Review of Tom Rath’s “StrengthFinder”

Oh what an exhausting year 2007 has been for me. A mentally draining and highly unsatisfying year in my career. What to do to turn things around?

My best productivity shows in the form of books I read cover to cover, and the thousands of miles I fly each month to expand my social network. I have temporarily lost the sense of purpose and direction in my career. While we do not know what the future holds, I say with absolute conviction that is how I feel at present time.

Some people, it seems to me from my countless observations this year, just don’t seem to mind a menial career and myriad of systems and procedures which limit their advancements and hence, any possible satisfaction from their work. I only wish I could be in the shoes of those happy people who have long since stopped caring about having a career or pursuing a path that will serve their talents and strengths well. It is a curse and a blessing that I still have a great deal of care about mine. How about you?

After reading the first book in this topic, “Now, Discover Your Strengths“, I was rejuvenated. I learned the 5 areas of my greatest potential strengths. I felt them to be quite accurate. Tom Rath wrote the sequel, “StrengthFinder 2.0“ soon after the publication of Buckingham and Clifton’s book and I wanted to read this book for two reasons:

• First I wanted a free pass to Strengthfinder 2.0 assessment to check my results against my initial score. Despite the accuracy of my 5 themes, I wanted to challenge the fool-proofness of the test.
• Second, I wanted to delve more deeply into practical applications of my strengths.

Funny enough, things hardly go as planned. So curiosity got the best of me and I made my husband take the test instead. What would it be like to know your partner’s strengths? Would that help or challenge the relationship? Would opposite strengths be likely to weaken or strengthen the relationship? Would similar partners be compatible or boring? Would knowing any of this serve me or my relationship well?

Reading is the best pastime for an active mind! If you like to see the other book reviews, check the index of In Print.

While the Strengthfinder 2.0 did not impact my marriage one way or another, to my knowledge (!), it did prove the accuracy and flawless scoring of the assessment. My husband’s strengths came out quite accurately. The test knew his strengths to a T! The best part about taking these types of tests is the articulation of a strength of which we are already aware but have never fully identified. I continue to be impressed by this system.

Rath’s book is well-aligned to the first book and can be read in about an hour. The main difference is the section describing the same 34 themes. Tom does a more thorough job of attacking this:

1. He outlines main characteristic attributes associated with the strength
2. He tells us how it “sounds”
3. He lists Ideas for Action
4. He tells us what it’s like to have and work with this strength

While the reading is the easy part, and the assessment the fun journey to discovery of your strengths, it is knowing what to do about this knowledge after you acquire it, which will then set the best course for your life. In either case, it is imperative to know what our strengths are and how best to put them to use.

Go on then, discover your strengths!