This is kind of a combo of my love for podcasts and books. I am obsessed with assessments and the information they bring to light and use them on a regular basis in hiring and training. One assessment I use is the Strengths Finder 2.0. This assessment is inexpensive but provides a ton of valuable insight.
I recently stumbled across a Podcast with the author of Strengths Finder 2.0, Tom Rath. This conversation took place on the podcast Elevate with Robert Glazer, a newfound favorite of mine. First, let me acquaint you a little with Mr. Rath if you are not already familiar with him. His grandfather was Don Clifton who is recognized as being the Father of Strengths Psychology. He was a former chairman with Gallup and is responsible for many of their analytics today.
According to this interview, this book was birthed out of a letter written by Tom to his grandfather to express how much he meant to him as his grandfather battled cancer. It was not his first book (The first book – How Full Is Your Bucket); but this book would have never been written without this letter. His grandfather’s emotional comment was, “I think you have a gift for bringing things to life with words.” This is a whole other blog, but wanted you to have a little background about Strengths Finder 2.0.
The assessment categorizes your strength based on 34 domains. For a complete list of strengths go here. The strengths are grouped by four themes: Strategic Thinking, Executing, Influencing, and Relationship Building. This also helps analyze your leadership style (but again another blog!).
No strength or combination of strengths is greater than another. The point of the assessment is to learn your strengths and to analyze how those strengths make you, you. It is not designed to be a tool with which you compare yourselves against others, but more how your talents align within you naturally.
It is important to develop your team with a variety of strengths to fill in the gaps. I love the part of the conversation in this interview where Tom talks about WHO you ask to do certain tasks. His exact quotes: “Oh look, if you want an idea for a new project, you’re going to ask these people. If you want someone to get it started, you’re going to ask these people.” Know who to ask to get the job done!
I use this tool in teaching my team how to approach other team members within their strength zone. For example, one of my team’s number one strengths is Input. People with Input are collectors, particularly of information. I know it is important for her to have all the information before making a decision. I also know if I need information (maybe something about a past client I had forgotten), she will be the one to answer my question.
My number one strength is Competition. My team knows when proposing a project to me, there needs to be a clear win at the end.
To allow you to know me better, my top five strengths are:
- Competition
- Command
- Achiever
- Strategic
- Woo
(Interesting one of my top producers and I have two and four switched. Comments?)
I have unlocked my full 34 strengths, but more for curiosity than anything else. However, I will say it was interesting to look at my bottom five strengths as well as my top five. I am not surprised Harmony is my #34.
My last five strengths are (from 34 to 30):
- Harmony
- Context
- Discipline (really??)
- Consistency
- Restorative
Do not get hung up on the names of the Strengths. For example, when I learned Discipline was very low for me, my first response was, “I am SO disciplined!” Read the description before you judge.
Once you join the Strengths Finder community, you will find resources to allow you to plot your team’s strengths on a grid. I use this to see what strengths are missing from my team and to also keep up with how to speak to my team in their strength zone.
Are you ready to learn your Strengths and use those to move forward?
Happy Podcasting!
*New podcast coming soon! WeAreVIP! Stay tuned for more announcements!
