![](/xzero/style/default/images/spacer.gif)
![Zoom In](../images/btn_zoom_en.gif)
|
StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup's Now, Discover Your Strengths (Hardcover)
by Tom Rath
Category:
Management, Leadership, Career development, Self help |
Market price: ¥ 230.00
MSL price:
¥ 198.00
[ Shop incentives ]
|
Stock:
In Stock |
MSL rating:
Good for Gifts
|
MSL Pointer Review:
Optimal solution for understanding yourself, your strengths as well as an awsome development tool. |
If you want us to help you with the right titles you're looking for, or to make reading recommendations based on your needs, please contact our consultants. |
![](../images/spacer.gif) Detail |
![](../images/spacer.gif) Author |
![](../images/spacer.gif) Description |
![](../images/spacer.gif) Excerpt |
![](../images/spacer.gif) Reviews |
|
|
Author: Tom Rath
Publisher: Gallup Press
Pub. in: February, 2007
ISBN: 159562015X
Pages: 192
Measurements: 7 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00997
Other information: ISBN-13: 978-1595620156
Language: American English
|
Rate this product:
|
- Awards & Credential -
A must-have companion to Now, Discover Your Strengths. |
- MSL Picks -
StrengthsFinder 2.0 is not so much a book as it is an online personality profile. The major premise of this book is that people can take one of two avenues for success (in business, love, life, etc.), they can either focus their efforts on minimizing their weaknesses or focus their efforts on maximizing their natural strengths. StrengthsFinder 2.0 (as one might assume from the title), advocates the latter approach and is intended to assist the reader in identifying and maximizing his strengths.
The book is divided into two parts. The first part is a presentation of the above mentioned thesis. In books if this genre, one would expect a dizzying amount of anecdotal evidence; but while a couple examples are given, Rath refreshingly bucks the trend and gives the reader "the meat." The second part of the book is a brief description of various "strengths" (what you naturally do better than most of the population, alphabetically arranged) and tips for utilizing these strengths in the workplace.
I'll admit that this is the only book I've reviewed that I haven't read cover to cover. Instead, I read the introductory section and the brief descriptions of my particular "strengths" (as determined by the on-line test). Since (for example), I don't have the "woo" strength, I don't feel competent evaluating it. However, I found that the strengths I did score well in accurately identified where I tend to excel and described my approach to things well. I feel that I've grown by understanding myself better and the strength-oriented advice has thus far been fruitful.
The opening section on the premise was short and to the point. They forcefully argue for the reader to identify and focus on his strengths yet are careful to recognize that there may exist some weaknesses that necessitate minimizing. Their arguments are logical and compelling; I enjoyed reading it and buy into their thoughts.
As other reviewers have pointed out, StrenghsFinder 2.0 is not so much as book as it is an online test cleverly marketed as a book. Aside from the first section (framing the premise), the rest of the book is pretty useless. After using the sealed code inside the book to access the online test, you receive a printer-friendly recapitulation of the "strengths" in section 2 that pertain to you. You may only take the test once and must purchase another book to gain another access code should you want a co-worker, spouse, or other person to take it. Like other reviewers, I had difficulty actually getting to the online test. I imagine this is party due to my lack of computer skills, and partly due to the awkward layout of their advertised web page. The test takes about 30 minutes, questions are timed (so that you don't think about it too much and answer the way in which your mind naturally works).
In all, StrengthsFinder 2.0 is an excellent premise, a fine analysis of common strengths, and sound advice for persons exhibiting said strengths. But is it really a book? If book is defined as a series of sheets of paper with words/pictures on each page... yes, I suppose it is. If book is defined as a logically presented, complete thesis... then it's not really a book...it's more along the lines of a thick instruction manual, telling you how to take an on-line test. And while the premise, analysis, and advice is good, I argue that it's still incomplete. I find myself wanting to know more about my particular strengths--theory as well as practice, anecdotal as well as statistical. It is my hope that a follow up book (without an on-line component) is forthcoming.
In all, I would recommend this "book" and believe it will be a great aid in leading to vocational excellence and fulfillment.
(From quoting Chris Helfers, USA)
****
STRENGTHS: THE NEXT GENERATION
Q&A with author Tom Rath
(From the Gallup Management Journal; interviewed by Jennifer Robison)
Last month, StrengthsFinder 2.0 hit the bookstores. Book browsers, no doubt, had many questions, and among them was probably "Didn't I already read a book about this?"
