Recently my boys, ages 11 and 13 played a three-day long game of Monopoly.
When they play they go full on…
My younger son Laszlo, holds nothing back. He buys up Boardwalk and Park Place without a moment’s hesitation, builds hotels and cleans-up.
He’s competitive by nature. It drives him to go for things in his life… run faster during a track meet or challenge the other kid in his class for first chair clarinet.
I hated playing Monopoly as a kid. (Still do. I’m so grateful they can play it by themselves). My brother always controlled the bank and I am not naturally competitive….
But now a game of Clue… ah… deduction and observation. That’s my Milton Bradley jam. (Note: No promotion going on here for MB, I swear).
Laszlo on the other hand… It is fun for him. Competition helps drive him. And makes him happy.
What I’m getting at here is how powerful it is to KNOW YOUR STRENGTHS. I am a big fan of the Gallup Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment. I’ve done the first part of their StrenghtsCenter training.
Anyone can go online and do it. It costs about $10 and takes 20-30 minutes to discover your top five out of 34 Strengths. Over 15 million people have done it!
The whole philosophy is that when we know and leverage our top strengths, we are happier in work and life.
They say not to focus too much time and energy trying to improve our lesser strengths. You don’t even get them in your report, you only get your top five. Again, the idea is to maximize and leverage our top strengths.
I’ve seen this information transform my clients understanding of themselves. It can impact how they speak about themselves at work, in job interviews, and land jobs that are more suited to their innate strengths.
One of my clients has “Learner” in her top five. She LOVES learning and being challenged by new tasks. She was in Mergers & Acquisitions at a big firm, and wanted to work on a public deal to round out her experience. She wanted this input to help make her decision about whether to stay and commit to the firm or go elsewhere. After multiple requests, and being denied, she decided to leave.
She knows she needs new challenges to feel fulfilled in her work. Not having that at the firm, contributed to her decision to leave.
I bet my son Laszlo has competition in his top 5.
And to share…my top five Clifton StrengthsFinder Strengths are: Strategic, Ideation, Connectedness, Woo and Positivity.
Here’s how you can do yours now: https://www.gallupstrengthscenter.com/
P.S. I have no affiliate relationship with Gallup Strengths Center and will not profit in any way from your taking the assessment. Other than the happy satisfaction that you are getting to know your strengths.
If you are a lawyer who wants more freedom, autonomy, and clarity about your next career steps, I would love to see if I could help you. Please reach out here.