(60)Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham

Yay me!! I read a "work" book on vacation!!! Do I get a gold star? And I even got it for $3.99 off of the Bargain Remainders table!!



Now, Discover Your Strengths was a fascinating book because you got to take a test online to determine what your strengths actually are. The test gave you 180 pairings. You could choose between the two with which one was closer to you. You either strongly agreed with one or the other or were neutral. And honestly, there were very few that I was neutral on. They also advised that you were not to dwell on the questions. You had a 20 second time limit. Because usually your initial reaction is your honest reaction. And for this to work, you needed to be honest.



From the questions there are thirty-four themes. After taking the quiz, they give you your top five "themes" or strengths. You then went back to the book & it gives you examples of managers with each of the themes, then in another chapter, it gives you ways to manage people with those themes.

And I have to say, that I think my strengths are pretty dead on. In fact so are the ways to "manage" me. And I would be pretty dern happy to be managed the way the book suggests.

So what are my strengths, you ask? Here are the abbreviated descriptions.

1. Consistency - Balance is important to me. I am keenly aware of the need to treat people the same, no matter what their station in life, so I do not want to see the scales tipped too far in any one person's favor. (I think this is because I am the middle child of a large family!)
2. Includer - "Stretch the circle wider" This is the philosophy around which I orient my life. I want to include people & make them feel part of the group.
3. Learner - I love to learn. The subject matter that interests me the most will be determined by my other themes & experiences. (I think this is because I never finished college)
4. Intellection - I like to think. I like mental activity. I like exercising the "muscles" of my brain, stretching them in multiple directions. (Yup, this is certainly me)
5. Responsibility - "Your responsibility theme forces you to take psychological ownership for anything you commit to, and whether large or small, you feel emotionally bound to follow it through to completion." (Also describes me, to a tee).

Interesting book. Interesting test. There is another book out by the same authors, StrengthFinders 2.0 that I may pick up as well to find out what else they have to say. I am also curious to see what my boss does with this knowledge. I guess time will tell.