This is a wonderful book, but you have to buy it new! There's a code on the inside for the strengths quiz, and you cannot reuse the code. I had to buy StrengthsFinder 2.0--the new version--in order to get the quiz without repurchansing the same exact book twice.

It would have been nice to know this....

This book goes along with StrengthFinders by Rath. I enjoyed this book. I agree focusing on an employees strengths are key. In the book, Elephants Can't Change but Leopards can!!! it talks about the Now, Discover your Strengths book and how it can be implemented by Management.

There were many things I liked about this book and some that I found difficult. Buckingham's theme of focusing on one's strengths rather than weaknesses (as so many development programs and activities do) is an excellent one. He also provides a very good strategy for doing this:
1. How to distinguish your natural talents
2. Having a system to identify your dominant talents
3. Having a common language to describe your talents.

Let's start with the first - "talents". In talents, Buckingham distinguishes between what is innate and what can be acquired through practice. He categorises one's expertise into talents, knowledge and skills and makes the quite valid point that a person can improve performance in an area through practice and developing knowledge and skills. However, the extent to which overall performance (or expertise) can be enhanced is limited to the degree of innate talent. I liken this innate talent to aptitude.

The system to identify one's natural talents is based on the StrengthsFinder Profile. This profile is completed on line using a code provided with the purchase of the book. When I tried to log in using my code I was told that I had to register at one of these sites:
* StrengthsQuest
* Vital Friends
* StrengthsExplorer
* Bucket Book
* Gallup Online
As I object to having to do this, it is probably unfair of me to comment on this aspect of the book other than to say that I think the idea of a system such as a questionnaire to identify one's talents is a good one.

The final aspect a "common language" is fully outlined in the 34 themes of StrengthsFinder. Two points I would make about these. Firstly, from the text I think it would be hard to identify in others these 34 patterns. I also found the description of these to be a little light on.

On balance, this book is worthy of note for its emphasis on strengths and in awakening us to the notion of "natural talents" - worthy of a read for this point. Choose yourself whether you want to take the test.

Bob Selden, author What To Do When You Become The Boss: How new managers become successful managers

This book is the follow-on to "First, Break all the Rules." The latter targets management while this book is for the individual. If you buy your own copy of the book, you get a code with which you can take their Strengths Finder online survey. (You can now also go to the web-site and take the survey for a fee; they used to require a book purchase.) That tool gives you your top 5 strengths, in order, which is what is missing from First, Break all the Rules.

With your strengths in hand, you can now look at your career, your role in your company, and the direction of your life. In my case, I understood why I wasn't happy in the previous year with my job. I had been "promoted" to "leadership" for all of my good technical work and was no longer playing to any of my strengths. I HAD to make a change, which was to get out of the "leadership" role. Management wasn't very happy with me. I continued using the recommendations in this book and formed my own training plan that "exploited" my strengths and developed them further. Its been 5 years, and both me and my management are happy. In fact, this year was my best performance review and raise ever!

My opinion is if you have read the book(s), then take the quiz, that can skew your quiz answers. I believe the strengths it identified for me, just not sure that the order wasn't affected by my having read both books in their entirety first. Thus, consider reading this book first even though it is second in the series UNLESS you are a manager and only have time to read one of the two books. (In that case I would take the quiz using the code from this book, put the book down, and read First, Break all the Rules.)

Brilliant. Readable. Engaging. Empowering.

I was originally introduced to this work through Kristine Gunn of www.HighVelocityTraining.com.

It immediately provided hope that my inherent ideas about how to work with people to help them perform (and internally do the same) could be applied today.

An inspiring work that truly helps you find the path to your own inherent success traits. A phenomenal book, and the integrated online test and report are vital to helping you return to center when you find yourself in the weeds, wondering why you're working so hard and not having fun.

To your greatest success and most fulfilling work.
Mark Alan Effinger,
RichContent.com
ThoughtOffice.com

Easy read. Very positive. Good book for team building, but the downside is that you MUST buy a book for each individual person so that they can take the on-line test.

