strengthsfinder 2.0 report · pdf filesection i: awareness woo shared theme description people...

StrengthsFinder 2.0 Report

© 2000, 2006-2012 GALLUP, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Strengths Insight and Action-Planning GuideSURVEY COMPLETION DATE: 02-23-2015

Jennifer Betz

Your Top 5 Themes

WooPositivityFuturisticIdeationCompetition

What's in This Guide?

Section I: Awareness

A brief Shared Theme Description for each of your top five themes

Your Personalized Strengths Insights, which describe what makes you stand out from otherswith the same theme in their top five

Questions for you to answer to increase your awareness of your talentsSection II: Application

10 Ideas for Action for each of your top five themes

Questions for you to answer to help you apply your talentsSection III: Achievement

Examples of what each of your top five themes "sounds like" -- real quotes from people whoalso have the theme in their top five

Steps for you to take to help you leverage your talents for achievement

683991444 (Jennifer Betz)© 2000, 2006-2012 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Section I: Awareness

WooShared Theme Description

People who are especially talented in the Woo theme love the challenge of meeting new people andwinning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection withanother person.

Your Personalized Strengths Insights

What makes you stand out?

Driven by your talents, you are thrilled when you turn a chance encounter with someone into a newfriendship or partnership. The opportunity to endear yourself to another human being challenges you.You genuinely desire to be well-liked by most of the people you meet. Because of your strengths, youare sociable, friendly, and genuinely interested in people. These qualities attract others to you. Yourwelcoming nature enhances the self-esteem of many individuals. You also foster within them a truesense of belonging. Instinctively, you feel forlorn — that is, miserable or deprived — when you areseparated from someone who is dear to you. You yearn to spend time with your friends. Theirabsence saddens you. It’s very likely that you are sometimes unreserved. Perhaps you sharepersonal information and stories with first-time acquaintances as easily as with old friends. By nature,you spread good cheer wherever you go. Meeting people, talking with them, and sharing your upbeatattitude energize you and those with whom you interact.

Questions

1. As you read your personalized strengths insights, what words, phrases, or lines stand out toyou?

2. Out of all the talents in this insight, what would you like for others to see most in you?


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PositivityShared Theme Description

People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious.They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.



Instinctively, you are a happy-go-lucky individual who can find the good in just about anyone oranything. Your optimism and enthusiasm are wonderful gifts that you share. By nature, you mightproduce better results when you have to juggle several activities at the same time. Perhaps you havemore energy for your studies, job, or life in general when you are given a variety of assignments.Working on just one task day after day may leave you feeling exhausted both mentally and physically.Because of your strengths, you may set goals regarding the amount of recognition you givecoworkers. Sometimes you lavish them with compliments. Why? Maybe you want each person to feelvalued and appreciated. Recipients of your praise might be eager to please you in the future. Some ofthem might be willing to help when you ask. Chances are good that you might feel more confidentabout yourself and life in general when you are complimented for using easy-to-understand words.Maybe your down-to-earth vocabulary helps you express your thoughts and emotions. It’s very likelythat you might feel a bit more upbeat about life when you register for a few demanding and rigorousclasses. Perhaps you aspire to enroll in specialized courses. Why? Maybe you trust yourself to meetthe challenges. Maybe you know you will acquire lots of knowledge or special skills.

Questions




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FuturisticShared Theme Description

People who are especially talented in the Futuristic theme are inspired by the future and what couldbe. They inspire others with their visions of the future.



It’s very likely that you think a lot about the coming months, years, or decades. You gravitate toprojects and study subjects that promise to shape the future. You enjoy talking about possibilities thatexist only in your imagination. You probably worry about being left behind if what you know and dowere no longer valued or needed. You prefer to be a pioneer and an inventor. Because of yourstrengths, you take advantage of every opportunity to describe to others all the amazing things yousee happening in the coming months, years, or decades. Your vision opens people’s minds to newand wondrous possibilities. You challenge them to consider ideas they might not have thought of ontheir own. Driven by your talents, you occasionally put great effort into conjuring mental images of thefuture. Perhaps some people lack your ability to envision what will be possible in the coming months,years, or decades. As a result, they may rely on you to do this visioning for them. Instinctively, you area visionary thinker. Your vivid mental images of the coming months, years, or decades often impelyou to move into action. Chances are good that you periodically devote your energy, intellect, or timeto making improvements in yourself or in what you do. Perhaps you concentrate on yourshortcomings. Maybe you feel this approach increases your chances of reaching certain goals in thefuture.