Well, actually, yes. But the topic was worth revisiting for two reasons. In the six years since the release of Now, Discover Your Strengths, more than 2 million people have taken the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment, which means billions of people have not yet had the opportunity. The second reason is that Gallup researchers just haven't been able to let the topic rest. Over the past decade, they've done more surveys, more interviews, and more studies; they've prodded and poked and analyzed. And they realized that there's a lot more to understanding human talent than most people know. Those who are familiar with the StrengthsFinder assessment know that it is designed to uncover certain key talents - patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior that can be productively applied. These patterns are categorized into 34 broad themes - such as Achiever, Ideation, and Relator - and those themes indicate and predict one's innate and unique talents. Those talents, when multiplied by the investment of time spent practicing, developing skills, and building knowledge, can become strengths. Some of this is just common sense; it seems intuitive that your performance will be better if you're doing what you naturally do well. But some of it seems counterintuitive and runs directly against conventional wisdom: No amount of training will help you excel in your areas of weakness. You can't do anything you want to do - or be anything you want to be - because you're just not going to be good at everything. But if you work with your talents, you can be extraordinary. StrengthsFinder has resonated with the business community because there's a direct link between talent development and performance. In this interview, Tom Rath, author of StrengthsFinder 2.0, discusses what Gallup scientists have learned since the publication of the first book, what more there is to discover about your talents, and why it's bad to focus on your employees' weaknesses, but simply cruel to ignore them completely.
GMJ: Why the new book?
Tom Rath: StrengthsFinder 2.0 is an effort to get the core message and language out to a much broader audience. We had no idea how well received the first strengths book would be by general readers - it was oriented more toward managers - or that the energy and excitement would continue to grow. More than two million people have taken the StrengthsFinder assessment, and each month, the number of people learning about their talents goes up. But readers keep asking us: "Now that I know about my strengths, what do I do next?" So we went back and surveyed hundreds of them and asked them how they apply their talents. Then we whittled their suggestions down to the ten best ideas for each theme. We also added more than five thousand Strengths Insights to version 2.0 that allow us to offer more individualized theme descriptions than we could before. So, instead of general descriptions of your top five talent themes, in 2.0, you get a talent profile so unique that you're unlikely to share even a sentence with someone else. And as I said, the first book was really written for a business audience. People have had trouble retrofitting the theme descriptions if they are in non-management roles, but they've tried. This book helps readers apply strengths theory to any type of role and gives them ideas to help them apply their talents in their daily life.
GMJ: It's been six years since the first book was published, and Gallup has done hundreds of thousands more interviews. Have you discovered anything new about talents and strengths? Have you altered your original premise?
Rath: No, but we've seen more and more evidence that demonstrates that focusing on your talents is important. We did a survey in 2004 that examined what happens when your manager ignores you, focuses on your strengths, or focuses on your weaknesses. We found that if your manager focuses on your strengths, your chances of being actively disengaged go down to one in one hundred. However, if your manager primarily focuses on your weaknesses, your chances of being actively disengaged are 22%, and if your manager ignores you, that percentage rises to 40%.
GMJ: Why such a high rate of disengagement among those who are ignored?
Rath: It basically mirrors the psychology of raising kids - being completely ignored is the worst possible psychological state. You would actually feel better if your manager went from ignoring you to focusing on what you do wrong all the time, because then at least she's paying attention to you.
GMJ: Did your new research turn up anything that surprised you?
Rath: We've talked a lot about how strengths can help you be more of who you are, and you get more out of your best players, and all of that. But in the last ten years, we've also found that it's a good strategy just to wipe out the extreme negativity in the workplace. I get this question almost every time I talk to a group: "What do I do about that one person who just drags everyone down every day?" My glib answer was to get rid of the person. I always thought there were some people who were just destined to be disengaged in their jobs because that was their personality, and no matter how hard managers tried, there wasn't much they could do with some of those people. But the data from the last five years would suggest that much of that epidemic of disengagement is fixable. More than I ever would have guessed, it helps tremendously if a manager starts by focusing on someone's strengths. You may not take someone who's actively disengaged and make him into your most engaged employee, but it will help get him out of that mindset where he's scaring off colleagues and customers.
GMJ: So is that the business case to be made for putting people in roles that play to their strengths? Rath: I think it's the secondary business case. The main business case is that people have a lot more fun and get a lot more done if they're able to spend time in areas where they have some natural talent. I think that's a fundamental principle that hasn't changed much at all. The one thing that we were clear about in StrengthsFinder 2.0 is that the American dream ideal that "You can be anything you want if you just try hard enough" is detrimental. This is especially true when people buy into it hook, line, and sinker. You may not be able to be anything you want to be, but you can be a lot more of who you already are. [Taking] StrengthsFinder is just a starting point; it's step one of a hundred in figuring out the areas where you have the most potential for growth. GMJ: What is the most challenging aspect of your ongoing strengths research?
