TALENTS & STRENGTHS

"Lord I praise you, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works! My very self you know."  

Ps 139:14

What exactly is a 'Strength'?
A 'strength' is the ability to consistently produce a nearly perfect positive outcome in a specific task.

The CliftonStrengths® (StrengthsFinder®) assessment tool actually measures the talents that serve as the foundation for a person’s strengths. When we apply skill, knowledge, and practice to our more dominant 'talents,' our talents are developed into 'strengths.' Therefore, our strengths are really an expression of our talents. To understand strengths, we need to understand talents.

What exactly is a 'Talent' or 'Talent Theme'?

Our 'talents' are our natural ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Creating a list of every human talent known is an impossible task. But we do have the next best thing: CliftonStrengths® talent themes.

In order to measure 'talents,' Gallup carefully identified approximately 180 items of human behavior. These items are grouped together to form 34 'themes' or categories of talent. When you take the CliftonStrengths® assessment, your results include information about your most dominant talent themes.

Understanding our dominant CliftonStrengths® talent themes give us a great starting point for discovering our own talents, understanding the talents of others, and learning about our potential for developing strengths.

Want to learn more about talents being the foundation for strengths? Watch the video, Your Greatest Talents (Run time: 2 min, 58 sec.).