
A point well taken, but... - The idea of the book is to help you find your talents, build your strengths, which will in turn, improve your performance.Building your strengths is indeed somthing that is often overlooked, as most of the time we seek to improve our weaknesses- that s a point well taken- and a good reason to buy the book. However two more things also need to be mentioned. First, why can t we work on building both our strengths AND our weaknesses? In other words, why do we have to necessarily pick just one? I feel that many weaknesses can be improved upon.Secondly, discovering your talents and doing what you re good at may not necessarily improve your performance. Why? Because there are lots of things we re good at, but still hate to do nonetheless. For instance, I m really good at cleaning houses and debating, but I don t like to really do either one. People really perform well when its something that they know how to do AND when there s something meaningful/important in it for them. Anyway, just some food for thought. Readers may also be interested in The Sixty-Second Motivator.
Good book for managers who want to develop their people - It s unconventional to be an advocate of focusing on people s strength instead of area of improvement , especially in the business world. This book gives plenty of real cases a lot of which we can relate to, very convincing. It s also a very easy read.
Top Career Books Available - Having recently been thrown into the world of executive unemployment, I highly recommend these two books for people facing reorganizations, layoffs, job changes or career redirection... NOW DISCOVER YOUR STRENGTHS (Buckingham) and THE BLACK BOOK OF OUTSOURCING (Brown & Wilson) Buckingham gives you a kick in the pants to get back on track... and Brown/Wilson will open up a whole new perspective on outsourcing - how to find a career in it, where the jobs in the US are, how to qualify, even how to open your own outsourcing firm.
Some great ideas are present. - The Author presents some great ideas, although excludes God, or any spiritual forces from any influence in who you are, or the decisions you make. Still, Christians should be able to gain value in some of the helpful ideas. Focusing on our weaknesses is the devils interest. Focusing on our strengths (God being one of them notably not mentioned in the book) is our responsability. Online questions don t let you answer a valid response. For example: a person who can excite others can often also calm them down. Saying you are neutral isn t applicable to the question. Others should also be able to purchase the online component, if they want to read the book. (They re not all going to buy the book, but they would pay for the test)Another book they you may be intrested in is -The Quest- by Giorgio Kostantinos.
beware of used copies - An integral part of this book is the online profile. Each copy of this book comes with a unique PIN number inside the book jacket. If you buy a used copy, the PIN number may be already used, and thus will not allow you to use the online profile. However, the book is still interesting if you enjoy reading through the signature themes and guessing what your profile would have uncovered. It is also fun to read each theme and think of people you know who come to mind, and consider ways in which you can support their strengths.I would give this book 5 stars if an unlimited number of people could use the online profile with each book purchase.