Strengths Quest

A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to take the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment.  Strengths Quest helps individuals to find their strengths, talents and gifts along with ways to develop and cultivate them.  I would definitely recommend taking this assessment as an individual or as a group. Below you'll find my top five strengths and a brief description of each.  This information is straight from the Strengths Quest website and is not my own writing.

Developer

You see the potential in others. Very often, in fact, potential is all you see. In your view no individual is fully formed. On the contrary, each individual is a work in progress, alive with possibilities. And you are drawn toward people for this very reason. When you interact with others, your goal is to help them experience success. You look for ways to challenge them. You devise interesting experiences that can stretch them and help them grow. And all the while you are on the lookout for the signs of growth—a new behavior learned or modified, a slight improvement in a skill, a glimpse of excellence or of “flow” where previously there were only halting steps. For you these small increments—invisible to some—are clear signs of potential being realized. These signs of growth in others are your fuel. They bring you strength and satisfaction. Over time many will seek you out for help and encouragement because on some level they know that your helpfulness is both genuine and fulfilling to you.

 Individualization

Your Individualization theme leads you to be intrigued by the unique qualities of each person. You are 

impatient with generalizations or “types” because you don’t want to obscure what is special and 

distinct about each person. Instead, you focus on the differences between individuals. You

instinctively observe each person’s style, each person’s motivation, how each thinks, and how each 

builds relationships. You hear the one-of-a-kind stories in each person’s life. This theme explains why 

you pick your friends just the right birthday gift, why you know that one person prefers praise in public and another detests it, and why you tailor your teaching style to accommodate one person’s need to be shown and another’s desire to “figure it out as I go.” Because you are such a keen observer of

other people’s strengths, you can draw out the best in each person. This Individualization theme also helps you build productive teams. While some search around for the perfect team “structure” or “process,” you know instinctively that the secret to great teams is casting by individual strengths so that everyone can do a lot of what they do well.

Activator

“When can we start?” This is a recurring question in your life. You are impatient for action. You may 

concede that analysis has its uses or that debate and discussion can occasionally yield some 

valuable insights, but deep down you know that only action is real. Only action can make things

happen. Only action leads to performance. Once a decision is made, you cannot not act. Others may 

worry that “there are still some things we don’t know,” but this doesn’t seem to slow you. If the 

decision has been made to go across town, you know that the fastest way to get there is to go 

stoplight to stoplight. You are not going to sit around waiting until all the lights have turned green. 

Besides, in your view, action and thinking are not opposites. In fact, guided by your Activator theme, 

you believe that action is the best device for learning. You make a decision, you take action, you look 

at the result, and you learn. This learning informs your next action and your next. How can you grow if 

you have nothing to react to? Well, you believe you can’t. You must put yourself out there. You must

take the next step. It is the only way to keep your thinking fresh and informed. The bottom line is this: 

You know you will be judged not by what you say, not by what you think, but by what you get done. 

This does not frighten you. It pleases you.

Positivity

You are generous with praise, quick to smile, and always on the lookout for the positive in the 

situation. Some call you lighthearted. Others just wish that their glass were as full as yours seems to 

be. But either way, people want to be around you. Their world looks better around you because your 

enthusiasm is contagious. Lacking your energy and optimism, some find their world drab with 

repetition or, worse, heavy with pressure. You seem to find a way to lighten their spirit. You inject

drama into every project. You celebrate every achievement. You find ways to make everything more 

exciting and more vital. Some cynics may reject your energy, but you are rarely dragged down. Your 

Positivity won’t allow it. Somehow you can’t quite escape your conviction that it is good to be alive, 

that work can be fun, and that no matter what the setbacks, one must never lose one’s sense of 

humor.

Empathy

You can sense the emotions of those around you. You can feel what they are feeling as though their 

feelings are your own. Intuitively, you are able to see the world through their eyes and share their 

perspective. You do not necessarily agree with each person’s perspective. You do not  necessarily feel 

pity for each person’s predicament—this would be sympathy, not Empathy. You do not necessarily 

condone the choices each person makes, but you do understand. This instinctive ability to understand 

is powerful. You hear the unvoiced questions. You anticipate the need. Where others grapple for 

words, you seem to find the right words and the right tone. You help people find the right phrases to

express their feelings—to themselves as well as to others. You help them give voice to their emotional 

life. For all these reasons other people are drawn to you.