If you’re anything like me, you know well when you’ve missed the mark. You may have strong physical and mental responses to these events. An inner critic that can be merciless at times. A few years ago, I was introduced to Clifton Strengths by Dr. Donald Clifton and gallup.com. “Almost 30 years ago, Dr. Don Clifton issued the world a challenge: "Focus on strengths and manage the weaknesses." It was a counterintuitive change. At the time, leaders of all types of organizations believed people could only find success by fixing their weaknesses.” What We Learned From 25 Million CliftonStrengths Assessments (gallup.com) Clifton Strengths is a strengths-based way to notice what’s working and support you as you explore what’s not. The process is a test that takes about 30 minutes to complete. The information can be quite literally life changing.
Why Clifton Strengths
We are unique individuals. Often the variety is both what creates beauty and resistance. “The chance of someone in that database having the same Signature Themes (top 5 strengths) in the same order as someone else is one in 33.4 million.” This database is comprised of over 26 million completed tests globally. By taking time to look at your strengths and consider what your unique gifts are, you also become empowered with a greater understanding of yourself and the world. Speaking from practical experience, taking this assessment has greatly increased my understanding for the places I hit resistance. Seeing both my assessment and my husbands opened completely new conversations about goals, values, and relationship. We discovered a lot of answers to “Why do you do that?!”. This is true of the workplace as well. We each employ our strengths as strategies to succeed, connect, win, achieve, or create peace to name a few.
Working Moms and the weight they carry
Women make up 48% of the workforce currently in the United States. One third of those women are also working mothers. The demands as we know are high on parents today. Speaking of those moments when we feel a mark is missed? As moms juggle the daily things, balance is not possible. As quoted by Jean-Marie Jobs “Multi-tasking is not actually possible. We are only capable of one task at a time.” Our children and spouses are important to us. Our work is important to us. We can easily find ourselves at a deficit of pouring out from the amount of needs we are present with. We certainly do not need another way to measure what’s not working. Working with Clifton Strengths personally has helped inform me on my needs and supported me in the journeys of being a stay-at-home mom, a homeschool mom for 6 years and now a working mother with children in school. Of course, there is still life and difficulty, but the focus here is that by investing time into knowing ourselves more, by learning more about what’s working and how to sit with and navigate what’s not, we find greater ease with what is.
Clifton Strengths is one tool. I use it in coaching and in my life. There are many resources and tools we draw from. This tool has literally changed my trajectory for the positive. Growing up in a small town and a rural area has advantages and disadvantages. Many things I treasure about Maine are the small towns, nature, and strong work ethic I learned. I also regularly felt missed and belittled. I experienced a lot of criticism throughout my childhood which led me in some ways to live a very small life. It was far easier than risking. During my time in coaching and learning Clifton Strengths I learned a whole new language. I found a lot more tools and, with a deep connection to my faith journey I healed. Do you desire to understand more of why you are you? Would you like to be equipped with tools as you navigate life, family, and work? If you find yourself curious about this test and the tools connect with me.
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