I NEVER RECEIVED THE BOOKS AND AS A RESULT WILL NOT PURCHASE THIS WAY AGAIN.

There are 4 books in these strength based book series:

1. First Break All The Rules
2. Now Discover Your Strengths
3. Strengths Finder 2.0
4. Go Put Your Strengths To Work

All of Marcus Buckinghams books are incredible and will definitely help you in finding your strengths and are all worth buying.

However this is about Strengths Finder 2.0.

The only reason to purchase this book is to take the new strengths finder test and get a couple new things the first book didn't have.
In the back of each Strengths Finder 2.0 book there's a packet that contains a unique access code.

The first 30 pages are great content and you should read them but the whole rest of this book are details about each of the individual 34 themes.
This information is all contained in Now Discover Your Strengths also. The only difference is that the 2.0 book they give you 10 ideas for action and
3 ideas on working with others. Both helpful.

I bought both books. I initially took the Strengths Finder 2.0 Test and will take the Strengths Finder 1.0 later (the first test in Now Discover Your Strengths)
to see how different it really is in a couple of months and see if I have any different themes compared to the first test.

If your not an entrepreneur or not in a management position you don't need to buy First Break All The Rules. Just stick with the 3 other strength books.

Good, not great. Told me something i already knew. What you are paying for is basically to take the assessment test.

The item has a high rating ... I would have to give Amazon a low rating on this purchase. I needed 33 books, but was limited to purchasing only 3 books. Needless to say, Amazon lost my business when I had to go somewhere else to purchase the remainder of the books. I now have a membership with Barnes and Noble with free shipping that will be utilized going forward. Not to say that I will not look to Amazon again in the future for other purchases. Only to say that I now have other options that I will definitely consider.

Amazon ... you let me down on this!

Hard to believe that a half hours worth of questions online can lead to very interesting insights into one's strengths. This book was very helpful to me.

The book of the week was Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath. This book was a recommendation of Amazon and I didn't know what to expect when I bought it. However, Amazon's recommendations have led me to great books in the past and I wasn't disappointed by this one either. That being said, the book's format definitely threw me. There is only about 50 pages worth of reading because the main point of this book revolves around an online test. You read about 50 pages about the importance of your strengths and identifying them and then you log into the strengths finder website, using a one-time code in the back of the book and take your strengths finder test. The results will bring up your top 5 character themes out of 34 different types. The point of identification is to help you improve on your best traits. The book helps you do this by giving you a summary of your 5 different themes, showing quotes from people with the different themes and creating a personal action plan to get your specific themes even stronger. Like a muscle... a great personality theme only gets stronger when it is worked out.

I want to stress upon you the importance of identifying your strengths. So often people focus only on their weaknesses and tirelessly try and improve on the things that they are not good at. The problem with this mindset is that you will work yourself into the ground and will most likely never be as good as the best. A physical example would be basketball, if you are 5' 2", 130lbs and practice for hours everyday to be the next Shaq, you will eventually be on the court with a person 2 feet taller and 200 lbs heavier than you and they will have the advantage.. resulting in years of time that could have been utilized more effectively. Now I am not saying that you shouldn't focus on your weaknesses... you should be aware of all your weaknesses and try to improve those skill-sets, but it should not be the most important thing you are working on. If that same, 5' 2" 130 lbs person, was naturally great at writing, and worked tirelessly on improving their writing skills. It would come naturally and expediently... and they may become the next Mark Twain. In Strengths Finder 2.0 Tom Rath tells a story famously described by Mark Twain in fact. Story goes, a man was at the Pearly Gates and asked Saint Peter a question... "Who was the greatest general of all time?" Saint Peter responded, "Oh that's simple, It's that man right over there." The Gentleman said "You must be mistaken, I knew that man and he was just a simple laborer." Saint Peter said "That's right, He WOULD have been the greatest general of all time, if he had been a general."

