StrengthsQuest

I'm taking a class in school called Strengths-Based Leadership.  I thought it fit in very well with my management classes, and it's a specialized class that is only taught on a rotation basis, if that makes sense.  Actually, this is the first time it's been taught here, so we're all kinda learning.

Anyway, the book is called StrengthsQuest, and one of the first things you do is take an online quiz (sorry, it's attached to a code number that is specific to each book, so I can't share the site with anybody), and you answer 110 two-question scenairos, choosing the one that best fits you.  This is to help determine your top five "talents" (there are 34 talents in all; and the theory is that we're not necessarily weak in certain areas, we're just very strong in our select ones).

Anyway, I took mine, and I wasn't terribly surprised at the results, though I might have expected a couple others to be at the top.  As our instructor said, some may be thisclose to one another, so just because it didn't end up in your top five doesn't mean you're still not strong in that or those areas.

For anybody who has taken the Myers-Briggs, this one is by far more unique.  Myers-Briggs puts you into one of 16 different personality traits, where the StrengthsQuest results are one in 33 million.  That means only one in 33 million has the same five traits in the same order as you do.

The reason I say this is that I want to find out how I can use these talents to help me keep on track.  I know the Competition talent should work in my favor if only I'll let it.  I'll share what they are here:


INPUT

You are inquisitive. You collect things. You might collect information—words, facts, books, and quotations—or you might collect tangible objects such as butterflies, baseball cards, porcelain dolls, or sepia photographs. Whatever you collect, you collect it because it interests you. And yours is the kind of mind that finds so many things interesting. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity. If you read a great deal, it is not necessarily to refine your theories but, rather, to add more information to your archives. If you like to travel, it is because each new location offers novel artifacts and facts. These can be acquired and then stored away. Why are they worth storing? At the time of storing it is often hard to say exactly when or why you might need them, but who knows when they might become useful? With all those possible uses in mind, you really don’t feel comfortable throwing anything away. So you keep acquiring and com! piling and filing stuff away. It’s interesting. It keeps your mind fresh. And perhaps one day some of it will prove valuable.

Now consider this statement based on comments from individuals who possess Input among their Signature Themes. It represents what Input could “sound like.”

“When I go on the Internet to do research for a paper, I can easily find relevant and appropriate information that help me get the paper written. In fact, I often find extra information that will help my friends get their papers written, too.”

For further understanding of your talents, examine these insights and select those that describe you best.

• You always want to know more. You crave information.
  
  
• You like to collect certain things, such as ideas, books, memorabilia, quotations, and facts.
  
  
• You have an active curiosity. You find many things very interesting. A few minutes of “surfing the Net” may turn into hours once your curiosity takes off, and you might have difficulties filing and housing all of the new information you acquire.

The genius of Input talents is in your active and resourceful curiosity, which leads you to become a storehouse of knowledge.


ADAPTABILITY

You live in the moment. You don’t see the future as a fixed destination. Instead, you see it as a place that you create out of the choices that you make right now. And so you discover your future one choice at a time. This doesn’t mean that you don’t have plans. You probably do. But this theme of Adaptability does enable you to respond willingly to the demands of the moment even if they pull you away from your plans. Unlike some, you don’t resent sudden requests or unforeseen detours. You expect them. They are inevitable. Indeed, on some level you actually look forward to them. You are, at heart, a very flexible person who can stay productive when the demands of work are pulling you in many different directions at once.

Now consider this statement based on comments from individuals who possess Adaptability among their Signature Themes. It represents what Input could “sound like.”

“My friends know that I am willing and able to drop everything in order to help them. I can change my schedule at a moment’s notice, so when people need something from me, it doesn’t stress me out.”

For further understanding of your talents, examine these insights and select those that describe you best.

• In many ways, you modify yourself to meet the demands of your environment.
  
  
• You easily adjust to many things all day long because you naturally live in the moment (I didn’t check this one off as it doesn’t always explain me).
  
  
• You create the future out of the choices you make right now, one choice at a time.
  
  
• Your “go with the flow” attitude may seem like irresponsibility to those who prefer structure and predictability (I need to send THIS to my mom, structure person!). They may get irritated with what they perceive to be sloppiness or carelessness.
  
