Now, Discover Your Strengths

Now, Discover Your Strengths - Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D.
This book challenges the common assumptions: 1. Each person can learn to be competent in almost anything. 2. Each person's greatest room for growth is in his or her areas of greatest weakness. Instead, it argues that: 1. Each person's talents are enduring and unique. 2. Each person's greatest room for growth is in the areas of his or her greatest strength. A strength is defined as a consistent, predictable part of one’s performance. We “reach excellence only by understanding and cultivating [our] strengths” (124). There is no need to be well-rounded: "That excellent performers must be well founded is one of the most pervasive myths we hope to dispel in this book. When we studied them, excellent performers were rarely well rounded. On the contrary, they were sharp" (26). We excel by maximizing our strengths, not fixing our weaknesses. This is not the same thing as “ignoring weaknesses.” We should capitalize on our strengths, and “manage around” our weaknesses in order to free up time to hone our strengths. The difference between good and great is the amount of effort we put into intentionally nurturing, honing, and refining our strengths: “the difference between someone whose performance is acceptable and someone whose performance is consistently near perfect is very slight” (131). Thus, "[n]o matter what your profession, the secret to consistent near perfect perfomance lies in these kinds of subtle refinements" (132). Building strengths is not about ego, but responsibility – the responsible use of our gift for the good of others. As the authors encourage, “you will be most successful when you craft your role to play to your signature talents most of the time" (167). The authors call us to be "consciously competent" and find work that provides opportunities to do what we do best every day.