Life Assessment

One of my classes this semester is on personality and organizational management. This week we discussed different personality traits that influence managing and working with people. Part of our discussion included the results from our personal assessment of our personality taken on the website https://strengths.gallup.com from the book Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath. The principles in this book and the method of the assessment are based on the founder of Strength-Based Psychology, Donald Clifton, Ph.D. Clifton’s test assesses normal personality from the perspective of Positive Psychology, specifically measuring the presence of talents in 34 general areas referred to as “themes.” Talents were described in the book as “the ways in which we naturally think, feel, and behave as unique individuals,” and these talents serve as the foundation for our strengths development. The test presents 180 questions like “I read instructions carefully” versus “I like to jump right into things” and you are given a scale ranging from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree. You are given 20 seconds to respond honestly to each question and at the end following the assessment, you are given your top five themes or most dominant traits that help discover your greatest talents.

I hope I haven’t completely bored you. I promise, this blog will get more interesting…

My top 5 themes are: Individualization, Futuristic, Competition, Learner and Significance. So what the hell does this all mean? It’s actually spooky how spot on this assessment is.

Individualization

In terms of individualization, I am intrigued with the unique qualities of each person. I have a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively. I am a person who is driven by my talents and offer guidance to friends who seek my assistance. I derive much joy from helping people in need. I anticipate needs of my supervisors and am often considered caring and kind.

Futuristic

Futuristic means I am inspired by the future and what could be. I also try to inspire others with my visions of the future. I intentionally take steps to be the mastermind of my own future and refuse to leave my destiny to chance, resisting placing my future in someone else’s hands. I trust my own intelligence and imagination when setting a direction for my life. I am driven by my talents and gain satisfaction from envisioning what the world will be like in the future. I channel my energy toward what I can accomplish in the future and strive to transform dreams into reality.

Competition

With the competition trait I measure my progress against the performance of others. I often strive to win first place and revel in contests. By nature, sometimes I am willing to take a chance and venture into unknown territory when it may make a difference between capturing first place or finishing in second or third. I work hard to reach specific personal and professional goals, which are often earning a pay raise, winning a promotion, receiving a degree, acquiring something I value, completing a program, etc. Challenges related to status motivate me more than others and I can intimidate others by comparing my performance to theirs. My drive to succeed and be the best can make people edgy. Adversely, I often pause to figure out what I do well in order to test my abilities in areas where I am strong. I often do things I know I have natural talent for to ensure being number one.

Learner

As a learner I have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites me. I devote myself to things that intrigue me and frequently work without much rest as a result. I have a need to explain why things happen a certain way and endorse the importance of acquiring additional knowledge and gaining new skills. I regard education as an ongoing activity. To a certain degree, thoughts come alive when questions are posed and answers are proposed. I have a great time thinking out loud and listening to intelligent people express themselves. I frequently examine the factors leading up to an event and discover the reasons why things happened as they did.

Significance

The trait of significance means that I want to be very important in the eyes of others. I am independent and want to be recognized. I gravitate towards people whose work ethic is rock solid. I like to associate with individuals who are driven to excel and highly productive. I feel uneasy or anxious about what might happen tomorrow, next week, next month or next year. Sometimes these concerns prompt me to anticipate potential pitfalls, which sometimes works to my advantage. I like to think and plan before moving into action and prefer to be in charge of things that directly affect me. I yearn to know as much as I can about people and the more I understand individuals, the easier it is to govern them or what happens in my life. I view my job and studies as a key part of my identity.

 

So why the hell am I writing a blog about this?

Because I found this to be such an important exercise for not only my professional performance, but for my personal life as well. I think we all should pause and think about what our true talents are and what personality traits define us. We develop our traits at a very young age and hone our talents over time as we gain experience. Having this assessment really confirmed some things I already knew about myself as well as gave me new knowledge of aspects of who I am that foster strong talents.

Someone I know is struggling to get a job. He has been unemployed for a while, trying to build something on his own, not being successful with it. He has a solid education, is well-read, has a decent work history, yet he cannot seem to pin down a good career and progress in a forward momentum. This assessment made me think of him. Why is he unable to get a good job that gives him some satisfaction? Why is he stagnant? We often think of ourselves in terms of what we have done, not what we are good at and can do in the future. This guy, like so many others, focuses in on what he would like to do, which may not necessarily be what he should do or is good at doing. And saying that you are good at everything or have so many things you could do that it is hard to choose is not an acceptable answer in my book. Stop. Assess yourself. Breathe. Relax. Formulate a list of your top traits. Find where your talents lay and base your career path on that. Do what you are good at, not struggle to do that which you are mediocre. This goes for everything in your life. For him, he is not working because he is not working on himself. He is not really figuring out why he is in his specific place in life. He isn’t working on being a better person or communication. He isn’t working on past issues to build a stronger, healthier future. He is focused on finding that one perfect thing, when quite frankly that doesn’t exist. There is no perfection. There is a right job, a right partner, a right choice, a good life. That’s it. And it is harnessing the understanding of our true talents that enables us to obtain those things.

This assessment made me think of another; someone very dear to me. His strength is communication. He is independent. He is an idea guy. He is great with people and loves to talk and interact. He is also a person with the significance and futuristic traits. He thinks constantly and lives to help others. He is in a perfect job as an administrator, working with people and helping them at various stages of their life. He too works in the Deathcare Industry as a Temple Administrator and gets to work with families in the congregational setting, but as well during the final stages of their lives. He is passionate about his work and is damn good at it. He is someone I can honestly say has stopped to analyze his strengths and talents and has moved in a career path based on what he is good at to best serve the community.

For me, this assessment was spot on. I really am all of those things and really want to be the best in every part of my life. I want to be a good partner, lover, friend, family member, daughter, mother one day, teacher, manager, employee, colleague. I am inspired by this assessment to grow as an individual and take time to admit my flaws, accept my place, and grow as an individual with this new understanding of myself.