I took a self-assessment at work the other day. It was based on a book called Stregthsfinder 2.0. The theory behind this book is that we often focus too much on our weaknesses. The way we try to improve and get ahead is by working on your weaknesses until the are no longer your weakness rather than focusing on what we are good at and using that to our advantage and getting ahead. It is a philosophy that I actually share and so I was interested to see what it would say are my strengths.
If you buy the book, you can take an online test to determine what your strengths are. They ask you a lot of questions, and you are supposed to say whether you agree with one more than the other. It was somewhat difficult because a lot of the comparisons were relatively close in meaning, but you had to try and pick one. After taking the test, you are given five strengths. These strengths are supposed to describe what you are good at and what you are interested in, and gives you a course of action to utilize this information in you work. My results are as follows.
- Strategic – People who are especially talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.
- Significance – People who are especially talented in the Significance theme want to be very important in the eyes of others. They are independent and want to be recognized.
- Competition - People who are especially talented in the Competition theme measure their progress against the
performance of others. They strive to win first place and revel in contests. - Individualization – People who are especially talented in the Individualization theme are intrigued with the unique qualities of each person. They have a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively.
- Futuristic - People who are especially talented in the Futuristic theme are inspired by the future and what could be. They inspire others with their visions of the future.
For the most part, I agree with the results. I actually don’t think I’m as competitive as I used to be, I had to win at EVERYTHING growing up, but it is still definitely part of my personality. But overall, it is pretty good. It does tell me that I’m probably in almost the right job, but not quite the perfect job. My job, right now, tends to be a lot more tactical in nature and present focused rather than on the future.
So for those of you who know me, how close do you think this is? Is it an accurate description of the type of strengths I exhibit?
This book sounds interesting. I’ll add it to my reading list.
“Individualization” sounds like me.
It was actually one of my more favorite strengths.
I would bet money that most people fall under “Competition.”
I’ve seen strengths all over the board. The thing is, in this book, just because you have something listed as a strength, doesn’t mean that anything not listed is a weakness. It just means you can only focus on so many things, so you should focus on what your top 5 strengths are.