StrengthsQuest: discover and develop your strengths in academics, career, and beyond Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D. & Edward “Chip” Anderson, Ph.D. with Laurie A. Schreiner, Ph.D. New York GALLUP PRESS 1251 Avenue of the Americas 23rd Floor New York, NY 10020 Copyright © 2001 – 2002, 2006 The Gallup Organization All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Gallup®, StrengthsQuest™, StrengthsFinder®, Clifton StrengthsFinder™, and each of the 34 Clifton StrengthsFinder theme names are trademarks of The Gallup Organization, Princeton, NJ. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. Cover design by Chin-Yee Lai Manufactured in the United States of America First edition 2002 Second edition 2006 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN 10: 1-59562-011-7 ISBN 13: 978-1-59562-011-8 to those who helped me discover my strengths: my wife Shirley, and our family —DON to God, my Creator, who inspired this work, gave me talents to do this work, and guided me to my beloved wife, Irma —CHIP to my daughter Lindsey, who is becoming the person she was created to be, and to my parents, who always affirmed my God-given talents —LAURIE Note to Educators The second edition of StrengthsQuest: Discover and Develop Your Strengths in Academics, Career, and Beyond is an attempt to be responsive to student needs while preserving the voice and vision of the original authors, Chip Anderson and Don Clifton. Don passed away in October of 2003 and Chip died in July of 2005. Both men had great passion for students. Both were giants in the movement to bring a strengths “revolu- tion” to higher education. More than 100,000 copies of the first edition of the StrengthsQuest book were sold since its publication in 2002. The book introduced tens of thousands of college students, their families, and the faculty and staff who worked with them to a major paradigm shift in higher education: to see students as bringing innate talents with them into the college en- vironment — talents that, when combined with skills and knowledge in strengths development, would lead to their achievement and success. Build on great talents rather than focus on deficit remediation was Don and Chip’s exhortation as they traveled across the country. They were deter- mined to see a strengths revolution — and they certainly planted the seeds of that revolution through their powerful presence. As Chip’s friend and colleague, I still hear his inspirational voice while writing this edition: “What would we do if we really loved our stu- dents?” Those words have given me direction in writing, and the result is my answer to that question. If we really love our students, we will ensure that each one knows how uniquely talented he or she is. We will see and nurture the potential in them. We will care deeply about the meanings and purposes of their lives and we will help them see the connections be- tween their powerful talents and their callings and their futures. We will focus on helping them build strong, healthy relationships as the founda- tion for a satisfying life. And we will give them practical suggestions for how to do all of this. This new edition is also an important step in continuing Don and Chip’s legacies. With their deaths, many of us wondered what would become of the strengths movement. But Connectedness was an area of powerful talent in Chip; he saw everything he did in life as part of a Master plan. He knew that his actions would have a ripple effect long after he was gone. He knew there was a reason our paths crossed. So this StrengthsQuest edition is my best effort to honor his life and work, and to be part of the “ripple effect” in higher education. New features you’ll find in this edition include:  Fresh student voices and action items (Chapter 3, “Affirming and Celebrating Your Talents”)  New material on relationships (Chapter 4, “Relationships from the Strengths Perspective”)  New suggestions for making the most of your talents in each theme (Chapter 5, “Insights Into Strengths Development”)  A new approach to the career chapters, based on research we’ve done with college students and the Holland vocational types. • A new appendix with detail on the relationship between Signa- ture Themes and the Holland types, based on the national valid- ity study of the Clifton StrengthsFinder with college students. You’ll also find a wealth of resources available to instructors on the StrengthsQuest Web site at www.strengthsquest.com. Please take advan- tage of the material that is available to assist you with class activities and assignments. I hope you’ll find this edition provides your students with a new look at how identifying their most naturally powerful talents and build- ing upon them to create strengths can be the first step toward becoming the persons they were created to be — and experiencing success in col- lege, career, and beyond! —Laurie A. Schreiner Table of Contents Preface .................................................................................................xi Chapter I: Th e Nature of Strengths ............................................1 Chapter II: Gaining Direction for Your Quest ...........................15 Chapter III: Affi rming and Celebrating Your Talents...................21 Chapter IV: Relationships from the Strengths Perspective ...........73 Chapter V: Insights Into Strengths Development ......................97 Chapter VI: Considering Strengths When Planning Your Education .....................................................141 Chapter VII: Developing Academic Strengths in College ...........149 Chapter VIII: Developing Leadership Strengths in College ..........219 Chapter IX: Becoming Your Own Best Educator and Learner ...227 Chapter X: Strengths and Career Planning ..............................235 Chapter XI: Further Insights Into Choosing a Career ...............281 Chapter XII: Let’s Start a Revolution .........................................291 Appendix: Holland’s Vocational Types and the Clifton StrengthsFinder .....................................................297 Other Technical Reports on the Clifton StrengthsFinder .................301 References and Suggested Resources ................................................305 Acknowledgements ..........................................................................311 StrengthsQuest: discover and develop your strengths in academics, career, and beyond