Questions




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IdeationShared Theme Description

People who are especially talented in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able tofind connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.



It’s very likely that you often are the originator of fresh ideas for brand-new campaigns, businessventures, initiatives, or special events. Chances are good that you want people to see you as awinner, as “number one,” or as the very best in various activities. Being quite sensitive to what othersthink of you probably is a powerful motivating force that usually works to your advantage. Instinctively,you occasionally figure out how to get ahead and stay ahead of others. You usually generate morenew ideas than anyone else in the group. Sometimes your brainpower gives you the advantage youneed to succeed. Because of your strengths, you enjoy spending time with possibility thinkers. This isoften the case when they present intriguing ideas that no one else has considered. You enjoyexploring the fascinating frontiers of medicine, politics, fashion, renewable energy sources,humanitarian aid, or the arts. Driven by your talents, you usually contribute more innovative ideas togroup discussions than most people do. You actually help strangers, newcomers, or outsiders feelcomfortable sharing their thoughts. You welcome their fresh ideas. Why? They often stimulateeveryone’s thinking, including your own.

Questions




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CompetitionShared Theme Description

People who are especially talented in the Competition theme measure their progress against theperformance of others. They strive to win first place and revel in contests.



By nature, you consistently aim to turn in the prize-winning performance. A second- or third-placefinish can send you into an emotional tailspin. Your ability to pull out of it depends on your othertalents. Driven by your talents, you sometimes read specific books, journals, memos, or Internet sites.Perhaps you enjoy collecting certain types of information and insights. You may draw upon what youhad read weeks, months, or even years ago to outmaneuver individuals whose performance is beingcompared to your own. Because of your strengths, you may work industriously on particular kinds ofprojects. Sometimes you devote unusually long hours or expend tremendous amounts of energy onyour job or studies. When you know your scores, ratings, rankings, or performances are beingcompared to those of others, you quickly intensify your efforts to be the very best. Instinctively, youwant many individuals to follow you. You hope they automatically regard you as the person in charge.After your results are compared to the outcomes of others, you want it to be clear to them that you arethe very best. This probably is reason enough for them to give you their full allegiance. It’s very likelythat you are typically enthused about what you can accomplish in the coming months, years, ordecades. Your ability to think about the future naturally feeds your desire to be the very best.

Questions




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Questions1. How does this information help you better understand your unique talents?2. How can you use this understanding to add value to your role?3. How can you apply this knowledge to add value to your team, workgroup, department, or

division?4. How will this understanding help you add value to your organization?5. What will you do differently tomorrow as a result of this report?


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Section II: Application

WooIdeas for Action:

Choose a job in which you can interact with many people over the course of a day.Deliberately build the network of people who know you. Tend to it by checking in with eachperson at least once a month.Join local organizations, volunteer for committees, and find out how to get on the sociallists of the influential people where you live.Learn the names of as many people as you can. Create a file of the people you know, andadd names as you become acquainted. Include a snippet of personal information — suchas their birthday, favorite color, hobby, or favorite sports team.In social situations, take responsibility for helping put reserved people at ease.Find the right words to explain that networking is part of your style. If you don’t claim thistheme, others might mistake it for insincerity and wonder why you are being so friendly.Partner with someone with dominant Relator or Empathy talents. This person can solidifythe relationships that you begin.Your Woo talents give you the ability to quicken the pulse of your surroundings. Recognizethe power of your presence and how you open doors for an exchange of ideas. By simplystarting conversations that engage others and bring talented people together, you will takeperformance up a notch — or several.The first moments of any social occasion are crucial to how comfortable people will be andhow they will remember the event. Whenever possible, be one of the first people othersmeet. Your capacity for meeting and greeting new people will help to quickly put them atease.Practice ways to charm and engage others. For example, research people before youmeet them so you can talk about your common interests.