Rath: While hundreds of people in our organization continue to research this topic each year, our greatest challenge might be incorporating the new research while making the message even more succinct and applicable to a wider audience. So while we have hundreds of new case studies and meta-analyses about strengths - and about employee engagement and business outcomes - we tried to stay as close as we could to the basics.
GMJ: The Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment has always categorized talents into thirty-four themes. Have you ever considered adding or subtracting any, or refining them further?
Rath: Yes, we looked at that extensively as we started to review our plan for the updated version of the assessment. We found that so far, the thirty-four themes have done a good job of describing much of what we've learned since releasing the first version of the assessment. If enough people had made a case about a specific theme that didn't exist, we were open to adding that theme. I think we probably will continue to investigate whether there are themes that emerge that we haven't yet picked up on. But there wasn't a real strong case for any additions at this time.
GMJ: What would you most like to accomplish with StrengthsFinder 2.0?
Rath: Our big goal and mission as a company is to help people do more of what they do well. We've topped two million completed StrengthsFinder assessments, and it's not too hard to imagine that number getting to twenty million soon. An organization that exists to help people has a responsibility to get better and better. By reaching beyond our initial audience, we help people get the latest and greatest research. But we also hope it helps people live better lives.
Target readers:
Managers, professionals, entrepreneurs, and MBAs.
|
- Better with -
Better with
Succeed on Your Own Terms
:
|
Customers who bought this product also bought:
![](/res/product/books/070120233942421_s.jpg) |
Gung Ho! Turn On the People in Any Organization (Hardcover)
by Ken Blanchard, Sheldon Bowles
While Raving Fans focuses on ways to turn on customers, Gung Ho assists managers with concepts to turn on their employees to seek higher productivity. |
![](/res/product/books/20070526210317843_s.jpg) |
The Science of Success: How Market-Based Management Built the World's Largest Private Company (Hardcover)
by Charles G. Koch
Useful advice, real substance and no platitudes makes this book a brilliant strategy for sustained business success. |
![](/res/product/books/20071014173424000_s.jpg) |
Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance (Hardcover)
by Marcus Buckingham
An excellent follow-up to Now, Discover Your Strengths, this new book shows you how to identify your strengths and put them into action. |
![](/res/product/books/070115111546259_s.jpg) |
Now, Discover Your Strengths (Hardcover)
by Marcus Buckingham, Donald O. Clifton
Focusing on using strengths rather than weaknesses in developing an effective and efficient workforce, this excellent follow-up to First, Break All The Rules, another top-tier business classic. |
![](/res/product/books/070115103506524_s.jpg) |
First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently (Hardcover)
by Marcus Buckingham, Curt Coffman
Based on Gallup Group's in-depth interviews of over 80,000 successful managers, this book reveals the core characteristics of great managers and great workplaces. |
![](/res/product/books/20070515113704593_s.jpg) |
Know-How: The 8 Skills That Separate People Who Perform from Those Who Don't (Hardcover)
by Ram Charan
By linking personal attributes and business success, Charan delivers a vital message to a society starving for true leadership. |
![](/res/product/books/20071014022726640_s.jpg) |
Doing What Matters: How to Get Results That Make a Difference - The Revolutionary Old-School Approach (Hardcover)
by Jim Kilts , John F. Manfredi , Robert Lorber
James Kilts is one of the most successful CEOs of the last quarter-century. In this book, Kilts walks the reader through what successful CEOs focus on to build their companies and which time drains to avoid to keep from feeling unproductive. |
![](/res/product/books/20070604171759625_s.jpg) |
Leading Change (Hardcover)
by John P. Kotter
This book gives an accurate and detailed description of the leadership prerequisites required to accomplish manufacturing change, rich with examples on how to enact a change initiative. |
![](/res/product/books/20061219164145328_s.jpg) |
Good to Great, Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don't (Hardcover)
by Jim Collins
A profound and powerful book that is destined to be a timeless management classic. One of the Top Ten business reads recommended by MSL. |
![](/res/product/books/061220103227140_s.jpg) |
Built to Last, Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (Paperback)
by Jim Collins, Jerry I. Porras
A ravishing look at current management practices, this book shows timeless principles that separate the great from the good. |
![](/res/product/books/070117230233338_s.jpg) |
Who Moved my Cheese? (Hardcover)
by Spencer Johnson, Kenneth H. Blanchard (Foreword)
The author powerfully points out through this famous parable that how you change with the outside world determines whether you'll win or lose in business and life. |
![](/res/product/books/061227201043611_s.jpg) |
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable (Hardcover)
by Patrick M. Lencioni
An excellent management manual outlining the problems and conflicts that often prevent teams from working together to achieve their stated goals. |
|
#1 New York Times bestselling author Tom Rath leads Gallup's workplace research and leadership consulting worldwide. He coauthored How Full Is Your Bucket? (with Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D.) and most recently authored Vital Friends: The People You Can't Afford to Live Without. Rath holds degrees from the University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in Washington, D.C.
|
From Publisher
DO YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO WHAT YOU DO BEST EVERY DAY?