The title implies that it will help YOU discover and use YOUR strengths, but it is actually more of a management/hiring book- it helps you place other people to use THEIR strengths effectively. Since I am in sales, (and only have one assistant who doesn't need much managing) it wasn't much of a help. The personality test wasn't even helpful. The book recommends that you use it to "hone your strengths" and then it doesn't tell you how to go about doing that. If I were managing 20 or so employees and had to make a lot of hiring decisions it might have been helpful- it did discuss how to match people with different talents to appropriate jobs. Since I am not- it was a total waste of time and money.

An excellent leadership tool for personal development - The online evaluation allows you to identify your five top strengths. I found this to be a great tool to establish a baseline of strengths for personal management. I still use it today - five stars. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in investing in personal growth: it's better in some ways than Myers Briggs(tm) and Strong Interest Inventory(tm). Talent identification is important for each of us and for your team: you can complete a questionnaire developed by the Gallup Organization. I have purchased both the audio and the book which I have shared with my family and friends. Frank Sowin

Do your self a favor... read this book and take the online assessment (probably not the right term). I've used a lot of what I got out of each in conversation with my boss about a few things including a letter of recommendation from him, and I have used the findings as a major point of reference during an incredible interview for grad school.

Combined with the access to the on-line test, this book can help provide insights both to yourself and others. The first half of the book is very interesting and provides a solid foundation for you to understand some basics about human development. The test is well done and easy to move through. The test results and the explanation of the strengths in the book can really change the way you see yourself.

A key value and purpose of this book is to link you to a web site to take the StrengthFinder survey. The code in the back cover can only be used once, so if you buy a used copy, that has probably already been consumed.

This is the most important book I've read about developing people. With the inclusion of the internet-based Strengths Finder Profile, the reader gets much more than a book. This is an interactive tool that will help the reader understand how his talents are best used when playing to strengths, a powerful motivator for self-improvement. The book is easy to read and well-organized so the reader can get right at the most important elements right away.

Tight times, job changes, they are frightening.
Knowing your strengths is a major 'coping' tool.
It really helps writing job-getting resumes.
This is a 'must have' book.
Mine is on loan about 70% time.

This a great book that will help you identify your signature themes. THe book is an easy read and will definitely keep your attention. Worth the purchase alone, just to have access to the StrengthsFinder poll.

This book suggests working on your strength rather than your weaknesses. With help from the on-line resource, you are able to identify your top 5 strengths.

Ever wanted to be a professional athlete when you grew up? And with each year passing, your skills stayed behind regardless of how much work you put in. When you arrive at the end of your teen years, you decide to go to college and pursue a career.
This may actually be a true story to most of us, as we lack skills, talent or health to reach the goals we dream of as a child. Live with it.

Now get real and reflect on your own life. Ok, you couldn't hit a ball but can you make an absolute smashing sales pitch? Or is your life so organized you have spare time? With this book you will learn to make the best of the talents you have, and not slightly improve the talents you lack.

Being a business owner this book was of great help managing personnel and putting together teams that complement on each other's strength. This makes some people valuable as a team member where they lack qualities as an individual. In sports this term is also complemented with the word 'chemistry' which is actually a direct result of a balanced and complementing team.

For anyone interested in self-improvement or having to work with teams, this book shares a wealth of knowledge and puts you behind the wheel of improvement within your life.

My issue with the book is nothing to do with codes or upselling to other products. It's the basic premise that I have a problem with and its lack of reality in the real world.

To a large extent I'm always slightly wary of books by people who have merely studied others and haven't really been out there at the coal face of human achievement but the hype for Mr Buckingham is huge so I thought I'd give it a go. It reads very much to me like a wonderful and highly marketable theory that could only really work in a large company. Most small enterprises would be ludicrously stifled if all their staff went around "only working to their strengths". Sometimes to really make a difference and to really get things done you have to bully your way through your weaknesses too. I doubt there is an entrepreneur on the planet who wouldn't agree with that.

