The Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment was created under the leadership of educational psychologist Donald Clifton. He wanted to identify the skills of the best of the best of the best and to capitalize on them. According to Gallup,

The Gallup Organization, widely known for its polls and employee selection research, developed numerous semi-structured interviews to identify talent that could be enhanced and used to pursue positive outcomes in work and school. In the 1990s, under the leadership of Donald O. Clifton, Gallup developed the CSF as an objective measure of personal talent that could be administered online in less than one hour.

StrengthsFinder, a revolutionary tool for measuring talents, was first introduced to the world in 2001 with the best-selling book, Now Discover Your Strengths. The updated StrengthsFinder 2.0 was later released in 2007 and is consistently (one of) the hottest selling books on Amazon.

The Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment helps identify the areas where you (or team if being used in that context) have the greatest potential for building strength. It measures recurring patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior. Knowing this information is a starting point; Leadership Vision is then able to help individuals, teams, and organizations leverage their Talents, and turn them into sustainable Strengths.

Of Note: StrengthsFinder is not intended to be used in hiring decisions. In fact, any job or role can leverage any number of strengths combinations.

The Clifton StrengthsFinder is an assessment of “normal personality from the perspective of Positive Psychology” (read more below). When you purchase a code, it grants you access to take the online assessment.

How the online assessment works:

• 177 pairs of “potential” self-descriptors are listed. Ex: “I dream about the future” versus “People are my greatest ally.”
• The descriptors are placed as if they are anchoring polar ends of a continuum.
• Choose the descriptor that best describes you and the extent to which it describes your personality.
• After 20 seconds the assessment moves onto the next item pair. If you miss too many questions, the assessment will start over.

Once you’ve completed the Clifton StrengthsFinder, you’ll immediately receive the results – your top 5 signature themes in ranked order. Your individual results will also include a packet of information specifically geared to your unique Theme Print. From there, this simple strengths activity can help get you started.