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Aug 13, 2011

Felina rated it:

Alright I had:

Maximizer - "Excellence, not average, is your measure. Taking something from below average to slightly above average takes a great deal of effort and in your opinion is not very rewarding. Transforming something strong into something superb takes just as much effort but is much more thrilling.' That is way me. I've always said that trying to be well rounded is a waste of time but being amazing at something should be the goal. I know what my flaws are and I simply d More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 08, 2008

Emma rated it:

Total awesomeness!

This book and the included test (be sure to buy a new copy) inspired me for months. Finding out my top 5 strengths made who I am make so much more sense. I love their approach of focusing on what you are "designed" to do, rather than trying to shore up your weaknesses. They have specific suggestions for each strength which includes which kinds of folks you should pair up with and how others will react to your strength. For instance my top one is "Idea More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Sep 28, 2009

Tameca rated it:

I read this book to show my former boss that I was willing to work with her in her efforts to find out how all of her "beans'" strengths could mesh (which could only happen after everyone knew what strengths they had to contribute and when each bean had shared his/her strengths with the rest of the team). By the way, I worked at Starbucks.

I like the organization of the book, the detailed information about strengths, and even the online test you take to find out what strengt More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 02, 2011

Jean added it

Starts with a cool idea: instead of spending time trying to get better at
things you have no talent for, why not work at being great at things you have a
natural affinity for? Each of us has things they tend to be good at (talents),
and things they tend to not be good at (let's call them handicaps). Why should
we spend time and energy overcoming our handicaps, at the expense of our
talents? At most, we'll be average at them for a lot of effort. Instead, we
should spend our efforts in line with our More...

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Jan 20, 2012

Cheryl rated it:

I had to read this book for a professional development class at work. My top five strengths are deliberative, restorative, relator, harmony, and intellection. Being deliberative means I take a really long time to make a decision because I am so careful and cautious. Having harmony means I like for there to be peace and when there is conflict I tend to run, which only creates more conflict because I do not want to resolve the issue. Relator, it is a people thing, and I tend to have a small cir More...

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Jan 16, 2012

Kass rated it:

Buying the book allows you to obtain an access code (good for only one user) that lets you take the Strengths Finder 2.0 test. There is no other way to obtain an access code apart from purchasing the book. That means if you already own the book and your spouse wants to take the test, he needs to purchase the book as well. It's a great ploy for selling books. But if Gallup allowed people to purchase an access code without buying the book, I'm sure they would have made quite a bit more money and r More...

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Oct 30, 2011

Angelica rated it:

This books was ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT in theory but FAILED follow up on the promise. You get the gist of the book in 10 minutes, you get the you evaluation and, voilá, book over. To some extent this feels like a scam to me.

First you pay for the book containing ONE code for ONE test only (if you're lucky and nobody stole the code). Then you read the book which contains nothing of use if not combined with the test. Then you take the test and if you want the full evaluation (including more More...

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Sep 09, 2011

Faith rated it:

I love the new approach on personal development this book took. Instead of trying to constantly be better at something you are naturally not good at, the author suggests focusing on your strengths and making them amazing. I still think balance is important but it changed the way I look at how to be successful. The way it works is that you buy the book, get the secret code in the back and take the quiz online. It will take about 20 minutes. Then it highlights what it thinks are your top 5 strengt More...

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Sep 01, 2011

Linda rated it:

Disclaimer: My view of this book may have been skewed by the initial anger and frustration of buying it at a Borders clearance sale only to discover when I got home that the envelope with the unique code necessary to log on to the website and take the test was open and the code was gone. Without having the results of the test the book pretty much means nothing as it gives a description and action plans for each of the 34 different "strengths," so you need to know what you really scor More...

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Aug 15, 2011

Sarah Beth rated it:

I read this book by Tom Rath for a book club I participate in at work. The premise is basically that we spend too much time focusing on our weaknesses when instead we should be cultivating our strengths and what makes us stand out. Basically, "You cannot be anything you want to be - but you can be a lot more of who you already are." After taking the test, I'm surprised at how accurately it describes me.

