Conozca sus fortalezas 2.0 / StrengthsFinder 2.0 - Rilegato

Rath, Tom

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 1595620842 ISBN 13: 9781595620842

Casa editrice: Gallup Pr, 2014

Riassunto

Do you do what you do best every day? Chances are, you don't. From the cradle to the cubicle, we devote more time to fixing our shortcomings than to developing our strengths. To help people uncover their talents, Gallup introduced StrengthsFinder in the 2001 management book Now, Discover Your Strengths. The book ignited a global conversation, while StrengthsFinder helped millions discover their top five talents. In Conozca sus Fortalezas 2.0, Gallup unveils the new and improved version of its popular online assessment. With hundreds of strategies for applying your strengths, StrengthsFinder 2.0 will change the way you look at yourself -- and the world -- forever. AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY IN CONOZCA SUS FORTALEZAS 2.0 (using the access code included with each book): The StrengthsFinder 2.0 assessment, fine-tuned to be faster and more accurate A Strengths Discovery and Action-Planning Guide featuring: a customized version of your top five theme report; 50 Ideas for Action for building on your top five themes; and a strengths-based action plan for setting goals And much more on the StrengthsFinder 2.0 website: A strengths community area; resources, activities, and discussion guides; a strengths screensaver; and a program for creating display cards of your top five themes

Su questo libro

L'autore:

Tom Rath is one of the most influential authors of the last decade. He studies the role of human behavior in health, business, and economics. Rath writes and speaks on a range of topics, from well-being to organizational leadership. He has written several international bestsellers, including the #1 New York Times bestseller How Full Is Your Bucket? In 2007, The Economist listed his book Conozca sus Fortalezas 2.0 as the top-selling business book worldwide. In total, Rath’s books have sold more than 5 million copies, been translated in 16 languages, and made over 250 appearances on the Wall Street Journal bestseller list. Rath is a senior scientist and advisor to Gallup, where he previously spent 13 years leading the organization’s work on employee engagement, strengths, and well-being. He has also served as vice chairman of the VHL cancer research organization.

Estratto. © Riproduzione autorizzata. Diritti riservati.:

PART I: FINDING YOUR STRENGTHS AN INTRODUCTION

The Path of Most Resistance

At its fundamentally flawed core, the aim of almost any learning program is to help us become who we are not. If you don’t have natural talent with numbers, you’re still forced to spend time in that area to attain a degree. If you’re not very empathic, you get sent to a course designed to infuse empathy into your personality. From the cradle to the cubicle, we devote more time to our shortcomings than to our strengths.

This is quite apparent in the way we create icons out of people who struggle to overcome a lack of natural talent. Consider the true story of Rudy Ruettiger, the 23-year-old groundskeeper at Notre Dame’s stadium, who was the protagonist of the 1993 movie Rudy. At just 5'6" and 165 pounds, this young man clearly didn’t possess the physical ability to play big-time college football, but he had ample heart.”

Rudy worked tirelessly to gain admission to Notre Dame so he could play football there. Eventually, after being rejected three times, he was accepted at Notre Dame and soon thereafter earned a spot on the football team’s practice squad.

For two years, Rudy took a beating in daily practices, but he was never allowed to join his team on the sidelines. Then, after trying as hard as he could for two seasons, Rudy was finally invited to suit up for the final game of his senior year. In the last moments of this game, with a Notre Dame victory safely in hand, Rudy’s teammates lobbied their coach to put him in the game. In the final seconds, the coach sent Rudy in for a single play and he tackled the opposing team’s quarterback.

It was a dramatic moment and, of course, Rudy became an instant hero. Fans chanted his name and carried him off the field. Ruettiger was later invited to the White House, where he met President Bill Clinton, Colin Powell, and football legend Joe Montana. While Rudy’s perseverance is admirable, in the end, he played a few seconds of college football and made a single tackle ... after thousands of hours of practicing.

