Spark summary

If you just had an argument with a coworker, you probably won’t be rushing to sit down next to him during lunch. Most of us have an instinctive desire to avoid potentially unpleasant situations – except for those of us who are sparks.

Rather than avoiding confrontation, sparks will use cognitive flexibility to make the most of an awkward social situation.

No one wants to follow a hypocritical leader who says one thing and does another. So, if you hope to be a spark, it’s important to establish clear values and follow through on them.

There are benefits to having strong core values, especially when it comes to making decisions. When you know where you stand, you’ll find it easy to make the right choice.

Do you ever find it annoying when people say they’ll follow up with you and never do? Why would they say something if they have no intention of doing it?

Sparks aren’t like that. They place value on being reliable and credible in what they say; they know that people have more respect for a leader who keeps their word.

It’s all too common to find people passing the blame on to others. If someone gets bad grades, it’s the teacher’s fault; if someone didn’t get a job, it’s because the hiring manager was biased.

As it turns out, there’s a very natural explanation for all this avoidance of responsibility.

Sparks are driven to be of service and help others succeed. They flourish when there’s a strong sense of community, where people focus less on themselves and more on teamwork.

For this environment to grow, you need to understand what people need to succeed.

A college degree can land you an attractive job interview, but it won’t get you the position. For that, you need to show the right attitude and confidence that suggests you can handle a challenge when it presents itself.

In these situations, a spark will come prepared with past achievements of how they’ve overcome difficulties. And what’s more, they’ll draw strength from this list of achievements in many other situations.