Lessons from the Book 📚 Strength Finder 2

Strength finder 2 by Tom Rath

“Why focus on what’s wrong when you can focus on what’s right?”

“Almost every self–discovery program or book ever published focuses on fixing a problem, i.e., working out something wrong and learning how to change it. Indeed this is a negative way to think! Why not turn that around and focus on the good things, working to emphasize them instead?

“Strengths Finder 2.0” is the second edition of the assessment, based on the work of Donald O. Clifton (1924–2003). Clifton was the founder of “Strengths Finder” and hugely respected in the psychology field within the U.S. Tom Rath took the teachings of Clifton and teamed up with researchers and scientists, aiming to help more people understand their strengths and how to enhance them.”

“The aim of Strengths Finder was to bring awareness to what is right rather than what is wrong. We don’t always need to try and fix things or focus on shortcomings. If you do this, it can quickly become highly negative, almost obsessive. Studies have shown time and time again that if you focus on positives and strengths, there is a tremendous amount of potential for personal development and growth. Everyone has weaknesses, but do you need to focus your time on them?”

“Focusing on what you do best improves job satisfaction”

“If you focus on the things you do well and the things you enjoy, you’re far more likely to enjoy your job and become more engaged within it. This is a finding by Gallup scientists over the last decade, having surveyed around 10 million people worldwide.”

“The rather worrying finding from this research is that out of all these people surveyed, only one–third could agree with this statement — “at work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day”. That means that most people are being forced to focus on tasks that don’t suit their strengths, affecting their enjoyment of their job.

The truth is, we spend a huge amount of our time at work. So, when you don’t enjoy what you do, everything is affected.”

“If you have the chance to focus on the things you enjoy and the things you’re good at, you’re around six times more engaged in your job, so to enjoy your job, you need to focus on what you are good at.

Did you know? Statistics from a 2020 survey by HR Daily Advisor, show that 65% of employees in the U.S. claim they are totally satisfied with their job role.”

“We’re told we can achieve anything if we work hard enough. Is this true?”

“From childhood, we’re told that we can do anything if we work hard enough for it. Is this true? If you work really hard, could you become an Olympic sprinter? Probably not. If you have the skills and natural ability, you have a chance, but if you’re not the greatest at physical activity, surely you’re wasting your time.

Tom Rath calls this “following the path of most resistance.” This means focusing on areas in which maybe you’re not the most naturally talented. Perhaps you’re not very gifted at math, but you’re forced to focus on numbers and statistics to earn a degree. We naturally spend too much time paying attention to our weaknesses and shortcomings rather than identifying and focusing on our natural talents and strengths. Some of this is down to the pressure from society.”

“If you think about the movies you love and the books you’ve read, most of them probably feature a story of an underdog, someone who overcomes all odds and wins big at something they’ve been working toward. While this is good to read about, it’s rarely the case in life, which is the path of most resistance.

Tom Rath wanted to be the next Michael Jordan, so he practiced all the time but still couldn’t get into the junior team. It wouldn’t have mattered how hard he worked; he would not achieve this aim because basketball wasn’t one of his natural strengths.”

“The idea that we can do anything if we work hard enough follows us through life and often leads us down the wrong path. For instance, a fantastic salesperson might decide to become a sales manager, but they may never actually achieve it. This is simply because they don’t have natural management skills, even though they’re fantastic at sales.”

“The strengths zone is a better place to be”

“Being in the strengths zone means identifying your strengths and working out how to push them forward in life. It means spending more time working on the things you’re good at and less time trying to fight against the things you’re not naturally talented in.

If you are given the time to focus on the things you’re good at in a work setting, you’re going to enjoy going to work, you’ll have better working relationships with your colleagues, you’ll achieve more, and be more productive overall.”

“When you’re firmly in the strengths zone, it affects your whole life. Your health and happiness improve, your confidence is on the rise, you have hope, and you send kindness in the way of others.

The “Strengths Finder 2.0” is an upgrade of the original “Strengths Finder” model and allows you to identify your core strengths. Within the assessment, there are 34 personality themes. Tom Rath recognizes that while these 34 themes cover a tremendous amount of ground, they don’t cover everything, and there is still work to be done.

The Strengths Finder, despite its name, measures talent and not a specific strength. It doesn’t ask questions about college education or general knowledge, and it doesn’t focus on skills. The questions are designed to delve into your personality, and you’re given just 20 seconds to answer each one. This ensures that you go with the first thing that pops into your mind, rather than questioning your answer and possibly going with an option that doesn’t feel natural.”

“Of course, people change as they go through life, but scientists have found that despite that fact, personality traits remain relatively stable from childhood onwards.”

“It’s still important to be aware of your weaknesses”

“Focusing on your strengths doesn’t mean ignoring your weaknesses. However, it’s essential to be aware of them to make more accurate and quality decisions about how you spend your time, where you work, etc. Being aware of areas in which you lack talent means avoiding considerable gaps in the road in the future.”

“Tom Rath suggests living your life by the following formula: Talent (a way of thinking, behaving, or feeling) x Investment (the amount of time you’re willing to invest in building your skills and knowledge) = Strength (being able to perform to the best of your ability time and time again).

The assessment takes just 20 minutes and consists of a series of questions which you have 20 seconds each to answer. Once you’ve finished the review, you will be given your results, including a Strengths Discovery And Action Planning Guide. This is a comprehensive guide that outlines the top 5 themes within your personality and how you can build them further in the future. It also gives you 50 ideas for action, based on the suggestions of best practices they’ve developed over the years.”

