Your Sunlight is in the Administrator Pattern. Administrators help establish the plan and then follow it as it is laid out. They like policy and structure, and are good with details and budgets. Administrators focus on management and tend to be averse to taking risks. They are good with procedures and like to follow the rules.

As an Administrator, you do these things 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 Lyndon Johnson and Nehemiah were Administrator leaders. Consider reading the book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament. Nehemiah was risk averse. He was not just cautious about approaching the king, but exceedingly cautious. Further, he had a tactical plan about what to do about rebuilding the city when the king asked him. Nehemiah was a genius with details and tactics. He had an amazing grasp on how to assess needs and use the right tactics to implement his plan. He handled money, volunteer workers, and enemies well.

Robert A. Caro said about President Johnson, “How he manipulated the Senate's hallowed rules and customs and the weaknesses and strengths of his colleagues to change the ‘unchangeable’ Senate from a loose confederation of sovereign senators to a whirring legislative machine under his own iron-fisted control.” Lyndon Johnson was most effective when he was pushing legislation through Congress. His ability to grasp details and tactics was superb. This is typical of people with the Administrator Pattern. They know how to master the rules of an organization and follow the established plan.

Jesus knew the Administrator gift. He said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Administrators are good with detail and following the rules. In this passage, Jesus affirms that he knows the law. The law must be fulfilled, all of it, down to the smallest letter. This is the joy of the Administrator Pattern, to follow and fulfill a good rule, a good policy, a good procedure. Why change something that is good, unless there is even something better to replace it? What could be better than fulfilling the law of Moses and giving in its place the law of love?

Carefully read about Johnson, Barton, and Jesus, as many people can miss the unique leadership style of the Administrators. 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 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!