Questions

1. Which of these action items speak to you? Highlight the actions that you are most likely totake.

2. How will you commit to taking action? Write your own personalized action item that you willtake in the next 30 days.


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PositivityIdeas for Action:

You probably will excel in any role in which you are paid to highlight the positive. Ateaching role, a sales role, an entrepreneurial role, or a leadership role will make the mostof your ability to make things dramatic.You tend to be more enthusiastic and energetic than most people. When others becomediscouraged or are reluctant to take risks, your attitude will provide the impetus to keepthem moving. Over time, others will start to look to you for this “lift.”Plan highlight activities for your friends and colleagues. For example, find ways to turnsmall achievements into events, plan regular celebrations that others can look forward to,or capitalize on the year’s holidays and festivals.Explain that your enthusiasm is not simple naivety. You know that bad things can happen;you simply prefer to focus on the good things.You may get your greatest joy by encouraging people. Freely show your appreciation ofothers, and make sure that the praise is not vague. Consistently seek to translate yourfeelings into specific, tangible, and personal expressions of gratitude and recognition.As you share your Positivity talents, be sure to protect and nurture them. As necessary,insulate yourself from chronic whiners and complainers, and intentionally spend time inhighly positive environments that will invigorate and feed your optimism.Don’t pretend that difficulties don’t concern you. Other people need to know that while youfind the good in virtually every situation, you are not naïve. Recognize challenges, andcommunicate the reasons for your optimism. Your positive approach will be most powerfulwhen others realize it is grounded in reality.Because people will rely on you to help them rise above their daily frustrations, armyourself with good stories, jokes, and sayings. Never underestimate the effect that you canhave on people.Avoid negative people. They will bring you down. Instead, seek people who find the samekind of drama and humor in the world that you do. You will energize each other.Deliberately help others see the things that are going well for them. You can keep theireyes on the positive.

Questions




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FuturisticIdeas for Action:

Choose roles in which you can contribute your ideas about the future. For example, youmight excel in entrepreneurial or start-up situations.Take time to think about the future. The more time you spend considering your ideas aboutthe future, the more vivid your ideas will become. The more vivid your ideas, the morepersuasive you will be.Seek audiences who appreciate your ideas for the future. They will expect you to makethese ideas a reality, and these expectations will motivate you.Find a friend or colleague who also has powerful Futuristic talents. Set aside an hour eachmonth for “future” discussions. You can push each other to greater heights of creativityand vividness.Partner with someone with strong Activator talents. This person can remind you that youdo not discover the future, you create it with the actions you take today.You inspire others with your images of the future, yet your thinking may be too expansivefor them to comprehend. When you articulate your vision, be sure to describe the future indetail with vivid words and metaphors. Make your ideas and strategies more concrete viasketches, step-by-step action plans, or mock-up models so that others can readily graspyour intent.Surround yourself with people who are eager to put your vision into motion. They will feelexhilarated by your Futuristic talents, and you can harness their energy to propel the visiontoward reality.Be prepared to provide logical support for your futuristic thinking. Your exciting visions offuture success will be best received when rooted in real possibility.Your Futuristic talents could equip you to be a guide or coach for others. Unlike you, theymight not be able to easily see over the horizon. If you catch a vision of what someonecould be or do, don’t assume that he or she is aware of that potential. Share what you seeas vividly as you can. In doing so, you may inspire someone to move forward.Musing about the future comes naturally to you. Read articles about technology, science,and research to gain knowledge that will fuel your imagination.

Questions




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IdeationIdeas for Action:

Seek a career in which you will be given credit for and paid for your ideas, such asmarketing, advertising, journalism, design, or new product development.You are likely to get bored quickly, so make some small changes in your work or home life.Experiment. Play mental games with yourself. All of these will help keep you stimulated.Finish your thoughts and ideas before communicating them. Lacking your Ideation talents,others might not be able to “join the dots” of an interesting but incomplete idea and thusmight dismiss it.Not all your ideas will be equally practical or serviceable. Learn to edit your ideas, or find atrusted friend or colleague who can “proof” your ideas and identify potential pitfalls.Understand the fuel for your Ideation talents: When do you get your best ideas? Whenyou’re talking with people? When you’re reading? When you’re simply listening orobserving? Take note of the circumstances that seem to produce your best ideas, andrecreate them.Schedule time to read, because the ideas and experiences of others can become your rawmaterial for new ideas. Schedule time to think, because thinking energizes you.You are a natural fit with research and development; you appreciate the mindset ofvisionaries and dreamers. Spend time with imaginative peers, and sit in on theirbrainstorming sessions.Partner with someone with strong Analytical talents. This person will question you andchallenge you, therefore strengthening your ideas.Sometimes you lose others’ interest because they cannot follow your abstract andconceptual thinking style. Make your ideas more concrete by drawing pictures, usinganalogies or metaphors, or simply explaining your concepts step by step.Feed your Ideation talents by gathering knowledge. Study fields and industries differentfrom your own. Apply ideas from outside, and link disparate ideas to generate new ones.

