Strengths Finder2.0 Report Tuan A Vu

StrengthsFinder 2.0 Report

© 2000, 2006-2008 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.

Tuan Vu

Your Top 5 Themes

LearnerConnectednessMaximizerIntellectionBelief

What's in This Guide?

Section I: Awareness

A brief Shared Theme Description for each of your top five themes

Your Personalized Strengths Insights, which describe what makes you stand out fromothers with the same theme in their top five

Questions for you to answer to increase your awareness of your talentsSection II: Application

10 Ideas for Action for each of your top five themes

Questions for you to answer to help you apply your talentsSection III: Achievement

Examples of what each of your top five themes "sounds like" -- real quotes frompeople who also have the theme in their top five

Steps for you to take to help you leverage your talents for achievement

Strengths Insight and Action-Planning Guide

175768038 (Tuan Vu) © 2000, 2006-2008 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Section I: Awareness

Learner

Shared Theme Description

People who are especially talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and wantto continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome,excites them.

Your Personalized Strengths Insights

What makes you stand out?

Chances are good that you may enjoy sharing your point of view with certain individuals whoask, “What do you think?” When you are familiar with the topic, problem, or peopleinvolved, you might be comfortable expressing yourself. From time to time, you set out todiscover specific facts and weigh them with care before speaking your mind — that is, givingadvice or openly stating your ideas. By nature, you have little difficulty giving intense effortto projects, problems, or opportunities that capture and keep your attention. It’s very likelythat you may notice that certain people turn to you for guidance. Maybe your willingness toshare the knowledge you have gained over the years partially explains the fondness they havefor you. Some individuals might have benefited from what you have read, observed, orexperienced. Because of your strengths, you may be attracted to assignments that demandoriginal and inventive thinking. In some cases, you track down new ideas, facts, or data. Yourout-of-the-box thinking might challenge some people to abandon, or at the very least toquestion, specific conventional practices. When you cause one or two of them to suggestoptions, maybe their need to protect the status quo will be replaced by a desire to gather moreinformation. Instinctively, you sometimes yearn to know more about the thoughts of certainvisionaries. Perhaps in their presence you begin to see how some of the inventions and ideasthey propose might affect your life.

Questions

1. As you read your personalized strengths insights, what words, phrases, or lines standout to you?

2. Out of all the talents in this insight, what would you like for others to see most inyou?



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Connectedness


People who are especially talented in the Connectedness theme have faith in the linksbetween all things. They believe there are few coincidences and that almost every event has areason.



Because of your strengths, you sometimes experience an unexplainable yet natural link withsome people. Perhaps this is a common occurrence with certain individuals, particularly thosewhose talents, limitations, interests, goals, needs, or fears are known to you. Driven by yourtalents, you may be determined to make the acquaintance of certain individuals you identifyas seekers of truth. Perhaps you are attracted to people who ponder philosophical questionssuch as “What is the meaning of life?” or “What is beauty?” or “What constitutes wisdom?”or “Why do bad things happen to good people?” or “Why should ordinary people like meeven ask these kinds of questions?” Chances are good that you may enjoy the company ofpeople who have faced and conquered some of life’s difficulties. Perhaps they have gainedwisdom you lack. Occasionally you benefit from their philosophical insights. By nature, youroutinely isolate facts that link ideas, events, or people. You are especially sensitive to howone person’s optimistic or negative thoughts can affect the entire human family. This promptsyou to pay close attention to what individuals and groups think and do. Instinctively, yousense every event is somehow the consequence of a series of actions, reactions, or lack ofactions. You can accept that which cannot be fully explained using logic. You say there areno accidents. You are confident that things are linked together for a purpose that may or maynot be revealed to you.

Questions





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Maximizer


People who are especially talented in the Maximizer theme focus on strengths as a way tostimulate personal and group excellence. They seek to transform something strong intosomething superb.



It’s very likely that you occasionally set aside time to reflect on your unique abilities. Youmay ponder some of the things you do well. Perhaps looking at what is right about yourself oryour life energizes you. Dwelling on your shortcomings might strike you as a waste of time.Driven by your talents, you might tell people you hold them in high esteem. Because youbelieve in them, sometimes these individuals start believing in themselves. By nature, youmay recognize that you grow and benefit when you intentionally use your talents. Thispartially explains why you seek the company of people who value your gifts rather than harpon your shortcomings. Because of your strengths, you sometimes congratulate yourself forbeing a good counselor. Certain people may keep coming back to you for words of wisdom.Others might seek your recommendations about how to handle problems or take advantage ofopportunities. Chances are good that you might spend more time thinking about your goodpoints than your shortcomings. Perhaps you are aware that you make more progress or dothings better when you build on your talents.

