Now, Discover Your Strengths: The revolutionary Gallup program that shows you how to develop your unique talents and strengths

Great sale

As so many other reviewers have noted, the basic premise of this book is logical - identify and use your strengths, minimize time and effort applied to using and fixing your weak areas. What the title promises is to help you "discover" your strengths through the use of the online testing tool. After taking the test you receive a "report" with a rather simplistic summary description of each of your top five strengths (out of the 34 possible that they identify). As one reviewer noted, this information might be illuminating to a young person starting their career, but most self-aware adults who have been in the world of work for a while will probably find that the results either confirm what they already know about themselves or as others have noted, give every indication of being innacurate. My experience was that 4 of the top 5 essentially confirmed what I already knew and the fifth (Adaptability) was only a partial fit according to the authors' description of it. My real interest was in the whole picture of the full spectrum of my strengths and weaknesses. Do I only have 5 strengths and everything else is a weakness I should avoid? Do I have other strengths that can be used in conjunction with or support of these top 5? The website offers me the "opportunity" to learn about my strengths 6-34 but only if I plunk down $550 for a one-hour (that's $550 for ONE HOUR) long call with a "Strengths Performance Coach" for an "in-depth" consulting session. So by my math, that means approximately 2 minutes per additional item - hardly in-depth. IMHO this is an outrageous amount of money to pay on top of the price of the book simply to see the complete results of the test. Aside from that issue, the book provides superficial descriptions of the various strengths but no real content regarding what to do with the information regarding your top 5, how to map them to roles or do much of anything else with them. The only section I felt had any real practical value was about managing people with different strengths - useful if simplistic and it slightly fleshed out the profiles of the strengths previously mentioned. This would have at least some value as a means of gaining self knowledge if one could get the full results of the test (without paying an exorbitant sum for "consulting"). Ideally this would be included in the results by default but if not Gallup should at least offer this option and at a reasonable price. Without any additional information regarding where the other 29 characteristics fall in my profile, knowing the top 5 is like having a recipe with 34 ingredients, but only knowing the proper amounts for 5 of them and no direction on mixing and cooking time. This book feels more like a sales pitch for very expensive consulting services than anything from which the average person seeking self knowledge will benefit. If you are looking for some in-depth insight into your strengths and temperment, you'll get more bang for your buck by taking the Myers-Briggs, the Kiersey Temperament Sorter or working through What Color is Your Parachute.

This book provides some key insights, but is a bit thin in relevant content - especially for those looking to leverage strengths. Some of the books solid points: 1 - Focusing on strengths is a contratrian idea in many companies, and it is very important for people to know that focusing on their strong spots is up to them. 2 - The online survey is a very informative tool - perhaps the most useful diagnosis I've taken. After using it, you'll say, "Wow, that makes sense!" 3 - The book should open your mind as a manager to staffing, leadership and development opportunities. Weak spots - even if we're not supposed to focus on them :-): 1 - With the descriptions spread over so many strengths, the reader is left with a lot of fluff and unread material if they're focusing on self development. 2 - The book tends to be written as a group of large lists, with detail on each strength. A theory tying them together would be helpful for putting it into practice. The average manager is hard pressed to use such a thick catalogue. 3 - Fixating on 5 strengths seems a bit restrictive. Maybe some people have 3 or 4 or 6? It would be useful if the tool could give relative weights or scores on them as well. In summary, the book is best used as a survey for folks interested in a self assessment. More depth (a follow-up book?) is needed to put the ideas into general practice.

I read a lot of books but this is among the top of the list. After "Now Discover Your Strengths" and "First Break All The Rules", I'm convinced Marcus writes books that are truly applicable to real life. A bit of testimony here. I have over 9 years of work experience mainly in the large corporate world. My corporate experience was exhilarating. However, in 1 of the 9 years, I experienced a boss from hell in a smaller organisation. He was the anti-thesis of "Now Discover Your Strengths". He sought to find my weaknesses and made me focus on "fixing" them while leaving my strengths to wither and die. It was then I discovered "Now Discover Your Strengths". How timely - other than the Bible, God's own Word, this book also helped me find balance in focusing on my strengths and talents while getting round my weaknesses (and quietly ignoring the manager above for the entire year). Since then, I bought a copy of the book each for my family, lent a copy to a senior manager, who then promptly bought his own copy! What this book says is truly real and practical. After this, I read, "First Break All The Rules" and applied its principles with my staff reporting to me. I'm now reading "The One Thing You Need To Know". Anyway, after my hell year (yes, I made decision to stay for a year to gain the experience as Marketing Manager) in the small organisation, I've moved back into the large corporate world where I find myself freedom to grow in leaps and bounds. This book is in the league of Maltz's "Psycho Cybernetics", Collins & Porras' "Built To Last" and Collins' "Good to Great". Would give it 6 stars!

