So you’ve taken your assessment. Now what?

*Haley and JW discussing their Strengths*

Gallup’s CliftonStrengths is an online assessment that identifies one’s areas of greatest potential. It is based on Don Clifton and his team’s research, which included 20,000 interviews with high-performing leaders and over 25 years of studying human talents and strengths. Users who take the assessment will receive their talents in rank order and can use them for personal and professional development.

Why use Gallup’s CliftonStrengths Assessment?

The test stands out amongst other assessment tools. Gallup’s CliftonStrengths has accolades for its credibility, its depth of research, and for its accuracy. Most notably, it presents one’s traits, the intrinsic and natural attributes of one’s being, rather than representing the state in which they took the assessment.(1) Leaders use the assessment as a resource for growth—both professionally and personally, as well as for developing their teams.

Teams Benefit:

It’s a powerful tool - a 2022 Gallup study found that participants in a strengths-based management development program improved their employee engagement by up to 22% more than nonparticipants. That’s not all, though, because teams led by the participants experienced up to 28% less employee turnover, and participants themselves had a nearly 30% higher likelihood of performance improvements compared to their peers.(2)

Employers Benefit:

Not only do teams benefit from higher engagement and reduced turnover, but employers looking to integrate CliftonStrengths can look forward to these benefits:

Better inclusion: Researchers found that teams who completed the CliftonStrengths assessment had inclusion scores that were 30% higher than before. Not only that, but an additional study revealed an interesting trend in inclusion scores: teams with at least a third of their members having completed the CliftonStrengths assessment had significantly higher inclusion scores than those with less than 30% participation. This suggests that even individuals who do not take the assessment themselves can benefit from having a substantial number of colleagues who are developing their strengths.(3)
Higher levels of self-efficacy: researchers performing a strengths intervention found it positively impacted self-efficacy and notably was particularly beneficial for those who originally had low levels of self-efficacy.(4)
Work-wide positive emotions: this research study suggests that a strengths-based work environment leads employees to experience more positive emotions, which in turn makes them more engaged in their work.(5)

Leaders Benefit:

Gallup’s State of the American Manager found that 70% of employee engagement can be attributed to their managers. But good managers are rare; Gallup estimates that only one in ten people have the talent to be a high-performing manager. Because employee involvement is so heavily influenced by their leader but quality leadership is so uncommon, only 30% of workers in the United States are engaged.(6) A 2008 study supported this and revealed a painful truth: workers would rather spend their time cleaning their house than with their boss. Utilizing positive, strengths-based philosophies will make leaders stand out and be seen as the managers of choice.(7)

So you’ve taken your assessment. Now what?

Don’t Just Skim the Report - Immerse Yourself

After completing the assessment, Gallup will provide you with a ranked order of your talents. Because of the name “CliftonStrengths” it’s easy to assume that these themes are your strengths - but they aren’t, at least not yet. More on that in the next section. Gallup is meticulous about their language and vocabulary, including their specific definition of “talent” and the descriptions of the 34 talent themes.

Gallup defines talents as: “areas in which an individual has the greatest potential for building strengths”(8) and "naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling or behavior".(9)

Unlike knowledge or skills, talents develop naturally over time. Talents are consistent. If a personality trait is situational or environment-dependent Gallup does not consider it a talent. For example, many people can show empathy during times of crisis or when others are in distress, but do not consistently demonstrate it in everyday life. For a quality to be considered a talent, it must be a persistent part of a person's character.(10)

The 34 talent themes also come with specific definitions. When you receive your report, make sure to read through Gallup’s descriptions of the talent. Don’t just read the name of the talent and assume you know what Gallup means. For example, one of your top talents could be “Input”. Without reading further, one could assume you have a natural ability in providing input - expressing your thoughts and sharing your opinions. However, Gallup defines the Input theme as receiving input:

“People exceptionally talented in the Input theme have a need to collect and archive. They may accumulate information, ideas, artifacts or even relationships. You are inquisitive. You collect things. You might collect information -- words, facts, books, and quotations -- or you might collect tangible objects such as butterflies, baseball cards, porcelain dolls, or sepia photographs…”(11)

Next, ask yourself these questions:

Now that you know your dominant themes, how have you effectively applied them to your life?
Where are areas of your life that you can apply your talents to that you haven’t already?
How do you misuse your talent themes?
Read the “watch out of blind spots” section of your report. Because you view life through the lens of your dominant themes, what perspectives have you not considered?
When do my strengths become weaknesses?
Are there negative aspects of your talents that hinder your success?

