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Book Review-Strengths Finder2.0

William Brandon Neal
University of St. Thomas

Dr. Theresa M. Campos

EDUC 6331 Administrative Internship II
Spring 2015

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Strengths Finder was started by a team of Gallup Scientists led by David O Clifton, who
was known as the Father of Strengths Psychology. Tim Rath, along with other Gallup Scientists,
released this new addition in 2007. For a long time society focused on trying to improve
weaknesses rather than cultivating strengths and talents. This book helps to start the conversation
and make the case that people are more engaged and successful when cultivating talents rather
than always going against the grain and putting the majority of their energy on overcoming
weaknesses and areas of their personality that they struggle with.
One of the parts of this book that really spoke to me as an educator was the challenge of
the maxim, You can be anything you want to be if you just try hard enough. The book asks us
to accept a new way of thinking such as, You cannot be anything you want to be-but you can be
a lot more of who you already are. This can fit into the philosophy of the way that we view the
students that we teach. If you look at the strengths of your students then students are more
likely to be engaged in the educational process. This way of thinking also has strong
implications for instructional leaders when thinking about staff and teaching teams.
The author of Strengths Finder has come up with a list of 34 common themes to classify
talents using a common language. There is an assessment that asks participants to answer 177
questions. The participant has only 20 seconds to answer each question. This helps to ensure
honest feedback from participants. Instinctive quick feedback is less likely to change over time.
Once a participants talent has been identified, a report is given to the participant. The report
illustrates the participants top five talents. First you are aware of your talents through reading
the description which is personalized based on your answers. Then tips are given on how to
apply your talents. In addition there are anecdotes from people that have found success and
achieved by utilizing similar talents to your own.

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The first thing I noticed when taking the assessment for Strengths Finder is that it made
me a little nervous to answer questions in 20 seconds or less, but once I got into the flow of the
process it was easier. On each side there were two descriptors. I had to choose which side I
identified with more. As soon as my test was over I was given my top five talents. My top five
talents were input, ideation, activator, strategic, and communication. I was surprised when
reading each description how accurate it felt with what I know about myself. This is
encouraging me to spend time investing and developing my current strengths and talents. I can
see myself reflecting and using this information for a long time. In this way I did not feel like
this was a traditional book study, because I know I am only scratching the surface of ways that I
can use this knowledge to help develop my skills in leadership. This book even tells what talents
and strengths to look for when partnering with others within the work place. I plan to use my
personal profile when reflecting and growing as an instructional leader.
Looking through the lens of an instructional leader I think this book and assessment could
be a great tool for a principal to use as a book study and staff development. Teaching is much
more collaborative now and teachers work on teams. If teachers are exposed to information in
regards to their strengths and talents they would be likely to develop them in their work. This
could help teaching teams understand one another as individuals and lead to a community where
differences are utilized and appreciated. If teams at schools are aware of strengths they would
better be able to divide and conquer complicated tasks, which would lead to greater success and
a higher satisfaction with their job and each other. The winner in this approach would be the
students. If a teaching team utilized strengths in planning curriculum and instruction it would
lead to increased input and engagement by adding variety to instruction based upon the effort of

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a team of teachers that are able to prepare and implement activities that showcase individual
talents of the teachers that serve the students within the school community.

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References
Roth, T. (2007). Strengths Finder 2.0. New York: Gallup Press.