Your Sunlight is in the Mentor Pattern. Mentors like to come alongside you and develop you to be your best. They hone who you are, fanning the flame of your ability. Mentors build into you and help you realize your potential. They coach and guide you to help you discover your whole self. As trusted allies, they are friendly faces who encourage you to grow, develop and change.

As a Mentor, you do the above with relative ease, like using your dominant hand to sign a check. You won't have to give these things much thought as they flow naturally from your giftedness. President Dwight Eisenhower and Indira Gandhi were Mentor leaders. Eisenhower said: “I would rather try to persuade a man to go along, because once I have persuaded him, he will stick. If I scare him, he will stay just as long as he is scared, and then he is gone. Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”

Leaders with the Mentor Pattern not only select excellent subordinates but they provide an environment where subordinates can flourish in their giftedness—allowing them to perform at their highest capacity.

Eisenhower said, “The best morale exists when you never hear the word mentioned. When you hear a lot of talk about it, it’s usually lousy. The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.” He was not a ‘hands on’ president, but delegated authority and insisted that his staff should bring only matters of the highest political importance to his personal attention. Eisenhower used his Mentor Pattern whether as a General or a President—building into people and empowering them to act. Gandhi said, “I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.” Mentors show others how to live.

Jesus said, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

You will want to read about the Mentor leadership of Eisenhower, Gandhi and Jesus, as many can miss the unique interactive style of the Mentor. Yet, remember to use your middle areas and Shadows! As the German philosopher Goethe said, “Where there is much light, the shadow is deep.”

Your Shadow is in the Catalyst Pattern. It may be hard or unnatural for you to challenge others and take them to new ground. Whereas Catalysts like to innovate and experiment in life, motivating others to change, you will find these things take a great amount of time and effort. You probably won't enjoy lighting fires under people or spurring them on to unconventional or entirely new methods. While Catalysts are trusted critics, love to be revolutionary, and stir up people, you will find these things hard or distasteful.

You can develop your Catalyst skills through education, on the job training, or life experience. Using your Catalyst skills can bring satisfaction if you have developed this weaker area into a “Middle Ground.” However, you will tire faster when using your Catalyst skills, and these skills will be the first to under-perform when you are tired or in a crisis.

The Shadow is like using your non-dominant hand to sign a check. While a few people out of ten thousand are ambidextrous, most people are not innately able to do the same functions with both hands. Through education, on-the-job-training, or the school of hard knocks, you may get fairly good at your Shadow function. Yet, this is like comparing a gifted athlete to a highly trained one. The gifted athlete who hones his or her ability, will always be a better athlete—throwing farther, running faster, having more endurance, etc. In this way, you may be trained in your Shadow, but it is not your area of giftedness.

One way to confirm your Shadow is to have another person take the People Patterns Indicator on you. A spouse, co-worker, or subordinate will have insights about your habits and gifts that you need to see!

Your Shadow is in the Relational Pattern. It will be a challenge for you to highly prize harmony and see the team as crucial. You might see the team as important or strategic. Team building will require effort and time for you to plan and accomplish. While Relationals highly value grace and mercy, being loving and warm, you may find it challenging to display your warmth and love to others. For you, decisions are infrequently guided by deep-seated values and personal connections to others.

You can develop your Relational skills through education, on the job training, or life experience. Using your Relational skills can bring satisfaction if you have developed this weaker area into a “Middle Ground.” However, you will tire faster when using your Relational skills, and these skills will be the first to under-perform when you are tired or in a crisis.

The Shadow is like using your non-dominant hand to sign a check. While a few people out of ten thousand are ambidextrous, most people are not innately able to do the same functions with both hands. Through education, on-the-job-training, or the school of hard knocks, you may get fairly good at your Shadow function. Yet, this is like comparing a gifted athlete to a highly trained one. The gifted athlete who hones his or her ability will always be a better athlete—throwing farther, running faster, having more endurance, etc. In this way, you may be trained in your Shadow, but it is not your area of giftedness.

One way to confirm your Shadow is to have another person take the People Patterns Indicator on you. A spouse, co-worker, or subordinate will have insights about your habits and gifts that you need to see!