A few weeks ago, an exceptional leader from Intel; Rob Reid; recommended this fantastic book in a masterclass I hosted: StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath.
Main takeaways and book Summary: StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath.
Today’s work culture, and society in general, puts too much emphasis on the idea of overcoming our weaknesses and fighting our flaws. However, this book paints an alternative picture, showing you how to take full advantage of your unique strengths or personality type.
Find your strengths and have an impressive, fulfilling career where you can provide great value!
These are the different strengths Tom Rath discusses in StrengthsFinder 2.0:
Which one are you?
How to maximize your potential, and what to avoid?
Meet the Achievers:
High achievers are driven by a constant and insatiable need for achievement.
When the alarm clock rings in the morning, most people 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.
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 a good reason: tackling new tasks is what makes them happy.
High Achievers Super Power:
This powerful drive allows them to remain highly motivated and productive despite the grueling hours they often work and pushes the pace of the real 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.
High Achievers must be careful with:
So if you’re a HIGH Achiever, how can you do your best without burning out?
First, remind yourself regularly of how much you’ve achieved in the past. Remember when you accomplished a challenging task or overcame a formidable 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, like OKRs.
Check the full book summary: Measure what MAtter by John Doe here.
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 to tackle anything and everything to tick things off your list. This will save you energy and create the most value for your company.
Meet the Believers:
Believers possess enduring core values.
We all know someone who never goes against his beliefs. And while this stubbornness can block progress in some situations, a Believer can bring a lot to an organization when in the right environment.
Believers Super Power:
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.
Say someone believes in making the world a better place. They wouldn’t fit in a typical profit-seeking company but would be a powerful force at an NGO or firm with a compassionate mission.
Believers must be careful:
Believers often can’t find an organization that expresses their particular beliefs, which pushes them to start their own company. And they do this best if they find a partner who is a Futurist.
Meet the Futurists :
Futurists can imagine the future.
Futurists are people who can harness their powerful imagination to create inspiring visions of the future.
Futurists Super Power:
Questioning the limits of what is possible, they paint vivid pictures of an inspiring future that can drive others to produce superior products, work more effectively in teams and even change the world for the better.
Futurists may be carefull with:
They may be too idealistic.
This makes them the perfect partners for Believers or anyone starting a new company. Futurists give form to idealistic visions in a way that energizes entire organizations. Still, the other person makes things happen by taking the lead in the operation or execution, while the futurist is all about the vision.
Meet the Commanders:
Commanders like to take charge.
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.
Commanders Super Power:
These people are often invaluable when a decision needs to be made!
Commanders get things moving by directing others.
Commanders must be careful:
If they’re not careful, they can also create resentment and fear among the workforce.
Commanders tend to be brutally honest about how they see things, an intimidating habit. If you are a Commander, try softening your approach. This may turn a potential weakness into an undeniable strength.
Rather than always imposing your view on others, build a reputation as someone who calls it as he sees it. Manage that, and in times of crisis, you won’t have to impose your will; people will look to you for a frank assessment of the situation.
Meet the Developers:
Developers are happy to encourage others.
A Developer will get excited when someone else progresses and support those who’ve lost faith in their abilities.
Developers Super Power:
Developers concentrate on encouraging others and transforming their potential into reality.
This desire to help others means Developers are particularly well suited for nurturing roles, like coaching, teaching, and HR.
Developers must be careful with:
This is more of an advice. To boost people’s skills, praise something specific about their behavior so they know exactly what to do more of.
Meet the Harmonizers:
Harmonizers excel at finding common ground, and Responsibles strive to deliver what they promise.
Harmonizers strive to ensure everyone agrees.
Harmonizers Super Power:
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.
Harmonizers must be careful with:
They usually don’t thrive in highly competitive sectors like sales or politics, where individual achievement is valued above all else.
But even in a solid team, the Harmonizer tendency to equally consider all opinions can backfire and lead to disharmony.
This happens when they waste too much time listening to everyone’s wishes, which slows down proceedings and often frustrates the team. So if you’re a Harmonizer: learn when to pause and ensure everyone is on the same page, but always keep an eye on the clock.
Meet the Responsibles:
Responsibles hate to let people down.
Like harmonizers, they thrive on developing strong feelings of social bonding, but instead of creating a group consensus, Responsibles do it by striving never to let anyone down.
Responsibles Super Power:
Their dedication to fulfilling their duty makes them best suited for roles that need someone highly dependable.
Responsibles must be careful with:
However, this drive to fulfill the expectations of others also puts them in danger of taking on too much work. So if you’re a Responsible, you need to balance your schedule by saying “no” every now and then. Otherwise, you might get overworked, start making mistakes – and become irresponsible.
Meet the Ideators:
Ideators love creating ideas.
Are you the kind of person who is always drawing connections between different things?
If so, you’re an Ideator.
Ideators are always looking for new ways of seeing things. They intuitively bridge the gap between disparate fields; this gives them a broad understanding of the world they can share with others.
Ideators Super Power:
If you’re an Ideator, try to find work that will pay you for your strength: idea-dependent fields like marketing, writing or academia.
Finally, boost your ideation powers by learning what helps you make connections. Do you get ideas while reading, listening or talking? Reproduce these situations as much as possible, and watch the ideas bloom.
Ideators must be careful:
Remember to take on jobs you’re genuinely interested in because Ideators tend to get bored fast.
Meet the Learners:
Learners love the possibility and process of acquiring new knowledge and skills.
For Learners, the pleasure is in the process, not the facts they acquire. They relish the journey from ignorance to mastery, no matter what they’re learning – be it Spanish, Judo or how to chop wood.
Learners Super Power:
If you’re a Learner, make the most of your hunger for learning and reach for well-paid consulting positions.
There you’ll be paid to enter unfamiliar situations and quickly learn new languages, competencies, and skills. You should also ask your organization if they will subsidize your learning – by, say, covering certification costs or granting scholarships for skills training.
Learners must be careful with:
Strategists look for analytical solutions to problems
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.
Meet the Strategists:
Feeling demotivated in high-paced working environments that are too focused on execution, there is no time to learn and acquire skills.
Strategists Super Power:
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.
Strategists must be careful:
But Strategists sometimes don’t foresee all the things that may get in the way of their own success.
For example, some people interpret confident strategic thinking as an attack on their own ideas. So if you’re a Strategist, practice delivering your ideas gently, so you can get your message across without hurting anyone’s feelings.
On the other hand, some Strategists don’t voice their opinions forcefully enough, which can result in a lot of wasted time. Especially at the beginning of a project, it’s crucial that you say what you have to say to prevent the project from going down the wrong path.
Strategists tend to be dry and analytical.
Meet the Achievers WOOers:
WOOers use their warmth and friendliness to Win Others Over.
They imagine the world as a giant group of friends they’ve yet to meet, and their charm enables them to get everyone on their side. WOOers don’t leave when the day is done: they jump on the chance to build their network and stay around to build friendships with their co-workers.
WOOers Super Power:
Their extraordinary social skills make them invaluable for socially focused roles like public relations and media management.
WOOers must be careful with:
Sometimes, their desire to know everyone gets in the way of creating deep connections. So if you’re a WOOer, be sure to partner with co-workers with a lot of empathy. Then you can introduce new acquaintances to your empathic co-workers, who will forge a deeper relationship with the newcomer that will enrich your company in the long run.
