StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup's Now, Discover Your Strengths
 
Amazon links: StrengthsFinder 2.0 and StandOut: The Groundbreaking New Strengths Assessment from the Leader of the Strengths Revolution
Do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
Chances are, you don't. All too often, our natural talents go untapped. From the cradle to the cubicle, we devote more time to fixing our shortcomings than to developing our strengths.
To help people uncover their talents, Gallup introduced the first version of its online assessment, StrengthsFinder, in 2001 which ignited a global conversation and helped millions to discover their top five talents.
In its latest national bestseller, StrengthsFinder 2.0, Gallup unveils the new and improved version of its popular assessment, language of 34 themes, and much more (see below for details). While you can read this book in one sitting, you'll use it as a reference for decades.
Loaded with hundreds of strategies for applying your strengths, this new book and accompanying website will change the way you look at yourself — and the world around you — forever.
AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY IN STRENGTHSFINDER 2.0
(using the unique access code included with each book)
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A new and upgraded edition of the StrengthsFinder assessment
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A personalized Strengths Discovery and Action-Planning Guide for applying your strengths in the next week, month, and year
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A more customized version of your top five theme report
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50 Ideas for Action (10 strategies for building on each of your top five themes)
The material in the book is valuable for considering ways in which various strengths can be put into action. But what sports coach would rely on a test for identifying an athlete's strengths? More effective insights can be found in the strength topics in Peter Drucker's Managing Oneself and The Effective Executive.
9 SEP — Take Responsibility for Your Career
The stepladder is gone, and there's not even the implied structure of an industry's rope ladder. It's more like vines, and you bring your own machete.
If a young man in a gray flannel suit represented the life long corporate type, what's today's image?
Taking individual responsibility and not depending on any particular company.
Equally important is managing your own career.
You don't know what you'll be doing next, or whether you'll work in a private office or one big amphitheater or even out of your home.
You have to take responsibility for knowing yourself, so you can find the right jobs as you develop and as your family becomes a factor in your values and choices.
Remarkably few Americans are prepared to select jobs for themselves.
When you ask, "Do you know what you are good at?
Do you know your limitations?" they look you in the eye with a blank stare.
Or they often respond in terms of subject knowledge, which is the wrong answer.
When they prepare their résumés, they try to list positions like steps up a ladder.
It is time to give up thinking of jobs or career paths as we once did and think in terms of taking on one assignment after another.
We have to leap right over the search for objective criteria and get into the subjective—what I call competencies.
StrengthsFinder
- Title page
- Contents
- Strengthsfinder: the Next Generation
- What’s New in StrengthsFinder 2.0?
- Part I: Finding Your Strengths—an Introduction
- The Path of Most Resistance
- The Strengths Zone
- Your Themes of Talent
- A Recipe for Strength
- Managing Weaknesses
- Blind Spots
- The New Assessment, Website, and Development Guide
- The New Assessment, Website, and Development Guide-1
- You also will find these resources on the new website
- Parting Thoughts
- Taking Strengthsfinder 2.0
- Part II: Applying Your Strengths
- Achiever
- Achiever Sounds Like This
- Melanie K., ER nurse
- Ted S., salesperson
- Sara L., writer
- Ideas for Action
- Select jobs that fit this strength
- See David Allen Project Mgt
- Remember to build celebration and recognition into your life
- Meeting suggestions
- Continue your education
- Set a more demanding goal every time you finish a project
- Share your goals with partners so they can help you to get more done
- Count personal achievements in your scoring “system.”