How many years did your parents, teachers, coaches, professors, managers say, this is a weakness and you need to work on it? Sure, practice makes perfects in some areas of life: driving, some sports, parenting, relationships, writing. However, there are just some areas for each of us that are weaknesses. Perhaps for you it's organization, time management, drawing, singing, math...and no amount of practice will get you to the next level. It simply isn't who you are. This book breaks through those thoughts and says, hey, it's okay that you aren't good at that - I am not good at this, but together, we cover each other's weaknesses and make a great team. Buckingham helps you find your strengths, so that you can focus on developing them and leaving your weaknesses to be bolstered by another's strengths. So what are my strengths, according to this book? Strategic: I'm able to sort through the clutter and find the best route. This is not something that can be taught - you are simply born with this strength. It allows me to cull and make selections until I've arrived at the chosen path. Then, I move forward. Connectedness: Things happen for a reason. I know in my soul that we are all connected. Because I realize that, I know that my actions affect others and I am considerate of them. I am a bridge builder for people of different cultures. Activator: I am impatient for action. Debate is fine, but action is what really matters. Once I've made a decision, I HAVE to act. I know I am judged by what I do, not what I say, and that pleases me. Arranger: I am a conductor. I look at all of the variables, I align and realign until I am sure that I have the best plan possible. I am extremely flexible and am able to maintain a multitude of data in my head at one time. Relator: I derive a great amount of pleasure from being surrounded by my close friends. I am comfortable with intimacy and deepen all of my relationships as much as possible. I want to understand my friends' feelings, goals, fears, and dreams.

I anxiously awaited the arrival of "Now, Discover Your Strengths," much like waiting for the return of my beloved pet at the end of a day, with great expectations. Irrespective of a general happiness about my life, I harbor a subtle element of discontent. It is a feeling that my life may not be fulfilled, that my career will not provide the greatest satisfaction for me, that I might never find the right one. It is a lack of conviction about my life's mission or purpose. I had always shunned self-help books, because I thought I knew best how to lead my life. But after years of discontent, I figured I could use some help to resolve some uncertainties in my life. Hence, I eagerly waited, and I was disappointed. Marcus Buckingham & Donald Clifton point out that the mission of organizations and educational institutions should be to enable people to discover their strengths and to perfect them. But in reality, people tend to identify their weaknesses rather than their strengths. People expend great energy to remove such weaknesses, so that they may become well rounded. The authors note that this is completely wrong. Instead, people should learn to focus on their strengths and maximize their potential by winnowing away the weaknesses. Authors call this finding ways "around" the weaknesses. Of the three factors that go into building strength: talent, skill and knowledge, talent is paramount and is enduring. The authors define talent as "any recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied." The cornerstone of the authors' argument is that talent is chief over skill and knowledge because of its biological origin. We are good at what we do because of certain synaptic pathways that we developed as adolescents. And because our neural network does not change until advanced age, our talents are enduring. If we do not align our talents with what we do, then we will grow weary (counter-productive). If we find the right talent to develop in our lives, then we will blossom and be fruitful (productive). For instance, the authors cite Warren Buffet, who said, "I get up every day and have a chance to do what I love to do, every day. If you want to learn anything from me, this is the best advice I can give you." This is plausible and sounds like an aphorism to abide by. But is it possible to find and hone one's strengths? I'm not certain; I found the authors' thesis a bit hard to swallow. For example, what should become of those who can never practice the trade that suits their strengths? For every example that the authors cite of people who discover and use their strengths to great effect, even in their old age, there surely exists many more who do not. Must that mean that the mass of mankind must lead unfulfilled lives? For all my skepticism, I would like to close with a great point that the authors make, that "talents, like intelligence, are value neutral." Hence, it is up to each one of us, whatever our talents may be, to put it to good use. But, then again, I knew that without reading the book, and so did you.

First off, if your a manager you should probably read First Break All The Rules. Any book written by Marcus Buckingham is well worth your time. Now Discover Your Strengths seems like it applies more towards personal development rather than managing people, which is why I bought it. However you can use the information to become a better manager. Can't really say there is anything I didn't like about this book. It provides tons of insight into YOU and answers almost every single question that pops into your head. The only question I had that they didn't answer is this. After taking the Strengths Finder 2.0 Test you get back your 5 main themes. My question is this. How close were your next 5 themes that didn't make it into your top 5...? This is one of those books that after you read it your going to re-read it and constantly go back to it again and again. I would recommend for Entrepreneurs and other people serious about finding out their strengths and weaknesses also take the Kolbe A Index assessment. It will provide more insight in helping you identify your strengths and weaknesseses. I took the Kolbe through Strategic Profits. Why..? After you take the Kolbe A Index your left with, so what do I do with this now. Rich provides an hour video and 30 page ebook to help with this. Kolbe also has some great audios to listen to as well.

Buyer beware. Have bought several of these books for gifts over the years. The book comes with a code to take StrengthsFinder online. Several of the books had a useable code, but the last two I purchased did not (1 the envelope with the code was missing, and the other had the code but it had already been used).

This is an obsolete edition and the code no longer works. Great book but a total waste of money given that the test is the main focus. Really unhappy that Amazon failed to state this upfront.

El libro es muy interesante, tanto por el contenido del mismo como por las puertas que te abre. A partir de su lectura he comenzado a trabajar con el centro haciendo cuestionarios a personas para reconocer sus fortalezas. Los cuestionarios están también en castellano así que puede hacerlos cualquiera.

Il libro in questione si basa sulla teoria che per migliorarsi nella vita occorre lavorare ed esaltare i punti di forza anzichè i punti di debolezza. E' molto facile da leggere (pur esserndo basato su concetti di psicologia) e permette l'accesso ad un test on-line che indentifica i 5 punti di forza del lettore.

Absolutely brilliant tool and well worth the investment. Helped me make sense of why I have done various things over the years. We all have at least 1 strength...find yours !

Fue muy interesante, enriquecedor. Me gusto mucho. Además de que el cuestionario que viene incluido fue muy acertado, valió la pena.