Real-world illustration of the potential downsides of a talent:

Our leader, JW Rayhons, is a Developer by nature. He has an exceptional talent for seeing potential in every person and a strong desire to cultivate it. This strength is highly valued by our team. However, every talent comes with blind spots. Developers can strongly believe in someone's potential without accurately assessing their actual capabilities. Because of this, JW has admitted to hiring people who weren’t the right fit, seeing their promising attributes over their credentials. Recognizing this “negative” aspect of his talent, JW now involves the entire team in hiring decisions. This way, each person brings their unique talent combination and perspective to every interview. His self-awareness has greatly benefited our team.

Investment: Develop Talents Into Strengths

Gallup’s CliftonStrengths defines your dominant talent themes as your greatest opportunity for success. If you do not take action, the opportunity will remain just that, because potential alone won't lead to success. You must develop your talents into strengths.

Pictured below is Gallup’s equation for strengths. It starts with talent - your innate way of thinking and behaving. Your breakthrough will come with the next step, which is investment. To invest in your talents is to accumulate more knowledge, refine them with new skills, and to attend training. This is where Joshua Development comes in.

At Joshua Development, we provide the resources and training to turn your leadership team’s talents into strengths. Our training programs are designed to build a strengths-based culture where each person can focus on what they do best to support those around them.

Our leadership facilitations are completely Gallup strengths-based. There’s power to Gallup’s method and we’ve seen it firsthand.

Apply Your Talents To Life: Both Work and Home

There are three key lessons you can learn from Gallup’s CliftonStrengths:

Your patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving do not start and stop at work. They are present in every area of your life.(13)
You can (and should) apply everything you learned in your report and in training to both your work and your personal life.
The more ways you incorporate your dominant themes into your daily life, the better. Whether you're at work or at home, find ways to use your talents every day. Your CliftonStrengths report will include suggestions of ways to apply these themes daily.

Your talents impact how you relate to others. Remember this when you’re speaking with coworkers, friends, and family. The behaviors that come naturally to you may be foreign to them, so be patient with other perspectives. Find ways to work with people whose strengths are different from your own.

Invest In Your Training

Now that you’ve seen Gallup's equation for strengths, it’s time to take the next step in the journey of developing your talents. We’d be honored to discuss your goals with you, here are some additional resources and actions you can take now:

View our Strengths-based facilitations →

Watch video testimonials →

Request a Strengths Assessment →

Book a complimentary call with us →

How To Get The Most Out of Your Gallup CliftonStrengths Results

So you’ve taken your assessment. Now what?

Why use Gallup’s CliftonStrengths Assessment?

Teams Benefit:

Employers Benefit:

Leaders Benefit:

Don’t Just Skim the Report - Immerse Yourself

Investment: Develop Talents Into Strengths

Apply Your Talents To Life: Both Work and Home

Invest In Your Training

Growth-Minded Research Resources

How To Get The Most Out of Your Gallup CliftonStrengths Results

So you’ve taken your assessment. Now what?

Why use Gallup’s CliftonStrengths Assessment?

Teams Benefit:

Employers Benefit:

Leaders Benefit:

Don’t Just Skim the Report - Immerse Yourself

Investment: Develop Talents Into Strengths

Apply Your Talents To Life: Both Work and Home

Invest In Your Training

The Future of the Workplace: Leading Generation Z

Leading a Hybrid Workplace: A Case for the Extreme Importance of Soft Skills

Growth-Minded Research Resources