“I’ve worked on my weaknesses for 40 years to little avail. Still “needs improvement” as they say. Why? Easy. We hate doing things we’re not good at, so we avoid them. …
But my strengths – ah, I love my strengths. I’ll work on them til the purple cows come home. When we love what we do, we do more and more, and pretty soon we’re pretty good at it.” – Marti Barletta, in What Matters Now
While I’m a big advocate for self-development and improvement, Marti’s quote hits home. The “weaknesses” from five years ago are still the ones I have today. The only thing that has changed is my awareness and comfort with them. I can proudly say that I am sometimes impatient, stubborn, competitive and aggressive. I’ve grown to love my style though. (My current boss just laughs at me when she and I talk about long project timelines as the first thing I say in response to her is “Well, you know how patient I am…”)
A great friend and colleague of mine recommended I pick up Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath – a book/assessment tool that helps you identify your top 5 strengths and then recommends ways for you to hone those strengths and work with others to play on those strengths. After trying many different self-assessment tools, I was pretty impressed with this approach and its accuracy. It brought forward my top five strengths as:
- Strategic – creating alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues. “The more you reflect on what you know, the more problems begin to reveal themselves, and eventually solutions start taking shape in your mind.”
- Responsibility – taking psychological ownership of what they say they will do. They are committed to stable values like honesty and loyalty. “Chances are good that you may appear to be a dependable person.”
- Individualization – being intrigued with the unique qualities of each person. They have a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively. “It’s very likely you gain a certain degree of satisfaction when you can be of service to others.”
- Futuristic – being inspired by the future and what could be. They inspire others with their visions of the future. “You can describe it long before others can imagine it.”
- Belief – having certain core values that are unchanging. Out of these values emerges a defined purpose for their life. “You harbour a deep-seated desire to have a good influence on the planet and its people.”
Learning about and developing your strengths is so much more rewarding and inspiring than worrying about all the areas you aren’t as talented in. So leave your “areas of improvement” alone and go play with your strengths!
Sidenote: If you’ve completed Strengths Finder before, leave your top 5 in the comments section. It would be interesting to see where our synergies lie!
Pick of the post: Lady Gaga – Viva La Vida (cover of Coldplay’s hit)
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6 comments
Jeff says:
April 22, 2010 at 11:17 am (UTC 1)
First off, awesome post.
If you haven’t read it, try finding Drucker’s article “Managing Oneself.” Great article on personal development (although a lot of it may seem like a repeat).
As for my 5 strengths…
1. Competition
2. Individualization
3. Learner
4. Achievement
5. Significance
Felicia says:
April 22, 2010 at 1:55 pm (UTC 1)
1. Input
2. Individualization
3. Empathy
4. Developer
5. Discipline
Matt Corker says:
April 22, 2010 at 2:07 pm (UTC 1)
@Jeff – looks like you are bound for great things!
@Felicia – you’re the one who got me hooked on this bad boy! Thanks!
Jocelyn says:
April 26, 2010 at 10:56 am (UTC 1)
StrengthsQuest is the best! super helpful for interview prep and it defs gives a diff angle than Myers-Briggs!
1. Relator
2. Analytical
3. Connectedness
4. Individualization
5. Deliberative
Matt Corker says:
April 26, 2010 at 11:03 am (UTC 1)
I am so intrigued that so many of us have Individualization. I like that.
angeli says:
May 12, 2010 at 12:11 pm (UTC 1)
Hi Matt! I enjoyed SF 2.0 as well. My strengths:
- Adaptability
- Empathy
- Individualization (yay)
- Context
- Significance