5 Things You Can Do After Getting Your CliftonStrengths Report
You skim through the pages of your CliftonStrengths report, feeling like you have just found yourself and discovered exactly who you are and who you’re meant to be.
“Cool, so this is what I am good at! It has been put into words!” you wonder.
Minutes later, you finished reading the report and before you know it, it is out of your sight. Not because you are no longer interested, but because you don’t know what to do with it.
Whether you have opted to unlock only your Top 5 or the Full34 CliftonStrengths profile, your learning does not have to stop there. Here are 5 things you should do to make the best use of your profiling results!
1. Familiarise yourself with the CliftonStrengths language
Understand the Insights
One crucial thing about the CliftonStrengths talent themes is that you should not interpret their meanings based on the dictionary definitions of the words. Due to the in-depth nature of the profiling, it is impossible to encapsulate the meaning in a single word. Hence, be sure to read and internalise the short descriptions in your CliftonStrengths report to understand your profile correctly! You may start with your top five, as they are your most dominant natural talents.
This is how the insights section will look like for the Full34 and Top5 profiles:
Resonate with the Insights
As you read the descriptions, ask yourself questions such as
- Which words, phrases or lines do I resonate strongly with? How so?
- What is a recent event where I have utilised this talent?
These reflections allow you to draw relations to your thinking, feeling and behaviour in your daily life – whether they are work, family or self-related. Once you resonate with the descriptions, it not only gives you a clearer picture of how you uniquely view the world, but also an idea of how others might view the world differently from you.
2. Construct a strengths-based personal statement
A personal statement is one of the key components of your personal branding, whether you are applying for a new job position or a scholarship. Consider using your CliftonStrengths report as a tool to construct a personal statement that effectively and accurately highlights your qualities, achievements, and interests.
Firstly, describe yourself using key phrases corresponding to your talents (you may also refer to your insight reports for useful phrases). Then, contextualise the descriptions and provide examples to elaborate further. For example, a segment might look something like this:
“I am an empathetic (Empathy) storyteller (Communication) who enjoys making use of my past experiences (Context) to educate others. I believe this allows me to deliver authentic lessons to students in an effective and engaging manner.”
The key is to be genuine and succinct. You want to make sure that you are describing your authentic experiences while also letting others know your area of expertise.
3. Apply your talents
“Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.”
It is not enough to discover your talent and talk about it. To achieve high performance, you need to intentionally invest in them. Do so by gaining relevant knowledge and skills and apply your talents in your daily life. With your CliftonStrengths report, you will have access to ideas on how to develop and apply your talents:
Let’s look at this formula:
Talent x Investment = Strength
To turn your natural talents into strengths, you need to continually invest in those talents by taking actionable steps such as gaining new practices and habits, or intentionally use them at work. This will turn incidental discovery of talents into intentional use of strengths at work, helping you achieve greater satisfaction and performance.
Without investing in your talents, they will always remain as raw talents with limited impact. Here’s an example:
Meet Connie, a lady with the top talents ‘Communication’ and ‘Woo’. She loves meeting and conversing with people, especially breaking the ice with people whom she has just met! While others shudder at the thought of giving an impromptu presentation, it just comes naturally to her. Yet, she holds a desk-bound administrative job, with hardly any chance to interact with people or meet anybody new.
How do you think Connie would feel at work in the long run? Probably a lack of fulfilment, which might in turn affect her engagement at work.
Do you know? By being in an environment where you can hone what you are naturally best at, you are:
- 6x as likely to be engaged at your job
- 3x as likely to have an excellent quality of life
Like many others, Connie is deprived of the opportunity to invest in her natural talents and maximise her potential, simply because she is not in the right environment.
Reflect on your current situation – are you in an environment where you can utilise your talents and develop them into your strengths?
4. Find your Ikigai – aka the sweet spot
You have probably heard of the term ‘Ikigai’, the Japanese concept of ‘a reason for being’, which refers to something that gives a person a sense of purpose. It is typically represented by a venn diagram:
Your CliftonStrengths report overlaps well with the green-coloured ‘What you are good at’ area, which can measure how well you can execute your job role. Try dissecting the job functions of a particular role to find out if it is suitable for you. For example, as an educator, this might be what your typical day will look like:
- 40% – classroom teaching and student management
- 20% – curriculum planning and marking
- 20% – administrative matters
Following this, consider how your CliftonStrengths talents might help you succeed in these functions:
- “I can use most of my talents everyday”
- “I can only use a few of my talents everyday”
- “I can’t use any of my talents in these functions”
As you can see from the Ikigai concept, being naturally adept at something is only one measure of your suitability for a job. It is equally important to be interested in what you are doing. At the end of the day, the ideal job is one that marries your strengths and interests (and also one that hopefully pays well). Hence, spend some time reflecting on what you enjoyed during your past work experiences and researching on interests you’d like to explore.
If you require additional help in understanding and utilising your strengths profile for career guidance, consider personalised coaching services (online or face-to-face). We’ll assign a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach to mentor you through your journey. This can be done at your desired pace and a one-to-one approach will provide you with a highly personalised session!
5. Share your talents with the world!
Share with the people around you!
Lastly, if you feel that you have spent enough time in self-scrutiny and reflection, it may be a good idea to hear from others, either to reinforce your discovery or to gain some fresh perspectives. This could be someone who knows you well – your family members and good friends, or the people you work with – your colleagues and supervisors. You can ask them questions such as:
- Which talent of mine do you appreciate the most?
- How do you think this talent shows up through our interactions?
Share what you have gained through the whole process, it might even get the other party interested to find out their top talents!
Share with prospective employers!
If you are feeling more confident about your strengths now, go on to platforms such as LinkedIn and display your Top5 talents on your profile. Who knows, they might end up being a way to break the ice with prospective employers and clients, and leave a favourable impression.
Tag us @StrengthsTransform with the hashtag #strengthstransformation, we will be thrilled to check out your unique top talents!
“Do not try to be someone else. Strive to be the person you really are – fully and completely. This is your best avenue to achieving excellence.”