- Launch initiatives and new projects
- Create measurable outcome standards
- Working With Others Who Have Achiever
- Establish a relationship with this person by working alongside him
- So only invite him to meetings where you really need him and he can be fully engaged
- Recognize extra effort and hours
- Activator
- Activator Sounds Like This
- Jane C., Benedictine nun
- Jim L., entrepreneur
- Ideas for Action
- Seek work in which you can make your own decisions and act on them
- Make sure that your manager judges you on measurable outcomes rather than your process
- Look for creative and original thinkers, and help them move their ideas
- Look for areas that are bogged down by discussion or blocked by barriers
- To grow, consciously expose yourself to challenging experiences that will test your …
- Your Activator talents will be most effective when you have first earned others' trust
- Meet with influential decision makers
- Energize the plans and ideas of others
- Give the reasons why your requests for action must be granted
- Be strategic and wise in the use of your Activator talents
- Working With Others Who Have Activator
- Tell them you recognize their talent
- Get her on your side by talking about new initiatives that she can lead or …
- Discuss goals and steps
- Adaptability
- Adaptability Sounds Like This
- Marie T., television producer
- Linda G., project manager
- Peter F., corporate trainer
- Ideas for Action
- Cultivate your reputation as a calm and reassuring person
- Avoid roles that demand structure and predictability
- Help and explain to others
- Use smart guidelines to help you decide when to flex and when to stand firm
- Seek roles in which success depends on responding to constantly changing circumstances
- Prepare for shifts
- Look to others for planning
- Help your friends and colleagues understand that it is productive flexibility
- Avoid tasks that are too structured and stifle your need for variety
- Openly use your reassuring demeanor to soothe disgruntled friends or coworkers
- Working With Others Who Have Adaptability
- This person’s instinctively flexible nature makes him a valuable addition to almost any team
- He can provide a wonderful environment in which others can experiment and learn
- This person will be most productive on short-term assignments that require immediate action
- Analytical
- Analytical Sounds Like This
- Jose G., school system administrator
- Jack T, human resources executive
- Leslie J., school principal
- Ideas for Action
- Choose work in which you are paid to analyze data, find patterns, or organize ideas
- Whatever your role, identify credible sources on which you can rely
- Put value to your thoughts by communicating them
- Make sure that your analytical activities always leads to application and implementation
- Take an academic course that will expand your Analytical talents
- Volunteer your Analytical talents
- Partner with someone with strong Activator talents
- Help others realize that your skepticism is primarily about data, not people
- Look for patterns in data
- Help others understand …
- Working With Others Who Have Analytical
- Take time to think through the issues with her
- Show this person the supporting numbers
- Make sure that she has the necessary time to do the job right
- Arranger
- Arranger Sounds Like This
- Sarah P., finance executive
- Grant D., operations manager
- Jane B., entrepreneur
- Ideas for Action
- Learn the goals of your coworkers and friends
- If a team needs to be created, make sure you are involved
- You intuitively sense how very different people can work together
- Be sure to keep track of ongoing deadlines for your many tasks, projects, and obligations
- Seek complex, dynamic environments in which there are few routines
- Take on the organization of a big event—a convention, a large party, or a company celebration
- Give people time to understand your way of doing things when you present it to them
- At work, focus your Arranger talents on the most dynamic areas of your organization.
- Help others see your far-reaching expertise by sharing your “what if” thinking with them
- You are flexible in the way you organize people, as well as in how you configure space
- Working With Others Who Have Arranger
- This person is excited by complex, multifaceted assignments
- When you are launching a project, ask this person for help in positioning the members of the project team
- This person can be resourceful
- Belief
- Belief Sounds Like This
- Michael K., salesperson
- Lara M., college president
- Tracy D., airline executive
- Ideas for Action
- Clarify your values by thinking about one of your best days ever
- Actively seek roles that fit your values
- The meaning and purpose of your work will often provide direction for others
- Your Belief talents allow you to talk to the hearts of people
- Create a gallery of letters and/or pictures of the people whose lives you have substantially influenced
- Set aside time to ensure that you are balancing your work demands and your personal life
- Don’t be afraid to give voice to your values
- Actively cultivate friends who share your basic values
- Partner with someone who has strong Futuristic talents
- Accept that the values of other people might differ from your own
- Working With Others Who Have Belief
- This person is likely to be very passionate about the things closest to her heart
- Learn about this person’s family and community
- You do not have to share this person’s belief system, but you do have to understand it, respect it, and apply it
