Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham, Donald O. Clifton
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Book Reviews of Now, Discover Your Strengths
Book Review: Now Discover Your Strengths
Summary: 5 Stars
Now Discover Your Strengths describes a revolutionary way to approach managing people by placing them in positions that capitalize on their strengths rather than positions in which they would work tirelessly in attempts to correct weaknesses. The implications of the concepts and strategies found in this book encompass all organizations from business to education. An important concept that is discussed in the book is that leaders should focus on the strengths of individuals and place them in positions in which their strengths will produce the best results for the organization. This concept does two things. The first is that the individuals placed in positions that capitalize on their strengths will tend to enjoy their job more. The second is that the organization will benefit from the strengths of the individual.Educational organizations can use the information in this book to help guide administrators when making personnel decisions. Teachers can use the concepts in this book to help students realize their strengths and reduce the anxiety about their weaknesses. As an educator I have used the book to identify my own strengths. I also read a small section of the book to my Anatomy and Physiology class to support materials I had presented regarding the brain and how people learn.
The thirty-four themes provide a description of the different strengths followed by short examples of what the strength sounds like. The book then discusses common questions asked, how to manage your strengths, and how to build an organization based on strengths. This book is enlightening and challenges people to view themselves and others in a different light by asking themselves, "what does he/she bring to the table and how can we best utilize it".
Book Review: Fascinating Skills Inventory - Management , Self Assessment
Summary: 5 Stars
"First, Break All the Rules" left my wife and me asking, "How do you learn your strengths?" While buying a copy of "First..." for my boss, I found "Now, Discover Your Strengths."The book is fascinating. The concept of locating and concentrating on using strengths (your own and your employees') rather than fixing their weaknesses is well layed out.
Strengths are talents, innate or developed tendencies and abilities which have, through experience, education or training been honed to a level placing the possessor in rarified air in this regard.
The book and tape give you a code which serves as a password to take an online test to discover your top 5 strengths of 34 identified by the Gallup Organization. I would guess three will not really surprise you, two will send you diving back into the book to read more about them.
By the way, my wife called the number on the StrengthFinders Website and explained that I bought the book and she, too, would like to take the test. The phone representative gave her a new code, and she took the test.
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The Talents and Strengths share similarities to some of the elements of the "Inner Self" of "Follow your Bliss" or the "Authentic Self" of Dr. Phil McGraw's "Self Matters." When you find yourself learning a skill with remarkable ease and speed, or doing all the recommended reading in a course during the first week, these are clues. You likely have an affinity for the subject.
Others might be a burning desire to please, to help, to inform, to relate and more.
The business goal is to put the person with the strength in the position that uses it. Then to use the techniques of Great Managers to guide them to brilliance. I recommend both "First" and "Now."
Book Review: Should be Required Reading
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is the follow-on to "First, Break all the Rules." The latter targets management while this book is for the individual. If you buy your own copy of the book, you get a code with which you can take their Strengths Finder online survey. (You can now also go to the web-site and take the survey for a fee; they used to require a book purchase.) That tool gives you your top 5 strengths, in order, which is what is missing from First, Break all the Rules.
With your strengths in hand, you can now look at your career, your role in your company, and the direction of your life. In my case, I understood why I wasn't happy in the previous year with my job. I had been "promoted" to "leadership" for all of my good technical work and was no longer playing to any of my strengths. I HAD to make a change, which was to get out of the "leadership" role. Management wasn't very happy with me. I continued using the recommendations in this book and formed my own training plan that "exploited" my strengths and developed them further. Its been 5 years, and both me and my management are happy. In fact, this year was my best performance review and raise ever!
My opinion is if you have read the book(s), then take the quiz, that can skew your quiz answers. I believe the strengths it identified for me, just not sure that the order wasn't affected by my having read both books in their entirety first. Thus, consider reading this book first even though it is second in the series UNLESS you are a manager and only have time to read one of the two books. (In that case I would take the quiz using the code from this book, put the book down, and read First, Break all the Rules.)
Book Review: POWERFUL and PRACTICAL - impacted my career!
Summary: 5 Stars
I read a lot of books but this is among the top of the list. After "Now Discover Your Strengths" and "First Break All The Rules", I'm convinced Marcus writes books that are truly applicable to real life.
A bit of testimony here. I have over 9 years of work experience mainly in the large corporate world. My corporate experience was exhilarating. However, in 1 of the 9 years, I experienced a boss from hell in a smaller organisation. He was the anti-thesis of "Now Discover Your Strengths". He sought to find my weaknesses and made me focus on "fixing" them while leaving my strengths to wither and die. It was then I discovered "Now Discover Your Strengths". How timely - other than the Bible, God's own Word, this book also helped me find balance in focusing on my strengths and talents while getting round my weaknesses (and quietly ignoring the manager above for the entire year).
Since then, I bought a copy of the book each for my family, lent a copy to a senior manager, who then promptly bought his own copy! What this book says is truly real and practical. After this, I read, "First Break All The Rules" and applied its principles with my staff reporting to me. I'm now reading "The One Thing You Need To Know".
Anyway, after my hell year (yes, I made decision to stay for a year to gain the experience as Marketing Manager) in the small organisation, I've moved back into the large corporate world where I find myself freedom to grow in leaps and bounds.
This book is in the league of Maltz's "Psycho Cybernetics", Collins & Porras' "Built To Last" and Collins' "Good to Great".
Would give it 6 stars!
Book Review: Valuable book
Summary: 5 Stars
I've read "Now Discover Your Strengths" and "StrengthsFinder 2.0" and have taken both assessments. These books and the assessments explore what's right with people. I really enjoyed "Now Discover Your Strengths" and support the concept of leading through strength. I enjoyed reading about the various strength categories, how to manage people with different strengths, and building a strengths-based organization. When I took the original Strengthsfinder assessment which is provided with the book, it was an interesting experience, but I didn't get much additional value. The book is far more substantive.
The Strengthsfinder 2.0 book didn't provide me with me substantially more insight than this book. The assessment is a slightly more customized, and the action steps can help with implementation. I still can't figure out why one of my five strengths was not included in my original strengthfinder assessment. How could my strengths change in two days?
Discovering and employing strengths is undoubtedly worthwhile, so here's your choice. If you want the most substantive information, read this book. If you are more interested in the personalization of strengths, then take the Strengthsfinder 2.0 assessment. The Strengthsfinder 2.0 book is not nearly as impressive as this book.
If you are interested in making the most of your thinking, interactions and any situation, I absolutely recommend the Optimal Thinking Online Assessment, a brilliant supplement to the Optimal Thinking book. Because thoughts are the parents of performance, I believe this is the most powerful assessment in the marketplace.