Last time when I thought about this topic of ‘knowing thyself’ (a long time ago, I must admit) – the first thought that ran through my head was – “Well, how the heck am I suppose to know myself?” All I know so far has been put into my head by my gurus, my teachers, parents, and preachers. They never told me who I am – They only told me who I should be – Characteristics, virtues, and traits that I should strive to possess – “Picture a person who really inspire you” they said “and then follow their footsteps” …. Well, that exercise really did not work out as planned – since who I am and whom I was striving to be – apparently were two different people. I’m not exactly a very deep thinker; so, after a while, I left pondering this question thinking that such abstract issues are better left for the “philosopher types”. And that was that … Until recently ….
Fairly recently, I got introduced to a phenomenon (outlined in a series of books) that is primarily based on improving your professional life based on exploitation of your dominant personality strengths ( I must thank my Friend Rajiv Roy for introducing me to this complex mess …) . T he author of these (series of) books, Marcus Buckingham, is from Gallop organization and has published three books on the subject (a couple with other folks as co-authors).
The first one, published in 1999 was titled - ‘First, break all the rules’ which was a survey and a study of bunch of managers and their issues on finding the right people, retaining them, and keeping them satisfied with respect to the kind of work that they would love to do. The synopsis of that book came out to be – “don't try to put in what was left out; instead draw out what was left in”. You must hire for talent, and hone that talent into outstanding performance. Work your people’s strengths rather than forcing them to improve upon their weaknesses.
Then came his second book – “Now, Discover your strengths”. This was the book where Marcus introduced a concept of Strength Finder – An online tool (NOT FREE – but when you buy a book it lets you take the test once) that asks you a (whole) bunch of questions in rapid succession and records your answers based on your first instinct (it pushes you to answer promptly – the first thing that comes to your mind). The questions have a very short duration and so you don’t have much time to think before answering. These questions vary in terms of “what ifs scenario” and what would your reaction to a particular scenario be … etc. This tool then identifies your top 5 strengths (out of 34 outlined below - Each of these strengths is described in details in the book ).
Achiever
Activator
Adaptability
Analytical
Arranger
Belief
Command
Communication
Competition
Connectedness
Context
Deliberative
Developer
Discipline
Empathy
Fairness
Focus
Futuristic
Harmony
Ideation
Inclusiveness
Individualization
Input
Intellection
Learner
Maximizer
Positivity
Relator
Responsibility
Restorative
Self-assurance
Significance
Strategic
Woo
Once I finished taking this test, I was surprised who I really was or what my predominant strengths were – and these were completely different from what I had previously assumed. After this test, I really am looking at the world and my actions very differently.
Now, here comes the third one – Go Put Your Strengths To Work – This is probably the last in this a series of personal development books that, from book to book, have moved from being guidance for managers to guidance for any professional. This is the book that tries to trains you, the individual professionals, in terms of how to manage your strengths, how to manage your weaknesses, and how to put your strengths to work for a more fulfilling personal and professional life. And this book offers 6 steps to do this –
Step 1: Bust The Myths
Step 2: Get Clear
Step 3: Free Your Strengths
Step 4: Stop Your Weaknesses
Step 5: Speak Up
Step 6: Build Strong Habits
The book suggests adopting five regular habits in your life:
Every day, look over your strength statements and your three weakness statements. This keeps them fresh in your mind.
Every week, complete a “strong week” plan. Basically, identify two ways you’ll maximize your strengths in the coming week - at the same time, identify two ways to minimize your weaknesses in the coming week.
Every quarter, close the book on your strengths. Schedule a meeting with your boss and go over ways you maximized your strengths in the previous three months.
Every six months, go over your strengths in detail. Make sure you understand what they really mean and how you’re applying them.
Every year, toss out your strengths and start over. You can use your old ones as a starting point, but there will likely be some clarifications as your understanding of your strengths and your weaknesses grow.
Authors also discusses the myths that holds us back and provides the truth as he sees it. The myths that he tries to bust are –
Myth 1: As you grow, your personality changes
Myth 2: You will grow the most in your areas of greatest weakness
Myth 3: A good team member does whatever it takes to help the team
I would definitely RECOMMEND this book to anyone who feels that their professional career has stagnated or is in desperate need of a kick start. The book gets a little preachy time to time and is repetitive at times.
Now getting back to ‘Knowing Thyself’, there are yet another series of (personality or career) tests that you may take which, results in identification of your personality traits. These tests also suggests the most suitable career paths for you. Some of them are free and some will set you back $80 - $100 per person.
Some of the career evaluation tests evaluate you (based on the questions that you answer online) for the following 6 personality categories. Based on the predominance of one over the other, it offers careers that would most suit your personality.
Realistic—the doers
Investigative—the thinkers
Artistic—the creators
Social—the helpers
Enterprising—the persuaders
Conventional—the organizers
And then (last but not least) – there is ‘Myers Briggs personality test’ – You can take a free test at www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm. The result will classify you using four classifications.
Extroverted ( E ) or Introverted (I)
Sensing ( S ) or Intuitive (N)
Thinking ( T ) or Feeling (F)
Judging ( J ) or Perceiving (P)
So in the end you could be ENTJ or ISFP etc. These can then be used to indentify the most suitable career paths for you.
More details on these in Part II of ‘Knowing Thyself’.
