My favorite strengths assessment is Gallup’s CliftonStrengths. They charge about $20 to reveal your top five strengths, or $60 for your full ranking of 34 strengths. If you’re not sure, the top five is fine. But if you enjoy learning about yourself and how you can apply that knowledge to improve your relationships, parenting, or career, I suggest taking the plunge and purchasing the full 34. It’s well worth the investment to identify not only your top 10-15 dominant strengths, but also those in the lower portion of your ranking. (If you decide to start with your top five, you can upgrade later, but you’ll end up paying about $10 more in total.)

The assessment consists of 177 paired statements and takes about 45 minutes to complete. You are asked to identify which statement sounds more like you, and you specify your answer on a scale. You are given a time limit for each set of statements, because you should go with your gut instinct and not overthink your answers. Gallup provides a personalized ranking of strengths based on your answers.

We meet remotely, either via phone or Zoom (whichever you prefer).

You! For example, we talk about what makes you unique, how you’ve seen your strengths play out in many areas of your life, and how you can apply your strengths to live your purpose. Check the sample session topics for additional examples.

You must complete the CliftonStrengths assessment* and send me your report from Gallup at least 24 hours prior to our first session.

*Gallup charges you to take their assessment. You pay based on how much of your ranking you want to see. The cost is about $20 to receive your top five strengths or about $60 to reveal the entire list. That fee can be paid directly to Gallup. Or, if purchased in conjunction with coaching sessions, I can handle the transaction for you.

Individuals sessions are 50 minutes each. I typically meet with people about once a month or once a quarter, depending on their level of interest, but I’m also happy to schedule single sessions if that is preferable. I’ve had people feel content with their knowledge after one session, and also have many who prefer to book a series of sessions so as to help build out their strengths knowledge in several aspects of their life (work, parenting, relationships, resilience, etc.).

A single session is $120. I do offer a sliding fee scale that may be applicable to your situation. Additional discounts are available when purchased in larger blocks.

All participants receive at least one PDF report showing some key points of each dominant strength. Multi-session participants also receive additional SOP-of-ME worksheets.

*Gallup charges you to take their assessment. You pay based on how much of your ranking you want to see. The cost is about $20 to receive your top five strengths or about $60 to reveal the entire list.

No problem. The only sessions in which faith is discussed are those whose participants specifically ask for that topic to be included.

First, you’re right that there are a lot of personality tests out there! After having completed most of them, what I particularly enjoy about CliftonStrengths is that it shows how I am unique (not just a “type” shared with many other people) and is based on peer-reviewed scientific research (unlike those rooted in pop-culture).

Beyond that, check out Gallup’s explanation on the science of strengths. The bottom of that page also includes information about how CliftonStrengths compares with many of the other personality tests out there, such as the Enneagram and MBTI.

I’ve yet to find a person who hasn’t been encouraged through discovering their strengths. And, Gallup has decades of research to help us understand the benefits. For example, people who invest in their strengths are:

• 6x as likely to be engaged in their jobs
• 6x as likely to strongly agree that they have the opportunity to do what they do best every day
• 3x as likely to report having an excellent quality of life

Here are just a few related links with more research:

• Your Best Day at Work (and how to have more like it)
• Strengths: Powerful Life Strategy for Happiness, Wellbeing
• How to Improve My Career with Strengths

I’m happy to provide additional support, as needed, so please let me know how I can help. Schedule a free introductory conversation with me.

The introductory session gives you a chance to learn why focusing on strengths brings more success than improving weaknesses.

The session explores your experiences, preferences, and dreams, to identify persistent strengths along the way.

The session delves specifically into your top five “signature strengths.”

This session focuses on learning to target your strengths toward helping you achieve specific goals.

This session explores how the full profile of 34 strengths shapes you to fulfill your unique goals. (Requires you to have unlocked your full ranking from Gallup.)

This session focuses on helping you understand how best to use your strengths to lead a team.

This session looks into ways you can tap into powerful partnerships at work, specifically considering those whose strengths might conflict with yours and also those whose have the power to complement yours well.

There are four sessions in this category, focused on the topics of Decision Making, Persuading Others, Collaboration, and Getting Things Done.

This session focuses on helping you better parent your kid(s) through your strengths. We also discuss strengths-spotting to help identify strengths in kids.

This session explores how your strengths impact your relationships.

This session explores how to best provide care for a loved one in such a way that brings out the best in that person. We also discuss important self-care concepts so you can be at your best.

This faith-based session discusses anchoring your identity in scriptural truth, and how that impacts living your strengths.

This trauma-informed session covers how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) impact your ability to live your strengths.

This trauma-informed session outlines how our hurts, habits, and hang-ups can impact our ability to live our strengths.