During a recent workshop for the 2020 Class of Leadership Champlain, I had - for the first time - every CliftonStrengths theme represented in the room. The experience got me thinking about how people with each theme might be drawn to taking the CliftonStrengths assessment in the first place.
While this might seem akin to a chicken-and-egg problem (you won't know your themes until you take the assessment); I would challenge you, my readers, to consider whether some of the statements below ring true. If they do, consider taking your own CliftonStrengths assessment. You'll not only have a chance to see if the reasons you're drawn to take it came from your innate talents, but also get a new dose of self-awareness.
Achiever®...it highlights your most essential, innate talents and how they can be used to get things done.
Activator®...it provides a "starting block" to begin describing yourself to others.
Adaptability®...the language and self-awareness highlighted in the assessment's reports can be adapted to be applicable to multiple facets of your life.
Analytical®...the assessment is built on 50 years of research, has a 78% test/retest accuracy, is constructed to eliminate most biases, and about 6,500 new individuals use it each day to learn about who they are.
Arranger®...it helps you understand how the various pieces of who you are fit together.
Belief®...CliftonStrengths® is built on the belief that each of us should know and appreciate who we are as individuals.
Command®...it offers perspective on how to go about standing up for yourself and those on your team.
Communication®...it offers a shared language to describe your most innate talents.
Competition®...it informs you of your personal competitive edge.
Connectedness®...it celebrates that you need others, and others need you. You can't operate independently from others.
Consistency®...the assessment is the exact same for everyone
Context®...it provides a window into how you've been successful to this point in your life.
Deliberative®...it describes who you are at your core; the "golden nuggets" of your being.
Developer®...it offers guidance on how to develop yourself and those around you.
Discipline®...it provides order and structure to our otherwise vague sense of self-awareness.
Empathy®...it gives voice to the parts of your being that you instinctively already knew you had.
Focus®...it provides clarity and single-minded intention to know thy self.
Futuristic®...it offers a positive view of what you could be tomorrow if you focus on developing our best self.
Harmony®...there is no intended emotion attached to any particular talent or theme; they are neutral. The assessment also balances the science of researching how people excel with the recognition that each of us live out our talents differently.
Ideation®...CliftonStrengths® is build on Don Clifton's initial idea that we should stop fixating on weaknesses and start focusing on people's strengths.
Includer®...it leaves no one out. As of this posting, 22 million people worldwide have discovered their talents and Gallup has an open invitation for more people to learn about theirs.
Individualization®...each CliftonStrengths® report is individualized based on the complete order of your 34 talent themes.
Input®...CliftonStrengths® adds to our collection of self-knowledge
Intellection®...it provides a starting point to think about all that you've been, all that you are, and all that you could be.
Learner®...because learning about yourself is a life-long series of discoveries.
Maximizer®...it offers a window into how to get the best out of yourself and those you work with.
Positivity®...it's build on the idea that we should focus on what's best & positive about yourself and others.
Relator®...it offers us a resource to share with others as we build relationships with those important to us.
Responsibility®...it's a timed assessment that forces us to complete it in a timely fashion.
Restorative™...honors that there is something good and worthy within each of us.
Self-Assurance®...it offers affirmation of who you are, and validates how you make decisions. With this self-knowledge, you are unshakable.
Significance®...it allows you to understand how you can impact others and make meaningful contributions to those around you.
Strategic®...offers us options to combine our talent themes in multiple combinations to achieve our goals.
Woo®...if you know yourself, you are better equipped to build relationships with the multitudes.
Photo by Jen Theodore on Unsplash