Back in 2001 when I was a Starbucks marketer, I read NOW, DISCOVER YOUR STRENGTHS. It literally changed my life. After taking the StrengthsFinder 1.0 test, from which the book was built upon, I was able to identify and fully understand my core talents applicable to the business world. Knowing these talent themes made it easer for me to focus my on-the-job efforts to maximizing my strengths and not trying to make my weaknesses less weak.
Maximizing one’s strengths and not trying to make one’s weaknesses less weak is the premise behind the StrengthsFinder approach. The core belief of this philosophy is, “You cannot be anything you want to be — but you can be a lot more of who you are already are.”
Well … much has changed in my business life since 2001. I’m on my own now and earning a living through sharing business advice by way of speaking engagements and consulting assignments. So when the sequel to “Now, Discover Your Strengths,” called StrengthsFinder 2.0, was published earlier this year, I was interested to see if my talent themes had changed with the change in my career path.
As it turns out, my talent themes have changed as my career has changed. Take a look at the differences from my 2001 results with my 2007 results.
2001 StrengthsFinder results*:
IDEATION – having an active mind that is fascinated by ideas
STRATEGIC – the ability to sift through myriad options and fit the best one
INTELLECTION – an ongoing desire to think about problems and ideas
LEARNER – insatiable appetite to continue learning
MAXIMIZER – the ability to take something from good to great
* when my profession was Starbucks marketing manager
2007 StrengthsFinder results*:
IDEATION
FUTURISTIC – fascinated by the future and by inspiring others of futuristic visions
RELATOR – find satisfaction in sharing knowledge with people
INTELLECTION
ACTIVATOR – ability to turn ideas into action
* when my profession is speaker/consultant/author
What I find interesting (and fitting) is the addition of people components to my core talent themes. The “Futuristic,” “Relator,” and “Activator” strengths fit my current career path where I coach and inspire businesspeople to make ideas happen. But it’s not like I have lost the talents of “Strategic,” “Learner,” or Maximizer.” Tom Rath, author of StrengthsFinder 2.0 says…
“If you have taken StrengthsFinder 1.0, and you decide to take the new version, you may find that a few of your top five themes are different than they were the first time.Perhaps the most important thing to understand for your development is that if you do see a new theme in your top five, it was likely in your top 10 before. So you have not lost a theme, but instead now have the opportunity to see a theme or two that had been hiding just below the radar.”
Phew. I’m still able to claim being a strategic thinker, a learner, and a maxmizer as one of my talent themes. It’s just that other talent themes are more dominant in my current business life.
I’m curious if you have also experienced something similar by re-discovering your strengths. If so, let us know.
There's an old dutch saying that, "if you're born a nickel you'll never make a dime." When I was living in Holland wooing my later-to-be Dutch wife the phrase used to drive me nuts. I found it totally un-American ... both a relic and reflection of a calcified, rigid, European culture.
So while I'm supportive of any trick or technique or method that helps people find and exploit their natural talents (that Dutch women who became my wife is now a therapist), I don't buy into the core philosophy ... or at least what appears to be an underlying premise.
While you may not be able to be ANYTHING you want to be, I suspect that folks can be much more than they think. It just requires a helluva lot of work, focus, and discipline.
That said, I'll likely buy the book and report back.
Posted by: Jerry Johnson | June 05, 2007 at 05:16 AM
John:
I took the survey only one year ago, yet I can only guess that my profile has changed already. My 5 top strengths:
STRATEGIC
MAXIMIZER
LEARNER
INPUT -- craving to know more.
RELATOR
My next batch, I wager, would be:
ACTIVATOR
COMMUNICATION
IDEATION
FUTURISTIC
Thank you for reminding me of this. A very good complement to this sort of introspection is the Birkman Method.
Posted by: Valeria Maltoni | June 05, 2007 at 09:17 AM
I was profoundly impacted by "Now Discover Your Strengths" and found the latest effort (2.0) a strong improvement. Four of my top five remained the same.
Marcus Buckingham's "Go put your strengths to work" (GPYSTW)is an excellent follow on to 2.0. Where 2.0 helps you see what your core talents are, GPYSTW helps you see how much you are using your talents in your current role and how to increase that. I'd recommend starting with 2.0, and then reading GPYSTW.
Posted by: Kent Blumberg | June 05, 2007 at 01:06 PM
This is for Jerry Johnson: how do I connect with you? No email on your blog and lots to talk about. Thank you, John for having such interesting readers.
Posted by: Valeria Maltoni | June 05, 2007 at 08:23 PM
Anyway on page 49 of "Now, Discover your Strenghts", I had the pleasure to read one of the biggest BOMB ever written... That realy turned me down. I will report a piece.
IN: What is a Talent?
[...]
For David Boies dyslexia is a talent because he has figured out a way to apply this recurring pattern productively and, by combining it with knowledge and skills, to turn it into strengh.[...]
PLEASEEEEEEEEEEE COME OOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNN!!!
Posted by: jacky | February 18, 2008 at 09:30 PM