02/10/2009
Author: Gordon Douglas
What is StrengthsFinder 2.0 and what are the college leaders talking about?
Our leadership team decided to use the StrengthsFinder 2.0 to find out what strengths we have so that we can build better teams in the C&C ministry. I became excited by the potential to use this assessment tool to not only build teams but to help young adults learn about and start using their strengths more intentionally. So we all took the online test and then got together to talk about the 34 strengths that people could have. Each person is given a report on their top five. As an example, here are my test results with the strength definition:
GORDON DOUGLAS - Your Top 5 Themes:
Positivity - People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.
Learner - People who are especially talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to
continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.
Maximizer - People who are especially talented in the Maximizer theme focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence. They seek to transform something strong into something superb.
Context - People who are especially talented in the Context theme enjoy thinking about the past. They
understand the present by researching its history.
Intellection - People who are especially talented in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.
Now obviously there is more to the report than the basic definition there are extended descriptions on how this strength might manifest itself. Moreover there are action points to help one see how to begin applying it to life.
We are just beginning this journey of discovery about our strengths. Building teams, coaching young adults and training leaders are the goals we have for our C&C ministry. This tool may not give us everything we need to succeed but it certainly gives us a way to talk about how we can do it better.