Chances are, you don't. All too often, our natural talents go untapped. From the cradle to the cubicle, we devote more time to fixing our shortcomings than to developing our strengths.
To help people uncover their talents, Gallup introduced the first version of its online assessment, StrengthsFinder, in the 2001 management book Now, Discover Your Strengths. The book spent more than five years on the bestseller lists and ignited a global conversation, while StrengthsFinder helped millions to discover their top five talents.
In its latest national bestseller, StrengthsFinder 2.0, Gallup unveils the new and improved version of its popular assessment, language of 34 themes, and much more (see below for details). While you can read this book in one sitting, you'll use it as a reference for decades.
Loaded with hundreds of strategies for applying your strengths, this new book and accompanying website will change the way you look at yourself - and the world around you - forever.
AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY IN THE NEW & UPGRADED EDITION OF STRENGTHSFINDER 2.0 (using the unique access code included with each book)
* A new and upgraded edition of the StrengthsFinder assessment
* A personalized Strengths Discovery and Action-Planning Guide for applying your strengths in the next week, month, and year
* A more customized version of your top five theme report
* 50 Ideas for Action (10 strategies for building on each of your top five themes)
* The more user-friendly StrengthsFinder 2.0 companion website, with a strengths community area, library of downloadable discussion guides and activities, a strengths screensaver, and a program for creating display cards of your top five themes
|
THE FALLACY OF THE AMERICAN DREAM
Overcoming deficits is an essential part of the fabric of our culture. Our books, movies, and folklore are filled with stories of the underdog who beats one-in-a-million odds. And this leads us to celebrate those who triumph over their lack of natural ability even more than we recognize those who capitalize on their innate talents. As a result, millions of people see these heroes as being the epitome of the American Dream and set their sights on conquering major challenges. Unfortunately, this is taking the path of most resistance.
A misguided maxim?
"You can be anything you want to be, if you just try hard enough." Like most people, I embraced this maxim at a young age. Along with thousands of other kids, I spent a good chunk of my childhood trying to be the next Michael Jordan. Every day, I practiced shooting hoops for three to four hours. I went to basketball camps each summer and tried in every way possible to be a great player. No matter how hard I worked at it, though, becoming an NBA star simply wasn't in the cards for me. After giving 100% of my effort for more than five years, I couldn't even make the junior varsity team.
Embracing the "You-can-be-anything-you-want to-be" maxim isn't something we outgrow. Similar scenarios play out in the workplace every day. A star salesperson thinks she can be a great sales manager with enough effort. She interviews other managers to gain insight, reads every book on management she can find, and stays late every night trying to get the job done - at the expense of her family and even her health. Then, a few years into the job, she realizes that she doesn't have the natural talent to develop other people. Not only is this a waste of her time, but chances are, she could have increased her contribution even more if she had stayed in the sales role - a role in which she naturally excelled. Yet if we want additional income, status, or responsibility, most organizational hierarchies force us into a very different role - instead of allowing for an entire career of progression within a specific role that fits our talents. What's even more disheartening is the way our fixation on deficits affects young people in the home and classroom. In every culture we have studied, the overwhelming majority of parents (77% in the United States) think that a student's lowest grades deserve the most time and attention. Parents and teachers reward excellence with apathy instead of investing more time in the areas where a child has the most potential for greatness.
The reality is that a person who has always struggled with numbers is unlikely to be a great accountant or statistician. And the person without much natural empathy will never be able to comfort an agitated customer in the warm and sincere way that the great empathizers can. Even the legendary Michael Jordan, who embodied the power of raw talent on a basketball court, could not become, well, the "Michael Jordan" of golf or baseball, no matter how hard he tried.
This might sound like a heretical point of view, especially for those of us who grew up believing the essential American myth that we could become anything we wanted. Yet it's clear from Gallup's research that each person has greater potential for success in specific areas, and the key to human development is building on who you already are.
The following real-life example from Gallup's economic development work in Puebla, Mexico, provides a basic yet powerful illustration of what can happen when people focus on their natural talents.