Questions




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CompetitionIdeas for Action:

Select work environments in which you can measure your achievements. You might not beable to discover how good you can be without competing.List the performance scores that help you know where you stand every day. What scoresshould you pay attention to?Identify a high-achieving person against whom you can measure your own achievement. Ifthere is more than one, list all the people with whom you currently compete. Withoutmeasurement, how will you know if you won?Try to turn ordinary tasks into competitive games. You will get more done this way.When you win, take the time to investigate why you won. You can learn a great deal morefrom a victory than from a loss.Let people know that being competitive does not equate with putting others down. Explainthat you derive satisfaction from pitting yourself against good, strong competitors andwinning.Develop a “balanced metric” — a measurement system that will monitor all aspects of yourperformance. Even if you are competing against your own previous numbers, thismeasurement will help you give proper attention to all aspects of your performance.When competing with others, create development opportunities by choosing to compareyourself to someone who is slightly above your current level of expertise. Your competitionwill push you to refine your skills and knowledge to exceed those of that person. Look oneor two levels above you for a role model who will push you to improve.Take the time to celebrate your wins. In your world, there is no victory without celebration.Design some mental strategies that can help you deal with a loss. Armed with thesestrategies, you will be able to move on to the next challenge much more quickly.

Questions




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Section III: Achievement

Look for signs of achievement as you read these real quotes from people who share your top fivethemes.Woo sounds like this:

Deborah C., publishing executive: “I have made best friends out of people that I have met passing inthe doorway. I mean, it’s awful, but wooing is part of who I am. All my taxi drivers propose to me.”

Marilyn K., college president: “I don’t believe I’m looking for friends, but people call me a friend. I callpeople and say, ‘I love you,’ and I mean it because I love people easily. But friends? I don’t havemany friends. I don’t think I am looking for friends. I am looking for connections. And I am really goodat that because I know how to achieve common ground with people.”

Anna G., nurse: “I think I am a little shy sometimes. Usually I won’t make the first step out. But I doknow how to put people at ease. A lot of my job is just humor. If the patient is not very receptive, myrole becomes that of a stand-up comedian. I’ll say to an eighty-year-old patient, ‘Hi, you handsomeguy. Sit up. Let me get your shirt off. That’s good. Take your shirt off. Whoa, what a chest on thisman!’ With kids, you have to start very slowly and say something like, ‘How old are you?’ If they say,‘Ten,’ then I say, ‘Really? When I was your age, I was eleven’ — silly stuff like that to break the ice.”


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Positivity sounds like this:

Gerry L., flight attendant: “There are so many people on an airplane that I have made it a point overthe years to single out one or two on a flight and make it something special for them. Certainly, I willbe courteous to everybody and extend to them the kind of professionalism that I would like given tome, but over and above that, I try to make one person or family or small group of people feelparticularly special, with jokes and conversation and little games that I play.”

Andy B., Internet marketing executive: “I am one of those people who loves creating buzz. I readmagazines all the time, and if I find something fun — some new store, new lip gloss, whatever — I willcharge around telling everyone about it. ‘Oh, you just have to try this store. It is so-o-o cool. Look atthese pictures. Check them out.’ I am so passionate when I talk about something that people justhave to do what I say. It’s not that I am a great salesperson. I’m not. In fact, I hate asking for theclose; I hate bothering people. It’s just that my passion about what I say makes people think, ‘Gosh, itmust be true.’”

Sunny G., communications manager: “I think the world is plagued with enough negative people. Weneed more positive people — people who like to zero in on what is right with the world. Negativepeople just make me feel heavy. In my last job, there was a guy who came into my office everymorning just to unload on me. I would purposely dodge him. I’d see him coming, and I’d run to thebathroom or go some other place. He made me feel as if the world was a miserable place, and I hatedthat.”


