In today’s uncertain times, strong leadership is more critical than ever. Dealing with factors like a changing workplace, fears and doubts of team members, unpredictable customer behavior, and financial concerns can impact teams negatively. But the strong leader was made for times like this.

Using the acronym S-T-R-O-N-G, let’s look at the four core needs of followers and the three things strong leaders do. If you’re a leader, consider how you will meet your follower’s...

In times of change and uncertainty like our world is facing, you have internal resources to help you succeed—your talents and strengths. They were made for times like this!

What I love about strengths is that they’re utterly practical. Your strengths are your best means for producing the outcomes you desire, and so the idea is this—identify your intended outcomes, then select the talents to get you there, then aim those talents toward your outcomes.

You’ll be even more...

A goal of the strengths journey is to turn your talents into strengths. While strengths hold great power, underdeveloped or overused talents may become limitations. And so a strength ends up becoming a shortfall. Here’s what I mean.

One of my top ten talent themes is communication. I can put thoughts into words, help ideas to be understood, and consider what will be valuable to the audience. When my communication theme is working this way, it’s very helpful.

However, when the same...

It’s a journey to grow your talents into strengths. Just because you find your talents doesn’t mean they’re that useful yet. You must develop them into strengths. This doesn’t happen automatically; it takes focus and effort.

For example, one of my talents is "being responsible"—I naturally take ownership of what has been entrusted to me, and I can be counted upon to deliver. Sounds great…but it comes with shortfalls:

• I can be really quick to say yes
• I can...

As an identical twin, I've come to appreciate the uniqueness that we all bring. My brother and I share the same DNA, but we're very different people. In fact, we don't share any of the same top five strengths. This got me thinking about the 34 strengths.

What unique gifts does each strength bring to our world? By "34 strengths," I'm referring to the 34 CliftonStrengths® of talent. Being aware of your talents, growing them into strengths, and aiming them toward your goals is a key to...

As I shared before, self-awareness is critical for success in life, work, and relationships, and there are plenty of great tools out there. If you commit to learn from just one tool, you will be farther along today than you were yesterday, and tomorrow you will be farther along than you were today. So, what tools do I use when I work with people?

The two tools I like best are CliftonStrengths® and the Enneagram—and I’m certified to use both. Rather than use them separately,...

Are the top areas of talent for women different than for men? How are the strengths of Millennials unique from other generations? How is Japan different than every other country? These are the fascinating questions answered by Gallup, which recently released the all-time results of its CliftonStrengths® talent assessment.

The report, which reveals the results of more than 21 Million assessments worldwide, provides an interesting look into the top most frequently occurring strengths by...

My friend recently took his family to Disney World®. Knowing his strengths, I got to thinking about how he "does" Disney, and how might someone else with different strengths do Disney differently? In this post, we consider how the 34 strengths might behave in the Magic Kingdom®.

By "34 strengths," we’re referring to the 34 CliftonStrengths® developed by behavioral psychologist Donald Clifton (Happy Birthday). Knowing your top strengths has great value for life and work, even...

I got to thinking how my strengths might affect the way I want to celebrate, and how folks with other strengths may celebrate theirs. We've already considered how the strengths may do Disney World® and choose a baby name. In this post, we wonder what they might do on their special day.

By "34 strengths," we're referring to the 34 CliftonStrengths® of talent. Being aware of your talents, growing them into strengths, and aiming them toward your goals is a key to success in life and...

It's Halloween time, so we got to thinking how our strengths might dress up for the holiday. We've already considered how the strengths may celebrate their birthday, do Disney World® and choose a baby name. In this post, we wonder how they may dress on Halloween.

By "34 strengths," we're referring to the 34 CliftonStrengths® of talent. Being aware of your talents, growing them into strengths, and aiming them toward your goals is a key to success in life and work.

Here are costume...