CliftonStrengths
For years I have heard from fellow advisors that StrengthFinder (now known as CliftonStrengths in honor of its inventor Dr. Don Clifton) was a helpful tool when discussing careers with individuals. However, up until now I had no prior knowledge about it. I purchased the book StrengthsFinder 2.0 from Gallup and Tom Rath and decided to learn more about the assessment. The book is in two sections. The first is an introduction to the assessment, then before the second section you are supposed to use the code at the back of the book to take the assessment online. Then once you have your results you continue with the rest of the book which takes you through the 34 themes.
The first thing I noticed when I took the assessment was that it is timed for each answer you give. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Strong Interest Inventory (SII) are not timed, therefore you can consider each response as required. Here you have 20 seconds to choose between two paired descriptors. That might sound like a long time (and for a lot of the questions it was sufficient), however I missed two out of the 177 questions due to reading the long descriptions and then mulling over my answer. When it moved on after the 20 seconds it asked me if I needed to pause the assessment as I hadn’t answered. At no point could I go back and answer the ones I missed. Therefore, I would suggest that should you take the assessment you ensure that you have no distractions to maximize your ability to successfully navigate the questions.
As I had purchased the book I received the “Your signature theme report” and “Strengths insight guide” which provided me with my five most dominant themes of talent. The idea being that instead of focusing on things I am weaker at; I should focus on my talents and strengths for my personal and career success. There are 34 themes described in the book which are: Achiever, Activator, Adaptability, Analytical, Arranger, Belief, Command, Communication, Competition, Connectedness, Consistency, Context, Deliberate, Developer, Discipline, Empathy, Focus, Individualization, Input, Intellection, Ideation, Includer, Futuristic, Harmony, Learner, Maximizer, Positivity, Responsibility, Restorative, Relator, Self-Assurance, Significance, Strategic, and Woo.
I can see why you take the assessment before reading the descriptions as it might colour how you answer the questions. Being a practitioner for the MBTI And SII it was already interesting when I answered as some of the questions were somewhat similar to those assessments. When I got the reports it was also then intriguing to learn about the other themes that weren’t listed as there are certainly some which I would assume I am also fairly strong in. I suppose that it why the website then gives you the option to purchase another report with your full 34 themes reported. I will admit that at this time I have not bought this additional report as while I am interested it frankly costs more than the book and I am not convinced that it will greatly add to my knowledge!
Having now read the book and taken the assessment I can see why they are popular with advisors. Plus, I appreciate that the focus is on working with your strengths, and therefore building your confidence, rather than on your weaknesses. I think that is something that we sometimes forget as we tend to want to improve our deficits and it may take valuable time away from turning what we are already good at and making it truly superb.
If this is something which interests you, I recommend that you seek someone who can either take you through the assessment or purchase the book and do some self-exploration.
