StrengthsFinder

StrengthsFinder 2.0

by Tom Rath.

A Happiness Self Help Book Review

StrengthsFinder 2.0, by Tom Rath, comes with a one time on online test to help you discover your unique strengths. A strength is something you enjoy doing, do well at naturally, and practice constantly. We are working in an area of strength when we have near perfect performance at something most of the time.

A strengths finder is an important tool because culturally, we have focused on fixing weaknesses to the point that we are loosing our language for describing strengths. This observation comes from a team of Gallop pollsters who published their findings in a book First, Break all the Rules. Over the years the team looked at tens of thousands of polls about how people felt about their work. As they correlated these results with the most successful companies and individuals they started to discover a trend.

The most successful focused on making the most of their strengths and managing around their weaknesses. The majority of us, focus on strengthening our weaknesses. The pollsters call this the myth of the well rounded person.

Strengths, like all forms of power, are a double edged sword. When they are overused, they can become problems and that is just how we have come to see them. Our words for strengths take on negative connotations as much as positive, making dialog about strengths difficult. For example, someone who is good at analysis may be more associated with over analyzing and under achieving, rather than achieving well reasoned and effective results. The term good analyst becomes code for low achiever.

To help set this right, the Gallop Poll team followed with the book, Now Discover your Strengths to give us a language and a set of definitions we could use to turn our conversations around. Again, using the observations from their polls, they identified 34 common strengths. StrengthsFinder 2.0 is the second, upgraded version of these strength definitions and the questions that help us identify our own strengths.

This really is a revolution in how we commonly think. The online test is very useful because many of us are so unfamiliar with a strengths based approach and language, that we do not accurately recognize our own strengths from the descriptions in the book. I know I did not. But, once I took the online assessment, I found that the results really resonated. I was able to see how I had overused some of my strengths and under used others. When I focused on all my top 5 strengths, my career improved and I got happier.

The observations that led to StrengthsFinder 2.0 are very consistent with the premise of positive psychology, which studies what makes happy, healthy, resilient people happier, healthier and more resilient. In the happy life formula by Martin Seligman, engaging in activities that use and challenge our strengths is one way to increase our happiness significantly. Imagine how happy we might be if we choose careers and jobs that played to our strengths. In fact, the polls showed that people were happiest in jobs that used their strengths every day.

We all need to understand our own strengths and the strengths of others because when we do, we do better, feel better, and act more for the common good. In short, finding and using your strengths will lead to a happy life.

This book is:
Readable 4/5 - Primarily supports 1 time, web-based test
Consistent with Scientific Research 5/5
Contains Personal Experiences 0/5 Supports your personal experience
Inspiring 3/5
Full of useful insights 5/5

Our Top Recomendations for Selp Help Books on:

1) How to Be Happy

Happy for No Reason, by Marci Shimoff
How to Keep Your Sanity in an Upside Down World, by Dr. Jim Keelan

2) How to Have Better Relationships and More of Them

The Five Love Languages, by Dr. Gary Chapman
How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie

3) Happiness Science

Authentic Happiness, by Dr. Martin Seligman
Stumbling on Happiness, by Dr. Daniel Gilbert

4) How to Develop Happy Habits

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Steven Covey
Influencer, by Patterson, Grenny, Maxfield, McMillan, Switzler

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