Questions





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Intellection


People who are especially talented in the Intellection theme are characterized by theirintellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.



Driven by your talents, you might read for relaxation and pleasure. Sometimes your carefree,cheerful, and easygoing approach to life is reflected in the types of books or publications youperuse — that is, examine studiously. If you can pull together bits of information, ideas, orfacts for later use, you might feel content. Because of your strengths, you may set aside aboutfive hours a week to ponder what you have read, seen, or heard. Perhaps you set aside one-hour blocks of time to think. Perhaps you use smaller blocks of time to your advantage. Forexample, you might reflect on certain ideas as you walk, bicycle, drive, or otherwisecommute to and from your job or classes. Instinctively, you are sometimes a critical reader.That is, you occasionally take apart writers’ ideas and examine them bit by bit. Afterward,you might be able to judge whether specific thoughts have merit. To some extent, yourscrutiny of the printed word, rather than your emotions, guides your decision-making process.Chances are good that you may enjoy reading when you can savor each sentence or considereach idea. Your goal might be comprehension, not speed. It might make little sense to you torush through books, magazine articles, newspaper accounts, Internet sites, or other forms ofwritten material just to say you finished them. By nature, you try to collect straightforwardand precise words. Sometimes your enthusiasm for language causes you to expand yourvocabulary. You might like to talk or write about philosophies, ideas, or theories that have notbeen proved or plans that have not been put into practice yet. Acquiring sophisticatedterminology may be play for you, not work. Perhaps an unexpected chance to use these wordsin real life gives you satisfaction.

Questions





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Belief


People who are especially talented in the Belief theme have certain core values that areunchanging. Out of these values emerges a defined purpose for their life.



By nature, you may see some people in vivid detail. Few human beings lack depth in youropinion. Possibly you contend certain individuals are full of promise or potential. Periodicallyyou set out to discover in individuals what money cannot buy. You value their specialqualities, strengths, interests, or dreams. You might avoid being distracted by theirlimitations, fears, worries, or mistakes. Chances are good that you may concede thatmonetary rewards, though important, are not a substitute for feeling content with your life.It’s very likely that you may be impelled to change the world for the better one person at atime. Perhaps you do this by assuring people you think well of them. Sometimes you remindindividuals about their depth of knowledge, talent, and/or skills. Driven by your talents, youmay be attracted to individuals whose honesty and integrity are above reproach. Perhaps youseek to penalize people who betray trust by taking things without permission. Instinctively,you sometimes use your passion for reading to collect a few ideas for resolving issues,correcting mistakes, or overcoming obstacles. Maybe the act of reading allows you togenerate some options for dealing with certain kinds of predicaments — that is, difficult,perplexing, or trying situations.

Questions





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Questions

1. How does this information help you better understand your unique talents?2. How can you use this understanding to add value to your role?3. How can you apply this knowledge to add value to your team, workgroup,

department, or division?4. How will this understanding help you add value to your organization?5. What will you do differently tomorrow as a result of this report?



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Section II: Application

Learner

Ideas for Action:

Refine how you learn. For example, you might learn best by teaching; if so, seek outopportunities to present to others. You might learn best through quiet reflection; if so,find this quiet time.Develop ways to track the progress of your learning. If there are distinct levels or stagesof learning within a discipline or skill, take a moment to celebrate your progression fromone level to the next. If no such levels exist, create them for yourself (e.g., reading fivebooks on the subject or making three presentations on the subject).Be a catalyst for change. Others might be intimidated by new rules, new skills, or newcircumstances. Your willingness to soak up this newness can calm their fears and spurthem to action. Take this responsibility seriously.Seek roles that require some form of technical competence. You will enjoy the processof acquiring and maintaining this expertise.As far as possible, shift your career toward a field with constantly changing technologiesor regulations. You will be energized by the challenge of keeping up.Because you are not threatened by unfamiliar information, you might excel in aconsulting role (either internal or external) in which you are paid to go into newsituations and pick up new competencies or languages quickly.Research supports the link between learning and performance. When people have theopportunity to learn and grow, they are more productive and loyal. Look for ways tomeasure the degree to which you and others feel that your learning needs are being met,to create individualized learning milestones, and to reward achievements in learning.At work, take advantage of programs that subsidize your learning. Your organizationmay be willing to pay for part or all of your instructional coursework or forcertifications. Ask your manager for information about scholarships and othereducational opportunities.Honor your desire to learn. Take advantage of adult educational opportunities in yourcommunity. Discipline yourself to sign up for at least one new academic or adultlearning course each year.Time disappears and your attention intensifies when you are immersed in studying orlearning. Allow yourself to “follow the trail” by scheduling learning sessions duringperiods of time that will not be interrupted by pressing engagements.

