Over the last few months since I became a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, I’ve been excitedly telling everyone I can about the power of knowing one’s strengths. (Hello, Positivity and Communication!) And I love it when my passion for this amazing tool inspires the people I share it with to learn about their own strengths. (Hello, Activator!) But since I’ve been immersing myself more and more into this science, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend – namely, people take the Clifton StrengthsFinderTM , read their reports and say, “Yeah, that really describes me,” and then don’t do anything with the information.
People, this is NOT just another personality assessment! The Clifton StrengthsFinderTM is meant to be a tool to help you apply your strengths so that you can be more successful, more engaged in your life, more productive, and yes, even happier! If you are treating the information you receive after taking the assessment as just another interesting personality test, then you are missing the point altogether.
Sometimes when I’m talking to someone about strengths they will say something like, “Oh yeah! My boss had us take that test last year,” and then they tell me their Signature Themes. This makes me excited until I ask if they received any follow up training or coaching on their talents. In most cases they say no, and that is when my heart breaks. To me, helping someone discover their top talents and not helping them understand how to develop and use them is like handing them a magic wand with all the power drained out of it.
When I work with clients, we often follow the Gallup, Inc. model of “Name It! Claim It! Aim It!” to help them understand and use their strengths. That “Aim It” part is where the real magic of transformation occurs.
When you not only fully understand your natural, innate, talents, but also know how to use them in daily life, you can become virtually unstoppable!
Gallup’s research shows that people who use their strengths every day are not only more successful, but are also three times more likely to report having an excellent quality of life. Read that last sentence again. It’s not just their work life that gets better, it’s their entire life!
In my experience, most people inherently sense that they have innate talents – things at which they are naturally great. And most of us are truly thirsty to know what those talents are and how we can best apply them. This desire to know our talents may partly explain why more than 7 million people per day take the assessment. But you’ll never get the full benefit of knowing your talents from simply reading a report or the descriptions of your talent themes.
To really appreciate your natural talents and turn them into strengths, you must invest in them. Invest the time and energy, and yes, the money to hire a coach, to help you fully understand how those talent themes manifest uniquely in you. Invest to learn how to turn apply those strengths to your entire life. Not only will this investment pay off in terms of greater success (which can lead to financial gains) but it can also pay off in terms of greater life satisfaction.
Yes, please, do learn your top talents. But don’t stop there. Go beyond learning what they are and also learn to apply them. Because to me (and my Connectedness), your strengths are the gifts you came to give the world, and we’re all waiting for you to share them with us.
Ready to discover YOUR unique strengths? Shoot me a message and let’s find your Super Powers together!
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