From the StrengthsFinder Assessment, I have learned that my top five strengths include the following:
Input: The love for the collection and archiving of information.
Positivity: Enthusiasm that is contagious (getting people excited about things).
Activator: Turning thoughts/ideas into actions.
Ideation: Fascinated by ideas.
Woo: Love meeting and winning over new people.
The results of the assessment never came as a surprise to me. I am always a social person. As a result, I tend to love meeting new people and socializing with them. One reason I like being social is that, through socialization, I meet friends, generate new ideas (by which I get fascinated), and, more importantly, I get to find a platform on which I can turn my ideas into actions, majorly through working with other people. In short, the results did not surprise me as it perfectly reflected the kind of person I am.
I am used to working in groups. However, one particular time that my strengths were evident was when I headed a research group. The group was tasked with collecting consumer-related data for a specific organization. During this experience, most of the five strengths became evident. I was tasked with the leadership role, which came along with the duties to motivate and guide my team members. As a social person, it was not a difficult task since I was already used to meeting new people. In motivating them, I had to collect ideas. Using the ideas, I won most of the team members’ hearts, and thus I encouraged each one of us to work hard, and eventually, we met the set targets.
One thing that makes it easy for me to work in a group is the fact that I am social and so I do not encounter difficulties working along and through people, even those with which I am unfamiliar. Also, ideas fascinate me; therefore, even in a situation where some of my group members are uncooperative, I always get ideas on how to bring them on board. However, sometimes, the strengths make it difficult for me to work in a group. By nature, I tend to desire to win people over; however, in most cases, this is not always easy. As a result, I find myself wasting a lot of time.
Positivity, ideation, and activator are some of the strengths I look for in my team members. These strengths complement mine. I love getting ideas, turning them into action, and, more importantly, I desire positivity. I find working with individuals possessing these strengths much easier and more enjoyable. It is also noteworthy that the assessment has given me ideas about the kind of strengths I should look for when choosing team members. While working in a diverse group would be advantageous, I believe working with individuals who are like-minds would be more beneficial in terms of moving forward together and saving on time.
The list, as provided by the Strengths Insight + Action Planning document, offers ideas that would be beneficial to me. Almost all the presented ideas are helpful to me as they majorly focus on making me better. Thus, I will incorporate them into my daily life by assessing every situation before I get to find one particular/ appropriate strategy or solution to approach it. More importantly, as the ideas suggest, I will approach every situation with an open mind. Overall, the process was of much help to me. I realized my areas of strength and also learned of my weakness on which I plan to improve.