It is very important to analyze yourself and find out what your real talents are... To put this in terms of getting rich: If you find that you are great at marketing, but don't have the ability to negotiate, hire, speak publicly, budget etc... you build yourself a team. If each person in your team is as expert in their given field as you are at marketing, you'll have a cash-cow team! Whatever product or service you decide to dive into will be a winner. Additionally, it is important to know what your natural talents are when making the transition from school to the "real world." When you find your natural talents, you can represent yourself accurately and impressively to potential employers and really land yourself a great career path.

My 5 character themes after taking the Strengths Finder 2.0 was Achiever, Competition, Maximizer, Futurist, and Learner. I think it is very accurate and I will use my newly acquired action plan to strengthen my skills in those areas. I also know I need to keep a look out for the additional 29 character themes within people to make my professional network a complete powerhouse! One of the most important things I have learned is: You can't be the best at everything by yourself, so surround yourself with people that compensate for your shortcomings.

I recommend this book to absolutely everyone. The book will take about 45 minutes to read and the quiz should take about 30 minutes. The results will really help you identify your talents. It is very difficult to self-identify all your strengths so use this book as a resource. If you have any questions on the book don't hesitate to ask. I would be more than happy to help anyone that wants it.

I originally purchased this book because I was required to take the online assessment for a program I am in. I went from being very skeptical to really liking the strengths based approach. I found the online assessment included with this book very accurate and relatively easy to access. I took this assessment as part of a team building exercise and the results of my teammates' actually provided some useful insights. I would highly recommend this book.

The book was right on target and described me to a tee.......The software was user friendly and ease to navigate.

I purchased the book on the recommendation of a friend. The test was easy to take and the book was fairly easy to read, but the information contained was not earth shatteringly enlightening and didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. I read the book, took the test and immediately had a "now what?" feeling. From reading the forum on the book's website, it seems that many others had the same feelings. If you're going to buy the book, don't buy it for the full list price, its a waste of money. I purchased it at Amazon for less than half of the list price I would have had to pay a t a book store or on the website for the book.

Love this book and the concept of there are no negatives! strengths focuses on what you're good at and how you can accentuate the positive! of course, positivity is one of my top 5!!

I found this book inspiring. The book encourages us to exploit our strength and be realistic rather than try to do things that we never know before. The book gave example about Michael Jordan that he knew that his strength was in playing basketball, so he exploited the strength. He wouldn't have been that successful if he tried to be an accountant for example. Must read...

Great for personal use and for your team or employees for each of you to better identify your most potent personal skill set and place greater emphasis and opportunity in areas where performance can be maximized.

How else can you have your strengths identified for less that $13. Highly recommended.

Every book has a sealed envelope in the back with an online password so you can take the test.
Once you take the test - you can look up your strengths in the book.

The book I ordered through Amazon arrived with the password RIPPED OUT of the back of the book.
So 0 obviously I was unable to take the test.
Without the test - the book gives me no reference point and serves no purpose .
I wrote a letter of complaint but received NO response.

FYI: ordering this book was my second attempt...
My first attempt was downloading the book on my Kindle -
The kindle version does NOT include an online password either....so another $10 down the shoots....

After hearing nothing back from amazon - I went to the local bookstore and bought a $15 copy WITH the online password.
I should have done that the first time! I am learning....to date I've invested over $35 in one little book.

This book contains the 34 basic strengths that were introduced and explained in great detail in "Now, Discover Your Strengths." That book does an excellent job explaining how talents, skills, and strengths differ from each other and is a mandatory read. I would recommend reading it before purchasing this Strengths Finder 2.0 book.
This book rehashes the basic description of those 34 strengths, but it also adds some insightful commentary for each strength as to how it manifests itself. This book also has the code for the 'updated' StrengthsFinder test, which shows you your top 5 strengths. Just be aware - you don't get access to the order of your other 29 unless you pay lots of money for it.