- Command
- Command Sounds Like This
- Malcolm M., hospitality manager
- Rick P., retail executive
- Diane N., hospice worker
- Ideas for Action
- You will always be ready to confront
- In your relationships, seize opportunities to speak plainly and directly about sensitive subjects
- Ask people for their opinions
- Partner with someone with strong Woo or Empathy talents
- Your “take charge” attitude steadies and reassures others in times of crisis
- Your Command talents might compel you to wrestle for the reins of power because you love being in the driver’s seat
- Step up and break bottlenecks
- Consider taking the lead on a committee
- Seek roles in which you will be asked to persuade others
- Find a cause you believe in and support it
- Working With Others Who Have Command
- Always ask this person for evaluations of what’s happening in your organization
- When you need to jar a project loose and get things moving again, or when people need to be persuaded, look to this person to take charge
- Never threaten this person unless you are 100% ready to follow through
- Communication
- Communication Sounds Like This
- Sheila K., general manager of a theme park
- Tom P., banking executive
- Margret D., marketing directo
- Ideas for Action
- You will always do well in roles that require you to capture people’s attention
- Start a collection of stories or phrases that resonate with you
- When you are presenting, pay close attention to your audience
- Practice
- Identify your most beneficial sounding boards and audiences—the listeners who seem to bring out your best communication
- Keep getting smarter about the words you use
- Your Communication talents can be highly effective when your message has substance
- You are gifted in fostering dialogue among peers and colleagues
- If you enjoy writing, consider publishing your work
- Volunteer for opportunities to present
- Working With Others Who Have Communication
- This person finds it easy to carry on a conversation
- Take the time to hear about this person’s life and experiences
- Discuss plans for your organization’s social events with this person
- Competition
- Competition Sounds Like This
- Mark L., sales executive
- Harry D., general manager
- Sumner Redstone
- Ideas for Action
- Select work environments in which you can measure your achievements
- List the performance scores that help you know where you stand every day
- Identify a high-achieving person against whom you can measure your own achievement
- Try to turn ordinary tasks into competitive games
- When you win, take the time to investigate why you won
- Let people know that being competitive does not equate with putting others down
- Develop a “balanced metric”—a measurement system that will monitor all aspects of your performance
- When competing with others, create development opportunities by choosing to compare yourself to someone who is slightly above your current level of expertise
- Take the time to celebrate your wins
- Design some mental strategies that can help you deal with a loss
- Working With Others Who Have Competition
- Use competitive language with this person
- Help this person find places where he can win
- When this person loses, he may need to mourn for a while
- Connectedness
- Connectedness Sounds Like This
- Mandy M., homemaker
- Rose T, psychologist
- Chuck M., teacher
- Ideas for Action
- Consider roles in which you listen and counsel
- Explore specific ways to expand your sense of connection
- Within your organization, help your colleagues understand how their efforts fit in the larger picture
- You are aware of the boundaries and borders created within organizations and communities, but you treat these as seamless and fluid
- Help people see the connections among their talents, their actions, their mission, and their successes
- Partner with someone with strong Communication talents
- Don’t spend too much time attempting to persuade others to see the world as a linked web
- Your philosophy of life compels you to move beyond your own self-interests and the interests of your immediate constituency and sphere of influence
- Seek out global or cross-cultural responsibilities that capitalize on your understanding of the commonalities inherent in humanity
- Connectedness talents can help you look past the outer shell of a person to embrace his or her humanity
- Working With Others Who Have Connectedness
- This person will likely have social issues that she will defend strongly
- Encourage this person to build bridges to the different groups in your organization
- If you also have dominant Connectedness talents, share articles, writings, and experiences with this person
- Consistency
- Consistency Sounds Like This
- Simon H., hotel general manager
- Jamie K., magazine editor
- Ben F., operations manager
- Ideas for Action
- Make a list of the rules of consistency by which you can live
- Seek roles in which you can be a force for leveling the playing field
- Cultivate a reputation for pinpointing those who really deserve credit
- Find a role in which you can enforce compliance to a set of standards
- Keep your focus on performance
- Because you value equality, you find it hard to deal with individuals who bend the rules to fit their situation
- Partner with someone with powerful Maximizer or Individualization talents
- Always practice what you preach
- Others will appreciate your natural commitment to consistency between what you have promised and what you will deliver
- Leverage your Consistency talents when you have to communicate “not so pleasant” news
