Do you know where your strengths lie? I thought I had a pretty good idea. I thought I was very self-aware - that I knew my natural talents. I have always been an excellent student, especially in math and science. It was no surprise to me that I am dominant as logical-mathematical learner, according to the Gardner theory of Multiple Intelligences. I also scored high in both linguistic and visual - again no surprise.
- Achiever
- Analytical
- Futuristic
- Intellection
- Responsibility
To make an informed decision, one must first have all the data. As a logical learner, I wanted exact answers. I needed to know if I was right, so I took the on-line assessment for the 34 themes. I was surprised. The assessment revealed that my top five were as follows.
- Input - craving to know more - like to collect information
- Achiever - have stamina and work hard - like being busy and productive
- Analytical - search for reasons and causes - ability to see all situational factors
- Competition - measure progress against performance of others - want to be first
- Focus - prioritize then act to stay on track
My first thought was "I only got 2 out of 5 right," so I guess that was validation for the Competition theme selection. I start thinking, "What talents am I lacking? How am I going to be a great teacher leader if I do not have strong Futuristic or Responsibility themes? " Rath (2007) suggests that you "partner with someone who has more talent in the areas in which you are lacking." What a great idea! Another light bulb turns on - team building and team learning are about taking the best of the members' talents to make a great team. To be a great team leader, I need to build a team that uses the strengths of all members to compensate for individual weaknesses. By using easy other's strengths, we can build a learning community in which students, teachers, and parents can thrive and be proud to call ours.
Reference: Rath, T. (2007). StrengthsFinder 2.0. New York, NY: Gallup Press.
Thanks for sharing your results Tammy. It is interesting the differences we see in our we orginally viewed ourselves and what our analysis results showed. Also interesting that our team is a team of achievers--we share that theme.
ReplyDeleteI agree that using your team's strengths and building a team with various strengths is very beneficial. Having differnt strengths mens you look at problems differntly. Where one team member may come up with a great solution another team member may come up with an equally good solution. They will then have to look at both solutions to determine which would work best in that situation. However, if they had the same strengths, they may have only come up with one solution and it may not be the best solution for the situation.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing to see how we perceive ourselves and how Strength Finder analyzed us.
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