This was recommended and I took it, but the test is timed and you only have one chance to answer the questions that are critical to the rest of the book making sense. I was a bit busy when I tried to take it and was quite displeased to find out the only way to update or revise your responses is to buy the book again. There are plenty of legitimate tools out there that let you assess and review your responses as you take them. This seems more designed to assist in improving their bottom line than realistically helping you better assess your personality and strengths.

I highly recommend this book. It has given me a shift in how I think, from focusing in areas in which I am not gifted, to focusing on my personal strengths, and this has given me a new found sense of self-confidence and understanding of how I can put my talents to use most efficiently in my job and life. After you complete the online portion, the results of the analysis give a clear picture of who you can be when you focus your energy on your personal talents, and the book also offers an online support community. For anyone who is not sure what they should be doing with their life, this book is a valuable resource.

OK, I have taken plenty of assessments like Strengths Finder 2.0. This was the least helpful one I have ever taken. The test is so elementary you can figure it out while you are taking it. Based on the questions, I figured out my top five before I printed off the results. LAME. Don't waste you money or your time. Malphurs book Being Leaders was much more helpful.

I've taken a lot of personality and character tests such as Myers-Brigg and I've always come out being skeptical about the results, not so much with this book. As I examined my life, attributes, and preferences, this book really explained a lot about myself and why I do the things I do. It has given me a bit more insight of the career I should choose and people I should hang around with. I recommend this book for anyone who's unsure about who they really are, what they should do in life, and/or are just plain curious on what their strengths are. I liked this book so much I bought 3 more copies after my first one to give as gifts to people around me...

despite the fact that this type of information seems like it would be incredibly helpful, and despite the fact that Gallup claims to be on the cutting edge, you don't get an access code when you purchase the kindle version of this book, so if you're looking to have your strengths evaluated, pick up the physical book and not the kindle edition. i wasted $9 on this, and now have to go buy the actual paper book.

One of the best business books I've ever read.

Yes, there will always be naysayers, but for $10, you ablsolutely can't go wrong.

One comment - I did like "Now, Discover Your Strengths" better and it is worth the extra $.

This book was required reading by a career coach, and I'm glad it was. STRENGTHS FINDER 2.0 was written by Tom Rath, a leader in the Gallup organization. Each book comes with a sealed code which may be used on their website to establish your online account. (For this reason, it is better to buy this book brand new and not used.) SF 2.0 uses behavioral testing similar to the DISC profile. But instead of only 4 characteristic and 16 possible outcomes, it offers 5 top strengths (out of 34) and a tremendous variety of outcomes.

My advice to anyone who takes the online test is to take your time on each question and think about each question thoroughly. This may sound like common sense, but one tends to rush through tests like this (especially when they're online).

Also remember that SF 2.0 is not the Bible. It's simply a very reliable guideline for discovering your true God-given strengths and how to use them effectively at work, home, play, church, etc. So, don't get nervous or uptight (like I did) if it shows a strength that is totally not you. It's not a perfect system, nor does it claim to be. But as my career coach pointed out, everyone has at least a little of all 34 strengths.

I recommend that one read up to the 34 themes, then take the test. When you are given your top 5, then read through each of those 5. Then I recommend reading all the rest of the strengths (or themes) and find other that match you. When I did this I was surprised not only by the fact that there were a few very accurate themes that the test seemed to have missed, but also by the fact that all of the other themes were for the most part very unlike me. Therefore the test - for the most part - was very accurate.

I highly recommend STRENGTHS FINDER 2.0.

Intellection
Connectedness
Input
Context
Learner

This book is great at understanding what you already knew about yourself and discovering strengths you might not be focusing on. This book comes with a code for their online assessment which is the key to this book. Once the assessment uncovers your primary skills there is a description, examples, ideas for action, and how to work with people that possess these skills. "People have several times more potential for growth when they invest energy in developing their strengths instead of correcting their deficiencies." Strengths Finder 2.0 is should be on everyone's reading list: it is a great tool for learning about yourself, how to develop your inherent strengths and apply them to all areas of your life.

