Gallup's Clifton StrengthsFinder

I recently had the good fortune to take Gallup's Clifton StrengthsFinder questionnaire over the web. For those who don't know, the CSF looks at the presence of 34 talents in an individual.

Gallup believes that to make these talents into strengths they must be developed and refined with acquired skills and knowledge. Talents are therefore defined as recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied and naturally exist in an individual.

So how can organizations use such a tool?

After an individual has completed the assessment, a group of developmental suggestions is customized to the individual’s top five themes — called his or her Signature Themes — and his or her role.

Gallup believes that to fully realise one's potential organizations must leverage these themes and rather not focus on "filling the gaps" that are euphemistically called 'development needs' but everybody knows are 'weaknesses'.

Good managers according to Gallup do one thing really well...they focus on the strengths of that employee. For that they have to have an insight into their employees. Read this book to know more about their research.

Are you a good manager? Do you know what your subordinates are good at, individually? And are they in roles that correctly utilize their talents to make them into strengths?