Hector had always been known as a great shoemaker. In fact, customers from such far-off places as France claimed that Hector made the best shoes in the world. Yet for years, he had been frustrated with his small shoemaking business. Although Hector knew he was capable of making hundreds of shoes per week, he was averaging just 30 pairs. When a friend asked him why, Hector explained that while he was great at producing shoes, he was a poor salesman - and terrible when it came to collecting payments. Yet he spent most of his time working in these areas of weakness.
So, Hector's friend introduced him to Sergio, a natural salesman and marketer. Just as Hector was known for his craftsmanship, Sergio could close deals and sell. Given the way their strengths complemented one another, Hector and Sergio decided to work together. A year later, this strengths-based duo was producing, selling, and collecting payment for more than 100 pairs of shoes per week - a more than threefold increase.
While this story may seem simplistic, in many cases, aligning yourself with the right task can be this easy. When we're able to put most of our energy into developing our natural talents, extraordinary room for growth exists. So, a revision to the "You-can-be-anything-you-want-to-be" maxim might be more accurate:
You cannot be anything you want to be - but you can be a lot more of who you already are.
|
|
View all 7 comments |
A. Drefahl (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-14 00:00>
I've been a senior leader of several organizations, and consequently have been exposed to a gauntlet of industrial psychologists, personality tests, intelligence tests, leadership training, cultural orientations, yada yada.
This book/body of knowledge/tool does 2 things extremely well. By well, I mean in an optimal way measured by the degree of understanding relative to the time investment. First, for an investment of maybe an hour at minimum, and an additional few hours to explore the guidance and begin to consider the implications and choose new behaviors, etc. you get, in my opinion, the best single, and correct perspective about yourself than any combination of the other methods mentioned above, period. It is not just directionally correct, like a horoscope type paragraph that would be true for anyone who read it, but rather a set of desciptions of your strengths that just "nail it" and descibe you as you know yourself. It tells you about yourself in a way that you can understand, regardless of whether you or anyone who is around you has ever articulated it.
The second thing it does well is offer a rational and empirically validated framework that is just long overdue. It is a simple truth that has been so elusive. It addresses a major reason why leadership is so rare in business - the modern organization strangles out your ability to contribute by trying to fix what you will likely never be much good at, or hate doing even if you end up with some level of proficiency at it.
Get it, read it (25 minutes) and take the online test (35 minutes). If you are like me and the 50 people around me who've infectiosuly taken and immediately recommended this thing to their inner circle of friends and family, you will absolutley find value in it. But like anything, an idea or a tool is only as good as it is put to use. A master craftsman never blames his tools. Remember to act on it and that is something for which only you can be responsible. |
Barry J. Quinn (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-14 00:00>
This book, although small, represents the best thinking from Gallup and other researchers over the better part of 20 years, and it shows. The output from the online test is essential to anyone seriously trying to build out a career or life plan. You know those moments at work when you're so engaged you're almost ready to burst with excitement? Well, this book will help you identify those engagement triggers. Only one thing I would recommend - don't read the book and do the test if you don't intent to fill out the plan at the back. Oh, and this is book serves as a great exercise for any professional team to take... |
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-14 00:00>
I have used this with clients and have been impressed with how consistently on-target the assessment is. Rather than focusing on weaknesses to improve, the premise of the assessment is that one can be far more effective by recognizing their strengths and building on them. Most recently, I purchased a bulk amount of the books to issue to a client group of 12 people. (You have to purchase the book to get the "secret online code.") The group learned not only what their own strengths were (some initial surprises as the respondents had never considered some of the strengths before) but how the traits of other team members complemented the team. The individual reports generated include an action plan to build on your strengths. All in all, a good and deservedly popular tool. |
Ronald Marlar (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-14 00:00>
My graduate studies and professional experience include extensive work with a wide variety of tests, measurements and personal assessment instruments. I have studied, designed, constructed, taken many, some repeatedly, of standardized, classroom, adult education, personality, lifestyle and other varieties and intents. Many of them can be monkeyed with - manipulated by the taker - for varying results. This is not so with Strengths Finder 2.0, a product of The Gallup Organization.
Other strengths of Strengths Finder 2.0 include 1) its consistency of results with other similar surveys, my own and others perceptions of my strengths, 2) the brief times required for reading in the book to prepare for taking the survey and actually taking the survey, 3) interface of the book with the computer-based survey, 4) quick, easy to understand and interpret results, 5) wealth of information and uses of both the book and the computer products, and 6) the encouragement provided by having taken the survey.
Beyond those things the book and computer products are available for many, diverse self studies for as long as you care to pursue them. Thus, this is a book to buy and keep on your reading shelf. |
View all 7 comments |
|
|
|
|