PS. My top five strengths are Communication Adaptability, Woo, Significance and Strategic.

I really enjoyed this book because it was extremely accurate. Some of my strengths were ones I knew all along but never really tapped into. But what really impressed me about the book was that it not only told you your strengths but various ways to maximize them. It gave you an indepth analysis of your strength, ways you can maximize it, how your strength relates to people, real-life examples, and other great benefits. If you need guidance in discovering the natural you, READ THIS BOOK!

By sharing your natural born talents with you, this book only empowers and propells you to another level.

I purchased 10 copies and gave them to family for the Christmas holidays. I took stregnth finder and found it a very useful instrument for young people and adults in transition from one position or career to another.

I am extremely skeptical of self help books but at a recommendation of a business school prof, I bought this book and took the online strengths finder test. The results (my 5 key strengths) and the explanations in the book of what they mean and how best to utilise them in my life and career were extremely useful. As the book explains, your strengths are innate and not learned skills. They should stay consistent over time whether you are 19 or 50. You will find that you see yourself (and others) differently and have a better perspective on why you approach certain situations in one manner but others approach it differently. If you have ever done Meyers Briggs or other personality tests and really felt like the results were speaking to you, this is similar.

This book really makes one think about the Management of Employees and even the Strategic Planning Process. I really liked the mathmatical approach it used to measure talent and effort, both required for success. The online profile included with the Book was very accurate in identifying my Top 5 Strenghs.

This changed my focus after reading the first two chapters from spending so much time dealing with weaknesses and focus on stregths instead. I had to apply some thought to the approach mentioned in this book, but after finishing the book, I agree with its coonclusions.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who has to manage people on a daily basis.

If you are in any area of leadership not only do you need to go over this book but you need to have all your employees go over it too. It's a great way to learn how you operate and how to inspire those you lead. But then again I'm context so I really dig stuff like this!

I thought this product was very helpful in a job search. It helped me to find my strengths that I didn't realize were strength and to build upon those. It helped me to find a better direction for my future career. Great book!

The book itself is nothing special: the first 30 pages make the point that we often focus more on improving our weaknesses than capitalizing on our strengths, while it is through using our strengths that we find fulfillment. The rest of the book is devoted to descriptions of each of the 34 "themes" of personality (e.g. Achiever, Analytical, Consistency, Learner). The real reason for this book is found on the last page: an access code that lets you take their online strengths test, giving you your top five themes.

Having never taken a test like this before, I can't compare it to any others. I have reservations about some of the dualities they seem to espouse (Do I look toward the past or the future?). I also wonder how they came up with 34 themes. Why not 35? Or 10?

But I did get enough out of the test to recommend it. I wasn't surprised by any of the results, but it did tell me some things I had never articulated. Even better, the test results included an "application" section which suggested actionable goals based on the traits it identified, and some of those suggestions were very insightful. For example, while it might sound like management-speak, their suggestion that I should partner with an Activator (someone eager to get a project started) is borne out by my collection of abandoned projects.

Personal inventory exercises feel to me a lot like sitting down with a psychic: you ignore the stuff they get wrong and focus on the stuff that at some level you already know. But as a way to guide your own introspection and articulate some characteristics you have only vaguely recognized, this test is worth the money.

This is a great book, well written and easy to read and digest. Once read you will want to go online and take the strengths test that is the purpose of the book. However, what is not stated anywhere that I can find in the description of the book is that you can only take the test if you have a NEW and UNUSED access code available only through a NEW book. In the back of the book is a packet that you must cut open to get your access code. It is the author's intention for the packet to prevent the stealing of the access code without the purchase of the book. Unfortunately, it is not a successful method of prevention. Not realizing any of this, i bought my book from an Amazon vendor who listed it in "Like New" condition. I saved about $2 on the Amazon price. My book does truly look new. It even had the packet in tact and I had to cut it open to reveal the code. However, my entry of the code has been denied because it has already been used by some unscrupulous person who capitalized on my ignorance. Now I have to buy another NEW book in order to take the test I am oh so eager to take. Oh frugal friends, please learn from my mistake and only buy a new book this time!

