StrengthsFinder: Now, Discover Your Strengths!

You'd think you'd know what your natural strengths are, but not necessarily. The last thing the fish knows about is the water. Read about Bruce, one of America's best teachers, who thought everyone had his greatest strength. You probably do, too.

 

The procedure to take this test is, first you have to buy the book and then find the secret code inside the book jacket.

 

Click here if you'd like to order the book immediately through amazon.com. The cost will be $22.98 including shipping and postage. If this is too big a bother (I thought it was) -- nobody seems to read the book anyway -- I'll do this for you for a surcharge of $15 and give you the code when I get it. Email me.

cover Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D.
Click the book cover to go directly to amazon.com

 

Here are the results of my test. I consider them accurate. Like Bruce, I wasn't particularly impressed with my ability to strategize. I thought everybody did that. The thing that surprised me most was Self-Assurance. Again, I thought everyone led their life that way.

 

What is StrengthsFinder? The Internet-based StrengthsFinder Profile is the product of a 25-year, multi-million dollar effort to identify the most prevalent human strengths. The program introduces 34 dominant "themes" with thousands of possible combinations, and reveals how they can best be translated into personal and career success. In developing this program, Gallup has conducted psychological profiles with more than two million individuals to help you learn how to focus and perfect these themes.

More about StrengthsFinder is a Web-based assessment of normal personality from the perspective of Positive Psychology. It is the first assessment instrument of this type developed expressly for the Internet. Over a secure connection, StrengthsFinder presents 180 items to the participant. Each item consists of a pair of potential self-descriptors, such as "I read instructions carefully" versus "I like to jump right into things." The descriptors are placed as if anchoring polar ends of a continuum. The participant is then asked to choose from the pair the statement that best describes him or her, and also to what extent that chosen option is descriptive. The respondent is given 20 seconds to respond to a given pair of descriptors before the system moves on to the next pair. (StrengthsFinder developmental research showed that the 20-second limit resulted in a negligible item non-completion rate.)" This quote is taken from the website www.strengthsfinder.com.

Quoted from Now, Discover Your Strengths (page 128)

"A few years ago Bruce B. won one of America's most prestigious awards for teachers. According to bedeck from his peers, his students, and their parents, he was brilliant at creating a focused yet caring environment for learning. As part of Gallup's study of excellence, we interviewed him and then gave him feedback on his strengths. One of his strongest talents was Empathy, so we talked about to him about how powerful it was that he could pick up on the feelings of each student, that he could make each one feel heard and understood. We described how this theme enabled him to hear the unspoken questions, to anticipate each students, learning hurdles, and to tailor his teaching style so that together they could find a way round them. We painted as vivid a picture as we could of how he had cultivated this talent into a tremendous strength.

When we were done, Bruce sat there with a strange look on his face. He wasn't surprised. He wasn't intrigued. He didn't even seem particularly flattered. He was just confused.

"Doesn't everyone do that?" he asked.

 

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THE 34 THEMES OF STRENGTHSFINDER

from Now, Discover Your Strengths
by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D.

Achiever
Activator
Adaptability
Analytical
Arranger
Belief
Command
Communication
Competition
Connectedness
Context
Deliberative
Developer
Discipline
Empathy
Fairness
Focus
Futuristic
Harmony
Ideatioin
Inclusiveness
Individualization
Input
Intellection
Learner
Maximizer
Positivity
Relator
Responsibilitiy
Restorative
Self-assurance
Significance
Strategic
Woo

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Nancy's Results

5 themes: Strategic, Relator, Self-Assurance, Input and Learner
Yep. That's me!

