Getting to Know Clifton Strengths' Guiding Principles
Themes are neutral
Gallup’s research has identified 34 themes of talent displayed by people, which influences the way we think, feel, and behave. Taking the Clifton Strengths assessment provides you with the opportunity to understand your top 5 out of 34. In reality, scanning through all 34 themes may conjure up memories in which you can recall displaying all of them at some point. The importance of the assessment is that it provides you with those themes of talent that most frequently (almost daily, if not daily) guide your thoughts, feelings, and behavior. If you’re anything like me, there might be moments when you think the grass is greener on the bottom half of your full 34 themes.
Envy is one of the seven deadliest sins, and for good reason. Like a cancer, it can almost feel nonexistent with the exception of jealous glances or subtle moments of wanting. Like cancer, however, it will grow inside you creating a demeanor of discontentment, damaging your perspective of everything around you. "Theme envy" can be equally disastrous. Like the constant gawking at someone else’s nicer house, it blinds you from the blessing your current home provides. The ironic part is it leads to the opposite of what positive psychology is all about: focusing on what is right with people, not on what they lack.
As a Strengths Coach my primary objective with the Clifton Strengths tool is that the client would become aware of the presence of their top themes, but also own them. Envy is not just a deadly sin from a human standpoint, but it’s a strength killer as well. Recognize that there is a 1 in 33 million chance that another person will have a top 5 list in the same order as you. If you spend your time wishing you held another’s top strengths, who else would impact the world with your unique way of thinking, feeling, and behaving?
The bottom line is that there is no one theme greater than another. Themes of talent, even when developed into a strength, do not make the person great. It is the person, when they develop their top 5 themes into strengths, that results in a great impact in their world.
Do you want to know how you are designed to make your unique impact in the world? Contact Gallup’s Certified Strengths Coach, Dan Vincent, at dan@kaleocoaching.com to get your Clifton Strengths Assessment code. Kaleo Coaching is currently offering a great price of $20 for the code, plus a coaching session with Dan to learn how to interpret the results, and make a plan on how to aim them towards your goals.