- Working With Others Who Have Consistency
- Be supportive of this person during times of great change because she is most comfortable with predictable patterns that she knows work well
- This person has a practical bent and thus will tend to prefer getting tasks accomplished and decisions made rather than …
- When it comes time to recognize others after the completion of a project …
- Context
- Context Sounds Like This
- Adam Y., software designer
- Jesse K., media analyst
- Gregg H., accounting manager
- Ideas for Action
- Before planning begins on a project, encourage the people involved to study past projects
- If you are in a role that requires teaching others, build your lessons around case studies
- At work, help your organization strengthen its culture via folklore
- Partner with someone with strong Futuristic or Strategic talents
- Accept change
- Use fact-based comparisons to prior successes to paint a vivid picture for others of “what can be” in the future
- You recognize that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior
- Read historical novels, non-fiction, or biographies
- Compare historical antecedents and situations to your current challenge
- Seek out mentors who have a sense of history
- Working With Others Who Have Context
- During meetings, always turn to this person to review what’s been done and what’s been learned
- This person thinks in terms of case studies
- When you introduce this person to new colleagues, ask them to talk about their backgrounds before you get down to business
- Deliberative
- Deliberative Sounds Like This
- Dick H., film producer
- Debbie M., project manager
- Jamie B., service worker
- Brian B., school administrator
- Ideas for Action
- You have naturally good judgment, so consider work in which you can provide advice and counsel
- Whatever your role, take responsibility for helping others think through their decisions
- Explain your process of careful decision making - that you highlight risk in order to take control and reduce it
- You inspire trust because you are cautious and considerate about sensitive topics
- Rather than take foolhardy risks, you are apt to approach a decision cautiously
- During times of change, consider the advantages of being conservative in your decision making
- Don’t let anyone push you into revealing too much about yourself too soon
- Partner with someone with strong Command, Self-Assurance, or Activator talents
- Temper the tendency of others to haphazardly move into action by declaring a “consideration” period before decisions are made
- Give yourself permission to withhold your opinion until you get all the facts and have an opportunity to ponder your stance
- Working With Others Who Have Deliberative
- Ask this person to join teams or groups that tend to be impulsive
- This person is likely to be a rigorous thinker
- Respect the fact that this person may be private
- Developer
- Developer Sounds Like This
- Marilyn K., college president
- John M., advertising executive
- Anna G., nurse
- Ideas for Action
- Make a list of the people you have helped learn and grow
- Seek roles in which your primary responsibilities include facilitating growth
- Notice when others succeed, and tell them
- Identify the mentor or mentors who recognized something special inside you
- Partner with someone with strong Individualization talents
- Carefully avoid supporting someone who is consistently struggling in his or her role
- You will always be compelled to mentor more people than is possible
- Don’t over-invest in losing causes
- Your Developer talents might lead you to become so invested in the growth of others that you ignore your own development
- Make a list of the people you would like to help develop
- Working With Others Who Have Developer
- Reinforce this person’s self-concept as someone who encourages people to stretch and to excel
- Look to this person when it is time to recognize your coworkers
- Ask this person to help you grow in your job
- Discipline
- Discipline Sounds Like This
- Les T, hospitality manager
- Troy T, sales executive
- Diedre S., office manager
- Ideas for Action
- Don’t hesitate to check as often as necessary to ensure that things are right
- Accept that mistakes might depress you
- Recognize that others may not be as disciplined as you are
- Exactitude is your forte; you enjoy poring over details
- Increasing efficiency is one of your hallmarks
- You not only create order, you probably also crave it in the form of a well-organized space
- Timelines motivate you
- Others may confuse your Discipline talents with rigidity
- Seek out roles and responsibilities that have structure
- Create routines that require you to systematically follow through
- Working With Others Who Have Discipline
- When working on a project with this person, make sure to give her advance notice of deadlines
- Try not to surprise this person with sudden changes in plans and priorities
- Disorganization will annoy this person
- Empathy
- Empathy Sounds Like This
- Alyce J., administrator
- Brian H., administrator
- Janet P., schoolteacher
- Ideas for Action
- Help your friends and colleagues be more aware when one of your peers is having a difficult time
- Act quickly and firmly when others behave in a way that is unhealthy for themselves or others
- Partner with someone with strong Command or Activator talents
- Consider serving others as a confidante or mentor
- At times, your empathy for others may overwhelm you
- Identify a friend who has strong Empathy talents, and check your observations with him or her.
