Maybe you have heard of talents, strengths, StrengthsFinder, CliftonStrengths.  Maybe you have even taken the assessment.  But, what does it all mean, really?

CliftonStrengths, formerly StrengthFinder, is an assessment that takes about 30 minutes or so to complete.  The results of that assessment produce a report that is unique to you.  This report gives you either your top 5 talent themes, or your full 34, depending upon which report you choose.  I recommend the full 34 report as it is much more powerful to know where all of the talent themes land for you.  

You might say, why is it called CliftonSTRENGTHS, when you said the report measures your TALENTS…what’s the difference?  A talent is a naturally recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behavior that CAN be productively applied.  A strength on the other hand, is the ability to CONSISTENTLY produce a positive outcome through near perfect performance in a specific task. 

In other words, a talent is about potential and strengths are about actualization.  The assessment can’t measure your ability to consistently produce a positive outcome, but it can measure your naturally recurring patterns of thought and behavior.  It is up to you to spend time learning and practicing your talents for them to become strengths.  

For example, I have a talent in communication.  When I was working as an attorney and writing every day, writing came as naturally as breathing.  But here I sit, 2 hours into writing this blog and I continue to work at it, because it’s not quite what I want.  I have not been practicing my communication through the written word in quite some time, so it is not a strength right now.  It is, however, still a talent, and if I keep writing these blogs for you, I will hone that talent and develop it back into a strength.

So, by now hopefully you’re thinking about how you learn more about your talents.  Well, there is a lot of information in the full 34 report about your top 10 talent themes.  To get even more information, you can go to the link sent from your assessment results to read more reports or watch videos on each talent theme.  Then you can work to utilize these talents intentionally on a daily basis to turn them into strengths.   If this interest you, be on the lookout for my next blog on what to do once you know your talents.

If you don’t understand or want a guide through this process, you can seek out a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach to help you. To find out about our Gallup Certified Strengths Coach and our services, please visit collaborativeleadershipteam.com or email info@coleadteam.com.