110 Positive Psychology in a Nutshell

the classification was developed) and 2004 from transcendence to

courage.
One of the major goals of positive psychology is seen to be helping
people to identify their signature strengths. Signature strengths are those
that represent ‘the real you’, bringing a feeling of excitement when you
discover and use them. A person excels in their signature strengths
quickly, has a sense of yearning to put them into practice and feels
invigorated and intrinsically motivated when using them (Peterson &
Seligman, 2004). Once the signature strengths are discovered, they can
be applied to areas such as work, relationships, play and parenting
(Seligman, 2002).

Gallup’s StrengthsFinder
If only the world was simple, and there was just one strengths classifica-
tion to make sense out of. Unfortunately, simplicity is not a charac-
teristic of our choiceful existence. Just in case twenty-four strengths
were not enough, I will now introduce you to thirty-four, identified by
the scientists (stroke businessmen) from the Gallup Corporation,
Donald Clifton and Edward ‘Chip’ Anderson (Clifton & Anderson,
2001–02). They endeavoured to understand what makes people excel in
what they do through interviewing thousands of top performers across
the globe. This led them to come up with thirty-four most prevalent
talents/strengths displayed in the work setting. However, their concep-
tion of what strengths are is rather different from the picture advocated
by the VIA.
According to the StrengthsFinder, the basis of a strength is a talent.
Talent is a naturally recurring pattern of thought, feeling or behaviour
that can be applied to multiple areas. It’s a capacity to do something.
Talents can be organized into themes (groups of similar talents). A
strength is the ability to provide a consistent, high-level performance in
a given activity. If talents are like ‘diamonds in the rough’, strengths are

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 Positive Psychology of Strengths 111

like diamonds that have been carefully cut and polished. Thus strengths
are produced when talents are refined with knowledge and skills. Strengths
that are fully developed and applied appropriately result in achievement
and excellence. Certain principles underlie the development and
application of strengths:

• understanding of and believing in one’s talents

• valuing one’s talents and assuming personal responsibility for them
• understanding of one’s motivation, knowing why one is doing
something; clarification of life goals or objectives
• establishment of caring, facilitative relationships
• reliving previous successes
• practising one’s talents and strengths
• teaching others about talents and strengths (this helps one to
understand them much better).

Having realized one’s talents/strengths, it’s important to consider

what career is the best match for them. Even the same activity (e.g.
studying something) can be approached differently, depending on one’s
strengths. If your strength is harmony, you might need to start from what
you agree with, and then expand from there. If you are analytical, you
may start from picking up small nuances of an argument, questioning
opinions, refusing to blindly accept what is written, before progressing
towards forming a balanced conclusion.

TABLE 11.2 STRENGTHS ACCORDING TO THE GALLUP

RESEARCHERS

• Achievement (pursuit of goals, • Focus (determining priorities,

productivity, satisfaction from finding direction, efficiency)
accomplishments)

(Continued)

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 112 Positive Psychology in a Nutshell

TABLE 11.2 Continued

• Activation (energy to get things • Future orientation (focus on the
going and done) future, seeing possibilities,
energizing others)
• Adaptability (modification of the
self depending on the demands • Harmony (ability to find things in
of environment; adjustment, common, avoiding conflicts)
flexibility)
• Ideation (creativity, originality,
• Being analytical (understanding new ideas and concepts)
of causes and effects; critical
thinking) • Including (helping others to be
unified and effective)
• Arrangement (organization,
coordination, identifying the • Individualization (seeing others
right combination of people and as individuals and recognizing
resources) their talents, focus on the
differences)
• Belief (having deeply held
values, ideas, finding meaning • Input (active knowledge
in life) acquisition, curiosity)

• Command (ability to deal with • Intellection (multiple directions

conflicts and crisis, capacity to of thinking, intellectual
be in charge) discussions, solutions)

• Communication (explanation, • Learning (enjoys learning

clarification, good when talking) process, focus on improvement)

• Competition (hard work to • Maximization (enhancement of

excel, achievement, desire personal and group excellence)
to win, comparison with others)