- Sensitive to the feelings of others, you readily gauge the emotional tone of a room
- Witnessing the happiness of others brings you pleasure
- Because you are observant of how others are feeling, you are likely to intuit what is about to happen before it becomes common knowledge
- Sometimes empathy does not require words at all
- Working With Others Who Have Empathy
- Ask this person to help you understand how certain people in your organization are feeling
- Before securing this person’s commitment to a particular course of action, ask him how he feels and how other people feel about the issues involved
- When employees or customers have difficulty understanding why an action is necessary, ask this person for help
- Focus
- Focus Sounds Like This
- Nick H., computer executive
- Brad F., sales executive
- Mike L., administrator
- Doriane L., homemaker
- Ideas for Action
- When you set goals, discipline yourself to include timelines and measurements
- Seek roles in which you can function independently
- Your greatest worth as a team member might be helping others set goals
- Others will think, act, and talk less efficiently than you do
- Stretch your goal setting beyond work
- Hours can disappear when you are intent on a task; you lose track of time
- You function best when you can concentrate on a few well-defined initiatives and demands
- Take the time to write down your aspirations, and refer to them often
- At work, be sure to tell your manager your mid-term and short-term goals
- Make sure that the focus points you set for yourself take into consideration both quantity and quality
- Working With Others Who Have Focus
- When there are projects with critical deadlines, try to involve this person
- Be aware that unstructured meetings will bother this person
- Don’t expect this person to always be sensitive to the feelings of others because getting his work done often takes priority over people’s sensitivities
- Futuristic
- Futuristic Sounds Like This
- Dan F., school administrator
- Jan K., internist
- Ideas for Action
- Choose roles in which you can contribute your ideas about the future
- Take time to think about the future
- Seek audiences who appreciate your ideas for the future
- Find a friend or colleague who also has powerful Futuristic talents
- Partner with someone with strong Activator talents
- You inspire others with your images of the future, yet …
- Surround yourself with people who are eager to put your vision into motion
- Be prepared to provide logical support for your futuristic thinking
- Your Futuristic talents could equip you to be a guide or coach for others
- Musing about the future comes naturally to you
- Working With Others Who Have Futuristic
- Keep in mind that this person lives for the future
- Stimulate this person by talking with her often about what could be
- Send this person any data or articles you spot that would be of interest to her
- Harmony
- Harmony Sounds Like This
- Jane C., Benedictine nun
- Chuck M., teacher
- Tom P., technician
- Ideas for Action
- Use your Harmony talents to build a network of people with differing perspectives
- When two people are arguing, ask others in the group to share their thoughts
- Avoid roles that will lead you to confront people on a daily basis
- Practice your techniques for resolving conflict without confrontation
- Partner with someone especially talented in Command or Activator
- Create interactions and forums in which people feel like their opinions are truly being heard
- Be aware that your attempts to create harmony by allowing everyone a turn to speak might actually create disharmony in some people
- Understand that some may take advantage of your efforts to produce harmony
- In discussions, look for the practical side of things
- Deference comes naturally for you
- Working With Others Who Have Harmony
- Steer this person as far as possible away from conflict
- Don’t waste your time discussing controversial subjects with this person
- When others are locked in disagreement, this person can help unlock them
- Ideation
- Ideation Sounds Like This
- Mark B., writer
- Andrea H., interior designer
- Ideas for Action
- Seek a career in which you will be given credit for and paid for your ideas
- You are likely to get bored quickly, so make some small changes in your work or home life
- Finish your thoughts and ideas before communicating them
- Not all your ideas will be equally practical or serviceable