Each book comes with an individual, one use only code to take the onlin More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Aug 10, 2011

Kathryn rated it:

I might have found this more useful if I'd done it with a work group instead of on my own. Some of the strengths seemed too similar while the descriptions of others were broad. For example, two of my strengths are:

Maximizer - people who are especially talented in the Maximizer theme focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence. They seek to transform something strong into something superb.

Individualization - intrigued with the unique qualities More...

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Aug 08, 2011

Joe rated it:

I took the StrengthsFinder 2.0 test. It asks you a series of questions on how you like to work, how you get along with other people and how you've organized your life. You have 20 seconds to answer each question because they want your gut responses, without a lot of thinking. The same kind of questions are asked again and again, in slightly different formulations, to find out how strongly you feel about something. When answering, you choose a range of responses from "agree strongly" to More...

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Jul 04, 2011

Natasha rated it:

This books is one of the most impact full business books I’ve ever come across. Since I read it my personal business focus has not been the same.

Strengths Finder is a life-changing questionnaire and the answer to "who am I and what should I do" all wrapped into one resource. The book describes 37 strength "themes" that outline in great detail 37 types of strengths.

Natasha’s 4 Favourite Things about the Book:

1. Each book comes with a personali More...

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Apr 19, 2011

Rebecca rated it:

I must admit gullibility in purchasing this book. My Human Resources text referred to this book in a discussion. Spending $24.95 - 40% discount at B & N did not assuage my guilt for needing such straight-forward and logical advice: 1) Discover your strengths and 2) Work from your strengths. There is this great example of the movie Rudy. Rudy spent four years and countless hours training for football only to play a few minutes in a final game. We hold this up as an example. This is idiocy. More...

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Mar 01, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

I encountered this information through a management class at my workplace, and found so much value in it, that I purchased the book. What's included: a writeup for each of the 34 strengths, including action plan items, examples, and advice for people working with/managing individuals with each strength, as well as a one-time use code for you to take the Strengthsfinder assessment online. Once you take the test online, you get a special report which outlines what it means for you to have the 5 st More...

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Dec 30, 2010

Strengths rated it:

Strengths Finder 2.0 is the follow up to Gallup's Now, Discover Your Strengths. The book includes a revamped version of the StrengthsFinder test that shows you not just what your top five strengths are, but also how you rank in the rest of the 34 strengths from Clifton's model. The new book is light on content (very light) but the test is a substantial improvement. Emotional Intelligence 2.0 is another book I really enjoyed that follows the SF 2.0 format. Obviously, that test measures emotional More...

0 comments like (30 people liked it)

Nov 23, 2010

Lance rated it:

This book is a little tome and even shorter once you sit down to read it. Most of the book comprises a key for interpreting the results of an online test. The idea is that people should spend their time focusing on what they do best (a.k.a. their strengths) in order to achieve success. However, the book lauded itself as more than I found it to be.

First, the very short reading that explained the theory behind the book seemed shaky to me. I agree that those who spend their time doing More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 04, 2010

Ben rated it:

I've struck up conversations about this book with other people, which speaks to the value of it. I was mainly interested in this book because it's on the reading list at personalmba.com. I took the survey which told me my five talents that, if developed, could become strengths. After telling my girlfriend about what my talents are, she questioned two of them. I agreed. However, after reading more about those talents, I realized that I do posses them, but I've never used them at all. So, my More...

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Sep 22, 2010

Schmacko rated it:

StrengthsFinder 2.0 is the new version of the workbook that comes with Now, Discover Your Strengths. It’s a guide to self-identifying your talents and skills. If you’re into this sort of thing, you can start with NDYS and then move onto this little tome for exercises. This workbook includes a plan developer for using the knowledge. If you buy the book, you also get access to all the online stuff, including a Top 5 Strengths report and regular articles.

Given that I’m involved in t More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Sep 15, 2010

Erin rated it:

Biggest complaint: You have to buy a copy of the book to take the quiz (so, if I want someone else to take it, i have to convince them to buy the book too... instead of just loaning them my copy. Seems a bit like a ploy to me...).

Second biggest complaint: They only tell you your top 5 strengths.