Perhaps I'm viewing it from too entrepreneurial a perspective but I also take great solace in the fact that Tiger Woods regards one of his key skills as being his ability to work on his weaknesses. At the time of writing Tiger looks like being the world's first sports billionaire and has just won seven tournaments in a row. That's somebody whose advice I would take.

There have been several books on personality profiling. This one brings all together new perspective to it. Most importantly, it explains why every person is different and still very good at something or other. There is scientific explanation as well as easy to understand practical perspective.

What is not there is an easy way for person to make use of the knowledge. I am guessing that it's covered in this book from the same author. Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance

Remember: Please by new book to have your own profile composed. There is a code in the book which can be used only once.

This was an eyeopener. It helped me to realize what I have always felt: Focus on your strengths - not your weaknesses. It seems obvious, but all too often we spend time focusing on our weakness and trying to bring them up to our strengths. Forget about it. You are never going to be strong in an area that you are naturally weak. You can get to a certain level of competency - enough to get by. But, you cannot expect more than that.

Find your strengths. Find a career that allows you to excel and become the best that you can.

As CEO Coach, Poet and author of a leadership book that helps leaders unleash their genis, the genius of teams and the genius of corporations, I have found the teachings of this book considtant and in support of my work. Expanding and integating your strengths has a much higher return on investment in time than working on life long weaknesses. Paul David Walker Unleashing Genius: Leading Yourself, Teams and Corporations

If you really want to identify your strengths and unlearn what you have learned about making yourself "better," this book is a must. At first, I was taken aback by the author's concept of not really working on your weaknesses, but really training your strengths to overcome them. This concept is quite liberating and is REALLY want is used by those who succeed in their respective fields.

This book helped me identify the key strengths that make me good at what I do. It's a nice change from focussing on your weaknesses as most of us do. I recommend this to anyone who is thinking about a carreer change and wants to know what transferrable skills he/she has. This is also good to prepare for interviews.

The site for the 1.0 version is down until the 25'the of February. I also bought the 2.0 book, but was unable to put in a good password, so both books are useless if you want to actually take the test to discover your strengths.

This book and self-test focus on an individual's best and most useful personality traits. It is a great tool for self evaluation and gives a great insight into one's most beneficial abilities. Use your strengths and succeed in life, personally and otherwise.

Hallo,I bought this book in the first place to improve my english through the sinfull environment,but this book also extends human comprehensions and is helpfull,although everybody doesn't think to solve thus their problems.

As a student in high school, I was assigned this book to read as extra credit over Winter Break. When I first began to read I wondered how the book could relate to my life right now. I don't work at an office and I certainly don't hire employees. As I began to read, I enjoyed the knowledge that the book shared with me. It was an interesting way to view life, especially focusing on an individual's strengths. My favorite part was the StrengthsFinder. It was very helpful in letting me see what talents a program thought I expressed. After reading the book and taking the online survey, my confidence grew and I was able to focus on my strengths more. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, in any career, at any age.

I find the Strengths Finder very useful for me to put words to my strengths. I appreciate the positive attitude of working in my strengths rather than working on deficits.

I've read "Now Discover Your Strengths" and "StrengthsFinder 2.0" and have taken both assessments. These books and the assessments explore what's right with people. I really enjoyed "Now Discover Your Strengths" and support the concept of leading through strength. I enjoyed reading about the various strength categories, how to manage people with different strengths, and building a strengths-based organization. When I took the original Strengthsfinder assessment which is provided with the book, it was an interesting experience, but I didn't get much additional value. The book is far more substantive.

The Strengthsfinder 2.0 book didn't provide me with me substantially more insight than this book. The assessment is a slightly more customized, and the action steps can help with implementation. I still can't figure out why one of my five strengths was not included in my original strengthfinder assessment. How could my strengths change in two days?

Discovering and employing strengths is undoubtedly worthwhile, so here's your choice. If you want the most substantive information, read this book. If you are more interested in the personalization of strengths, then take the Strengthsfinder 2.0 assessment. The Strengthsfinder 2.0 book is not nearly as impressive as this book.

