"Not Sure What You're Good At? You Might Need to Take the Gallup Strengths Assessment"

This article is Lu Canwei's 37th original piece.

Click the blue 【Lu Canwei】 above to follow; remember to add a ⭐️ star mark~

Many times, we find ourselves feeling lost. In the last night talk, a young lady expressed her confusion; she mentioned that she had been working in product management for many years but now felt a bit directionless. I told her that I had just transitioned to product management. Then we both looked at the young man born in the 2000s, and everyone had a look of envy.

It's quite interesting to think back to when I first started working, which should be over a decade ago. At that time, my boss looked at me with envy, and I was still a minor. Now, looking at these young people, I also feel that the young man has a bright future ahead.

When we feel lost and face choices, our usual approach is to chat and communicate with friends or consult with mentors. We often receive a lot of useful information and reflections, and then we need to execute, but then there’s no follow-up...

It's not that their advice and direction are wrong; rather, it's that you lack direction yourself. How to put it? Don’t we often receive feedback like, "Think about where your strengths lie and what you really want to do"? I have given similar advice to many young people, but it seems not very useful now.

It's not that this advice is useless, but rather that you haven't understood the other person's needs. You are just outputting your own thoughts. If I look at some of my own words now, my twenty-year-old self would definitely say, "What is this nonsense?"

Usually, after you say this, the other person might respond, "My strength is that I have worked in product, technology, operations, etc., for many years," but these are not your strengths; they are just your skills.

So what are strengths? Strengths are those immeasurable values, such as strong communication skills, excellent interpersonal relationship management, and effective team management. These aspects are unrelated to your skills, but they are your strengths.

Gallup Strengths Assessment

Gallup Strengths was invented by Don Clifton, so it is also called Clifton Strengths. After returning from World War II, Clifton felt he had experienced too much war and hoped to do something more meaningful for humanity for the rest of his life, which led him to study human development.

He began his research work at the library of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, but he found that all the psychology books discussed people's mistakes, and there wasn't a single book that explained what was right for people.

Later, he created several pathways to help people fully realize their unlimited potential and understand what kind of person they could become. By 2020, over 24 million people had completed the Gallup Strengths assessment. Through this assessment, they discovered their talents and areas where they excel. In 2003, he was honored as the "Father of Strengths Psychology" by the American Psychological Association.

The assessment consists of 177 questions to help you understand your strengths. Of course, while the assessment is important, you still need to unleash your maximum potential.

Clifton Strengths categorizes strengths into four domains:

Each dimension has different sub-themes, which I won't elaborate on here, totaling 34 themes. Typically, we need to focus on our top five strengths, which are our most prominent advantages and unique talents. Then we should pay attention to strengths ranked 6-10 so that we can become the best version of ourselves. By doing more of what we excel at, we will be more dedicated, energetic, and invigorated.

For the remaining strengths, we need to delve into the middle section and manage the bottom strengths well. We should identify our potential weaknesses; this doesn't mean you need to overcome these weaknesses, but you can strengthen them appropriately. Of course, the best way is to seek collaboration.

However, the strengths here are not what we typically think of as strengths; extremes can lead to counterproductive outcomes, so we need to consider the existence of blind spots.

For example, one of my strengths is collecting information; I read and absorb a lot, almost acquiring new information every day. But I never store it, so I basically forget what I've read. Unlimited input actually burdens me too much, making me feel like I've read a lot but don't really understand it. So now I’ve built a knowledge database using Notion and regularly review it.

Additionally, I tend to give others too much information, which can lead to them being unable to absorb or understand my points. Therefore, I need to prepare and select the most meaningful content before sharing to avoid overwhelming them.

And indeed, the bottom strength aligns with my own judgment, which is the theme of communication.

Regarding how many talent themes there are, send "Gallup Strengths" to get all talent themes and my top five strengths themes from the assessment.

Recommendations:

How to make the right choices, you need to know these two pieces of information.

The four stages of cognition, which stage are you in?

Did you know? Instant decision-making can be trained.

A little motivational boost.

Why do I still feel tired even after sleeping a full 8 hours?

Breaking the 5000-person limit? Let’s talk about WeChat 8.0.

Scan to follow 【Lu Canwei】, and send "Self-Media Materials" in the background to receive two free benefits:

1. A self-media tool kit (valued at 1999 yuan).

2. An electronic version of the "2020 Wealth Calendar," containing 365 money-making tips.

Appreciation has been canceled; "Looking" is the strongest support ↘