usually start talking about
music, I think that the music taste represents the
person in some way and thats really interesting.
I believe in the power of a group. I do think that
you can achieve more when you work together.
I have been playing football for 8 years and its
very important to cooperate well.
Sometimes I was assigned as captain of the
team, and it was not about only the captain
band you are wearing. You also have to pep talk
your team and motivate them. It also includes
that you take care of everybody in the team.
Also the guys who arent that very engaged in
the team. You motivate them for the weekends
game.
I am a great believer of the power of the
collective of individuals. Anybody in a team has
its own talents and can create added value to
the team.

My lever skills

My talents Which lever skills can How have you used these skills
I learn? Summarize before? If you havent : how
the most important will you ensure you develop
points of these skills them?
for you
1. Lever skills ROCK Sometimes listen Due to the fact that I am very self-
more often to confident, I might neglect the
It is important to be people and their advices of people around me.
receptive to feedback advices. I should work more on listening to
and to take the time to Continue to be people and their visions, because it
listen to it. People can
become passive or hold
back. Clearly
communicate to others
that you want to hear
from them and want to
know what they are
thinking. Learn to ask for
the input of your
environment. Sometimes
it is necessary to ask
yourself whether it can
be improved. Just take a
step back when it
concerns something you
feel strongly about and
keep listening. Actively
look for feedback on
what you do and bear it
in mind. Keep motivating
your point of view.
2. Lever skills OPTIMIST
There are limits to
opportunities.
Sometimes it is
important to see the
seriousness of a
situation. Humour is not
always suitable. Keep
hold of the situation to
see whether it is
appropriate. Keep an eye
on what is going wrong.
open to new can be very interesting. Especially
things and my vision on the future
mindsets differentiates from those of my
Do things friends.
differently/seeing I have learned from my friends that
things from being unsure sometimes about
another things or starting to build up a
perspective future plan is a good thing.
Continue to be And maybe I should approach
self-confident, but things differently.
still being open to I definitely should continue to have
new visions confidence in myself and believe in
my strengths.
Its important to I have use these skills already in
be realistic sportclubs, school and at home.
sometimes and I really should continue to be
see the downfalls optimistic but consider negative
too. points of view also. The mix of the
When somebody two can create a more realistic
mentions perspective in some cases.
something Listening to people opinions is a
negative, it would good thing to overcome the aspect
be a good thing to of being too optimistic.
see his or her
point of view and
Sometimes you need to work with that.
see the disadvantages
too. When other people
stress the negative
aspects, keep listening
patiently. Maybe you can
provide them with
perspectives and help
them to see possibilities.
Explain that your talent
does not mean you are
nave or superficial but
that you choose to look
for options.

3. Lever skills ENJOYER

OF THE MOMENT
For the environment, it
sometimes seems as if
you are chaotic. Your
environment needs more
structure than you : ask
questions about this and
look into it. You are
running the risk that
others cant see clearly
what you are working on.
Explain it to them and
clarify. Take a distance
from time to time and
learn to focus on the job.
Divide tasks into
important and less
important matters and
ask yourself whether you
are working on the right
matters. This will help
Making more I certainly have made plannings
plannings already, but I should do it more
Dedicate myself to often. It kind of gives you structure
one particular in your life and thats a good thing.
thing a time I do not think I will stop enjoying
the moment because it gave me
already a lot of good things in life.
But I believe a combination of
having structure and enjoying the
moment is the best thing to have.
I also should concentrate on one
thing a time. Doing several stuff
combined can get you distracted
and you might do things wrongly.
So thats certainly a working point.
you limit your time with
unimportant issues.
4. Lever skills
CONJOINER
If you do not feel the
contact with the other,
dont continue talking.
Ask questions and
mention what you can
see from someone elses
appearance. If you feel
you cant involve
someone in a story,
accept that this person
does not want to or cant
follow (put into
perspective your own
bad feelings about this).
Do not force contacts
with others by adding
irrelevant elements to
the conversation. Allow
silences to happen and
do not surrender to the
need to fill them in
immediately.
Continue to let the I certainly do not push people
person do what he when they dont open up. I respect
does that and I believe that some people
Continue to are more introvert than others. Just
involve people in give them a friendly smile and be
group activities polite towards them. Maybe one
Advice people day theyll open up, or not.
with respect I think I am doing a good thing to
open to people and being sociable
and respect the people that are
more introvert.
Another thing I should work on or
continue doing is when someone is
telling me some irrelevant stuff or
talking to me in an inappropriate
way or moment, tell them in a
respectful way that its not the
right moment or that their attitude
is not appropriate.
5. Lever skills TEAM
PLAYER
Even though you wish
for it, you should realise
you cant be involved in
everything. This goes for
other people too : they
might not always want
to be involved, learn to
respect this. To be part
of something means you
have rights but duties
too. Make clear to people
they should make an
effort to be part of
something. You tend to
involve a lot of people,
investigate whether this
is always necessary.
Continue to Its certainly a good thing to
respect everybody respect everybody in a group, club,
Engage the right school.
individuals and A working point is maybe, the
motivate them people who arent very motivated
more or enthusiastic to motivate them to
Consider the fact get them doing things done.
that not all I should maybe realise more that
groups/teams will not every group will work out and
work out achieve good things. And I should
take into consideration that big
troubles and discussions will also
occur in the future. Its important
as a good team leader to not
polarise in such cases. To keep
calm and listen to the other
members.