Name: StrengthsFinder 2.0
Rating: 4 (138 reviews)
Author: Tom Rath

What’s in it for me? Discover your innate strengths and learn to leverage them at work.

When you think about self-improvement, do you mostly think about building on your strengths or working on your weaknesses?

Most people are obsessed with “fixing” habits and character traits they’re not happy with. This is important, but all too often leads to our completely ignoring what we’re already good at: our strengths. Identifying our strong points helps us better leverage them professionally, leading to better performance.

And guess what? Focusing on what you’re good at is a lot more fun than trying to mend every chink in your armor.

Thinking along these lines, the author has identified 34 key strengths that people can exhibit. In these blinks, we’ll take a look at a few of the most important ones.

You’ll also learn:

what strengths best describe you and how you can best put them to use professionally;
why startups need both idealists and dreamers; and
why Achievers are at a high risk of burning out.

Achievers are driven by a constant and insatiable need for achievement.

When the alarm clock rings in the morning, most people just want to hit the snooze button and roll over. But some wake up with such drive that from the moment they open their eyes, they already feel they’re behind on their day.

Meet the Achievers.

Achievers are people who are so driven they can’t take a day’s rest. Though these people often overwork themselves, they do it for good reason: tackling new tasks is what makes them happy. This powerful drive allows them to remain highly motivated and productive despite the grueling hours they often work, and pushes the pace of the whole work environment.

Take, as an example, a top lawyer: she puts everything she’s got into each case, staying in the office later than everyone else, every day.

However, there is a danger to being an Achiever: they can get so caught up in the next goal, that, despite being the best in their field, they always go home feeling they haven’t done enough. So if you’re an Achiever, how can you do your best without burning out?

First, remind yourself regularly of how much you’ve achieved in the past. Think back to times when you accomplished a challenging task, or overcame a challenging obstacle. This way, you can continue to compete with yourself, but remain grounded, thanks to your past achievements.

Next, place yourself in a work environment where you can set up a scoring system to keep track of your success. This will give you an objective way of measuring productivity, instead of comparing yourself to your peers, and will also allow you to reinforce your sense of achievement at the end of the day.

Finally, always remember to channel your drive toward the tasks you can do best, rather than tackling anything and everything just to tick things off your list. This will both save you energy and create the most value for your company.

Believers possess enduring core values; Futurists can imagine the future.

We all know someone who never goes against his beliefs. And while this stubbornness can block progress in some situations, a Believer, when in the right environment, can bring a lot to an organization.

Indeed, for Believers to flourish, they need to find work that aligns with the values they believe in; for them, there’s no difference between belief and motivation.

Commanders like to take charge, while Developers are happy to encourage others.

Is there someone in your workplace who is never afraid to share his opinions? Someone who always wants to take the lead?

Then you’ve met a Commander. These people are often invaluable when a decision needs to be made; however, if they’re not careful, they can also create resentment and fear among the workforce.

Harmonizers excel at finding common ground, and Responsibles strive to deliver what they promise.

While Commanders relish the opportunity to show that their opinion is best, Harmonizers strive to make sure everyone agrees.

This desire to establish consensus means Harmonizers do well in work environments where everyone shares the same fundamental values and vision – so, jobs where teamwork is paramount. They usually don’t thrive in highly competitive sectors like sales or politics, where individual achievement is valued above all else.

Strategists look for analytical solutions to problems, while WOOers use the power of persuasion.

When you hear the word Strategist, you may think of something warlike, such as a general. Well, there are Strategists in times of peace, too. Indeed, some people are born to strategize.

They can imagine many different paths of action, and foresee the potential obstacles that will cause confusion and resistance. So they eliminate all the bad routes until they find the one that will work best: the optimal strategy.

Key ideas in StrengthsFinder 2.0