Customer Reviews

Now, Discover Your Strengths: How to Build Your Strengths and the Strengths of Every Person in Your Organization

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

While this book does offer some useful insights, most of it is based on results from an on-line quiz that can only be accessed with a code that is one-time use. It takes built in obsolescence to new heights.

An integral part of this book is the online profile. Each copy of this book comes with a unique PIN number inside the book jacket. If you buy a used copy, the PIN number may be already used, and thus will not allow you to use the online profile. However, the book is still interesting if you enjoy reading through the signature themes and guessing what your profile would have uncovered. It is also fun to read each theme and think of people you know who come to mind, and consider ways in which you can support their strengths.

I would give this book 5 stars if an unlimited number of people could use the online profile with each book purchase.

The idea of the book is to help you find your talents, build your strengths, which will in turn, improve your performance.

Building your strengths is indeed somthing that is often overlooked, as most of the time we seek to improve our weaknesses- that's a point well taken- and a good reason to buy the book. However two more things also need to be mentioned. First, why can't we work on building both our strengths AND our weaknesses? In other words, why do we have to necessarily pick just one? I feel that many weaknesses can be improved upon.

Secondly, discovering your talents and doing what you're good at may not necessarily improve your performance. Why? Because there are lots of things we're good at, but still hate to do nonetheless. For instance, I'm really good at cleaning houses and debating, but I don't like to really do either one. People really perform well when its something that they know how to do AND when there's something meaningful/important in it for them. Anyway, just some food for thought. Readers may also be interested in The Sixty-Second Motivator.

Excellent read, Clifton gives clarity and tools for success. I enjoyed the online inner strength tests very much and found it fascinating. While Clifton gives us the the key to unlocking our abilities and the confidence to pursue the path, it is up to us to take the journey.
I have taken this book and its philosophies into my personal life as well, filling everyday.
Everyone has different things that can free them further.

I started singing because I had always secretly found that to be exhilerating. I bought singing lessons on CD off of Amazon,
"Voice lessons To Go" by Vaccarino- fantastic!

I also purchased and carefully followed the "New Sex Now" video by Arte with my husband- it was mind blowing for us.

Just those two examples show how much I have removed my own personal fear in life. The kind that held me back and locked my strengths in. You know the strength is there in any crisis, why not manifest them into your eveyday? How powerful is that?

I am reading this book for my Doctoral Course on 'Conflicted Church/Conflicted Leader' with Dr. Paddy Ducklow at Carey Theological College in Vancouver BC, Canada. I have found the book to be very inspirational. Its focus on strengths rather than weaknesses fits in well with Dr. Ducklow's emphasis on Family Systems Theory which teaches that people grow in self-differentation and maturity more through discovering their strengths than through negativity.

Taking the Strength-Finder questionnaire online was a lot of fun and also very insightful. The book ended a bit slow for me, but was well worth reading.

Ed Hird+
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Now, Discover Your Strengths: How to Build Your Strengths and the Strengths of Every Person in Your Organization

p.s. I recommend that you do not buy a used copy online as it will lack the code inside needed to take the online StrengthFinder questionnaire. The Code can only be used once per purchase of a new copy.

A tour of a list of itemized strengths and the reasoning behind how to use these strengths for the best you can be in life. Good and thought-provoking. If you don't buy new, you can't use the online profile, which makes it personal.

I enjoyed the authors book "First Break All The Rules", and this sequal is great also. I always assumed companies built their teams on peoples strengths, but after being in the workforce I now know that most managers spend time trying to make workers something they are not. Find out what someone does well, place them in the proper position and let them do the job. Not rocket science, but I would love to work for a company that used these principles. Check out Rat Race Relaxer: Your Potential & The Maze of Life by JoAnna Carey for more workplace survival tips.

Now Discover Your Strengths fulfills its promise. The online questionnaire provided with the book is fabulous. I had been struggling to find my vocational fit for 16 years because I was not confident that my talents were really strengths. The questionnaire and book helped me to differentiate between talents and strengths and to realize that my talents were also strengths. After 16 years of being a "misfit" doing stressful work, I have finally changed my career. I attribute the change in my life to this book and another wonderful book, Optimal Thinking: How To Be Your Best Self that showed me how to master my thinking and feelings and optimize all situations (good and bad).

I did enjoy the book (Audio Book) and I listened to it more than once. However, after finished it, I still felt as if the author just abandoned me in a tiny boat in the big ocean of life. I didn't discover anything much.

The main theme of this book centers around the fact that we focus so much on our weaknesses that we sometimes don't realize what our strengths are. Essentially, our strengths are usually neglected, while we work to correct our obvious weaknesses. As the title states, this book will help you identify your strengths via a strengthfinder Profile that you take over the internet. (You will receive a identification number that allows you access to the Strengthfinder Profile) This Web-based interview analyzes your answers and then presents you with your five most powerful signature themes. Once your themes have been identified, you can then utilize the book to show you how to most effectively work utilizing those identified strengths. Equally important, reading this book will help you gain an understanding of other people's strengths as well. This alone could make you a more effective team member. The book's purpose is to help both your individual development and your managerial development if applicable. This book shows how a total of 34 dominant "themes" can best be translated into personal and career success. You will learn a lot about yourself by completing the Strengthfinder Profile. That, alone, is well worth your time. Yet, the book is a tremendous compliment to the profile. Where else can you receive the opportunity to identify your strengths and then learn to use those strengths effectively?