Contemplating Life’s Choices

As someone who has spent a lot of time getting to know myself, understanding what makes me unique, and how I operate in the world I had the opportunity to revisit my CliftonStrengths for work. I found I’ve actually taken the Top 5 assessment at both of my last jobs. In those cases my Top 5 shifted a little but mostly with strengths 3-5. My understanding was it’s likely the things that moved up were in my top 6-10 and that the ones that moved out of my Top 5 were likely there in that space instead.

In my last job I took the CliftonStrengths test in July of 2020. There was clearly a lot going on around that time globally but my results showed up as:

strategic | learner | achiever | connectedness | relator

This made sense. The few things that moved around didn’t seem to fundamentally change my view of my strengths and seemed to make sense.

Cue to February 2023 and I had to retake the assessment because I needed my report for all 34 Strengths. I tried to log in to just pay to update my last report but none of the emails I tried worked. I’m guessing I had done the assessment under my old work email which I don’t have access to any more so here we are. My Strengths now showed up as:

strategic | maximizer | relator | learner | individualization

Once again most things remained similar, the order changed, but the interesting thing I’ve noticed in reflecting on this so far is the achiever that used to be a top three for me is now number 23 on my list. I could assume maximizer and individualization could have been in my top 10 and moved up or perhaps they were significantly lower and now show up here. I won’t ever know since I can’t access my full results from the last time I assessed.

Now, CliftonStrengths does not recommend taking the test on a regular basis. Most of the time the changes aren’t significant and you’re basically wasting your time. Also, they believe that all of these strengths can be good so it’s not worth it to try and change yourself, or your answers, to get some magical combination of strengths. Even if you had the same strengths as someone else they won’t present in the same way as someone else because of so many other factors. Your personality, the way you approach your work, your life experiences, etc. When I’ve taken the assessment it’s managed to be about two or more years between them.

So, looking at the loss of Achiever out of my Top 5. Does this mean I’m suddenly not interested in winning? Does this mean I’m never going to achieve anything in my life? Does this mean employers beware because I’m not driven to achieve big goals? CliftonStrengths short description defines Achiever as:

People who are especially talented in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive.

Y’all! Even without knowing me, think about the difference between life in general in 2020 vs now. In March 2020 I moved from an individual contributor role to the VP of Strategy, Change, and Communication for the Enterprise Technology and Operations division of a west cost group of banks. This role was also responsible for our Workforce of the Future, Women in Technology/DEI programs, and employee engagement. The day I was promoted was the day they sent everyone home for the pandemic and we all 100% thought we’d be back to work in a couple of weeks, max.

In my life until that point I was absolutely an Achiever. I couldn’t stand to not be busy and productive. Literally I had no idea how people could spend their weekends taking naps, reading books, or just watching TV. To me, if I wasn’t multitasking, getting things done, and giving 120% all the time/every time I personally felt like I was failing. I never cared that other people could disconnect from work, take vacation without checking email, or enjoy their weekends but it wasn’t something I felt I could actually do.

After taking this assessment in July, I ended up getting Covid in December and was sicker than I’d been in my whole life. Even then, I still worked through it the first probably week of being sick, I tried to be “productive” while I rested by trying to work on hobby projects like knitting, and I thought if I could just power through I’d be back to work and doing great. It ended up I never felt like I fully recovered for months after going back to work, my dad ended up in the hospital for Covid during the same time, and the extended illness changed me.

For me seeing Achiever drop from my Top 5 to not even in my Top 10 was a result of the circumstances I experienced since the last time I took this assessment. It doesn’t mean I won’t achieve things or that I can’t work hard and be productive. For me, it means I’ve prioritized rest and things I value over being busy. Busy is no longer a badge of honor for me. Neither is being productive 24/7. I can accomplish more in other ways and that’s ok.

Have you taken the StrengthsFinder? Did it resonate with you when you saw your results? Or are you like me and took them and saw your results change significantly over time? I’d love to hear any stories folks have about their experience with the assessment. Like everything, I feel these types of resources are great to help you explore and learn more about yourself but they don’t need to be the only way you see or label yourself. They should always be explored within the context of your lived experiences. Feel free to drop your thoughts in the comments.