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 Positive Psychology of Strengths 113

• Connectedness (connecting • Positivity (enthusiasm, optimism,

ideas or occurrences into a excitement, stimulation of
meaningful whole) others)

• Consistency (equality, fairness, • Relationships (forming close

guardianship of ‘right and interpersonal relationships)
wrong’)
• Responsibility (person who can
• Context (seeing historical be counted on, many obligations
patterns, perspective) and commitments)

• Deliberation (good decision- • Restoration (recognition of

making, carefulness, problems and ability to fix
consideration of all options) them)

• Development (seeing potential • Self-assurance (self-

in others and assisting them in confidence, independence
their development) in thinking)

• Discipline (organization, good • Significance (high motivation

time-keeping, order and for recognition, hard
structure) working)

• Empathy (understanding of • Strategy (seeing pros and

others, forming supportive cons and the whole picture,
relationships) generating appropriate plan
of actions)

• Woo (quickly connecting

with people, forming
groups/relationships)

Source: Clifton & Anderson (2001–02).

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 114 Positive Psychology in a Nutshell

Tips & Tools

Discovering and applying your strengths
Looking at Table 11.1, which do you think your signature strengths are?
You can find out just by giving yourself a score from 1 to 10 for each of
the twenty-four strengths. You are not rating how you would like to be,
but how you think you are. Pick the strengths with the highest scores
(either the top 5 or 6 strengths, or the ones above 8) and ask three more
questions for each of them: ‘Is this the real me? Do I enjoy using it? Do I
find it energizing and exciting?’ Once you have claimed ownership of
your signature strengths, consider how you can apply them in all the
important areas of your life. You can do the same exercise with the
Gallup classification in Table 11.2 and compare the results.

CAPP’s Realise2
In recent years, a new approach to defining, classifying, measuring and
using strengths came to prominence. Developed and marketed by the
Centre for Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP), it is quickly becoming
the first ‘go to’ inventory in the UK.
Realise2 went far beyond the other two classifications by offering us
the choice of sixty strengths, ranging from Action through to Work
Ethic. Given the size of the list, however, it is not presented here, but can
be found in the book recommended for this chapter (Linley et al., 2010).
Realise2 has not only maximized the number of strengths, it has
enhanced our understanding of these attributes by distinguishing
between realized and unrealized strengths, learned behaviours and weak-
nesses on the basis of whether these energize us, are associated with
enhanced performance and are used frequently:

• Realized strengths are the things that you already are aware of and
use, that energize you, enable you to perform at your best and that

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 Positive Psychology of Strengths 115

you utilize often. You should marshal these strengths, by using them
appropriately according to the situation and context.
• Unrealized strengths are behaviours that you may not be able to use
on a daily basis due to your environment and work situation.
However, when you do get a chance to use them, you derive energy
and satisfaction from exhibiting these attributes. These strengths
need to be maximized, and opportunities found to develop and use
them more.
• Learned behaviours encompass the behaviours that you have, over
time, learned to perform well; however, you do not derive pleasure
or energy from completing them. Instead, you find them de-
energizing or perhaps even draining. These behaviours should
therefore be moderated, used only when you really need to.
• Weaknesses encompass all the things that you simply perform poorly
at and that drain you of energy. These attributes can create issues
and need to be managed or minimized so that they do not hinder your
being successful in life. This can be done by using one’s strengths
to compensate, reshaping a work role, finding a complementary
partner or even a team, and, when all other methods fail, learning
how to develop the weakness so that it is ‘good enough’ to get by.

Playing to your strengths?

Despite dramatic conceptual differences and rather diverse classifica-
tions, the strengths theorists share many assumptions with regard to the
usefulness of this concept. They all advocate the introduction of the
strengths-based framework in the work setting, measurement of strengths
and strengths-based recruitment, and claim that when strengths are
played to, individuals can achieve optimal functioning and find perform-
ance easier (Linley & Harrington, 2006). It’s quite hard to spot any
controversies in such a positive agenda. However, there are several
points of concern.

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