I seem to be the outlaw an awful lot. Sort of. Or The questioner....I always seem to be on the wrong side of things anyway. People tend to look at me as though I'm a threat and a challenger...usurper to thier authority. Makes me sad, that does.
I think people take the silent one the wrong way at times.
I'm often the dark horse too. The one people underestimate.
I'm also, if every one sees eye to eye, the enthusiatic motivator, mediator, warm fuzzy feeling giver and general builder upper, and bond builder.
Well, I can be the outlaw and the usurper , and I am completely comfortable with being one.
Being an authority is easy, overthrowing one is hard.
My role changes depending on the group.
- If the group is unstable, I'm the Stabilizer.
- If the group is rather straight-laced, I play Comic Relief (goofy or dry humor).
- If the group is stuck in a rut, I'm the Brainstormer/Catalyst.
- If the group is way too positive and/or uncritical, I'm a Boat-Rocker.
- If the group is too accommodating and thus vulnerable, I'm the Protector against any wolves that wander in.
And if all of these roles are filled and otherwise I don't serve a good purpose, I just vanish.
I'm very similar. Maybe that's part of the reason i avoid groups, I risk losing my identity in the process.
On the other hand, in a one-on-one situation there is usually little pressure to fill a role.
Also, i don't like leading as much as i don't like being led.
I typically experience it as more of the balance (and I guess overall that would make me a Balancer? ha!)... but seriously, I guess I scan the group, see where the holes are, and try to fill them so that the group functions as fully as possible.
The "identity" nod, though, is worth exploring in more detail. Why do we even have these roles at all? What happens when we can't fulfill our roles? What level of gratification comes from fulfilling our roles, and disappointment from not being able to fulfill them? There's likely some sort of positive strokes that occur when we find a place where we feel we "fit" and function and contribute, and it reinforces/mirrors our own sense of self.
When I think I am primarily a balancer (which ends up making me a jack of all trades type), identity does play some sort of role in my experience of group and potentially in my having to distinguish myself in some unique way within the group. When I can't do this, I experience my role as unnecessary (the utilitarian/balancing aspect) but also feel like I have become faceless (the identity aspect), and I typically lose some level of interest in the group and might go elsewhere where I feel I have more of a niche to fill. I've found in a community setting that I really need to both (1) fulfill a need and (2) be recognized as a unique individual in order to remain invested in the group.
yeah, all that. Around the thinkers, I seem emotive; around emotives, vice versa. Around concretes, I'm intuitive; around intuives, I preach grounding. Around religious folks, I seem to be the unbeliever; around unbelievers, I'm the mystic. And so on.
(Although it can be kind of disconcerting to be labeled as one by the other and vice versa, and thus not really have any faction that can be called one's own.)
My role changes depending on the group.
- If the group is unstable, I'm the Stabilizer.
- If the group is rather straight-laced, I play Comic Relief (goofy or dry humor).
- If the group is stuck in a rut, I'm the Brainstormer/Catalyst.
- If the group is way too positive and/or uncritical, I'm a Boat-Rocker.
- If the group is too accommodating and thus vulnerable, I'm the Protector against any wolves that wander in.
And if all of these roles are filled and otherwise I don't serve a good purpose, I just vanish.
Well, I can be the outlaw and the usurper , and I am completely comfortable with being one.
Being an authority is easy, overthrowing one is hard.
I suppose if there is one common thread to my participation, it is that I'm usually the one pointing out the elephant in the room, or daring to say that the emperor has no clothes.(Although it can be kind of disconcerting to be labeled as one by the other and vice versa, and thus not really have any faction that can be called one's own.)