“When we’re able to put most of our energy into developing our natural talents, extraordinary room for growth exists.”
You can really go and do anything you want in life, but if you know and bank on your strengths, you can accomplish things much easier. A person who is not great with numbers can become an accountant, but success will be easier for a person who is good with numbers. Often, people learn and know what their weaknesses are and not their strengths. Strengthsfinder aims to let people focus on their strengths in the hopes that their successes will be easier to grab.
A friend of mine did Strengthsfinder with a group and I bought the book to explore what my strengths are. The book has been sitting in my to-be-read pile for more than a year, but this year I am making an effort to read more from my TBR pile.
Strengthsfinder 2.0 starts out introducing the ideas behind focusing on strengths. Then, you have to take an assessment with a code in the back of the book online. It takes about 30 minutes. Then, it gives you your top five strengths. The rest of the book explains all 34 strength categories. It costs extra money to then unlock where you fall in the rest of the 29 categories.
I think the assessment was pretty accurate and after reading the rest of the categories, I could get a pretty good idea of what my other strengths probably are. The descriptions give an in-depth description, three personal testimonies of people with those strengths, how to best use those strengths and how to work with people who have that strength.
This assessment would be great for businesses to use to best utilize their people. As a personal assessment, it’s fairly costly and a bit hard to apply. The descriptions are focused on the workforce more than personal life. However, just reading the descriptions will help a person recognize his or her strengths.
Have you done the Strengthsfinder 2.0 assessment? What are your strengths? Share on the blog!