Strengths Finder 2.0

“You cannot be anything you want to be—but you can be a lot more of who you already are.”

We are told to believe that we can be anything we want to be as long as we strengthen our weaknesses. This is why most people spend their years fixing their deficiencies and mending their flaws. They fail to realize that focusing on their abilities and strengths is the best way to achieve success. 

Strengths, as the book says, are a combination of talent, knowledge, and skills. Talent comes naturally, but it needs to be nurtured to grow into strength. Skills are learned through practice and experiences, while knowledge is acquired through reading and study. 

In maximizing our strengths, it is important to start first by changing our beliefs. Let yourself believe that you can be a master of your strengths rather than be the jack of all trades. Then, act based upon it. You can do this by switching your focus from your flaws and weaknesses to your strengths and abilities. By spending your time nurturing them, it will be easier for you to succeed in your chosen field.

“Across the board, having the opportunity to develop our strengths is more important to our success than our role, our title, or even our pay. In this increasingly talent-driven society, we need to know and develop our strengths to figure out where we fit in.”

Every person born in this world has unique strengths that could help them succeed. Often, these strengths are left undiscovered because most people are too busy chasing for a higher role, title, or pay in their jobs. They don’t spend time reflecting on what they are great at. As a result, they struggle to focus and find the best position for them in their workplace. 

Truly understanding your strengths comes from within. Evaluate yourself and reflect on your talents as well as the broader themes they fall under. Once you nurture these talents of yours, you will surely greatly improve your contributions. 

Some major examples of these interpersonal themes of talents that you might have are Achiever, Learner, Analytical, Ideation, Deliberative, Command, Discipline, Focus, Self-Assurance, and Maximizer. Before diving into the details behind these strengths, remember that you can’t possess all the talents written here. So as you read the definitions of each theme, make sure to find what best describes you and take the suggested actions to strengthen it. 

For your reference, here is a brief definition of each theme: 

• Achiever: You have a constant need for achievement. You are likely to be a hard worker as you strive for additional accomplishments to feel satisfied.
• Learner: You have a deep love for learning. You get excited and thrilled every time you learn a skill, facts, or anything that interests you.
• Analytical: You love analyzing data, patterns, and their connection with each other. Others likely describe you as logical and rigorous.
• Ideator: You are always fascinated and thrilled by ideas, so you keep searching for them. Others often describe you as creative, innovative, and smart.
• Deliberative: You are careful, alert, and a private person. You know how to assess and reduce risks. Others may dislike you because you pick your friends cautiously.
• Disciplined: You like to structure and organize everything in your life. So you build and follow a certain routine, timelines, and deadlines.
• Focused: You like setting and prioritizing goals that will guide you to the right path. This theme is powerful as it increases efficiency.
• Self-Assured: You are self-confident. You believe in your abilities, strengths, and judgments. Regardless of the situation, you always make the right decision for yourself and take accountability for it.
• Maximizer: You are fascinated by your strengths, and you want to maximize them. So, you like challenging yourself to always go beyond your limits.

Once you discover the theme(s) you fit under, it's time to act. Choose to work on tasks that help you use and develop your natural talents.

“It appears that the epidemic of active disengagement we see in workplaces every day could be a curable disease…if we can help the people around us develop their strengths.”

While many people possess self-centered strengths that they can improve on their own, there are also people who love seeing others’ potential. These people have a great ability to communicate interpersonally and value a deep relationship with others. Often, they also want to be a part of their growth and success. 

These caring characteristics lie under the themes of Communication, Relator, Consistency, Harmony, WOO, and Developer. These themes differ. Thus it's important to figure out which one you have. To guide you, each theme of talent is defined as follows: 

• Communicator: You prefer to explain, describe, tell, write, and host in public. You value others' attention and want them to listen to you.
• Relator: You value intimacy. You have the desire to deepen and build a genuine relationship with the people you care about, so you put your effort into understanding them well.
• Consistent: You believe that all people should be treated equally, especially in work, regardless of their status. You also want an environment where all people can shine.
• Harmonious: You always look for areas of agreement. You believe that the team will be more productive and efficient if you can all meet in the middle instead of arguing.
• Winning others over (WOO): You want to meet strangers and make them to like you. You like building relationships with them by asking first their personal information and finding common grounds.
• Developer: You always see the potential of others. You see people as works in progress and want to help them grow and succeed.

Once you've identified your theme(s), it's time to develop it.