Over the years, I have read 100+ books on Management / Self-help.

If you ask me of the best investment that I have made in self-development, I would say – It was taking the Gallup Strengths Finder Assessment.

A Disclaimer : I have no personal interest in talking about Gallup. It helped me to understand myself better, and so I am sharing the same.

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What Is Gallup Strengths Finder Assessment?

It uncovers your unique rank order of 34 Gallup Strengths.

The 34 Strengths are — Achiever, Adaptability, Analytical, Command, etc.

It further categorizes these 34 strengths into 4 Strengths Themes — ‘Executing’, ‘Influencing’, ‘Relationship Building’, and ‘Strategic Thinking’.

The assessment is 30 minutes long and requires going through 177 paired statements and choosing therefrom.

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My Report came as under:

Rank # | Strength | Strength Theme | Succinct extract from Report

1. Input | Strategic Thinking

You typically read books, journals, blogs, or websites because you enjoy collecting new information and insights.

2. Achiever | Executing

You work hard and possess a great deal of stamina. You take immense satisfaction in being busy and productive.

3. Learner | Strategic Thinking

You have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. The process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites you.

4. Intellection | Strategic Thinking

You are characterized by your intellectual activity. You are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.

5. Futuristic | Strategic Thinking

You are inspired by the future and what could be. You energize others with your visions of the future.

I have listed the Top 5 Strengths.

The full report gives a listing – in rank order – of all your 34 strengths.

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The above basically tells how I work – my default work style.

Give me any task or job position, and that’s likely how I’d approach it.

There is nothing good or bad about it. We all have unique strengths.

What makes a difference is KNOWING your top strengths in a crystal-clear manner, like the report above.

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2 Ways knowing your Top Strengths helps are:

#1. Knowing the roles you will excel at and enjoy

The Gallup Report does not say which Industry or Roles are fit or unfit for you.

This is because any job can be done in multiple ways.
Some famous US Presidents were Extroverts, and some were Introverts. Likewise for Business Leaders, and so on.

At the same time, though, it gives several clues.

Example:

If I look at my report, 3 of my top 5 strengths are – Input, Learner, and Intellection.

As I pursue my interest in Management — requiring me to read, research, and analyze — I find myself extensively using these strengths.

It thus explains why I feel so fulfilled as I write these articles; I am doing work that comes naturally to me.

#2. Knowing the reason why you are struggling at work

The Gallup report can help here too, in two ways:

a) If you are using your strengths in a way that is incompatible with your role.

I recall I struggled at work in the Ops Manager role, as I moved up the corporate ladder.

Now, I realize it was because I was using my top strengths — Input, Learner, Intellection — in the most obvious manner.

I was drawn to understanding activities and processes in their entirety.

And that can be an issue in working well as a ‘Manager’.

A Manager role requires that one avoids getting into the nitty-gritty of things as far as possible.

Knowing my Strengths report, I would have adapted.

b) The report would have also told me that some of the components of Executing — ‘Deliberative’ and ‘Arranger’ — come last in my 34 Strengths list!

This possibly explains why I faced issues when leading large teams / multiple projects.

I was taking on projects without realistically understanding the efforts involved.

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Conclusion

Work is a big part of our life.
It is supposed to be fun, enriching, and enjoyable.

But it wouldn’t become so by itself.

The first step is to understand yourself and your personality. Thereafter, you can start making efforts to bring it in sync with what the job requires.

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There are a number of Personality Tests, each helping us to know an aspect of our personality that in the normal case wouldn’t be obvious to us.

What I like about Gallup is the succinctness of the report : Just 5 words to indicate your top 5 strengths, of how you work.

It is hard to believe, but what I didn’t realize in 2 decades of working, a 30-minute Gallup test helped me to know about myself.

Knowing it now too is helping.

Today, we are fortunate to have tests that help us to know so much about ourselves. We don’t need to spend years coming to those realizations.

Take them, reflect, and you will have a great edge in your career.