Focus on improving your weaknesses to be a more well rounded person. There are many people like myself, that heard this statement for years. Or if you are not good at something then you should work extra hard to make it not a weakness. But it is impossible to have no weaknesses. I came across a podcast episode recently that I wish I heard while still in school. What if you spend your time focusing on your strengths rather than your weaknesses? How far can you go? This focuses your efforts on your strengths and surrounding yourself with others that not only compliment your strengths but help to fill in the gaps. But how do you identify your strengths and which things should you put your efforts towards? That is where this podcast episode comes in.
The podcast episode I am speaking of is, “How to use Strengthsfinder to Find Your Place in Architecture” with Erin Poppe on the EntreArchitect podcast. Erin studied journalism and public communication. She grew up with a father that was an Architect and was constantly in the studio surrounded by creative people. She currently works for Charrette Venture Group which is a company that works to help and invest in small to medium sized architecture firms. She is their Leadership and Strengths Expert.
The discussion was centered around knowing what are your strengths and then OWN IT! To find out your strengths, she uses CliftonStrengths StrengthFinder Assessment. You can take their assessment to find out your own top 5 strengths, and you have the option to find out your unique order of the full 34 traits. I decided I wanted to take their assessment, find out my top 5 strengths, and spend my time owning them! I bought the StrengthsFinder 2.0 from Gallup book to get started. If gives a small introduction and then an access code (for ONE use) to go online and take the assessment. The assessment takes about 40 minutes to go through all the questions. Each question you only get 20 seconds to answer, the reason being is your initial instinct speaks more to who you truly are.
After completing the assessment I read through the full descriptions of each of my strengths and they describe me perfectly. Even though I knew it was correct, sometimes it takes seeing the full description written out to fully notice some of your strengths. Another component of the podcast Erin speaks about if that the descriptions are also based on your interpretation. She helps people to read their strengths based on how they directly interpret them.
More about the Traits!
There are 4 themes with 8-9 traits with each theme. These themes are: Strategic Thinking, Relationship Building, Influencing, and Executing. Executing themes help you make things happen. Influencing themes help you take charge, speak up and make sure others are heard. Relationship Building themes help you build strong relationships that hold a team together. Strategic Thinking themes help you absorb and analyze information that informs better decisions. (Source: https://strengthsfinder.com )
Below are my top 5 strengths and their small descriptions from the assessment report. (Note that if you buy the assessment for just the top 5 strengths but then decide you want to know where all 34 traits fall for you. You can upgrade AFTER you take the assessment to have the full scope without having to retake the assessment.)
- STRATEGIC – strategic thinking – People exceptionally talented in the strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.
- INDIVIDUALIZATION – relationship building – People exceptionally talented in the individualization theme are integrated with the unique qualities of each person. They have a gift for figuring out how different people can work together productively.
- ACHIEVER – executing – People exceptionally talented in the Achiever theme work hard and possess a great deal of stamina. They take immense satisfaction in being busy and productive.
- LEARNER – strategic thinking – People exceptionally talented in the learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. The process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.
- ARRANGER – executing – People exceptionally talented in the Arranger theme can organize, but they also have a flexibility that complements this ability. They like to determine how all of the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity.
Taking the assessment and physically seeing my personal top 5 talents with the full description was a way for me to put words to my natural tendencies and some of the things I find part of my core values. The full description goes through the shared theme description (as described in my above 5 talents), and your personalized strengths insights which goes over what makes you stand out. After taking the assessment I have notice my #1 theme daily and the rest of the top 5 themes multiple times on a weekly basis. Now with this tool I can use the knowledge to focus my time on my strengths and at the same time it brings me fulfillment in my career and daily life.
Your talents CAN change over time or after major life changes, however typically it would be your #4 and #5 talent that may change after major events. (Job change for example)
Whereas your #1 talent generally doesn’t change over time. Your #1 talent typically creeps into your life every day or most things you try to do. Which my number one, Strategic really speaks to how I am as a leader of a project, educating/helping clients, and focusing on my full design team. Below is the more in depth section of my personalized insights regarding my #1 trait the Strategic talent,
“Because of your strengths, you work diligently to invent alternative courses of action. You notice new as well as unusual configurations in facts, evidence, or data. Others, however, can see only separate, unrelated bits of information. You are fascinated by problems that puzzle, confound, or frustrate most people. By nature, you select the right combination of words to convey your ideas or feelings. In the middle of discussions, your vocabulary provides you with precise phrases and terminology. You probably express yourself with ease and grace. Chances are good that you are innovative, inventive, original, and resourceful. Your mind allows you to venture beyond the commonplace, the familiar, or the obvious. You entertain ideas about the best ways to reach a goal, increase productivity, or solve a problem. First, you think of alternatives. Then you choose the best option. It’s very likely that you can reconfigure factual information or data in ways that reveal trends, raise issues, identify opportunities, or offer solutions. You bring an added dimension to discussions. You make sense out of seemingly unrelated information. You are likely to generate multiple action plans before you choose the best one. Instinctively, you appreciate straightforward, plainspoken, and concise conversations. Often you have these exchanges with people who are as comfortable speaking about their ideas as you are.” (This is from my personal strengths insight guide provided to me after taking the assessment)
I highly recommend the assessment! It is a great way to help you describe you own strengths to others, and/or if you are struggling to find where you pull your drive and fulfillment from it can be a way to help your define those drivers. Or it can simply a fun assessment to get you to start focusing your time on your strengths!
Want to learn more? See the White Pages by CVG. Download the “Using Gallup’s StrengthsFinder to improve your firm” to learn more about the background and technical information about the assessment.
Written by Katelyn Rossier