I get that the whole premise is to focus on your strengths, which means being blissfully unaware of where you scored low. But heck, I paid for the thing... give me my results! More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 29, 2010

Becky rated it:

Right, so this book was assigned to us at work so that we can find our strengths and play to them, supposedly. I dislike assigned reading type stuff, but hey, I also like having a paycheck. So I read it. And then took the assessment...

I thought that the first part of the book, the part that explains why this method was invented, was actually pretty interesting, and I think that it makes sense to do what you have a natural ability to do, and what you like to do. It makes sense to use More...

16 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 18, 2010

Elana rated it:

The Clifton StrengthsFinder

As you may know, the Clifton StrengthsFinder measures the presence of talent in 34 categories called "themes." These themes were determined by Gallup as those that most consistently predict outstanding performance. The greater the presence of a theme of talent within a person, the more likely that person is to spontaneously exhibit those talents in day-to-day behaviors.Focusing on naturally powerful talents helps people use them as the foundation More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 15, 2010

Wil rated it:

A few years back, I took the Predictive Index test, and I was surprised to find out just how close my strengths came to that earlier test. Although I knew some of these things about myself, I truly expected other strenghts to arise. However, it was encouraging to know that some of the skills on which I feel I rely often, in order to perform both at work, and in my daily life, were shown to be among my top 5 stregths (and a bit of a weakness). These are (in order):

1. Input - craving More...

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May 05, 2010

Matt rated it:

Strengthsfinder 2.0 (2007), Tom Rath

Tom Rath's followup to Marcus Buckingham's book Now, Discover Your Strength is a slightly adapted version of the same book. Behind both books is immense research into strengths-based development, where strengths are exploited and weaknesses are acknowledged yet ignored. Divided into two parts Strengthsfinder 2.0 presents the purpose and reasoning for the book, then provides explanations of the 34 strengths the Gallop Institute has identified in i More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 27, 2010

Besim rated it:

Overall, I found my experience with this similar to my experience with the first book of the serious "First, Break All the Rules" which is that the material is great but that it gets cheapened slightly by their focus on promoting Gallup.

If you haven't already you might benefit from reading "First, Break All The Rules" first as it lays down all the Gallup principles that this book is based on. After reading it I have been wanting to take their test to see how I fa More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 04, 2010

Emily rated it:

I read this book by request. The most interesting argument made by this rather banal little management book is that most people (and I would add, organizations) tend to focus on "fixing" their "weaknesses" at the expense of promoting and growing their strengths. That's a very motivating idea.

The first half of this book summarizes the authors experiences working for the Gallup Group that specialized in this Strength Finding Survey. Then identified a number of strengt More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 14, 2009

Sanjay rated it:

What this book reminded me of is that the lever we use with our strengths is longer than the lever we use when we try and mitigate our weaknesses. That is we get more out of leveraging our strengths.

It included a code to take a survey and produced a report with my top 5 strengths. This data came from the Gallup organisation and seems to be valid statistically. However this book and the associated we site take things a bit further and suggest ways in which one can leverage ones indivi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 12, 2009

Jennifer rated it:

I loved the premise of the book: build upon your strengths. My 12-year-old and I had a good chuckle about this book because whenever she tells me she isn't good at something I ALWAYS say, "you can be good at anything you want to!" She's sick of hearing it. Rath suggests that this is flawed thinking because without natural ability all the effort in the world will only get you so far, whereas if you focus your efforts on building upon your natural abilities you can achieve great th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 09, 2009

Scott rated it:

Why I Read this Book: Knowing and living one’s natural talents and strengths is on of the keys to lasting fulfillment. This book is the answer to discovering those strengths.

Topics Covered:

* Understanding your unique strengths
* Working effectively with others
* Achieving lasting fulfillment
* Time management

Review:

This one’s short and sweet. To get 90% of the value out of this will take you about two hours. I see it More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 23, 2011

Ms. LaPorte rated it:

8/23/11
This years required reading. I was actually pretty excited to get started.
This book's about "what's right with people." Most potential for growth is when you invest energy in developing strengths - (this makes sense!)

"...the aim of almost any learning program is to help us become who we are not." (3)

"...each person has greater potential for success in specific areas, and the key ... is building on who you already are." (8)

More...

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