If you are interested in making the most of your thinking, interactions and any situation, I absolutely recommend the Optimal Thinking Online Assessment, a brilliant supplement to the Optimal Thinking book. Because thoughts are the parents of performance, I believe this is the most powerful assessment in the marketplace.

The idea of the book is to help you find your talents, build your strengths, which will in turn, improve your performance.

Building your strengths is indeed somthing that is often overlooked, as most of the time we seek to improve our weaknesses- that's a point well taken- and a good reason to buy the book. However two more things also need to be mentioned. First, why can't we work on building both our strengths AND our weaknesses? In other words, why do we have to necessarily pick just one? I feel that many weaknesses can be improved upon.

Secondly, discovering your talents and doing what you're good at may not necessarily improve your performance. Why? Because there are lots of things we're good at, but still hate to do nonetheless. For instance, I'm really good at cleaning houses and debating, but I don't like to really do either one. People really perform well when its something that they know how to do AND when there's something meaningful/important in it for them. Anyway, just some food for thought. Readers may also be interested in Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance.

The idea of the book is to help you find your talents, build your strengths, which will in turn, improve your performance.

Building your strengths is indeed somthing that is often overlooked, as most of the time we seek to improve our weaknesses- that's a point well taken- and a good reason to buy the book. However two more things also need to be mentioned. First, why can't we work on building both our strengths AND our weaknesses? In other words, why do we have to necessarily pick just one?

Secondly, discovering your talents and doing what you're good at may not necessarily improve your performance or your motivation. Why? Because there are lots of things we're good at, but still hate to do nonetheless. For instance, I'm really good at cleaning houses and debating, but I don't like to really do either one. People only get motivated to something when they know how to do a job AND there's something meaningful in it for them- that's how you motivate people. Readers who like this book might also be interested in Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance.

Now, Discover Your Strengths is a book based on the premise that the traditional model of becoming better by fixing your weaknesses is incorrect. Instead you would be better off finding out your greatest strengths and developing those to improve your performance. And lucky you, the authors provide an online quiz meant to help you discover your personal strengths.

The book begins discussing successful individuals and what they have in common. Generally people who make it to the top enjoy what they do, and they work in roles that emphasis their strengths rather than their weaknesses. One example is Warren Buffet, who thrives on investing in simple, boring companies. When tech companies were the top performers, he chose not to join in, since the complex products and aggressive accounting techniques were not his forte.

The authors introduce three requirements to develop strengths, which are covered through the book:
* Distinguishing natural talent from knowledge and skills. Knowledge comes in two flavors, factual and experimental, which can both be learned. Skill is what organizes experimental knowledge, allowing you to make use of it. Natural talent is what drives performance, but cannot be learned. The main focus of the book is to discover and define your talents.
* Identify your dominant talents. What activities do you pick up quickly? What do you enjoy doing, and do you excel at? The book continuously promotes the strengths finder profile, an online test that narrows down your five dominant talents.
* Find the proper language to describe your talents. Language is focused on the negatives, rather than positives. The book provides some excellent examples of how language leans to the negative. People who are meticulous and orderly are called anal; people who can't wait to act are impatient or impulsive. The strength finder profile turns this around by naming each strength, defining it, and giving an example of someone that exhibits it.

Later chapters go on to discuss how to use the results of the strength finder, covering both individuals who would like to develop themselves, and managers who would like to use the results to build a better team. Techniques for creating a strengths-based organization include finding ways to reward employees while keeping them in the roles that they excel in, as well as focusing on the results of a goal rather than the means used to get there. Employees should be encouraged to use their talents to achieve goals, rather than forcing them to follow rigid routines.

While I enjoyed the book and felt that the premise was interesting, there is one problem that I feel overcomes the positives. The only way to access the profile test is to use a code present in the book. I borrowed the book from a friend, so the code had already been used. Without taking the strengths finder profile online, I was unable to accurately narrow down what my strengths are, making the later parts of the book less interesting. If I really wanted to take the test I would have to purchase my own copy of the book. I don't know if this was an oversight by the authors, or a scheme to sell more books.

