I read this book back in early August and I’m just getting around to writing about it although I’ve recommended it verbally to several friends.
Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton’s book (http://www.marcusbuckingham.com/books/discover-strengths.php) is great in that they encourage readers to focus on using their strengths rather than the conventional wisdom of focusing on fixing your weaknesses.
They start off by defining strength as “consistent, near perfect performance in an activity”. Then, they write about building strengths through knowledge (skills acquired by facts and experiences) and by focusing on your talents (any recurring pattern of thought, feeling & behavior that can be productively applied).
Next, they counsel readers on how to find their strengths. Monitoring spontaneous, top pf mind reactions to situations and encounters can be a way to trace talents. They also encourage monitoring your “yearnings”, noting what you learn quickly and simply paying attention to what brings you satisfaction. They have this online StrengthsFinder quiz that can help you pinpoint your top five. (Mines are Achiever, Arranger, Fairness, Learner and Responsibility.)
The book winds up by encouraging readers to focus on their signature themes, to learn how to manage others’ strengths and to build a strengths-based organization.
Although many of these points are primarily focused towards business professionals, I think that a lot of the concepts can also be used by moms in managing their households. Since reading it, I have really been making a special effort to focus on my strengths and to encourage my oldest son’s strengths/take them into account. I don’t know if I’m building a “strengths-based” household but I’d like to think that I am.
In the follow-up book, GO PUT YOUR STRENGTHS TO WORK Six Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance (http://www.marcusbuckingham.com/books/gpystw.php) by Marcus Buckingham, he teaches readers how to practically apply the labels that they gave themselves in Now, Discover Your Strengths. The goal is for people to use their strengths in their workplaces most of the time. (According to various polls, only 17% of people spend the majority of a typical day playing to their strengths!)
The follow-up book really made me think about my “dream job” and I was happy to note that at this point in my life, I pretty much have it! I really love learning and teaching others what I’ve learned, which is what I do as the NYC Metro parenting guide at BabyZone / ParentZone (the #2 baby site on the web!). The book also made me think of how I could use my strengths even more. I realized that I want to write more articles, so I’ve started doing that. Ultimately, I think that in the future, I would like to do what I currently do on a larger scale (perhaps I will be a weekly or monthly parenting columnist for a major newspaper or national magazine). As my son loves to say (after hearing it on a Bravo commercial): “Watch What Happens”.
In any event, I definitely encourage all moms (both those who work in and outside of the home) to read (or skim) these books.