- Understand the fuel for your Ideation talents
- Schedule time to read
- You are a natural fit with research and development
- Partner with someone with strong Analytical talents
- Sometimes you lose others' interest
- Feed your Ideation talents by gathering knowledge
- Working With Others Who Have Ideation
- This person enjoys the power of words
- This person will be particularly effective as a …
- Try to feed this person new ideas
- Includer
- Includer Sounds Like This
- Harry B., outplacement consultant
- Jeremy B., defense lawyer
- Giles D., corporate trainer
- Ideas for Action
- Consider roles in which you can take responsibility for representing voices that are not usually heard
- Look for opportunities to bring together people of diverse cultures and backgrounds
- Help those who are new to an organization or group get to know other people
- An anti-elitist, you may clash with those who feel they have earned the right to perks and power
- Acknowledge the dissonance you feel when you must be the bearer of bad news
- Not every person is lovable or even likeable
- Choose roles in which you are continuously working and interacting with people
- Partner with someone who has dominant Activator or Command talents
- Realize that people will relate to each other through you
- Explain what we all have in common
- Working With Others Who Have Includer
- When you have group functions, ask this person to help ensure that everyone is included
- Ask this person to help you think about potential … you are not reaching today
- If you are not a “natural” in social settings, stay close to an Includer
- Individualization
- Individualization Sounds Like This
- Les T, hospitality manager
- Marsha D., publishing executive
- Andrea H., interior designer
- Ideas for Action
- Select a vocation in which your Individualization talents can be both used and appreciated
- Become an expert in describing your own strengths and style
- Help them plan their future by starting with their strengths, then designing a future based on what they do best
- Explain that it is appropriate, just, and effective to treat each person differently
- Figure out what every person on your team does best
- You have an awareness and appreciation of others' likes and dislikes and an ability to personalize
- Make your colleagues and friends aware of each person’s unique needs
- Relate your presentation topic to the experiences of individuals in the audience
- You move comfortably among a broad range of styles and cultures, and you intuitively personalize your interactions
- Your Individualization talents can help you take a different approach to interpreting data
- Working With Others Who Have Individualization
- When you are having difficulty understanding someone else’s perspective, turn to this person for insight
- If you want to learn more about your unique talents and how you stand out in a crowd, ask this person for her insights
- Have a discussion with this person when you are having problems with a coworker
- Input
- Input Sounds Like This
- Ellen K., writer
- John F., human resources executive
- Kevin F., salesperson
- Ideas for Action
- Look for jobs in which you are charged with acquiring new information each day
- Devise a system to store and easily locate information
- Partner with someone with dominant Focus or Discipline talents
- Your mind is open and absorbent
- You might naturally be an exceptional repository of facts, data, and ideas
- Remember that you must be more than just a collector of information
- Identify your areas of specialization, and actively seek more information about them
- Deliberately increase your vocabulary
- Identify situations in which you can share the information you have collected with other people
- Working With Others Who Have Input
- Keep this person posted on the latest news
- See if you can find a few common interests, and then share facts and stories on these topics
- When you are in meetings, make a point of asking this person for information
- Intellection
- Intellection Sounds Like This
- Lauren H., project manager
- Michael P., marketing executive
- Jorge H., factory manager and former political prisoner
- Ideas for Action
- Consider beginning or continuing your studies in philosophy, literature, or psychology
- List your ideas in a log or diary
- Deliberately build relationships with people you consider to be “big thinkers.”
