My first reaction after learning about my strengths was, “Hey this is great. Now I know my strengths, so what?” And this reaction is common for those that have done their strengths assessment and are looking at their report for the first time. Another question that I keep asking myself is, “How do I make use of my strengths to improve my situation?”

What did the my Clifton Strengths report tell me?

The report told me that my top 10 talent themes/strengths are:

	Sl. No.		Talent Theme or Strength
1	Learner
2	Developer
3	Empathy
4	Individualization
5	Futuristic
6	Harmony
7	Context
8	Strategic
9	Positivity
10	Relator

These are aspects of my personality that is most dominant within me. Don Clifton studied and determined that all the talents that people can have can be bucketed into 34 talents/strengths.

The talent themes that make up the bottom of my list are:

	Sl. No.		Talent Theme or Strength
25	Maximizer
26	Belief
27	Responsibility
28	Focus
29	Includer
30	Adaptability
31	Command
32	Communication
33	Woo
34	Achiever

How does knowing the Top 10, Bottom 10 and Middle 14 help?

Every talent defined under the Clifton Strengths framework specifies the activities that a person having that talent has the potential to excel at. And the activities that pertain to talents that form the bottom of my talent/strength list are something that this person would struggle with.

If you look at the two lists above, my top most strength is Learner which is defined by Gallup as:

“People exceptionally talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. The process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.”

And if you look at my bottom most strength Achiever which is defined by Gallup as:

“People exceptionally talented in the Achiever theme work hard and possess a great deal of stamina. They take immense satisfaction in being busy and productive.”

Knowing that Learner is my top strength I can confidently take up assignments that require me to learn some new skill in a short period of time and also be able to confidently say that I can improve my performance in that skills over time. I can confidently believe that I can help others to learn this newly acquired skill.

On the other hand, knowing that Achiever is my least strong talent theme, I will struggle to work constantly work hard, keep busy all the time and continuously stay in a zone of high productivity. And that I can confidently and boldly declare that others should not depend on my for an activity or task that requires one to be one to have a very high Achiever theme.

Clarity of ability

Thus, knowing my top strength, my least strength and everything in between helps me to accept myself as I really am. Knowing my strengths helps me communicate the same to others who might need to depend on me on getting something done and getting it done well.