Eric's CliftonStrengths
My top 5 strengths are:
Deliberative
Strategic
Learner
Intellection
Analytical
The Gallup CliftonStrengths site has this to say about my Strengths and Talents.
Deliberative
People who are especially talented in the Deliberative theme are best described by the serious care they take in making decisions or choices. They anticipate the obstacles.
Driven by your talents, you are rather reserved. Your preference for privacy means you work or study alone. Observant individuals soon realize you dislike being interrupted when you have to meet a deadline to reach a goal. By nature, you keep a tight rein on your emotions. You are cautious and reserved. Rather than add to the drama of a situation, you simply study the facts. You waste little time discussing your own and others’ feelings. Instead, you consider the evidence. You weigh the consequences of whatever is said and done. People realize you need time to think. They know your judgment is rarely clouded by personal feelings or opinions. It is very likely that you select your friends with great care. You are comfortable nurturing up-close and personal relationships with these chosen individuals. The quality of your relationships is much more important to you than the number of people who say you are their friend. Because of your strengths, you typically approach your job or your studies with a no-nonsense, businesslike attitude. This explains why so many people think you have a very strong work ethic. Chances are good that you genuinely enjoy working as an individual performer. This preference aligns with your reserved nature. You probably are known for your discreetness — that is, your ability to keep silent and preserve confidences when necessary.
Strategic
People who are especially talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.
Driven by your talents, you may be inclined to examine the basic elements of certain types of problems. You might attempt to understand how and why things work or fail to work. These insights might stimulate your thinking. Then you try to generate a few alternative plans. Considering prevailing circumstances, available resources and time constraints, you might narrow down your options. Perhaps the plan that offers the best chance of solving the problem naturally reveals itself. Because of your strengths, you may notice that multiple solutions to nagging problems just pop into your mind. Sometimes you study each option from many different angles. Perhaps you carefully evaluate the entire situation, and then choose the alternative that makes the most sense. Why? Maybe you aim to outscore or outperform your rivals. By nature, you are innovative, inventive, original and resourceful. Your mind allows you to venture beyond the commonplace, the familiar, or the obvious. You entertain ideas about the best ways to reach a goal, increase productivity or solve a problem. First, you think of alternatives. Then you choose the best option. Instinctively, you might recognize recurring sequences in data, events, information or people’s comments. These insights might enable you to form links between things that others cannot. It is very likely that you select the right combination of words to convey your ideas or feelings. In the middle of discussions, your vocabulary provides you with precise phrases and terminology. You probably express yourself with ease and grace.
Learner
People who are especially talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.
Driven by your talents, you are an individual performer who intentionally signs up for tough classes. Your desire to excel is amplified when the only path to a good grade is a steep one. Instinctively, you have the extra energy to work hard whenever you are acquiring information to broaden your base of knowledge. You desire to deepen your understanding of various topics, opportunities, problems, solutions, situations, events or people. By nature, you typically enroll in demanding classes. You thrive in situations where you can test your talents as well as your endurance to discover how much you can accomplish. You need to prove yourself to yourself each day. Because of your strengths, you attempt to gauge how much information you have acquired compared to the amount someone else has gathered. Your rivalries may be actual or merely contests you have conceived in your mind. You might be motivated to accumulate additional knowledge to increase your advantage over specific individuals. Moreover, you might want to be acclaimed as the smartest or most informed person in a particular group. Chances are good that you spend some of your time examining problems, malfunctions or glitches. If you experience a personal or professional loss, make a mistake or suffer a defeat, you might investigate. Perhaps you feel restless until you have answers to your basic questions: What? How? When? Where? Who? Why?
Intellection
People who are especially talented in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.
Because of your strengths, you sometimes enliven or stop conversations with your thought-provoking statements, unusual viewpoints, jarring questions, pointed demands or candid opinions. Sometimes you deftly play the devil’s advocate — that is, take the opposing view. Occasionally, you force people to think philosophically about the meaning of good, evil, truth, justice or happiness. Chances are good that you prepare for important conversations or discussions by collecting lots of background information. It is not unusual for you to set aside at least five hours of quiet time each week to consider what you have discovered. You are likely to use this time to expand your thinking. A new piece of material can send you hunting for additional evidence to support your theories, concepts or proposals. Driven by your talents, you can hold your own in conversations with certain types of reasonable people. Perhaps they share a little bit of your desire to search for truth in specific areas. Occasionally you fine-tune your thinking about some of the issues facing individuals or humankind. By nature, you have new ideas whirling around in your head much of the time. You are very interested in solving problems, conceiving new concepts, designing plans or understanding everyday matters. Instinctively, you naturally latch onto opportunities to acquire knowledge. You carefully and methodically think through ideas you have garnered from reading, classes, seminars or conversations. You probably have little patience with individuals whose emotions cloud their judgment. You are likely to distance yourself from people who refuse to expand their minds.
Analytical
People who are especially talented in the Analytical theme search for reasons and causes. They have the ability to think about all the factors that might affect a situation.
Because of your strengths, you are a rational thinker. You rely on reason to investigate what started a chain of events. You collect and study evidence. Then you pinpoint the key parts of a machine, idea, problem or process. You discard bits of information that are irrelevant to your research. Instinctively, you sometimes easily process certain kinds of numerical information. Perhaps you perform specific mathematical calculations in your head, such as balancing your checkbook or splitting a restaurant bill. Maybe you prefer to deal with things that can be measured or counted. It is very likely that you genuinely enjoy activities when just about everything makes sense. You naturally gravitate to tasks where facts, events, processes or ideas are methodically outlined. By nature, you usually like to work alone. Why? You sense you can accomplish a lot more that way. You enhance your personal productivity by assigning a level of importance and urgency to every task. You probably start with the most critical activity and work your way to the least critical. Driven by your talents, you are sometimes preoccupied with numerical data. Perhaps the insights you gain permit you to evaluate certain kinds of situations, opportunities, problems or solutions.