- People may think you are aloof or disengaged when you close your door or spend time alone
- You are at your best when you have the time to follow an intellectual trail and see where it leads
- Engaging people in intellectual and philosophical debate is one way that you make sense of things
- Schedule time for thinking; it can be energizing for you
- Take time to write
- Find people who like to talk about the same issues you do
- Encourage people around you to use their full intellectual capital
- Working With Others Who Have Intellection
- Don’t hesitate to challenge this person’s thinking
- Get feed on things you read
- Capitalize on the fact that thinking energizes this person
- Learner
- Learner Sounds Like This
- Annie M., managing editor
- Miles A., operations manager
- Tim S., coach for executives
- Ideas for Action
- Refine how you learn
- Develop ways to track the progress of your learning
- Be a catalyst for change
- Seek roles that require some form of technical competence
- As far as possible, shift your career toward a field with constantly changing technologies or regulations
- Because you are not threatened by unfamiliar information …
- Research supports the link between learning and performance
- At work, take advantage of programs that subsidize your learning
- Honor your desire to learn
- Time disappears and your attention intensifies when you are immersed in studying or learning
- Working With Others Who Have Learner
- Regardless of this person’s role, he will be eager to learn new facts, skills, or knowledge
- Help this person track his learning progress by identifying milestones or levels that he has reached
- Encourage this person to become the “master of trade” or “resident expert” in a specific area
- Maximizer
- Maximizer Sounds Like This
- Gavin T, flight attendant
- Amy T., magazine editor
- Marshall G., marketing executive
- Ideas for Action
- Seek roles in which you are helping people succeed
- Devise ways to measure your performance and the performance of others
- Once you have identified your own greatest talents, stay focused on them
- Develop a plan to use your most powerful talents outside of work
- Problem solving might drain your energy and enthusiasm
- Study success
- Explain to others why you spend more time building on great talent rather than fixing weaknesses
- Don’t let your Maximizer talents be stifled by conventional wisdom
- Keep your focus on long-term relationships and goals
- See if you can make some of your weaknesses irrelevant
- Working With Others Who Have Maximizer
- This person is interested in taking something that works and figuring out ways to make the most of it
- If you do not have someone around you who regularly focuses on your strengths, spend more time with a Maximizer
- This person will expect you to understand her strengths and to value her for them
- Positivity
- Positivity Sounds Like This
- Gerry L., flight attendant
- Andy B., Internet marketing executive
- Sunny G., communications manager
- Ideas for Action
- You probably will excel in any role in which you are paid to highlight the positive
- You tend to be more enthusiastic and energetic than most people
- Plan highlight activities for your friends and colleagues
- Explain that your enthusiasm is not simple naivety
- You may get your greatest joy by encouraging people
- As you share your Positivity talents, be sure to protect and nurture them
- Don’t pretend that difficulties don’t concern you
- Because people will rely on you to help them rise above their daily frustrations, arm yourself …
- Avoid negative people
- Deliberately help others see the things that are going well for them
- Working With Others Who Have Positivity
- This person brings drama and energy to the workplace
- The Positivity theme doesn’t imply that this person is always in a good mood
- Cynics will quickly sap this person’s energy
- Relator
- Relator Sounds Like This
- Jamie T, entrepreneur
- Gavin T, flight attendant
- Tony D., pilot
- Ideas for Action
- Find a workplace in which friendships are encouraged
- Deliberately learn as much as you can about the people you meet
- Let it be known that you are more interested in the character and personality of others
- Let your caring show
- No matter how busy you are, stay in contact with your friends
- Be honest with your friends
- You probably prefer to be seen as a person, an equal, or a friend, rather than as a function, a superior, or a title
- You might tend to withhold the most engaging aspects of your personality until …
- Make time for family and close friends
- Make an effort to socialize with your colleagues and team members outside of work
- Working With Others Who Have Relator
- This person enjoys developing genuine bonds with her colleagues
- Tell this person directly that you care about her
- Trust this person with confidential information
- Responsibility
- Responsibility Sounds Like This
- Kelly G., operations manager
- Nigel T, sales executive
- Harry B., outplacement consultant
- Ideas for Action
- Emphasize your sense of responsibility when job hunting
- Keep volunteering for more responsibility than your experience seems to warrant
- Align yourself with others who share your sense of responsibility
- Tell your manager that you work best when given the freedom to follow through on your commitments
- Push yourself to say no
- You naturally take ownership of every project you are involved in
- Learn to manage your Responsibility talents
- Partner with someone especially talented in Discipline or Focus
- Working with a like-minded, responsible colleague is satisfying for you
- Responsible individuals like to know they have “delivered” on their commitments
- Working With Others Who Have Responsibility