The inspirational nature of this story actually masks a significant problem: Overcoming deficits is an essential part of the fabric of our culture. Our books, movies, and folklore are filled with stories of the underdog who beats one-in-a-million odds. And this leads us to celebrate those who triumph over their lack of natural ability even more than we recognize those who capitalize on their innate talents. As a result, millions of people see these heroes as being the epitome of the American Dream and set their sights on conquering major challenges. Unfortunately, this is taking the path of most resistance.

A Misguided Maxim?
You can be anything you want to be, if you just try hard enough.”

Like most people, I embraced this maxim at a young age. Along with thousands of other kids, I spent a good chunk of my childhood trying to be the next Michael Jordan. Every day, I practiced shooting hoops for three to four hours. I went to basketball camps each summer and tried in every way possible to be a great player. No matter how hard I worked at it, though, becoming an NBA star simply wasn’t in the cards for me. After giving 100% of my effort for more than five years, I couldn’t even make the junior varsity team.

Embracing the You-can-be-anything-you-want-to-be” maxim isn’t something we outgrow. Similar scenarios play out in the workplace every day. A star salesperson thinks she can be a great sales manager with enough effort. She interviews other managers to gain insight, reads every book on management she can find, and stays late every night trying to get the job done at the expense of her family and even her health. Then, a few years into the job, she realizes that she doesn’t have the natural talent to develop other people. Not only is this a waste of her time, but chances are, she could have increased her contribution even more if she had stayed in the sales role a role in which she naturally excelled. Yet if we want additional income, status, or responsibility, most organizational hierarchies force us into a very different role instead of allowing for an entire career of progression within a specific role that fits our talents.

What’s even more disheartening is the way our fixation on deficits affects young people in the home and classroom. In every culture we have studied, the overwhelming majority of parents (77% in the United States) think that a student’s lowest grades deserve the most time and attention. Parents and teachers reward excellence with apathy instead of investing more time in the areas where a child has the most potential for greatness.

The reality is that a person who has always struggled with numbers is unlikely to be a great accountant or statistician. And the person without much natural empathy will never be able to comfort an agitated customer in the warm and sincere way that the great empathizers can. Even the legendary Michael Jordan, who embodied the power of raw talent on a basketball court, could not become, well, the Michael Jordan” of golf or baseball, no matter how hard he tried.

This might sound like a heretical point of view, especially for those of us who grew up believing the essential American myth that we could become anything we wanted. Yet it’s clear from Gallup’s research that each person has greater potential for success in specific areas, and the key to human development is building on who you already are.

The following real-life example from Gallup’s economic development work in Puebla, Mexico, provides a basic yet powerful illustration of what can happen when people focus on their natural talents.

Hector had always been known as a great shoemaker. In fact, customers from such far-off places as France claimed that Hector made the best shoes in the world. Yet for years, he had been frustrated with his small shoemaking business. Although Hector knew he was capable of making hundreds of shoes per week, he was averaging just 30 pairs. When a friend asked him why, Hector explained that while he was great at producing shoes, he was a poor salesman and terrible when it came to collecting payments. Yet he spent most of his time working in these areas of weakness.

So, Hector’s friend introduced him to Sergio, a natural salesman and marketer. Just as Hector was known for his craftsmanship, Sergio could close deals and sell. Given the way their strengths complemented one another, Hector and Sergio decided to work together. A year later, this strengths-based duo was producing, selling, and collecting payment for more than 100 pairs of shoes per week a more than threefold increase.

While this story may seem simplistic, in many cases, aligning yourself with the right task can be this easy. When we’re able to put most of our energy into developing our natural talents, extraordinary room for growth exists. So, a revision to the You-can-be-anything-you-want-to-be” maxim might be more accurate:

You cannot be anything you want to be but you can be a lot more of who you already are.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Gallup Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1595620842
• ISBN 13: 9781595620842
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 177