CliftonStrengths® Top 5

The story behind how I operate

Gallup's CliftonStrengths assessment sorts 34 talent themes into four domains: Strategic Thinking, Executing, Influencing, and Relationship Building. Mine landed almost entirely in the first two, three Strategic Thinking themes and two Executing. Here's what that actually looks like day to day.

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Strategic Thinking

Input

People with Input are inquisitive collectors, of ideas, facts, quotations, anything that interests them, because they know it might prove valuable one day.

I collect things that might matter later: information, ideas, even people.

Reads widely to stay current on ideas and events, not because I have to
Collects precise, sometimes intricate vocabulary, and often ends up translating between specialists and everyone else
Loses myself in a book or a rabbit hole because I want to absorb as much as I can

Executing

Belief

People with Belief hold enduring core values and a strong sense of purpose. For them, success means more than money or prestige, and that consistency is what makes them dependable.

A short list of values shapes almost everything I do.

Drawn to people who follow through on what they say and hold high standards
Will inconvenience myself to help someone, and genuinely have more energy afterward
Places more weight on purpose than on the paycheck attached to it

Strategic Thinking

Strategic

People with Strategic talent sort through clutter to find the best route forward, spotting patterns where others see only complexity, always asking "what if this happened?"

I look for the pattern before I look for the plan.

Analyzes the lessons of the past for clues on how to handle what's next
Rarely taken by surprise, because I've usually already weighed a few alternate routes
Sees patterns and unusual configurations where others see only randomness

Strategic Thinking

Learner

People with Learner talent constantly strive to learn and improve. The process matters as much as the knowledge gained; the outcome is less significant than the "getting there."

Getting better at something excites me more than the credential waiting at the end of it.

Wants the mechanism, not just the headline, and delves far beneath the surface
Expects to be kept in the loop, and gets genuinely frustrated when I'm not
Probably becomes something of an expert simply by working at it so diligently

Executing

Arranger

Arrangers are conductors. Faced with a complex situation and many moving parts, they enjoy aligning and realigning the variables until everything lands in the most productive configuration.

Give me a pile of moving parts and I'll find the best configuration.

Believes anything worth doing involves a little chaos, and finds change invigorating, not stressful
Notices who's best qualified for what, and isn't afraid to ask teammates for help
Likes helping people fit into groups by pointing out their good qualities to others

Putting it together

Three Strategic Thinking, two Executing

In plain terms: I gather information and look for the pattern in it, then I hold the line on what matters and get the plan moving. None of that happens alone, though. Almost every strength above shows up as something relational in practice: translating jargon for the people who need it, staying trustworthy enough that people hand me responsibility, or noticing what makes two very different teammates work well together.

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