Name: Nancy R. Fenn
March 15, 2002



Strategic
The Strategic theme enables you to sort through the clutter and find the best route. It is not a skill that can be taught. It is a distinct way of thinking, a special perspective on the world at large. This perspective allows you to see patterns where others simply see complexity. Mindful of these patterns, you play out alternative scenarios, always asking, "What if this happened? Okay, well what if this happened?" This recurring question helps you see around the next corner. There you can evaluate accurately the potential obstacles. Guided by where you see each path leading, you start to make selections. You discard the paths that lead nowhere. You discard the paths that lead straight into resistance. You discard the paths that lead into a fog of confusion. You cull and make selections until you arrive at the chosen path-your strategy. Armed with your strategy, you strike forward. This is your Strategic theme at work: "What if?" Select. Strike.
Relator
Relator describes your attitude toward your relationships. In simple terms, the Relator theme pulls you toward people you already know. You do not necessarily shy away from meeting new people-in fact, you may have other themes that cause you to enjoy the thrill of turning strangers into friends-but you do derive a great deal of pleasure and strength from being around your close friends. You are comfortable with intimacy. Once the initial connection has been made, you deliberately encourage a deepening of the relationship. You want to understand their feelings, their goals, their fears, and their dreams; and you want them to understand yours. You know that this kind of closeness implies a certain amount of risk-you might be taken advantage of-but you are willing to accept that risk. For you a relationship has value only if it is genuine. And the only way to know that is to entrust yourself to the other person. The more you share with each other, the more you risk together. The more you risk together, the more each of you proves your caring is genuine. These are your steps toward real friendship, and you take them willingly.
Self-Assurance
Self-assurance is similar to self-confidence. In the deepest part of you, you have faith in your strengths. You know that you are able-able to take risks, able to meet new challenges, able to stake claims, and, most important, able to deliver. But Self-assurance is more than just self-confidence. Blessed with the theme of Self-assurance, you have confidence not only in your abilities but in your judgment. When you look at the world, you know that your perspective is unique and distinct. And because no one sees exactly what you see, you know that no one can make your decisions for you. No one can tell you what to think. They can guide. They can suggest. But you alone have the authority to form conclusions, make decisions, and act. This authority, this final accountability for the living of your life, does not intimidate you. On the contrary, it feels natural to you. No matter what the situation, you seem to know what the right decision is. This theme lends you an aura of certainty. Unlike many, you are not easily swayed by someone else's arguments, no matter how persuasive they may be. This Self-assurance may be quiet or loud, depending on your other themes, but it is solid. It is strong. Like the keel of a ship, it withstands many different pressures and keeps you on your course.
Input
You are inquisitive. You collect things. You might collect information-words, facts, books, and quotations-or you might collect tangible objects such as butterflies, baseball cards, porcelain dolls, or sepia photographs. Whatever you collect, you collect it because it interests you. And yours is the kind of mind that finds so many things interesting. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity. If you read a great deal, it is not necessarily to refine your theories but, rather, to add more information to your archives. If you like to travel, it is because each new location offers novel artifacts and facts. These can be acquired and then stored away. Why are they worth storing? At the time of storing it is often hard to say exactly when or why you might need them, but who knows when they might become useful? With all those possible uses in mind, you really don't feel comfortable throwing anything away. So you keep acquiring and compiling and filing stuff away. It's interesting. It keeps your mind fresh. And perhaps one day some of it will prove valuable.
Learner
You love to learn. The subject matter that interests you most will be determined by your other themes and experiences, but whatever the subject, you will always be drawn to the process of learning. The process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting for you. You are energized by the steady and deliberate journey from ignorance to competence. The thrill of the first few facts, the early efforts to recite or practice what you have learned, the growing confidence of a skill mastered-this is the process that entices you. Your excitement leads you to engage in adult learning experiences-yoga or piano lessons or graduate classes. It enables you to thrive in dynamic work environments where you are asked to take on short project assignments and are expected to learn a lot about the new subject matter in a short period of time and then move on to the next one. This Learner theme does not necessarily mean that you seek to become the subject matter expert, or that you are striving for the respect that accompanies a professional or academic credential. The outcome of the learning is less significant than the "getting there."

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This page is quoted from the StrengthsFinder Website. My purpose in recreating this information is to encourage you to take the test if you think it would be helpful to you. This would entail buying the book in order to get the code to take the test.

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