…at something. We all do. While we could quite possibly spend hours and blood, sweat, and tears trying to improve our weaknesses, all of that effort may move the needle, a little bit.
Despite being a fierce competitor on the football field, my father had a smaller build than many of the collegiate atheletes. He always wanted to beef up his “chicken legs.” He did squats, calf raises, and lifts but his legs never seemed to get much bigger. His true, natural-born, strength was in leadership, and within a few years into his college scholarship, he became the captain of the football team–chicken legs and all.
I have taken a number of personality profiles over the years, Profile XT, Craft Profile, Meyers Briggs, DiSC, and Strengths Finder to name a few. I tend to “learn” about deficiencies in my character and “type” of worker that I am, but StrengthsFinder is different. The resulting report provides insight into the strengths and competencies in which I am predisposed.
Tom Rath’s basic premise of Strengths Finder, is captured in the second paragraph of the book:
We were tired of living in a world that revolved around fixing our weaknesses. Society’s relentless focus on people’s shortcomings had turned into a global obsession. What’s more, we had discovered that people have several times more potential for growth when they invest energy in developing their strengths instead of correcting their deficiencies.
As a result of the test, my “top 5” strengths are as follows:
Ideation – People who are especially talented in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.
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.
Activator – People who are especially talented in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.
Communication – People who are especially talented in the Communication theme generally find it easy to put their thoughts into words. They are good conversationalists and presenters.
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.
The Strengths Insight and Action-Planning Guide detail includes full descriptions of these strengths and Applicaiton items includes a number of exercises to enhance each of the strengths. For example, one of the suggestions under Ideation is: “Finish your thoughts and ideas before communicating them. Lacking your Ideation talents, others might not be able to “join the dots†of an interesting but incomplete idea and thus might dismiss it.”
Here are links to the hardback
Are you a natural born leader with chicken legs? What are your natural strengths that you are ignoring?
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