StrengthsFinder is one of the most popular assessments in the field of positive psychology.
This domain of psychology focuses on improving the general well-being of people by focusing on positivity and things that make life worth living.
Unlike clinical psychology, which aims to increase a person’s well-being by treating disorders, positive psychology focuses on individual strengths.
The proponents of positive psychology argue that it’s better to work with a person’s strengths, rather than try to fix his weaknesses.
In this article, we’re going to take a deep look at StrengthsFinder, explaining what it is and how can you use it to improve your well-being and career.
What is the CliftonStrengths Test (formerly StrengthsFinder)?
StrengthsFinder is a type of test that helps people to identify their personal strengths. In total, there are 34 themes of strengths, each having a unique characteristic.
Every person completing a StrengthsFinder test receives their own Top 5 strengths, which are the most prevalent in one’s character and personality.
Using the insights that the StrengthsFinder assessment gives can help you to identify where your strong sides lie and help you to make better career decisions.
As a manager or a business owner, you can also benefit from using StrengthsFinder.
Giving this test to your team or employees will allow you to utilize your personnel better, and increase the productivity and efficiency of the workplace.
5 Benefits of Utilizing the CliftonStrengths Assessment
StrengthsFinder assessment is one of the best tools to figure out the strengths of each individual in your company.
Knowing the strengths and talents of each person is very valuable, and can help the company on both, micro and macro levels.
Here are the 5 main benefits of utilizing the StrengthsFinder assessment.
1. PLACE PEOPLE IN THE RIGHT ROLES
There’s nothing worse than misusing your personnel. Capable and talented people that are put in the wrong roles are not only less efficient, but they are also less happy, and it can destabilize your entire team.
That’s why it’s a good idea to use the StrengthsFinder assessment when you’re recruiting people. Knowing what their strengths are will allow you to understand what kind of roles they’re the most suitable for.
The benefits of placing people in the right roles are far-reaching, as it will benefit not only the employee but the entire team.
2. PROMOTE POSITIVE COACHING
Knowing the strengths of your team will help you to give positive and useful feedback.
If you don’t know the reasons behind their poor or good performance, you cannot give valuable feedback, as you only see the symptoms, not the reasons behind them. Knowing everyone’s strengths can give you unique insight into the whys of someone’s results.
That makes it possible to give useful feedback that will make your employees grow and improve in both, their personal and professional lives.
3. INDIVIDUALIZE MANAGEMENT
One size fits all approach might’ve been viable a century ago. However, with the ever-increasing complexity of the modern world, individual management is a must.
Today it’s simply not possible to manage every person the same, especially if they’re working in a large team.
Knowing the strengths of your employees will make it possible to individualize the management which will result in great results. Individual consideration and care is not an option, it’s a must.
4. FACILITATE COLLABORATION
Knowing everyone’s strengths gives you the potential to assemble great teams of people with complementary talents.
If there’s a synergy between the strengths of each member of the team, you can be sure that the grand result will be better than you have expected.
All managers know that a team is better than the sum of its parts, and this effect is only amplified if the team is assembled correctly.
5. IMPROVE SELF-AWARENESS
Every person who has used the StrengthsFinder assessment had gained invaluable information about oneself.
It can improve self-awareness like no other assessment tool, and as a result, increase the overall well-being of the person. Even if companies are huge enterprises, the core element of each company is an individual.
Using the StrengthsFinder assessment can help to unlock the highest potential in everyone working in your company and consequently set up your business for a great future.
4 Domain of Strengthsfinder Categories – Complete Overview List
In the StrengthsFinder assessment, there are 34 strengths that are grouped into 4 separate domains.
In this section, we’re going to explain Gallup’s strengths, those 4 domains of strengths.
Executing Strengths
People with executing strengths are very conscientious. They work hard, diligently, and effectively.
Executing strengths are all about making loose ideas and plans a concrete reality. These strengths allow people to execute the plan from A to Z.
The best part about executing strengths is that they are infectious, and even a single person possessing these strengths can make an entire team more productive and hardworking.
Influencing Strengths
Influencing strengths make people possessed by ideas, that they are more than willing and capable of selling to others around them.
People with strengths in this domain are very passionate, and can effortlessly communicate their passion to everyone who’s willing to listen.
Every great leader, orator, and lecturer had to influence strengths that made them extremely compelling speakers.
Relationship Building Strengths
Relationship-building strengths might be the most overlooked domain in business today.
People who have these strengths can see which individuals would make up a coherent and efficient team, that can effortlessly work towards a shared goal.
They make sure that everyone in the team feels valued, included, and important.
Companies that lack people with relationship-building strengths usually have disorganized groups that don’t reach their full potential.
Strategic Thinking Strengths
Strategic thinking strengths make people capable of seeing the big picture.
People with these strengths see what the company could be, and come up with a plan to make it a reality.
Such people are capable of taking into consideration large amounts of information and facts to create a step-by-step blueprint that can be used to transform the company into something bigger than it currently is.
List of 34 StrengthsFinder Themes
In this section, we’re going to go through all 34 strengths from StrengthsFinger and briefly explain what they mean.
