Strengths Finder: Part II

So I finished skimming the Strengths Finder book. The premise of the book is that we spend too much time focusing on our weaknesses and not enough time focusing on our strengths. Of course, at some minimal level, people need to focus on weaknesses. But after that, it’s more important to happiness and success to focus on our strengths. This resonates with me, because after doing banking where I felt like a fish out of water, I want to find something where I feel like I am thriving, where things come a bit more naturally to me because I’m good at it and it’s more fun to me.

Most of the book, then, goes into an explanation of each of the 34 strengths and providing some next steps. The book is careful about not being overly-prescriptive (Since this is your strength, you should pursue this career.) The book seems to focus on steps to address your strengths either in your job or outside your job. However, there are some action items that say stuff like “seek roles that do x, or consider seeking x types of organizations”. Since I’m in job seeking and career changing mode, I’ve focused on those actions for now. Again, don’t think it’s wise to immediately conclude “since this my strength, I should pursue this job”. However, I think there’s benefit to seeing if there are some broad themes to note and consider as I move forward. Also, some of the prescriptions do clash with one another, so maybe I can put less weight on those, or consider it in the context of all the others.

Here’s a recap of my test results:
Belief (95%), Inclusiveness (90%), Focus (85%), Input (80%), Learner (80%), Relator (80%)
Positivity (45%), Maximizer (45%), Competition (30%), Woo (25%)

I want to focus on both my high scores and low scores, so to learn some themes of maybe types of positions and organizations I should seek as well as avoid. Also, there is some element of “hey, wait a minute, all of these strengths could apply to everyone. Give me back my money!” So, it’s good to see those for where they are.

So, here’s a recap of some of the action items of my strengths focused exclusively on types of roles and organizations. My comments are in parentheses and italics:

STRENGTHS: (HIGHEST SCORES)

Belief: Seek roles that fit your values. Think about joining organizations that define their purpose by the contribution they make to society. (I partly decided to go to my business school b/c their mission to “educate leaders for business and society” resonated with me; this fits with an earlier blog post about my desire to do something that has a slightly more tangible impact on others)
Belief: Set aside time to ensure that you are balancing your work demands and your personal life. Your devotion to your career should not come at the expense of your strong commitment to family. (Part of why I disliked banking was because I had no time during the week to spend with family and friends. Ideally, I’d want more work-life balance, unless it was something I was super-passionate about.)

Includer: Look for opportunities to bring together people of diverse cultures and backgrounds. You can be a leader in this area. (Certainly valid, but not sure if this is a career objective. I enjoy caring for people who feel excluded.)
Includer: Choose roles in which you are continuously working and interacting with people. You will enjoy the challenge of making everyone feel important. (This conflicts with focus strength below.)
From bootleg website: Seek to work on things aimed at the common man; things for society's elite upsets you. (I think this resonates with me the most. I would feel dissatisfied working in private banking)

Focus: Seek roles in which you can function independently. With your dominant Focus talents, you will be able to stay on track with little supervision. (Yes, I like working alone, unless working with others means divvying up the tasks and working alone.)
Focus: You function well when you can concentrate on a few well-defined initiatives and demands. (Again, maybe why banking was not good b/c I was getting numerous tasks simultaneously from numerous senior bankers.)

Input: Look for jobs in which you are charged with acquiring new information each day, such as teaching, research, or journalism. (Interesting b/c I have uncles and aunts who are: school teachers, professors, and journalists – maybe this is where the Chung family thrives?)
Input: You might naturally be an exceptional repository of facts, data, and ideas. Don’t be afraid to position yourself as an expert in your field. (I am arguably a current expert on Jermey Lin)
From bootleg website: Seek opportunities to share your findings with others - speaking, blogging, videos, and articles. (I found this interesting b/c I’ve always loved blogging and always loved sharing information with others. I’ve talked several times in the past about how one of the themes of my life is “information proliferation.” This ties in with my includer strength about helping the common man.)

Learner: Seek roles that require some form of technical competence. You will enjoy the process of acquiring and maintaining this expertise.
Learner: Because you are not threatened by unfamiliar information, you might excel in a consulting role (either internal or external) in which you are paid to go into new situations and pick up new competencies or languages quickly. (I was a consultant in my prior role.)

Relator: Find a workplace in which friendships are encouraged. You will not do well in an overly formal organization. In job interviews, ask about work styles and company culture. (I think I’ve only ever worked in formal organizations, but probably enjoyed working on small consulting teams the most.)

And, here’s a recap of some of the action items of my lowest scores focused exclusively on types of roles and organizations (for context):

WEAKNESSES (LOWEST SCORES)

Woo (Winning over others): Choose a job in which you can interact with many people over the course of a day. (Probably not good for me, since I’m an introvert and meeting many people is draining.)

Competition: Select work environments in which you can measure your achievements. You might not be able to discover how good you can be without competing. (Aside: I think I’m the rare, strange person who actually works harder and performs better when there is no skin in the game. Some people enjoy putting a friendly wager and that motivates them to play harder. A friendly wager makes me dislike the competition – I enjoy competing for the sake itself. Also, the betting clashes with my desire to see a more just and equitable world. If I make more money than you, then why would I want to take money from you if I win this meaningless chess match? Or if you make more money than me, then why would I want to give money to you just because you’re faster than me at some meaningless race? This is like the exact opposite of Robin Hood – taking from the poor and giving to the rich!)

Maximizer: Seek roles in which you are helping people succeed. In coaching, managing, mentoring, or teaching, your focus on strengths will prove particularly beneficial to others. Because most people find it difficult to describe what they do best, start my arming them with vivid descriptions. (Needless to say, I’d probably be a bad career coach, since it’d be the blind leading the blind. Aside: For those of you who have read “The Paradox of Choice: Why Less is More”, I’m definitely a satisficer and not a maximizer. I like making a quick decision that satisfies my goals and move on with my life. I don’t like spending extra time trying to maximize my happiness – which could turn into a paralyzing endeavor.)

Positivity: You will probably excel in any role in which you are paid to highlight the positive. A teaching role, a sales role, an entrepreneurial role, or a leadership role will make the most of your ability to make things dramatic. (Yep, I’m a melancholy guy as default.)

This has been an interesting exercise. I think I still need to continue to think through these results over the next few days / weeks. But, my next step is to read through another book that was recommended by a family member: The Element by Ken Robinson. The tagline is “How finding your passion changes everything.” I think this book is more mini-biographies of individuals – less prescriptive, but hopefully enlightening and inspiring. Will read and blog on this book over the next few days.