Furthermore, there is an entire chapter covering strengths based management, which assumes every employee takes the strengths finder profile. This of course would require every single one of them to buy the book.

Recommendation:

If you don't know your strengths, and would like to find out more about yourself, this is an excellent place to start. This would also be a good book for managers. Even without requiring employees to take the profile test, there are enough suggestions for improving effectiveness and increasing morale that it could be a useful tool for some, although some of the topics are broad and very generalized.

For non-managers who are already familiar with their strengths it may be less useful. I feel like there is something missing, like examples on how to actually build on your strengths. It might be that this information is covered in other books in the series, and eventually I would like to look into those too.

The major feature of this book is that you can go online and take a test to identify your strengths. This is key to reading this book. If you purchase this book used,(as I did) this will not be an option for you. There is a one-time use code inside the book that will not be valid if you purchase this item used. LET THE BUYER BE INFORMED THAT USED BOOKS ARE USELESS.

I bought this book from Amazon and I guess that it was used. The value of this book is an on-line strenghts assessment that is good for one user only. I contacted the company and told them I was not able to log on. They told me that the password they gave me was already used and I was not eligible to take the assessment. They could not help me since I didn't do enough due diligence before buying the book. "Buyer beware."

This book has very little information without the on-line assessment and becomes worthless to anyone other than the original purchaser.

I would be very wary about buying anything by marcus buckingham.

This book is excellent. It motivates the reader to want to exercise those things that the reader already does well. It stimulates that person to learn how to produce an excellent performance consistently.

Buckingham and Clifton have done an excellent job of identifying the strengths of individuals according to their research. The book is well written and allows you to delve into each personality type and to understand how strengths when harnessed can become the secret to a top performing team. The questions asked are also exactly what I was thinking - what can I do with the information I have now discovered from the previous book "First, break all the Rules". I really believe you need to buy both books to really understand how the Gallup Survey has been conducted to understand the analysis. I would highly recommend this book and particularly so, if your organisation has used this methodology to rate their managers.

Arguing strongly and persuasively for the uniqueness of the individual in the face of the sameness of basic human nature, The Gallup Organization continues its assault on traditional management practices, particularly those based upon uniformity of approach and improvement by focusing on identified weaknesses. In this follow-up book to "First, Break All the Rules", the authors re-present the logic for their application of this Positive Psychology approach in the workplace and introduce their 34 themes of Talent. Although the accompanying web based assessment tool is labeled the StrengthsFinder, it is built to understand yearnings, rapid learning, and satisfactions in order to detect a person's 5 dominant Talents. Talents, while enduring and unique, are only a part of Strengths, as these must be combined with Knowledge and Skills to develop our Strengths.

As was the case with "First, Break All the Rules", this book is well researched, well written, and easy to comprehend. It superbly weaves stories and examples into the narrative to bring the points to life, making it also an enjoyable read. Although Part III is titled, Put Strengths to Work, this book is not nearly as helpful in that regard as Buckingham's more recent book, "Go Put Your Strengths to Work". And, with the upgraded version of this book, "StrengthFinder 2.0" now on the Amazon market for $11.97 (and qualifying for free shipping), one might ask, why buy this one? I can better answer that question after my copy of 2.0 arrives next week!

Dennis DeWilde, author of
"The Performance Connection"

After studying this book extensively during my Masters degree in counseling, I have given it to several new high school graduates. It is a great tool for focusing on one's strengths and I have had lots of positive feedback from the recipients. It provides a direction to the oft-repeated question, "So, now what do you want to do?" Enjoy! Bethany Lawson

"Now, Discover Your Strengths" is a breath of fresh air. I can relate, as authors Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton describe in their book, to people who tend to focus on their weaknesses instead of identifying their talents and building them into strengths. Before reading this book, I used to focus on everything that I thought needed improvement instead of seeing that there were natural areas in my workplace that I excelled in. I am a loan servicer at an investment bank, and I have discovered that I am currently performing in a job that capitalizes on my strengths and my talents. My knack for organization and discipline has earned me the role of training new hires in my department. Without recognizing this talent, I may have turned down the opportunity when my supervisor suggested that I take on this responsibility. I really enjoy my work.