“You can identify your personality theme from a list of 34 themes”

“After taking the Strengths Finder 2.0, you will be given your results, outlining five personality themes that suit your answers best. Below we will outline the 34 themes in total, giving you a brief idea of what they mean. However, when you take the assessment, you will be given a lot more in–depth information on your specific personality themes and how you can develop them in the future.”

“Achiever:you have a constant need to achieve, and you have to have achieved something every single day. 

Activator:you want to make things happen, and you become impatient if things remain static.

Adaptability:you live in the moment, and you don’t tend to look to the future with much seriousness. you’re also very flexible and crave independence.

Analytical:you challenge other people and ask them to prove their ideas. You analyze everything with a very objective mindset.

Arranger:you like to arrange details and have everything in place, even within complex circumstances. You’re also quite intuitive.

Belief:your core values drive your decisions and thinking. You have a great sense of ethical responsibility.

Command:you take charge quickly, and you have no problems giving your opinion or views.

Communication:you’re fantastic at communicating via a range of different mediums. You do well in situations where you capture attention.

Competition:you work well when you need to compare and compete with others. This drives you to achieve more.

Connectedness:you genuinely believe that everything happens for a reason, and you’re very considerate of others and your responsibility for others as a result.

Consistency:you crave balance, and you need consistency in your life. As a result, you know that you need to treat others in the same way.

Context:you know that to make good decisions, you need to learn from the past. This helps you to avoid making mistakes and improves your decision–making skills.

Deliberative:you’re a very private soul, someone who is careful and assesses every risk to reduce it. This also means you have excellent judgment skills.

Developer:you enjoy helping other people develop their potential.

Discipline:you enjoy structure and routine, and you’re a very hardworking and diligent person.

Empathy:you can sense how others feel, almost as though you’re taking their feelings on as your own. This allows you to see situations through the eyes of others.

Focus:you need to have a precise aim for every single day to make progress.

Futuristic:you enjoy thinking about the future, dreaming, and planning.

Harmony:you see no benefit in conflict and disagreements, so you do your best to mediate and keep confrontation to an absolute minimum.”

“Everyone’s personality theme is a combination of many biological and environmental factors”

“Personality themes are often influenced by upbringing but they’re also affected by what is going on around a person at a specific time. Your personality type can fluctuate slightly over time, but it never strays too far away from the original.

• Ideation:you find fascination in different concepts and ideas, and you’re always on the lookout for new ways of thinking.

• Includer:you want to have a wide social circle, and you help everyone feel an equal part of the group.

• Individualization:you like to look for the distinct strengths and talents of other people.

• Input:you’re an inquisitive and curious person, and you find the world and its possibility exciting.

• Intellection:you think a lot, and you like to pick apart concepts and ideas to challenge your thoughts.

• Learner:you are always on the lookout for new opportunities to gain knowledge and new skills.

• Maximizer:you are not happy with average results; you always want to exceed and excel

• Positivity:you like to smile, always look for the positive, and you enjoy praising others.

• Relator:you enjoy meeting new people, and you look for opportunities to expand your circle and relate to others.

• Responsibility:you take ownership for anything you agree to, and you always finish whatever you’ve said you would do.

• Restorative:you enjoy problem–solving and finding solutions to complex issues.

• Self–assurance:You’re a confident person, but you have a lot of confidence in your judgment skills.

• Significance:you crave acknowledgment, and you want to be appreciated. You also want to stand out from the crowd.

• Strategic:You’re very talented at finding the correct route towards success, solving problems on the way.

• Woo:this means “winning others over”, and you’re very talented in connecting with new people.”

“There are several ways touse the information you learn from the assessment”

“Once you have taken the Strengths Finder 2.0 assessment, you will receive a list of 5 traits that match your answers. The information you are given will be in–depth and allow you to understand your personality strengths. It will also reveal details on how to enhance their power. For instance, you will be given ideas on the types of jobs that suit your strengths to ensure that you remain in the strengths zone and not airing towards disengagement at work.”

“You will also be given information on dealing with people who have these specific traits to communicate with them better and get the most out of them. If you have taken the Strengths Finder 1.0 version, you can take the new assessment because developments have made it more accurate and in–depth. You will also receive more supporting information with your results than before.

Once you have all of this information, it’s time to put it together and formulate a plan. Rather than focusing on what you’re not doing well or what you’re lacking, use the information to look at what you excel in. What do you enjoy? Then ask what you enjoy and what you do well.

Finding a job or a full career that you enjoy and that you’re also excellent at might seem like the Holy Grail but it’s something which is far more within your reach than you might think.”

Conclusion 

“Learning how to focus on your strengths rather than fixating on the things that are wrong with you helps you become a happier and healthier person. Your confidence will grow, you will enjoy the things you spend your time doing, and as a result, doors will open with new opportunities in terms of career and future growth.

Sure, we all have things that we could improve on. Appreciating your strengths doesn’t mean that you’re not working to improve on your weaknesses. Instead, it means that you’re creating an even balance. Improving on your strengths means that the good stuff keeps on getting better. That frees up your time to identify your weaknesses and work on those too. However, the focus shouldn’t be entirely on what you could do better. Starting with a negative mind frame just leads to an even more damaging situation.

Taking the Strengths Finder 2.0 assessment will help you understand the strengths you possibly never knew you had, giving you essential information on how to focus and develop them further. With that information, you can move towards a future that focuses on the things you already do well while keeping one eye on the things you need to improve. As a result, you’ll attract opportunities that suit your situation perfectly.

Try this

• Think carefully about whether you spend time at work doing things you’re good at or whether you’re forced to do something you perhaps don’t have a natural talent for

• Identify your weaknesses, but let them fade into the background, instead of focusing on the things you’re good at

• Take the Strengths Finder 2.0 assessment and discover your top 5 personality strengths”