Questions

1. Which of these action items speak to you? Highlight the actions that you are mostlikely to take.



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2. How will you commit to taking action? Write your own personalized action item thatyou will take in the next 30 days.



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Connectedness

Ideas for Action:

Consider roles in which you listen and counsel. You can become adept at helping otherpeople see connection and purpose in everyday occurrences.Explore specific ways to expand your sense of connection, such as starting a book club,attending a retreat, or joining an organization that puts Connectedness into practice.Within your organization, help your colleagues understand how their efforts fit in thelarger picture. You can be a leader in building teams and helping people feel important.You are aware of the boundaries and borders created within organizations andcommunities, but you treat these as seamless and fluid. Use your Connectedness talentsto break down silos that prevent shared knowledge.Help people see the connections among their talents, their actions, their mission, andtheir successes. When people believe in what they are doing and feel like they are partof something bigger, commitment to achievement is enhanced.Partner with someone with strong Communication talents. This person can help youwith the words you need to describe vivid examples of connection in the real world.Don’t spend too much time attempting to persuade others to see the world as a linkedweb. Be aware that your sense of connection is intuitive. If others don’t share yourintuition, rational argument will not persuade them.Your philosophy of life compels you to move beyond your own self-interests and theinterests of your immediate constituency and sphere of influence. As such, you see thebroader implications for your community and the world. Explore ways to communicatethese insights to others.Seek out global or cross-cultural responsibilities that capitalize on your understanding ofthe commonalities inherent in humanity. Build universal capability, and change themindset of those who think in terms of “us” and “them.”Connectedness talents can help you look past the outer shell of a person to embrace hisor her humanity. Be particularly aware of this when you work with someone whosebackground is very different from yours. You can naturally look past the labels andfocus on his or her essential needs.

Questions





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Maximizer

Ideas for Action:

Once you have identified your own greatest talents, stay focused on them. Refine yourskills. Acquire new knowledge. Practice. Keep working toward strength in a few areas.Develop a plan to use your most powerful talents outside of work. In doing so, considerhow your talents relate to the mission in your life and how they might benefit yourfamily or the community.Problem solving might drain your energy and enthusiasm. Look for a restorative partnerwho can be your chief troubleshooter and problem solver. Let that person know howimportant your partnership is to your success.Study success. Deliberately spend time with people who have discovered their strengths.The more you understand how marshaling strengths leads to success, the more likelyyou will be to create success in your own life.Explain to others why you spend more time building on great talent rather than fixingweaknesses. Initially, they might confuse what you are doing with complacency.Don’t let your Maximizer talents be stifled by conventional wisdom, which says youshould find what is broken and fix it. Identify and invest in the parts of yourorganization or community that are working. Make sure that most of your resources arespent in the build-up and build-out of these pockets of excellence.Keep your focus on long-term relationships and goals. Many make a career out ofpicking the low-hanging fruit of short-term success, but your Maximizer talents will bemost energized and effective as you turn top potential into true and lasting greatness.See if you can make some of your weaknesses irrelevant. For example, find a partner,devise a support system, or use one of your stronger talents to compensate for one ofyour weaker ones.Seek roles in which you are helping people succeed. In coaching, managing, mentoring,or teaching roles, your focus on strengths will prove particularly beneficial to others.Because most people find it difficult to describe what they do best, start by arming themwith vivid descriptions.Devise ways to measure your performance and the performance of others. Thesemeasures will help you spot strengths, because the best way to identify a strength is tolook for sustained levels of excellent performance.