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Futuristic sounds like this:

Dan F., school administrator: “In any situation, I am the guy who says, ‘Did you ever think about . . . ?I wonder if we could . . . I don’t believe it can’t be done. It’s just that nobody has done it yet. Let’sfigure out how we can.’ I am always looking for options, for ways not to be mired by the status quo. Infact, there is no such thing as the status quo. You are either moving forward, or you are movingbackward. That’s the reality of life, at least from my perspective. And right now, I believe that myprofession is moving backward. State schools are being out-serviced by private schools, charterschools, home schools, Internet schools. We need to free ourselves from our traditions and create anew future.”

Jan K., internist: “Here at the Mayo Clinic, we are launching a group called the Hospitalists. Ratherthan having patients handed off from one doctor to another during their stay in the hospital, I envisiona family of providers. I envision fifteen to twenty MDs, of various genders and races, with twenty totwenty-five nurse practitioners. There will be four to five new hospital services, most of which will workwith surgeons and will provide para-operative care as well as care for the hospitalized elderly. We areredefining the model of care here. We don’t just take care of the patients when they are in thehospital. If a patient comes in for a knee replacement, a member of the Hospitalist team would seehim before the surgery, follow him from the day of surgery through the days of hospitalization, andthen see him when he comes in six weeks later for his postoperative check. We will provide patientswith a complete episode of care so that they don’t get lost in the handoffs. And to get the funding, Ijust saw the detailed picture in my head and kept describing this picture to the department chair. Iguess I made it seem so real that they had no choice but to grant me the funds.”


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Ideation sounds like this:

Mark B., writer: “My mind works by finding connections between things. When I was hunting down theMona Lisa in the Louvre museum, I turned a corner and was blinded by the flashing of a thousandcameras snapping the tiny picture. For some reason, I stored that visual image away. Then I noticed a‘No Flash Photography’ sign, and I stored that away too. I thought it was odd because I rememberedreading that flash photography can harm paintings. Then about six months later, I read that the MonaLisa has been stolen at least twice in this century. And suddenly I put it all together. The onlyexplanation for all these facts is that the real Mona Lisa is not on display in the Louvre. The real MonaLisa has been stolen, and the museum, afraid to admit their carelessness, has installed a fake. I don’tknow if it’s true, of course, but what a great story.”

Andrea H., interior designer: “I have the kind of mind where everything has to fit together or I start tofeel very odd. For me, every piece of furniture represents an idea. It serves a discrete function bothindependently and in concert with every other piece. The ‘idea’ of each piece is so powerful in mymind, it must be obeyed. If I am sitting in a room where the chairs are somehow not fulfilling theirdiscrete function — they’re the wrong kind of chairs or they’re facing the wrong way or they're pushedup too close to the coffee table — I find myself getting physically uncomfortable and mentallydistracted. Later, I won’t be able to get it out of my mind. I’ll find myself awake at 3:00 a.m., and I walkthrough the person’s house in my mind’s eye, rearranging the furniture and repainting the walls. Thisstarted happening when I was very young, say seven years old.”


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Competition sounds like this:

Mark L., sales executive: “I’ve played sports my entire life, and I don’t just play to have fun — let meput it that way. I like to engage in sports I am going to win and not ones I am going to lose, because ifI lose, I am outwardly gracious but inwardly infuriated.”

Harry D., general manager: “I'm not a big sailor, but I love the America’s Cup. Both boats aresupposed to be exactly the same, and both crews have top-notch athletes. But you always get awinner. One of them had some secret up their sleeves that tipped the balance and enabled them towin more often than lose. And that’s what I am looking for — that secret, that tiny edge.”

Sumner Redstone, chairman of Viacom (now known as CBS Corporation), on his efforts to acquirethat company: “I relished every minute of it because Viacom was a company worth fighting for and Ienjoyed a contest. If you get involved in a major competitive struggle, and the stress that inevitablycomes with it, you’d better derive some real sense of satisfaction and enjoyment from the ultimatevictory. Wrestling control of a company like Viacom was warfare. I believe the real lesson it taught mewas that it is not about money, it’s about the will to win.”


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Questions1. Talk to friends or coworkers to hear how they have used their talents to achieve.

2. How will you use your talents to achieve?


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