StrengthsFinder 2.0 arrived on my doorstep about 2 weeks ago (courtesy of the residence life department I'm working for in the fall - thank you!) It seemed a promising read, but in my normal procrastinating nature, I didn't open it until yesterday.
StrengthsFinder is, just as the title says, about finding your strengths. The idea is that too many times we focus on our faults and how to fix them, rather than focusing on our talents and maximizing them. The book states the belief that if more people worked this way, we essentially would all be more successful and happier.
The real magic of the book is that it comes with a code where you can log onto the StrengthsFinder website & take the assessment to find out your strengths. When you finish the assessment, you will find out your top 5 themes (classifications of talent) out of 34 that exist in the Clifton StrengthsFinder, and you receive detailed information on those talents as well as a list of specific ways you can apply them in your work.
Now, I've taken many "personality" quizzes and stuff of the like, but the Clifton StrengthsFinder is something else - it is wickedly accurate. While reading my results I seriously kept making a Home Alone face and yelling "oh my gosh that is SO me!" It's that accurate. Amazing.
My top 5 themes were restorative, deliberative, ideation, input, and context. Basically, I like to fix problems, I'm a private person, I love creativity, I crave knowledge, & I respect the past (if I could sum up each theme and how it specifically applies to me - the StrengthsFinder results are much more detailed and my fragments do them no justice!)
Another fun thing is figuring out how the theme applies to you. You and a friend could have the same theme, but it exists in you in different ways. For example, I think there are multiple types of problem solvers. Some love the thrill of fixing unexpected problems, and are fast decision makers. I, on the other hand, prefer a longer problem solving process. I like to mull things over and flesh out each option as much as possible to make 100% certain that I make the right decision (because I hate having to re-do things. I'd rather take the time and do it right the first time.) I like fixing things just as much as other problem solvers, I just have a different way about doing it.
Also, getting back to the creepy accurateness of my results: "you simply cannot have too much information. It is impossible. Like a miner searches for gold day after day, you continually collect new bits of knowledge." How does it know this?! How did StrengthsFinder know I'm addicted to Sporcle, I wiki EVERYTHING under the sun, I keep a notebook documenting the things I find via IMDB, & that I actually have a book specifically about completely useless information? (My dad couldn't stop laughing when I read him this result, I am always spouting off some miscellaneous fact when we're together!)
Overall, I think StrengthsFinder 2.0 is a great book and if anything, it really helped me articulate what my talents are and helped me learn how I can become more successful by honing in on the things I'm naturally good at.
If you have taken the StrengthsFinder assessment, what are your top 5? Did you find them to be accurate? How have you applied them in your life? Please share!
xoxo erikah
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