Questions





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Intellection

Ideas for Action:

Consider beginning or continuing your studies in philosophy, literature, or psychology.You will always enjoy subjects that stimulate your thinking.List your ideas in a log or diary. These ideas will serve as grist for your mental mill, andthey might yield valuable insights.Deliberately build relationships with people you consider to be “big thinkers.” Theirexample will inspire you to focus your own thinking.People may think you are aloof or disengaged when you close your door or spend timealone. Help them understand that this is simply a reflection of your thinking style, andthat it results not from a disregard for relationships, but from a desire to bring the mostyou can to those relationships.You are at your best when you have the time to follow an intellectual trail and see whereit leads. Get involved on the front end of projects and initiatives, rather than jumping inat the execution stage. If you join in the latter stages, you may derail what has alreadybeen decided, and your insights may come too late.Engaging people in intellectual and philosophical debate is one way that you make senseof things. This is not the case for everyone. Be sure to channel your provocativequestions to those who similarly enjoy the give and take of debate.Schedule time for thinking; it can be energizing for you. Use these occasions to museand reflect.Take time to write. Writing might be the best way for you to crystallize and integrateyour thoughts.Find people who like to talk about the same issues you do. Organize a discussion groupthat addresses your subjects of interest.Encourage people around you to use their full intellectual capital by reframing questionsfor them and by engaging them in dialogue. At the same time, realize that there will besome who find this intimidating and who need time to reflect before being put on thespot.

Questions





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Belief

Ideas for Action:

Clarify your values by thinking about one of your best days ever. How did your valuesplay into the satisfaction that you received on that day? How can you organize your lifeto repeat that day as often as possible?Actively seek roles that fit your values. In particular, think about joining organizationsthat define their purpose by the contribution they make to society.The meaning and purpose of your work will often provide direction for others. Remindpeople why their work is important and how it makes a difference in their lives and inthe lives of others.Your Belief talents allow you to talk to the hearts of people. Develop a “purposestatement” and communicate it to your family, friends, and coworkers. Your powerfulemotional appeal can give them a motivating sense of contribution.Create a gallery of letters and/or pictures of the people whose lives you havesubstantially influenced. When you are feeling down or overwhelmed, remind yourselfof your value by looking at this gallery. It will energize you and revive yourcommitment to helping others.Set aside time to ensure that you are balancing your work demands and your personallife. Your devotion to your career should not come at the expense of your strongcommitment to your family.Don’t be afraid to give voice to your values. This will help others know who you are andhow to relate to you.Actively cultivate friends who share your basic values. Consider your best friend. Doesthis person share your value system?Partner with someone who has strong Futuristic talents. This person can energize you bypainting a vivid picture of the direction in which your values will lead.Accept that the values of other people might differ from your own. Express your beliefswithout being judgmental.

Questions





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Section III: Achievement

Look for signs of achievement as you read these real quotes from people who share your topfive themes.

Learner sounds like this:

Annie M., managing editor: “I get antsy when I am not learning something. Last year,although I was enjoying my work, I didn’t feel as though I was learning enough. So I took uptap dancing. It sounds strange, doesn’t it? I know I am never going to perform or anything,but I enjoy focusing on the technical skill of tapping, getting a little better each week, andmoving up from the beginners’ class to the intermediate class. That was a kick.”

Miles A., operations manager: “When I was seven years old, my teachers would tell myparents, ‘Miles isn’t the most intelligent boy in the school, but he’s a sponge for learning, andhe’ll probably go really far because he will push himself and continually be grasping newthings.’ Right now, I am just starting a course in business-travel Spanish. I know it isprobably too ambitious to think I could learn conversational Spanish and become totallyproficient in that language, but I at least want to be able to travel there and know thelanguage.”

Tim S., coach for executives: “One of my clients is so inquisitive that it drives him crazybecause he can’t do everything he wants to. I’m different. I am not curious in that broadsense. I prefer to go into greater depth with things so that I can become competent in themand then use them at work. For example, recently one of my clients wanted me to travel withhim to Nice, France, for a business engagement. So I started reading up on the region, buyingbooks, and checking the Internet. It was all interesting and I enjoyed the study, but I wouldn’thave done any of it if I wasn’t going to be traveling there for work.”



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Connectedness sounds like this:

Mandy M., homemaker: “Humility is the essence of Connectedness. You have to know whoyou are and who you aren’t. I have a piece of the wisdom. I don’t have much of it, but what Ido have is real. This isn’t grandiosity. This is real humility. You have confidence in yourgifts, real confidence, but you know you don’t have all the answers. You start to feelconnected to others because you know they have wisdom that you don’t. You can’t feelconnected if you think you have everything.”