I've also found satisfaction with my workplace from reading books by authors Ariel & Shya Kane. Before reading their book, Working on Yourself Doesn't Work: A Book About Instantaneous Transformation, I would complain about my job, thinking that it was just a job that paid the bills, always dreading 9:00AM on Mondays and day dreaming about 5:00PM on Fridays. My existence at my workplace was so unsatisfying that I was miserable. After reading their books, including How To Create a Magical Relationship and Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment, I have discovered that if I fully engage in the moment with my life, the mundane tasks in life become magical. Magical - as in fun, easy, and satisfying. Not only have I found that I have unique strengths by reading "Now, Discover Your Strengths", I have found a life of ease in my workplace, by reading the award winning books by Ariel & Shya Kane.

Really...a breath of fresh air. I found it so valuable that I began using this book's assessment with another assessment I have for my clients. The one-two punch provides a great basis by which a person can begin to see and capitalize on their strengths and thoughts that support them and make the change they want and need in other areas.

As so many other reviewers have noted, the basic premise of this book is logical - identify and use your strengths, minimize time and effort applied to using and fixing your weak areas. What the title promises is to help you "discover" your strengths through the use of the online testing tool. After taking the test you receive a "report" with a rather simplistic summary description of each of your top five strengths (out of the 34 possible that they identify). As one reviewer noted, this information might be illuminating to a young person starting their career, but most self-aware adults who have been in the world of work for a while will probably find that the results either confirm what they already know about themselves or as others have noted, give every indication of being innacurate. My experience was that 4 of the top 5 essentially confirmed what I already knew and the fifth (Adaptability) was only a partial fit according to the authors' description of it. My real interest was in the whole picture of the full spectrum of my strengths and weaknesses. Do I only have 5 strengths and everything else is a weakness I should avoid? Do I have other strengths that can be used in conjunction with or support of these top 5? The website offers me the "opportunity" to learn about my strengths 6-34 but only if I plunk down $550 for a one-hour (that's $550 for ONE HOUR) long call with a "Strengths Performance Coach" for an "in-depth" consulting session. So by my math, that means approximately 2 minutes per additional item - hardly in-depth. IMHO this is an outrageous amount of money to pay on top of the price of the book simply to see the complete results of the test.

Aside from that issue, the book provides superficial descriptions of the various strengths but no real content regarding what to do with the information regarding your top 5, how to map them to roles or do much of anything else with them. The only section I felt had any real practical value was about managing people with different strengths - useful if simplistic and it slightly fleshed out the profiles of the strengths previously mentioned.

This would have at least some value as a means of gaining self knowledge if one could get the full results of the test (without paying an exorbitant sum for "consulting"). Ideally this would be included in the results by default but if not Gallup should at least offer this option and at a reasonable price. Without any additional information regarding where the other 29 characteristics fall in my profile, knowing the top 5 is like having a recipe with 34 ingredients, but only knowing the proper amounts for 5 of them and no direction on mixing and cooking time. This book feels more like a sales pitch for very expensive consulting services than anything from which the average person seeking self knowledge will benefit. If you are looking for some in-depth insight into your strengths and temperment, you'll get more bang for your buck by taking the Myers-Briggs, the Kiersey Temperament Sorter or working through What Color is Your Parachute.

This is an excellent book for all levels of managers. I am reading the book and reviewing it with the managers in my portfolio. Not only has it been helpful to me to learn their strengths it has been a real eye opener to them to realize how their strengths effect their work and how they have been successful in the work they do. I think it has also given them confidence in knowing they don't have to fix their weakness but grow their strengths. They are all very eager to learn the strengths of the people on their teams. I would highly recommend this book.

