Several decades ago, Dr. Don Clifton, considered the father of positive psychology, posed the question: “What will happen when we think about what is right with people rather than fixating on what is wrong with them?”
From this question, he developed the 177-question survey now known as the CliftonStrengths® Assessment (formerly Gallup StrengthsFinder®). It’s a game changing concept — too often we are told to work on improving weaknesses rather than playing to our strengths. How many times have all of us been told, you have a weakness there, you need to get better? For so long, standard business practice, society practice even, focused on improving what you don’t do well. CliftonStrengths takes a different approach – understand what you’re not good at, but intentionally focus on what comes to you naturally and your success will increase exponentially.
Dr. Clifton and his team identified and classified 34 distinct talent themes that we all have. Completing the survey identifies the order of your talents and ranks them based on your responses. Although we have access to all 34, the top 10 talents are our “superpowers” and determine how we approach tasks, interact with others and think strategically. The advantage this tool has over other “personality” tests is that it is not, in fact, a personality test. What the results tell you is how YOUR brain is wired to perceive the world around you.
As a Strengths Coach, I help you interpret those results. While the completed survey provides several reports and tools to explain your talents, those tools will not really explain how your talent themes work together and influence each other. Gallup advises that everyone who takes the assessment work with a coach to understand their profile. We are complex beings, and the CliftonStrengths® assessment lends credence to that. That’s another way of saying, there’s a lot more to your talents than meets the eye!
The assessment helps you understand why you excel in some areas but shy away from others. And also why you may get “stuck” in certain roles but not find them fulfilling, even though you may do them well. When you know your complete talent profile, it’s much easier to review job postings to ensure a good fit because you can align the role requirements to your strengths. Or conversely, quickly see where the job and your strengths are potentially misaligned.. Understanding your natural abilities lets you ask the right questions during an interview, so you can identify and avoid situations that don’t allow you to play to your strengths.
The benefit of understanding your natural talent goes beyond the job, though. You can apply your strengths to all aspects of your life. As you dive deeper into the 34 talent themes, you will recognize them in the people around you and gain a greater appreciation of others’ abilities and perspectives.
My “why” is helping you understand your profile so you have a very clear, 3-dimensional perspective of your natural talents. There is no better feeling than seeing clients connect the dots from their abilities to their actions to understanding their awesomeness. It’s okay if you feel like you’ve been going in the wrong direction, sometimes that’s part of the journey; knowing your strengths will help you find the right road for YOU. And even if you already know what you do well, understanding your natural talents and focusing on them will propel you to the next level.
Renate
Relator | Learner | Individualization | Arranger | Maximizer