Do You Know Your Own Strength?

When it comes to great performance, in other words, the path of least resistance is the path to excellence. So why do so many of us struggle? Enter the second misguided assumption about learning and growth. The idea that every person's greatest room for improvement is in the area of his greatest weakness, says Buckingham, sets us up for a life of "crushing frustration." He cites a Gallup poll that asked a cross-section of workers around the world, "Which do you think will help you to improve the most: knowing your strengths or knowing your weaknesses?" In each country polled, fewer than half the respondents believed that their strengths were the key to improvement. "We are a truly remedial world," says Buckingham.

In fact, he argues, our entire approach to psychology is "half-baked." The focus is on disease and failure. There are some 40,000 studies on depression on record with the American Psychology Association, and just 14 on joy. That bias translates to the workplace as an obsession with correcting weaknesses, filling gaps, and focusing on the laggards. Yet again, when it comes to success, it's much more important to develop your strengths than to overcome your weaknesses. "The most productive thing we can do in organizations is to help people understand where their dominant talents lie," says Buckingham.

Charged up by Buckingham's zeal, I was ready to take his Web-based test, which consists of 180 pairs of potential self-descriptors like "I read instructions carefully" and "I like to jump right into things." For each pair, you choose which pole best describes you and to what extent (on many you might fall right in the middle). The catch is, there's a 20-second time-out for each item -- which forces you to provide a top-of-mind response, rather than to overintellectualize each answer. Feeling rushed, I was about to call for a do-over when my results popped up on the screen. There they were: My top five strength themes detailed in black and white.

"Input -- you have a craving to know more. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity." Okay so far. "Strategic -- you create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, you can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues." I wouldn't usually call myself "strategic," but the pattern-recognition part sounds right. "Intellection -- you like to think. You like exercising the muscles of your brain, stretching them in multiple directions." Getting warmer. "Relator -- you enjoy close relationships with others and find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal." Okay, but I do pretty well flitting around a cocktail party too. "Empathy -- you can sense the emotions of those around you. Intuitively, you are able to see the world through their eyes and share their perspective." Now I'm beginning to feel understood.

And that's the beauty of the StrengthsFinder. It's not an attempt to provide a categorical definition or an oversimplified typology. The themes aren't labels, Buckingham is quick to point out, but robust language for describing a person's recurring patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior. Nor are your five themes the last word on your potential. They're more like a cheat sheet to begin a conversation -- with yourself, with your boss, with your mentor -- about your unique mental filter. There are no good or bad themes -- and you don't have to content yourself with just the five the computer turns up. The Gallup team mined millions of interviews with the most productive and engaged workers in the world to come up with 34 strength themes that best describe the most prevalent themes of human talent. Chances are, more than five will click with you.

The point, however, is not simply to feel understood. The ultimate goal, reminds Buckingham, is to improve performance. The expectation is that each person turns his unique talents, knowledge, and skills into powerful strengths, which are defined as consistent near-perfect performance in an activity -- any activity. A strength can be Tiger Woods's extraordinary long game; a star pharmaceutical salesperson's combination of patience, influence, and domain knowledge; or the best hotel housekeeper's ability to see a room from the guest's eyes. And the process of a "strong life," says Buckingham, is to take your understanding of your strength themes and sharpen the edges. "Be bold, be perceptive, keep investigating your strengths. The secret of success is to become more of who you already are."

Now, are you ready to discover your strengths?

Polly LaBarre (plabarre@fastcompany.com) is a Fast Company senior editor based in New York. Contact Marcus Buckingham by email (mbuckingham@gallup.com).