Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath

You are at a job interview.  It’s going well- you’ve already been meeting with your potential new boss for half an hour.  Then the question comes: “What are your strengths?”  You blink once or twice, then launch into a description of strengths  that is primarily comprised of what you think the interviewer wants to hear.  Maybe you get the job- maybe you don’t- but the question settles into your mind.  What ARE my strengths?

That was my question to myself too.  Over the years I’ve worked on developing leadership skills, and that work has affected my personality to the point where I wasn’t sure what my true strengths were.  I was excited to have a chance to explore the subject with Strengths Finder 2.0.  Below is my review.

Did I learn anything new?  The basic concept of the book is that you should discover what your strengths are, and spend more time developing them than you do on improving your weaknesses.  Tom Rath used over forty years of Gallup research on human strengths to identify thirty-four different personality “themes.”  You discover what your top five are by taking an online quiz.  I learned what my themes are, but more interestingly, it shed a lot of light on why I do some of the things I do.

Was it interesting and entertaining?  The book is comprised of a brief introduction section, and the rest of it is devoted to descriptions of the thirty-four different themes.  It wasn’t entertaining, but reading about my strengths was certainly interesting.

Could I relate to the author?  It wasn’t that kind of book.  The author did talk about himself and his experience.

Was the writing style and the format easy to follow?  Yes.  I particularly liked the way that the different strengths were written in block style down the right-hand side of the pages, and they were listed alphabetically.  That made them easy to find.

Did I finish the book?  I read the introduction, took the online test and read about my strengths.  I also scanned the other strengths, but I didn’t read all of them.   

Was it worth the time I invested to read it?  Absolutely.  It was a quick read and the information I gained from it was definitely worth the time.

BUSINESS MOM’S RATING:  4  If you are interested in getting to know yourself a little better, pick this book up.  It’s an inexpensive quick read.  My only criticism of the book is that two of my five strengths were not right for me.  I spent a couple of weeks mulling the test results over before I decided to ignore those two and replace them with two others that I felt should have been in my top three.  I’m not sure if it is the test itself, or if I over-thought my answers.  Regardless, I now have a much better understanding of what my strengths are. 

Did I learn anything new?  Absolutely.  A good portion of this book deals with sales people’s “ploys” and the “tactics” buyers should use to thwart those ploys.  I had no idea salespeople were viewed so negatively by buyers; these descriptions were definitely unflattering.  However, selling IS strategic, and I appreciated the fact that the author mentioned which ploys were hardest to overcome.  And now I better understand that the indecisive buyer who is dragging their feet might in fact be a cunning negotiator.  It’s interesting stuff.

Was it interesting and entertaining?  It was interesting, but it was not “entertaining” to read how negatively my profession is viewed.

Could I relate to the author?  Not really, but I do know others like him.  He’s a salesperson-hater. 

Was the format/ writing style easy to understand?  Yes…especially the section on “ploys” and “tactics.”  There were some good real-world stories in there too.

Did I finish the book?  Why or why not?  I only read past the halfway point.  That is because the end was specifically on writing and then negotiating the formal contract themselves, and that is not particularly helpful in my business.

Was it worth the time I invested to read it?  Yes.  But I wouldn’t invest the time to finish it.  I have too many other unfinished books on my shelves for that. 

Business Mom’s Book Ranking:  3  I learned a thing or two, but I’d only recommend it to you if you have a strong interest in this particular subject.

The first CD was a general explanation of why charisma is important.  For me, it was too long; I already understood the importance of charisma.  I wanted to get right down to the qualities themselves. Fortunately, from there things became more interesting. 

I learned that there were other qualities, such as how you look (it isn’t just your clothing), how you listen to others (who would have thought it?), and your ability to speak that contribute to your overall charisma.  I especially like how Tony Alessandra had quizzes included.  They helped me to figure out how strong my charisma was in each category.  The set came with a CD workbook and a bonus live CD of Tony talking about becoming “people smart”. 

I was surprised to learn how closely charisma mirrored all of the qualities of leadership.  But now as I think about it, most strong leaders are very charismatic.  It only makes sense that the two would be linked together.

Overall, I would rate this a 4 on my 1-5 scale.  It was entertaining and also helped me to identify several areas where I can improve.    I have listened to the complete audio program in my car three times so far, and I’m sure I’ll listen to it several more before I’m through.

I was hoping to learn three things from her book: 

1.  How did she balance work and family life, and did she have any insight that would benefit me and my family?

2.  What was her personal response to all of the media’s accusations?

3.  What are her future political plans?

     This book treated me to a stirring view of Alaska.  Ms. Palin wrote about it with such as passion that I found myself looking at houses for sale in Alaska on the Internet.  I learned a little bit about the fishing industry, the oil industry, and I also found a very interesting use for duct tape (I’m not going to tell you what Alaskans use it for- you’ll have to read the book yourself.)  I gained a sense for the independent spirit of the people up there, and it made me wish that I saw more of that in the people in my state.  She told stories of growing up that also helped me better understand the work ethic in Alaska. 

     Sarah Palin walks her readers through the entire election, from the first phone call from Senator John McCain asking if she would be interested, all the way to resigning from her post as governor of Alaska.  She tells us her side of all the stories that we read about in the paper or heard about on television.  Those stories confirm my worst fears about our liberal media.   I also think that her campaign headquarters deliberately sabotaged their efforts at winning the election.  There were actually sections of this book that made me so angry that I had to take a break from reading it to calm down.

     The book is written in an easygoing, conversational style that was simple to follow and fast to read.  The stories were interesting, revealing, and educational.  The only element of the style that I did not care for was her talking about God.  I understand and respect her faith, but I prefer to not read about it. It makes me uncomfortable as I don’t like to become that intimate with people’s thoughts.  For the most part, I could relate to Ms. Palin and her stories; especially how she interacted with her children during the campaign.  At one point she shares with us how she went trick-or-treating on Halloween with her daughter Piper and her son Trig between campaign stops.  That resonated with the working mom in me, as I am always trying to make sure that no one aspect of my life suffers at the hand of another.

     Did the book meet my three expectations?  Yes and no.  It answered all of my questions about the media’s coverage of the campaign.  I did get a sense for how Sarah managed her work and her family, but it certainly wasn’t a “how to” book by any means. I didn’t expect it to be, but I had hoped to learn more.  And what of her post-politics plans?  She seems to be leaving it up to God to help her determine the best way to serve her nation next.  

     I give this book a Business Mom rating of 3.  If you are interested in the story of Sarah Palin- either because you are curious after following the elections, or  because of her significance in American history, I would recommend it to you.   I enjoyed my time reading this one and I am looking forward to following her career, wherever God may lead it.