Who am I and what do I do best? These aren’t existential questions, but they do provide a starting point in getting to know who you are and how you interact with others. What better way to understand yourself, your strengths, and your internal motivations than through a series of assessments. gap intelligence likes to make sure that the right people are on the right seats on the bus.
As a result, our onboarding process includes taking several assessments to better understand ourselves in order to work together effectively. These assessments include the Gallup Strengths Finder test, the DiSC assessment, and the Four Tendencies quiz.
StrengthsFinder 2.0
Have you ever been told to focus on your weaknesses and not your strengths? Well, the StrengthsFinder test does just the opposite. According to the Gallup CliftonStrengths assessment, strengths-based organizations tend to outperform their competitors and foster a culture of growth. Additionally, people who focus on their strengths have higher engagement at work and are more productive in their roles. Using your strengths creates happier and healthier employees.
Every gapper at gap intelligence takes the test to discover his/her strengths. These results are then shared across the company. The test consists of a series of questions that prompt you to choose between two statements that strongly describes you. The results are comprised of 34 themes (strengths); however, we take the condensed version of the assessment to focus on our top five.
Everyone has his/her own unique strengths and the most successful teams are composed of a mixture of strengths. Those 34 themes can fall into four domains of strengths: Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building, and Strategic Thinking. The idea is that by focusing on one’s strengths, a person can best use his/her natural talents rather than weaknesses. Staying true to who you are and what you do best only makes for a better employee and teammate. Additionally, understanding individual strengths on a team helps teams leverage those talents in order to accomplish goals.
business-leadership-qualities.com
DiSC
The DiSC assessment is a (non-judgmental) personality tool that examines people’s behavioral qualities by looking at personal characteristics and preferences. DiSC stands for Dominance, Influencing, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. The tool can be used to learn more about yourself and what motivates you. However, the tool also develops your empathy towards others as it provides information on how people communicate and interact with you. The assessment consists of a series of 10 questions where words are ranked from a scale of 1-4 with a score of 4 being most like you. After adding up the scores that fall under the letters D, I, S, or C, one finds out more about their behavioral preferences.
The condensed DiSC assessment provides a brief snippet into our behavioral tendencies. Certain scores can highlight specific patterns that are known as DiSC profiles. The profiles provide insights into your emotions, goals, influences, values, and fears. Knowing what behaviors are holding you back or causing conflict at work can help you better realize what drives you and how you interact with others.
The Four Tendencies
The other personality assessment we take is “The Four Tendencies” quiz. The quiz was inspired by Gretchen Rubin’s book by the same name. The intention of the quiz is to understand our own, as well as other people’s, unique perspectives. She delves into what motivates people’s behaviors by posing the question: “How do I respond to expectations?” Expectations can be driven by our “outer expectations” (expectation of others) and “inner expectations” (our own). How we respond determines our tendencies, which fall into the four categories of Upholder, Questioner, Obliger, or Rebel. As simply stated on Gretchen Rubin’s website:
The quiz is quick and easy with only seven questions. This useful tool aids in understanding the unique point of view of a direct, co-worker, or manager, which in turn helps you better communicate with him/her. The saying of “meet people where they are” holds true in being aware of people’s internal and external motivations. By doing so, you relate and communicate to people in a way that is effective for them.
Results of the Process
As a high C objective thinker (DiSC), whose strength aligns with strategic thinking with a bit of influencing (StrengthsFinder), and wants to know the “why” (Four Tendencies), these assessments have helped me appreciate my unique perspective in addition to the views of my colleagues. Jim Rohn once said, “work harder on yourself than you do on your job.” I believe the first step in doing that is to know what drives your strengths, behaviors, and tendencies. I’m always interested in learning new ways to understand myself and my colleagues. Are there other assessments that your company uses that aren’t mentioned here? If so, please send us a note and how that assessment has helped you and your organization communicate and collaborate effectively.
Do you have what it take to be a gapper? We’re hiring. Head to our culture section to learn more about open positions. We’re conducting phone interviews as we work towards flattening the curve. Stay safe and healthy. We’re all in this together.