1. Achiever – Burning desire to achieve things. Be it little or small, every day must be marked by some kind of achievement.
2. Activator – Must start things up. The lack of information is not a reason to not start doing what must be done.
3. Adaptability – You see the future not as something distant, but something that is created as you go.
4. Analytical – You have a pragmatic need for facts, figures, and statistics
5. Arranger – Organized and calculated management of complex situations.
6. Belief – To you, core values are the anchor of life. Family, spirituality, and giving are the most valuable things.
7. Command – You don’t feel bad about imposing one’s opinions and beliefs onto others.
8. Communication – All forms of communication, from verbal to written, are innate to you and come out effortlessly.
9. Competition – Being the best among other people that surround you is one of the most important things in life.
10. Connectedness – You feel the universal oneness, which makes it clear that all humans are connected to each other.
11. Context – You look back at your past and use it as a context to make out what happens now and what will happen next.
12. Deliberative – You understand that there’s a lot of uncertainty in the world. That’s why you always calculate before acting.
13. Developer – You don’t see what is, but rather what could be.
14. Discipline – You enjoy routine, seek structure, and feel the best when exerting disciplined effort.
15. Empathy – You are compassionate and can feel what others around you feel.
16. Fairness – You value fairness and believe that everyone should have equal opportunities.
17. Focus – You cannot get out of bed without having a clear mission in mind that you focus on 24/7.
18. Futuristic – You are infatuated with what the future holds.
19. Harmony – You are agreeable, and peacefully talk things out to reach compromises instead of wasting energy on arguments.
20. Ideation – You have a hunger for various ideas, and love talking about them with other people.
21. Inclusiveness – You feel a responsibility to make everyone around you included in whatever is happening at the moment.
22. Individualization – You see each person as an individual and avoid generalizations as much as possible.+
23. Input – You collect something that is important to you. Be it ideas, skills, experiences, or physical objects.
24. Intellection – You are drawn to intellectually difficult things, from challenging conversations to logical puzzles.
25. Learner – You enjoy learning for the sake of learning. The process of learning itself is enough to satisfy you.
26. Maximizer – You love to pursue excellence and mastery and admire it in other people.
27. Positivity – You often compliment other people and enjoy spreading positivity around you.
28. Relater – You value intimate relationships and want to relate to people that are close to you.
29. Responsibility – You are dependable, and always deliver on your promises.
30. Restorative – You tend to solve problems around you and find the core reason for something not going according to the plan.
31. Self-assurance – You are confident in yourself that you are a capable person to accept new challenges.
32. Significance – You are hungry for recognition and validation from other people.
33. Strategic – You can easily see patterns and find strategic solutions to complex problems.
34. Woo – It stands for winning others over, and you possess natural charisma to do so.
How to Discover Your Top 5 Strengths and Enhance Them
You can discover your top 5 strengths by taking the HIGH5 test.
Unfortunately, most tests of this kind are rather pricy, especially if you’re looking to purchase it for many people in your company.
However, here at HIGH5TEST.com, which is based on the original work by Don O. Clifton During the test, you’ll be presented with a list of 100 statements.
You will have to rate how well each statement describes you on a scale from 0% to 100%. There’s no time limit for the test, so you can take your time and think through each statement before evaluating it.
Usually, the entire test takes just 15-20 minutes, after which you will discover your Top 5 strengths.
It is best to take the test in a quiet environment when you feel rested and calm, so you’re not rushing through. This way you’ll get the most accurate results of your strengths.
Fun Facts About StrengthsFinder
- StrengthsFinder was developed by American psychologist Donald O. Clifton in 1999. He’s regarded as one of the fathers of the field of positive psychology and his work is influential to this day.
- StrengthsFinder doesn’t regard some strengths as better than others strengths. Each strength has its place and purpose in the world. Some situations call for one strength, and other situations call for other strengths. That’s why it’s impossible to call some strengths better than others.
- Achiever is the most common strength, occurring in over 30% of people’s Top 5 strengths. The following most common strengths are responsibility, learner, relator, and strategic.
- You can list your strengths from StrengthsFinder on your resume. The best way to do it is to describe how each strength will help you in the position that you’re applying to. Nowadays most recruiters are familiar with StrengthFinders and they will appreciate your self-insight if you put your strengths on the resume.
How StrengthsFinder Themes Help You Find a Job
One of the core ideas of StrengthsFinder is that people are the happiest in jobs that utilize their core strengths.
If your position doesn’t require even a single strength from your Top 5, then it’s almost given that you aren’t going to be happy in your job.
Your growth potential will be limited and you’ll feel that your talents aren’t used properly. However, if your position requires strengths that you possess, the more the better, then you’ll be thrilled to do your work and it will lead to high job satisfaction.
Knowing this, StrengthsFinder can help you find a job. Not any job, but the one that you’ll excel at and the one that you’ll enjoy working at.
You can try to figure out what jobs require what strengths yourself, but the Full Strengths Report at HIGH5 can do it for you.
The report includes careers and environments which would use your Top 5 strengths the most. This way you can instantly know what careers and jobs you should aim at and begin your job hunt now.