If you want a book that will define who you are as well as help you better you life, then BUY THIS BOOK!

This was a great gift from my manager. I recently purchased for my team to use as a team building and provide insight in managing the group.

Highly recommended, the results were very accurate and helped me a lot. I always used to try to improve my weaknesses instead of capitalizing on my strengths, this is a very great read, and the online survey is great, get alone in a room with no distractions at all (turn off phone too), and give it about 35 minutes to go through it.

The book is okay, I just expected a bit more detailed results and suggestions. Basically I knew all the results already and was looking for getting a more helpful vision for developing my strengths.

A lot of people have complained that the book is no good without the code which allows you to take the online test. I would say that the opposite is true. The book is mildly interesting. The online test is poorly designed. You are better off guessing your talents than relying on the online test. It is very disappointing that the users receives no additional information after taking the online test. It just tells you your top five strengths, and reprints what is in the book. It is not worth paying $20 bucks for the code and a chance to take the test online. Pick up a used copy, read through it in an hour, and you will get all the value this has to offer.

Nice idea, but no indication of theoretical basis or where the "34 themes" come from, other than "30 years of experience and 2 million interviews" (one has to wonder about the depth and type of interview one can offer "two million people").

Even less impressive is the implicit assumption of accuracy for every test taker, with no warning that these tests are always inaccurate to a greater or lesser degree. The research link shows a test/retest reliability of .6 to .8 after 8- 12 weeks.

The website is usable, but sucks. As an OMI designer, I'm entitled to a professional opinion, complete with technical terminology. ;)

Having said all that, The test provided a partial, reasonable estimate of what I already know. For me, at this time and place, it appeared to work well, and provided a basis for interesting discussion. Given the understanding that NO test like this is "accurate", and discussion with thoughtful friends, this seems to be a useful tool. Combined with "feel good" positive psychology (which also often works) makes for a great marketing racket... Congrats, Gallup, you'll make a ton of money on this.

Great book! Definitely a must read for people wanting to change career or even their personal lifestyle!

I got this book from a colleague, who really wanted me to take the online test. So I entered the code from the book and answered the 180 or so questions, only to find the results to be rather useless.

The questions are of the "strongly agree-disagree" type, which is fine as long as you have a real choice. But frequently the opposites were no true opposites at all; a lot of them were rewordings of the same answer, defeating their purpose.

After filling in the test I received a top-5 of my strengths, which lean heavily on the "Barnum-effect", i.e. most people with vastly differing backgrounds will still be able to recognize themselves in the statements. This is heightened by the extremely optimistic wording; who wouldn't like to be told they are smart, critical, hard-working or creative? In that it highly resembles other personality-assessment methods, such as Myers-Briggs or Enneagrams, which are similarly vague and unhelpful.

I read some of the other descriptions in the book and found that a lot of them fit me even better than the five I got. I especially wonder why "analytical" is not in my top-5, since I am well-known for my tendency to debunk arguments, always trying to find the truth behind statements--much as I am doing right now.

The worst part, of course, is that you have to cough up $550 to get the results of the other 29 strengths, which labels this whole operation as a scheme to lift your purse.

In short: don't waste your time and money.

Over 120 people in our church have used this. It has been an eye opener for so many. Really really helpful for people to discover, name and work with their talents. Very simple to use.

This book is fantastic if you have been wondering about where to focus attention in your life. If you have ever wondered what your real strengths are, this will get you there and show you steps on how to improve and focus on those things.