Rose T., psychologist: “Sometimes I look at my bowl of cereal in the morning and thinkabout those hundreds of people who were involved in bringing me my bowl of cereal: thefarmers in the field, the biochemists who made the pesticides, the warehouse workers at thefood preparation plants, even the marketers who somehow persuaded me to buy this box ofcereal and not a different one sitting next to it on the shelf. I know it sounds strange, but Igive thanks to these people, and just doing that makes me feel more involved with life, moreconnected to things, less alone.”

Chuck M., teacher: “I tend to be very black and white about things, but when it comes tounderstanding the mysteries of life, for some reason, I am much more open. I have a biginterest in learning about all different religions. I am reading a book right now that talks aboutJudaism versus Christianity versus the religion of the Canaanites. Buddhism, Greekmythology — it’s really interesting how all of these tie together in some way.”



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Maximizer sounds like this:

Gavin T., flight attendant: “I taught aerobics for ten years, and I made a point of askingpeople to focus on what they liked about themselves. We all have parts of our body that wewould like to change or that we would like to see differently, but to focus on that can be sodestructive. It becomes a vicious cycle. So I would say, ‘Look, you don’t need to be doingthat. Instead, let’s focus on the attribute you like about yourself, and then we’ll all feel betterabout expending all of this energy.’”

Amy T., magazine editor: “There is nothing I hate more than having to fix a poorly writtenpiece. If I have given the writer a clear focus and she comes back with a piece that iscompletely off the mark, I almost can’t bring myself to write comments on it. I’m moreinclined to just hand it back to her and say, ‘Just please start again.’ On the other hand, what Ilove to do is take a piece that is so close and then refine it to make it perfect. You know, justthe right word here, a little cut there, and suddenly it’s a brilliant piece.”

Marshall G., marketing executive: “I am really good at setting a focus for people and thenbuilding a sense of team spirit as we all march forward. But I am not so good at strategicthinking. Fortunately, I have a boss who understands that about me. We have been workingtogether for quite a few years. He has found people who play the strategic role, and at thesame time, stretches me to be even better at the focus and team-building role. I’m so lucky tohave a boss who thinks this way. It’s made me more secure and made me charge ahead muchfaster, knowing that my boss knows what I am good at and what I’m not good at; he doesn’tbother me with the latter.”



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Intellection sounds like this:

Lauren H., project manager: “I suppose that most people who meet me in passing presumethat I am a flaming extrovert. I do not deny the fact that I love people, but they would beamazed to know how much time alone, how much solitude, I need in order to function inpublic. I really love my own company. I love solitude because it gives me a chance to allowmy diffused focus to simmer with something else. That’s where my best ideas come from.My ideas need to simmer and ‘perk.’ I used this phrase even when I was younger: ‘I have putmy ideas in, and now I have to wait for them to perk.’”

Michael P., marketing executive: “It’s strange, but I find that I need to have noise around meor I can’t concentrate. I need to have parts of my brain occupied; otherwise, it goes so fast inso many directions that I don’t get anything done. If I can occupy my brain with the TV ormy kids running around, then I find I concentrate even better.”

Jorge H., factory manager and former political prisoner: “We used to get put into solitaryconfinement as a punishment, but I never hated it as much as the others did. You might thinkthat you would get lonely, but I never did. I used the time to reflect on my life and sort out thekind of man I was and what was really important to me: my family, my values. In a weirdway, solitary actually calmed me down and made me stronger.”



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Belief sounds like this:

Michael K., salesperson: “The vast majority of my nonworking time goes to my family and tothe things we do in the community. I was on the countywide Boy Scouts board of directors.And when I was a Boy Scout, I was pack leader. When I was an Explorer, I was juniorassistant leader for the Boy Scouts. I just like being with kids. I believe that’s where thefuture is. And I think you can do a whole lot worse with your time than investing it in thefuture.”

Lara M., college president: “My values are why I work so hard every day at my job. I puthours and hours into this job, and I don’t even care what I get paid. I just found out that I amthe lowest paid college president in my state, and I don’t even care. I mean, I don’t do this forthe money.”

Tracy D., airline executive: “If you are not doing something important, why bother? Gettingup every day and working on ways to make flying safer seems important to me, purposeful. IfI didn’t find this purpose in my job, I don’t know if I could work through all the challengesand frustrations that get in my way. I think I would get demoralized.”



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Questions

1. Talk to friends or coworkers to hear how they have used their talents to achieve.

2. How will you use your talents to achieve?



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Strengths Finder2.0 Report Tuan A Vu

Education

Transcript of Strengths Finder2.0 Report Tuan A Vu