I came into this book series backwards. Started with "Now, Discover Your Strengths" and read this one second. Probably not the best way for most people, but works for me.I like the positive/strengths better than culture's negative/weaknesses approach. I see a connection between my Gallup strengths and my Meyers-Briggs personality strengths. I'm not a manager, supervisor or leader type, so I'm using the information only on a personal level. Reading and understanding both "go" and "now" has helped me stop wasting energy trying to be a "better person". Intuitively I knew that focusing on my weaknesses is futile. But it's always nice to have research to back us up and feel that we're not alone in our thinking.

Buckingham is leading a revolution. I'm one of those who have signed-on for this revolution because his book spoke to the depth of my being. The world convinced me to improve my weaknesses, but Buckingham affirmed everything I innately knew about myself and my ability to lead/manage out of my strengths. I'm forever indebted to Gallup's Strengthsfinder and Buckingham. The people I lead and manage are too. They now have someone who affirms their God-given hardwiring and wants to position them for maximum impact in their jobs, in their service, and in personal satisfaction. That's a revolution. You should join it!

I read this after it was mentioned and lauded at a conference I was at, and am very glad I did. I have talked with several people about this since I've read it, and it's prompted me to sit down with one employee to review his strengths and career paths within our organization that would help him fully utilize what talents he has. While I agree that there does not seem to be a lot of specifics about exact steps to implement these ideas, frankly I've found that a lot of the time when there are exact steps they don't fit the management model we have anyway.

I have also been thinking about the implications of this book as a mother of a pre-teen daughter, and the concern I have with self-confidence issues as she enters the mysterious world of teendom. While there is a book (by another author, forward by Buckingham) coming out Feb 2008 that seems to talk directly about kids ands strengths that I will get and read, in the mean time I think that several of the lessons are very applicable to understanding and raising teens. Rather than spending time and energy - and creating frustration - by working on creating a talent that isn't there, instead as she gets older we'll work on focusing on the talents that are there and ways to work around, compensate for, etc. weaknesses. That does not mean she doesn't have to do certain homework (!), but it will mean that the way we approach studying, getting projects done, and activities at school will be focused on playing to her strengths; hopefully building these skills to support her strengths will only help her as she moves on in life.

I've used this book with my team to help them learn about themselves as well as each other. Its a great tool to help people understand how they are "wired".

I have not yet read any of the book, but bought it for the key to taking the online Strengthsfinder assessment for a graduate class in career and workforce development. (NOTE: MAKE SURE TO BUY A NEW COPY OF THE BOOK IF YOU WANT TO GET AN "UNUSED" KEY TO TAKING THE STRENGTHSFINDER ASSESSMENT ONLINE.)
The assessment alone was well worth the price of the book. Structuring one's professional development or career pathing around one's strengths (instead of around one's weaknesses) is an energizing way to invest in one's work self. If you only take the assessment and never read the book, you will have gotten your money's worth.
Regarding the book, my professor tells me it goes a good job at applying the Strengthsfinder to the work world and management.

great product. exactly as stated it would be. great book. very uplifting!

I read this book and took a class on it, there are coaches that are trained all over the world that will help you discover and use your strengths in every day life. Loved this book. They even have a book for every age, (young students, adults, and college age)

Very dissapointed as to what the title leads you to believe about the book. Though the authors have done a tremendous amount of research, it flaws in 2 major issues which it forgets:
a) the profile though quite specific, is similar to other profiles out there
b) 90% of the book is about why we should concentrate on our strenghts. Now lets face it, if you are a small business person like me who wants to grow his business, i already understand that i should be concentrating and exploring my strenghts and that of my organisation. I dont think i need to go thru the majority of the book to learn the concept.

If you are a small business owner like me who wants the "how to", just read chapter 7 which goes to practical issues. If on the other hand you have nothing else to do, then yes do go ahead.

This book is an excellent illustration of the Gallup Organization's ability to market data as "knowledge". Today we seem to be so enamored of huge statistical databases that we assume better conclusions come from analyzing more information, in newer and more complex ways. When I finished reading this book, and taking the online "Signature Themes" profile evaluation I was struck by the enormity of my tranquilized obviousness. Everything I "learned" from this book I already knew, other than the valuable marketing lesson of how they got me to buy it!