The book was fine.........the problem was there was an access code needed to use the book. It was not included....not a very good way to do business.........Dan Smith 206 322-0617

Several other reviewers said that the book is useless without the code to access the assessment tool. I disagree - I thought the assessment tool was useless and got just as much out of reading the different descriptions in the book. The assessment provides two statements and asks you to choose between them as well as how strongly you associate with your choice. I felt that many of the choices were false dichotomies, the two options were not opposites and many times I agreed equally and strongly about both statements. You'd be better off asking your spouse, friends or colleagues what your strengths are. Don't waste your money on this book.

The book is a great resource and provide valuable information on a persons strength and how to find your own strength in order to maximize your talents and market onself.

A good general review of our strengths, but it would be more helpful if the test results also included our five biggest weaknesses.

Strengths Finder 2.0 offers a fresh perspective on working to improve our weaknesses vs. mastering our strengths. The format is easy to read, the content interesting, and the message enlightening. I would most certainly recommend it to others. One word of caution however...I ordered a "gently used" book from Amazon. And while the book was in GREAT condition, it did not come with the online code in the back. (You want the online code to take advantage of the research behind the book). Long story short, I was trying to be "green" by purchasing a "gently used" book, and now I will be purchasing the book again to get the online code.

The main concepts of the book can be summarized in 4 pages or gleaned from the reviews here, but what you are really paying for is a one time chance to take the online test to assess your strengths.

Unfortunately Gallup provides only your top 5 strengths without providing your actual score or an indication of how they measure relative to general population. Their claim is that telling you the score will distract you from the value of the strength and that only the top 5 strengths matter. I suspect the real reason is that they don't want to let anyone reverse engineer the test and find out how the scoring is done.

All this would still be fine by me if test scores were not important. But that is not the case. I took the test twice just to verify the publisher's premises that the results don't vary much based on your mood or from one test to another. As it turns out only one of the top 5 traits in the test existed in both results. The other 4 out of 5 were not shared. This makes the test of limited value.

To be fair, there was a common thread between the two sets of tests. For example in one test I was the "Futurist" who is concerned with "What if..." and "Wouldn't it be interesting if..." type of scenarios. In another test my strength was "Ideation" that is the ability to bring fresh ideas to the table. But this raises another key question, how reliable are the categories as whole if 4 out of the 5 strengths can be replaced with each other? This makes the strength categories defined here more like zodiac descriptions than real statistical clusters. At the very least then, Gallup should publish all your "strengths" that fall within some margin.

Given all of the above, you are probably more aware of your own strengths that Gallup can tell you. The test would be of more value if it provided your score for each of your strengths and how they measure relative to the full database.

I give this book a 4/5, not because the book was so great, but because the assessment you gain access to by buying the book is great. The book's content is a little thin, but I wanted to buy the cheapest book that would give me the code to do the on-line assessment.

I did the assessment as part of a class I was attending. The class itself, led by a person certified in the Gallup organization's Stengthfinder assessment tools, was superb. At least a 6/5. I'm not sure how I would rate this book if I had not had that class and that person's assistance in using the information gained.

The focus on strengths, rather than weaknesses, which we are far more accustomed to, is refreshing. I am already able to appreciate my own and others' strengths more, and to find ways to capitalize on them, rather than struggling against them.

The weakness of this approach is just that: it doesn't take into account weaknesses. When we don't acknowledge or deal with those, they can sabotage our strengths. And every strength has its corresponding weakness. So this is not a well-rounded, comprehensive book on life. But it is insightful, encouraging and positive. And I have benefitted from that.

Several friends recommended this book, so I finally broke down and purchased it. It is necessary for anyone interested in career / personal growth.

John C Maxwell once said that.."There were two most important days of his life...one when he was born, and one when he knew why".
"Strength Finder 2.0" and the online assessment helped me clarify my strengths, so I could focus on them, and know exactly what I was born for.
It is one thing to follow your passion, but, it is most important to know your strengths. This is the greatest key to success in life.