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,...

Lately I've been getting requests for strengths programs on the topic of change. The conversation goes like this, "We've had so many changes lately, and more are coming—how do we deal with change according to our strengths?" And I say, "That's a great question, let's talk about it!"

Each of the 34 strengths deals with change in a different way. Some rush in, some hold back, some bring others along. The key to great change management is utilizing the strengths in a positive way.

By "34...

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...

Several of my friends are preparing to have babies. That made me wonder how people with different strengths might choose a baby name. We considered the same thing with Disney World, so we thought we’d do the same with baby names.

How would the 34 strengths choose a baby name? By "34 strengths," we’re referring to the 34 CliftonStrengths® developed by behavioral psychologist Donald Clifton.

Achiever®: You race to find a name so you can check off “Choose Baby...

Sometimes I get asked what happens in a strengths coaching session (or a strengths debrief as it’s also called). The short answer is it depends on what the client wants to get out of it. I don’t approach a session with my own agenda; as a coach, I want to follow the client’s agenda.

But if a client has never been to a coaching session, they may not know the possibilities. That’s when I like to offer options so the client can choose what will be most valuable. The...