Book Review: Now, Discover Your Strengths

Book Review: Now, Discover Your Strengths

There seems to be no lack of the number of books written about personality traits- talents and how to more effectively manage personnel to the advantage of the organization. However- Marcus Bucking Contd...

There seems to be no lack of the number of books written about personality traits- talents and how to more effectively manage personnel to the advantage of the organization. However- Marcus Buckingham- coauthor of the book First- Break All the Rules- and Donald O. Clifton- Chair of the Gallup International Research & Education Center- now provide managers with a positive approach to help identify and utilize strengths of individuals to the benefit of the organization in their bestselling Now- Discover Your Strengths. The book maintains that this unique- positive approach of focusing on strengths is far more effective in achieving success than eliminating weaknesses- given that we all have inherent strengths and natural weaknesses no matter what positions we might have. For example- the book points out- it does not matter if you are Bill Gates or Tiger Woods. True- these are individuals with tremendous talents that have made them well known in their respective fields- but they also have weaknesses that play into the mix. It would seem our brains are programmed by nature from early childhood- no matter how good our nurture- to start being selective in a few key areas. It is as nature intended it to be. Without being selective- and allowing many of the billions of connections we are born with to lapse into disrepair- we would become dysfunctional with information overload. Therefore- it is understandable that with sufficient practice- while we might be able to learn different tasks well- we will never be great in these areas unless we have a natural innate talent for them.
Unfortunately- most of us do not have a good sense of our talents- let alone the ability to effectively use our strengths to our advantage. Rather- most of us spend our lives becoming all too aware of our weaknesses and spend our time trying to deal with our flaws- while neglecting our innate talents. However- most original and potentially most revealing- to address this problem- Now- Discover Your Strengths provides access to a web-based interactive questionnaire- developed by the Gallup Organization- that quickly identifies your top 5 (out of a total of 34) positive "personality themes"- such as: Achiever- Deliberative- Harmony- Empathy and so forth that you might naturally posses. The book goes on to elaborate how each of the 34 unique themes can be identified- complete with individual profiles describing how each might act and what each might "sound like." As each sees the world through their own strengths filter- it is easy to have friction between different individuals within the same department or organization- because we all see the world- and how it should look- so differently. While one may hear what someone else is saying- they may not be able to assimilate it into their own world effectively. This is why partners or advisors are often so effective- as they ad balance to the limits of others. One word of caution however: do not buy this book used if you intend to take the preference test. There is a unique- one-time code that comes with each copy of Now- Discover Your Strengths- which is absolutely necessary in order to access the website/' s resources. The book has limited value without the ability to take the online test. However- the test alone is well worth the price of the entire book just by itself. With this resource- you will better understand how to build a "strengths-based organization" by capitalizing on the fact that such traits are already present among those within it. With an estimated 8 out of 10 people in this country not really in a position to capitalize on their strengths and talents- chances are most of us could benefit from reading this book. As most of us fail to capitalize on our strengths- it is not surprising that most departments in any company- no matter the size of the organization- are not operating at even par performance. The risk doing nothing is costly- not only in lost productivity- but in job satisfaction- employee retention and absenteeism and so on. This groundbreaking- resourceful book is easy to read in short concise chapters. Along with the associated preference test- Now- Discover Your Strengths- is a positive cost effective solution in resolving problems- and helping each employee achieve his or her full potential. This is must read for managers and office teams who want a win-win solution in improving their own departments- as well as the lives of those who work for them.

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• Book Review: Now, Discover Your Strengths
  There seems to be no lack of the number of books written about personality traits- talents and how to more effectively manage personnel to the advantage of the organization. However- Marcus Bucking
  

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