Hey there! Get your cup of coffee, pull your chair up to the fire and join me as we chat about CliftonStrengths.  If you’ve never heard of it before, I’ll give you the low down.  CliftonStrengths is an assessment tool created by Don Clifton and Gallup.   Don Clifton is known as the father of Strengths based psychology and asked the question ‘what will happen when we think about what is right with people rather than fixating on what is wrong with them.’  This philosophy ultimately led to his life’s research and the birth of the CliftonStrengths assessment. 

When you sit down to take the assessment, you’ll be asked to chose your instinctive reaction (no overthinking) to 177 paired statements.  Then after you submit your answers (or the time has ran out), you will receive your top 5 strengths.  There are a total of 34 strengths which fall into 4 domains, Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building and Strategic Thinking.  

I was first introduced to CliftonStrengths 10 years ago.  I vaguely remember taking the assessment, but vividly remember getting my results.  When I read the standard description for my top 5, I wasn’t sold (I’m naturally a bit skeptical).  Then, I read the description on my Strengths Insight Guide.  And I wondered how they had gotten in my head.  And this was before we knew Google was listening to us.  #creepy.    After reading those paragraphs, I was sold…except for, there were two of my strengths I wasn’t sure were truly me.  I just didn’t see Futuristic or Ideation in myself.  Then I had my husband read the descriptions and told him, I don’t think those ones fit me. He laughed and said something like, “sure they do, you’re always dreaming up a new plan, or thinking about the future.  Every time you say, Honey, I was thinking… the rest of your sentence is likely a dream for our future, or a business you want to open.”  Keep this in mind as we move forward as I’m guessing you may have one or two that show up that way for you too.

Now that you have a little history and your coffee has gone cold, my top 5 CliftonStrengths are;  Futuristic, Learner, Adaptability, Relator and Ideation.    As I mentioned above, Futuristic and Ideation were the two that I didn’t think fit me when I first took the assessment.  Anyone reading this that knows me well would likely laugh at that statement.  What I didn’t realize then was, they are such a part of who I am that I had a hard time seeing them.  Up until that point, I didn’t realize not every dreams. I just thought that was part of everyone’s reality.  You mean you didn’t write complete stories in your head during Algebra in High School?  Or while painting the trim on the garage while you were a teenager?  Or while commuting long distance across the open prairie in your 30’s and 40’s?   That’s so much a part of me that I didn’t realize it was a talent.  Sure, my algebra grade reflected that dreaming, but then so did my creative writing and english grades.  And don’t tell my teenager, but creative writing and english have been WAY more useful to me over my career than algebra. *winks*

I have always had a head full of ideas, mostly ideas of how my future could look.  I pair that with a strong need to learn, especially about topics that may help me navigate to that future I can so clearly see in my head (see how three of my top five are working together here?)

Do I always use these as strengths?  No, they have to be honed, just like any other talent.  Just because someone is naturally gifted at basketball doesn’t mean they always play well.  But if they practice, and practice and practice some more, their talent turns into a strength.  Something they can do with nearly perfect consistency over and over.  I think of it  like muscle memory for any of you that have learned an instrument, or to paint or draw.  It’s likely you weren’t born just innately knowing how to do those things.  You found you liked to do them, or your parents made you take hours upon hours of lessons and you discovered you enjoyed it.   Then you practiced until, through muscle memory, it was something you made look so easy people would say you were naturally gifted, or so very talented.   But they didn’t see the hours upon hours you put in.

It’s really the same with strengths.   I can be naturally talented in these areas, but what am I doing with them.  How am I honing them?   Or am I allowing them to trip me up?  Talents are neutral, but strengths can either be operating from the basement or the balcony.   When they are on the balcony, you are using them to their full potential, you are leaning fully into them and are putting in the time to truly develop them.  For example, my futuristic can either help me live into my fullest potential, or it can be the thing that is holding me back, depending on how I use it.  I can get really caught up in what the future version of my life looks like.  So caught up that I forget to be present in my current life, or end up being super dissatisfied with where I am today.  And to deal with that dissatisfaction, instead of putting on my imaginary work boots and figuring out how to get to that future version, I curl up on the couch with a blanket and wallow.   Which of course is not futuristic at it’s best.

As you can tell, I’m pretty passionate about this topic.  Strengths have helped me understand how I operate and have helped me better navigate certain conversations and relationships.  If you are curious and want to learn about your Strengths, check out Gallup’s website.

This is not a sponsored post.  I just believe in it so much I like to shout it from the rooftops, or from my computer…whichever is closer.  

Let me know if you’ve taken CliftonStrengths and what your top five are!