Strengths Finders and Your Career Arthur Ringwalt Chair, Computer Committee Sacramento Professional Network Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Your manager and your job If your manager primarily ignores you, – then the chances of your being primarily disengaged are 40% If your manager primarily focuses on your weakness, – then the chances of your being primarily disengaged are 22% If your manager primarily focuses on your strengths, – then the chances of your being primarily disengaged are 1 % 5/1/20152

Strengths Finders 2.0, an Introduction 5/1/20153

Tom Rath and Strengths Finders Backgrounder – Strengths Finder 2.0 published in Access to Web site. No index. Most of book describes the 34 strengths. 175 pages in all. Costs about $ – Gallup people, based on Gallup’s 40-year study of human strengths – Tom Rath has written several books including The New York Times bestseller How Full Is Your Bucket? He leads Gallup’s workplace consulting business. 5/1/20154

Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D., Dr. Clifton was the leading developer of Strengths-Based Psychology. He received an honor to this regard from the American Psychological Association. 5/1/20155

Research behind Strength Finder 2.0 A 39-page research report on Strength Finder in *.pdf can be retrieved at: ces/CSFTechnicalReport pdf ces/CSFTechnicalReport pdf 5/1/20156

Peter Drucker, “ Most people think they know what they are good at. They are usually wrong.... And yet, a person can perform only from strength.” 5/1/20157

DSM IV Strengths Finder is a contrast to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV. {DSM IV}. A leading psychologist called DSM IV a “bloated catalog of what is wrong with people.” Strengths Finder finds what is right with people. 5/1/20158

Strengths and Weaknesses – Your talents can be your weaknesses and vice versa! – Strengths = Talents x Investments Talents are natural ways of thinking, feeling, or behaving. Investments are times spent practicing and developing your skills, and building your knowledge base. Strengths are abilities to consistently perform well. 5/1/20159

Rudy Ruettiger Who played quarterback for Notre Dame Subject of the 1993 movie Rudy Rudy might have scored high on investment even though he might have received a low score on talent. 5/1/201510

We all admire people like that. Rudy made the very best of his little talent. What would have happened if Rudy had done something else with his efforts. Nevertheless he eventually became a motivational speaker receiving a Vince Lombardi award from Rotary International. Wouldn’t it be better if we were to emphasize our talents, not our weaknesses. 5/1/201511

Book comes with Web site x x You take the 30-minute test using the code at the back of the book. Each book has a different code. You establish a username and password. 5/1/201512

Online test Test takes about 30 minutes. 177 multiple-choice questions Not a timed test 5/1/201513

Strengths Discovery and Action Planning Guide Upon completing the online test. Features: – Top five theme report – 50 ideas for action, one for each of your five themes. – Strengths Discovery Interview – Strengths-Based Action Plan – Other features 5/1/201514

Applying your strengths Alphabetical order in book. Most of book. Two or three pages for each theme. 5/1/201515

Compare to Phil Bristol 5/1/201516

Phil Bristol Behaviors and Motivators, Descriptors, DISC – Dominance – Influencing – Steadiness – Compliance Success Insights Wheel Utilitarian/Economic Theoretical Individualistic/Political Traditional /Regulatory Socialistic/Altruistic Aesthetic 5/1/201517

Phil Bristol EQ or Emotional Intelligence – “Measure of your ability to sense, understand, and effectively apply the power and acumen of your emotions and the emotions of others in order to facilitate high levels of collaboration and productivity.” No equivalent in Strengths Finder 5/1/201518

Conclusion. – Strengths Finders well-worthwhile in evaluating your career goals. – Strengths Finder and Phil Bristol’s Target Training International complement each other. – Ideally, one should take both. 5/1/201519