  
• Adaptability talents are valuable because they allow you to keep moving forward when the unexpected happens. You can press ahead in a world of unknowns and seemingly unfair treatment when others would give up. You can deal with everything from injustices to crises and still find a way to make progress.

The genius of Adaptability talents lies in the way you respond to chaos: You can quickly change and respond in circumstances that would be frightening or intimidating to others.


COMMUNICATION

You like to explain, to describe, to host, to speak in public, and to write. This is your Communication theme at work. Ideas are a dry beginning. Events are static. You feel a need to bring them to life, to energize them, to make them exciting and vivid. And so you turn events into stories and practice telling them. You take the dry idea and enliven it with images and examples and metaphors. You believe that most people have a very short attention span. They are bombarded by information, but very little of it survives. You want your information—whether an idea, an event, a product’s features and benefits, a discovery, or a lesson—to survive. You want to divert their attention toward you and then capture it, lock it in. This is what drives your hunt for the perfect phrase. This is what draws you toward dramatic words and powerful word combinations. This is why people like to listen to you. Your word pictures pique their interest, sharpen their world, and inspire the! m to act.

Now consider this statement based on comments from individuals who possess Communication among their Signature Themes. It represents what Input could “sound like.”

“When I was a kid, I used to get in trouble for talking in class. But I could tell such great stories – and when my classmates would laugh, it encouraged me to keep talking. My teachers said I was ‘a joy to work with,’ but that I was disrupting the class.”

For further understanding of your talents, examine these insights and select those that describe you best.

• You like to talk, and you probably are good at it.
  
  
• You can explain things and make them clear.
  
  
• You may have an ability to tell particularly captivating stories by constructing mental images in the minds of others.
  
  
• You may be criticized because you like to talk a lot.
  
  
• Communication talents are valuable because your abilities in this area enable you to reach out and connect with people. Your storytelling ability builds images in the minds of others and makes you a powerful person as you connect and bond with people.

The genius of Communication talents lies in your ability to find words for not only your own thoughts and feelings, but also those of others.


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 nex! t. 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.

Now consider this statement based on comments from individuals who possess Activator among their Signature Themes. It represents what Input could “sound like.”

“On our group project for Sociology class, things just weren’t getting done – nothing was moving. I decided to get everyone together to get the ball rolling again.”

For further understanding of your talents, examine these insights and select those that describe you best.

• You naturally see how ideas can be turned into action.
  
  
• You want to do things now, rather than simply talk about them.
  
  
• You can be very powerful in making things happen and getting people to take action.
  
  
• Other people may criticize you for being impatient and seeming to “run over” them. You might occasionally struggle with people you feel are trying to control you.

COMPETITION

Competition is rooted in comparison. When you look at the world, you are instinctively aware of other people’s performance. Their performance is the ultimate yardstick. No matter how hard you tried, no matter how worthy your intentions, if you reached your goal but did not outperform your peers, the achievement feels hollow. Like all competitors, you need other people. You need to compare. If you can compare, you can compete, and if you can compete, you can win. And when you win, there is no feeling quite like it. You like measurement because it facilitates comparisons. You like other competitors because they invigorate you. You like contests because they must produce a winner. You particularly like contests where you know you have the inside track to be the winner. Although you are gracious to your fellow competitors and even stoic in defeat, you don’t compete for the fun of competing. You compete to win. Over time you will come to avoid contests where winning seems! unlikely.

Now consider this statement based on comments from individuals who possess Competition among their Signature Themes. It represents what Input could “sound like.”

“I like to know where I stand in a class. I like it when the professor posts the grades and I can see that I’m at the top. Competing against my classmates motivates me – and when I can’t do that, I even compete against myself and try to do better than I did last time.”

For further understanding of your talents, examine these insights and select those that describe you best.

• You want to win, which usually means outperforming others.
  
  
• You will work hard to excel – especially in comparison to others.
  
  
• You constantly compare yourself and your performance to other people and their performances.
  
  
• You may not be willing to try something if you think you can’t “win” at it. Other people may consider your competitiveness inappropriate and therefore push you away, reject you, or accuse you of being arrogant.

The genius of Competition talents lies in your ability to stimulate yourself and others to higher levels of performance.