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Factor 5: Your Strengths
If you’re not already familiar with StrengthsFinder, we encourage you to explore it!
We love what it offers and believe you will too…
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GOOD FOR
Engaging Teams
It's an online personal development tool
StrengthsFinder (now CliftonStrengths) is Gallup’s online personal development tool designed to help people discover what they naturally do best. Rather than focusing on weaknesses, it ranks you across 34 talent themes—including how you think, relate, influence, and execute—to amplify strengths and boost satisfaction at work and in life.
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CliftonStrengths stands out as a go-to reference for coaching, talent development, and engagement. It’s especially effective for creating a common, actionable strengths language, empowering teams and individuals to focus on areas of greatest potential rather than correcting deficits.
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While StrengthsFinder is renowned for straightforward, strengths-based development, other assessments can offer deeper insights into personality and job fit. Still, its ease of use, instant result delivery, and proven impact on engagement make it one of the most popular tools globally for coaching and team performance.
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Four Clusters
StrengthsFinder (CliftonStrengths) groups its 34 talent themes into four clusters, known as "domains," each representing a distinct way of contributing:
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1) Executing:
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Getting things done and turning ideas into action (e.g., Achiever, Arranger, Belief, Consistency, Discipline, Focus, Responsibility, Restorative).
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2) Influencing:
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Motivating, persuading, and taking charge (e.g., Activator, Command, Communication, Competition, Maximizer, Self-Assurance, Significance, Winning Others Over).
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3) Relationship Building:
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Connecting, building trust, and nurturing teams (e.g., Adaptability, Connectedness, Developer, Empathy, Harmony, Includer, Individualization, Positivity, Relator).
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4) Strategic Thinking:
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Processing information, analyzing, and mapping a future course (e.g., Analytical, Context, Futuristic, Ideation, Input, Intellection, Learner, Strategic).
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These clusters help individuals and teams understand the primary ways they contribute, collaborate, and excel
You can buy StrengthsFinder online. If you're buying as an individual you may wish to buy it on Amazon - be sure to buy a copy the Access Code. Otherwise, if you're buying as an employer - you can buy multiple copies online and more here: https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/home.aspx
What next?
Jot Down In Your Note Taking App
What Are Your Strengths?
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If you’ve already taken StrengthsFinder, great—you’ll already have identified your Top 5 Strengths, so please jot them down.
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Otherwise, you have two choices: first, browse the strengths table above, select the five that best describe you, and note them down.
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Alternatively, you could choose to pay for the test; the basic version costs around $25–50 and can be purchased new on Amazon (make sure it includes a fresh access code).
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If you’re considering the investment, ask yourself whether the value justifies the cost for you personally. For those with a high disposable income, it may be an easy decision; otherwise, it’s your call—there’s no guarantee that everyone will get direct payback.
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You could also suggest to your employer that they consider having people across the company—or within your team—take the test, covering the cost themselves (not you).
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It's a lot of fun and is great for companies, to leverage individuals skills and use to drive engagement in teams, through discussion and applying concepts as appropriate.​
Ready to proceed to the next of the 12 Factors?
We have chosen to include StrengthsFinder as one of the 12 Factors for three reasons.
Firstly, it'll help you build a better self-understanding beyond personality and competency tests - it'll pick out some of your strengths which other tests may fail to do so.
Secondly, there are 34 Strengths and if you choose to look beyond your Top 5 - you may notice subtle areas for improvement.
From an employer perspective, it's great for coaching people and creating employee engagement
Additional reading...
Why we chose to include this.
For Managers (Coaching Others)
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Review and discuss strengths together: Read the individual’s top strengths and talk through how they show up at work.
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Connect strengths to current goals: Help the person identify which strengths will best support current projects, challenges or role objectives.
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Spot and celebrate strengths in action: Give feedback and recognition when you see someone using their strengths in practice.
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Watch for blind spots: Explore potential limitations of core strengths and discuss how to balance them.
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Create a strengths-based development plan: Agree on targeted actions and opportunities to use these strengths more intentionally in daily activities and future development.​​
StrengthsFinder Team Workshop Activities
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Share and Discuss Team Strengths:
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Begin the session by having members share their top strengths, what they mean, and how they have helped them in past successes. Each person can give a brief example of how one of their strengths made a difference.
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Strengths “I Bring, I Need”:
Each team member states “I bring...” (what they contribute to the team) and “I need...” (what support helps them thrive). This builds empathy, trust, and understanding. -
Achievement Stories:
Have each participant share a specific achievement story, then ask the group to identify which strengths drove that success. This helps put strengths in context and builds peer recognition. -
Team Strengths Grid/Map:
Create a visual grid mapping everyone’s strengths by domain (Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building, Strategic Thinking). This visual makes gaps and overlaps clear and helps teams plan task assignments. -
Practical Team Discussion:
Lead a conversation: “How do our strengths combine?” -
Which strengths can we lean on for current projects?
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Are there gaps we need to address?
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How can we intentionally pair up people whose strengths complement each other?
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Action Planning:
Finish by setting one or two specific goals for the team that leverage collective strengths. Encourage ongoing check-ins or feedback to keep strengths alive in everyday work.