- This person defines himself by his ability to live up to his commitments
- This person dislikes sacrificing quality for speed, so be careful not to rush him
- Help this person avoid taking on too much, particularly if he is lacking in Discipline talents
- Restorative
- Restorative Sounds Like This
- Nigel L., software designer
- Jan K., internist
- Marie T, television producer
- Ideas for Action
- Seek roles in which you are paid to solve problems
- Don’t be afraid to let others know that you enjoy fixing problems
- Give yourself a break
- Let other people solve their own problems
- Turnaround situations activate your natural forte
- Leverage your Restorative talents not only to tackle existing problems, but …
- Study your chosen subject closely to become adept at identifying what causes certain problems to recur
- Think about ways you can improve your skills and knowledge
- Constant improvement is one of your hallmarks
- Use your Restorative talents to think of ways to “problem proof” your work
- Working With Others Who Have Restorative
- Ask this person for her observations when you want to identify a problem within your organization
- When a situation in your organization needs immediate improvement, turn to this person for help
- Offer your support when this person meets a particularly thorny problem
- Self-Assurance
- Self-Assurance Sounds Like This
- Pam D., public service executive
- James K., salesman
- Deborah C., ER nurse
- Ideas for Action
- Look for start-up situations for which no rule-book exists
- Seek roles in which you convince people to see your point of view
- Let your self-confidence show
- Realize that sometimes you will find it hard to put your certainty or intuition into words
- Your independent streak can leave you standing alone
- Partner with someone with strong Strategic, Deliberative, or Futuristic talents
- Your exceptionally hard work and long hours are natural products of …
- You can be decisive, even when things get dynamic and distracting
- Set ambitious goals
- You don’t have a great need for direction and support from others
- Working With Others Who Have Self-Assurance
- If you are working on a team with this person, give him leeway in making decisions
- Help this person understand that his decisions and actions do produce outcomes
- Although this person’s self-confidence can often prove useful, if …
- Significance
- Significance Sounds Like This
- Mary P., healthcare executive
- Kathie J., partner in a law firm
- John L., physician
- Ideas for Action
- Choose jobs or positions in which you can determine your own tasks and actions
- Your reputation is important to you, so decide what it should be and tend to it in the smallest detail
- Share your dreams and goals with your family or closest friends and colleagues
- Stay focused on performance
- You will perform best when your performance is visible
- Leading crucial teams or significant projects brings out your best
- Make a list of the goals, achievements, and qualifications you crave
- Identify your best moment of recognition or praise
- Unless you also possess dominant Self-Assurance talents, accept that you might fear failure
- You might have a natural awareness of what other people think of you
- Working With Others Who Have Significance
- Be aware of this person’s need for independence
- Acknowledge that this person thrives on meaningful recognition for her contributions
- Give this person the opportunity to stand out, to be known
- Strategic
- Strategic Sounds Like This
- Liam C., manufacturing plant manager
- Vivian T., television producer
- Simon T., human resources executive
- Ideas for Action
- Take the time to fully reflect or muse about a goal that you want to achieve
- You can see repercussions more clearly than others can
- Find a group that you think does important work, and contribute your strategic thinking
- Your strategic thinking will be necessary to keep a vivid vision from deteriorating into an ordinary pipe dream
- Make yourself known as a resource for consultation
- You are likely to anticipate potential issues more easily than others
- Help others understand that your strategic thinking is not an attempt to belittle their ideas
- Trust your intuitive insights as often as possible
- Partner with someone with strong Activator talents
- Make sure that you are involved in the front end of new initiatives or enterprises
- Working With Others Who Have Strategic
- Involve this person in planning sessions
- Always give this person ample time to think through a situation before asking for his input
- When you hear or read of strategies that worked in your field, share them with this person
- Woo
- Woo Sounds Like This
- Deborah C., publishing executive
- Marilyn K., college president
- Anna G., nurse
- Ideas for Action
- Choose a job in which you can interact with many people over the course of a day
- Deliberately build the network of people who know you
- Join … find out how to get on the social lists of the influential people
- Learn the names of as many people as you can
- In social situations, take responsibility for helping put reserved people at ease
- Find the right words to explain that networking is part of your style
- Partner with someone with dominant Relator or Empathy talents
- Your Woo talents give you the ability to quicken the pulse of your surroundings
- The first moments of any social occasion are crucial
- Practice ways to charm and engage others
- Working With Others Who Have Woo
- Help this person meet new people every day
- If you need to extend your own network, reach out to someone with strong Woo talents
- Understand that this person values having a wide network of friends
- VFAQ (Very Frequently Asked Question)
- Learn More
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