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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
The book itself is disappointing. It's 90% synopses of the different strengths you may posses. The big value in this system is the test. Then look up the tips for your strengths and move on. There are tips for dealing with folks of other strengths, but you'll probably forget the advice before you can use it. I think the book is worth purchasing for the test. I truly believe understanding how to leverage your strengths could be life-changing. But I expected more decoding on what my strengths said about potential fits for career, etc. and there was almost none of this. I believe there is a career-finding guide from Gallup.com. Maybe I should've read that instead.
Our office did the test and read the book together and it was really informational about each of us and how we work together as a team. Very insightful and helpful in finding how each person works and what gets them going!
I wish there was more meat to this book. Taking the quiz that you gain access to from the book does give insight into your strengths, but then there are just a few pages on each of your to 5 strengths. That just isn't a lot to work with. I did find it interesting to see what my strengths were, though so it was worth the short time it took to read and take the quiz.
I am Positive, empathizing, responsible, activating, and connected
Almost useless without the assessment, which is not part of the actual book.
Ya know, basic personality test thing. Good stuff though.
I read this for an HR Management class. I don't know that I learned anything brand new but it did clarify some thoughts for me. I'd love to get my whole team to take the survey and share in a team building exercise (my Input strength, I suspect, drives this desire). I love that it emphasizes building natural strengths and talents instead of the familiar corporate America "stretch" and "areas for improvement" we've all been subjected to over the years. It's a quick read that gave me a lot to think about. (<-- intellection strength 😉)
An interesting book my boss bought me.
This whole strengths-based approach to self improvement is definitely worth investigating. Nevertheless, there is a bit of a problem with "focusing on your strengths and seeking help / avoiding your weaknesses". This book does not help you find your weaknesses, so how will you know what to seek help for? Maybe the author intends for the reader to have already identified their weaknesses, but I still need more help finding mine.
There is another problem: The book only gives your Top 5 strengths. This is largely insufficient. It ignores that fact that you may be in the top percentile for 100s of intelligences compared to your peers. As such, I would have liked to have known all that information. For example, assume that your Top 10 intelligences are all very close in number but your real passions are strengths 6-10. You will miss out by only having a subset of the information. The approach the book takes ignores that we are competing with other agents (people). After reading, I am left with more questions than answers.
Post script: Ignore all the online materials. They are not extra reading, only digital versions of the book.
This whole strengths-based approach to self improvement is definitely worth investigating. Nevertheless, there is a bit of a problem with "focusing on your strengths and seeking help / avoiding your weaknesses". This book does not help you find your weaknesses, so how will you know what to seek help for? Maybe the author intends for the reader to have already identified their weaknesses, but I still need more help finding mine.
There is another problem: The book only gives your Top 5 strengths. This is largely insufficient. It ignores that fact that you may be in the top percentile for 100s of intelligences compared to your peers. As such, I would have liked to have known all that information. For example, assume that your Top 10 intelligences are all very close in number but your real passions are strengths 6-10. You will miss out by only having a subset of the information. The approach the book takes ignores that we are competing with other agents (people). After reading, I am left with more questions than answers.
Post script: Ignore all the online materials. They are not extra reading, only digital versions of the book.
So, the managers at my store are reading this.
And I was like, haha!, I will read this too and see what you are up to.
Yeah, this isn't that kind of book.
I've taken Myers-Briggs Personality-type tests before (I'm an ISTJ) so the evaluation tool you take at the Gallup site is pretty similar. And worth the purchase of the book because that gives you the code to take the test to find your top five strengths (check in the back of the book to make sure no one's stolen the code before you buy it). The majority of the book is the description of the 34 strengths and action goals - which are all available at the StrengthsFinder2.0 site which is a bit repetitive.
My strengths are:
1. Input
2. Learner
3. Consistency
4. Intellection
5. Responsibility
Pretty spot on. But what about the next five or ten strengths? And how do these interact with one another?
Oh, snap. You have to pay for a coaching session (about $550) to get the 6-34 list.
So I read the 29 strengths and found ten that resonated with me so it's safe to assume they rank as the 6-15 crowd. But there's nothing in the assessment spit out by the website or anywhere in the book about how your strengths interact with one another. No "If you've got these two strong strengths be careful you don't come across as a severe hardass" or "Manage your time so people don't think you're a lazybones" type material.
So I'm not sure what this will get the managers. Because I don't see how this will improve one manager's ability to slack off, take extra breaks, and "pretend" to work when we all know she's dickering around calling her grown children. Or another manager's propensity to treat the booksellers like dirt because of his own issues.
Maybe they'll have to read [b:Strengths-Based Leadership|5973885|Strengths-Based Leadership|Tom Rath|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328751858s/5973885.jpg|6147075] to figure that out.
And I was like, haha!, I will read this too and see what you are up to.
Yeah, this isn't that kind of book.
I've taken Myers-Briggs Personality-type tests before (I'm an ISTJ) so the evaluation tool you take at the Gallup site is pretty similar. And worth the purchase of the book because that gives you the code to take the test to find your top five strengths (check in the back of the book to make sure no one's stolen the code before you buy it). The majority of the book is the description of the 34 strengths and action goals - which are all available at the StrengthsFinder2.0 site which is a bit repetitive.
My strengths are:
1. Input
2. Learner
3. Consistency
4. Intellection
5. Responsibility
Pretty spot on. But what about the next five or ten strengths? And how do these interact with one another?
Oh, snap. You have to pay for a coaching session (about $550) to get the 6-34 list.
So I read the 29 strengths and found ten that resonated with me so it's safe to assume they rank as the 6-15 crowd. But there's nothing in the assessment spit out by the website or anywhere in the book about how your strengths interact with one another. No "If you've got these two strong strengths be careful you don't come across as a severe hardass" or "Manage your time so people don't think you're a lazybones" type material.
So I'm not sure what this will get the managers. Because I don't see how this will improve one manager's ability to slack off, take extra breaks, and "pretend" to work when we all know she's dickering around calling her grown children. Or another manager's propensity to treat the booksellers like dirt because of his own issues.
Maybe they'll have to read [b:Strengths-Based Leadership|5973885|Strengths-Based Leadership|Tom Rath|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328751858s/5973885.jpg|6147075] to figure that out.
I had to read this for a course on executive leadership practice. My interest in this quickly died down after taking the quiz, which only lists your top 5 strengths and puts the rest of your results behind a $40 paywall. This is basically just a money grab. I thought the take on weaknesses never developing into strengths to be a load of bs. I honestly feel like this is nothing you couldn’t learn from FREE personality type quizzes like MBTI or enneagram.