Book Review

CSSP reviews:

Now, Discover Your Strengths
By Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton, PhD.
The Free Press, 2001, 272 pages, $27.00

Change Your Management Approach by Emphasizing Strengths!

In the book, First, Break All the Rules, Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman laid out the somewhat surprising guidelines that the world's greatest managers use to get the most from their people: Play favorites, forget about fixing weaknesses and, by all means, treat people differently! Marcus Buckingham returns (this time with Donald O. Clifton) in the book, Now, Discover Your Strengths, armed with additional Gallup study research to take these managerial insights to the next level.

Now, Discover Your Strengths is a "how-to" book that will allow you to identify your unique talents and strengths. The primary argument lies in the belief that in order to develop a true strength — the ability to achieve consistent, near perfect performance — you must combine innate talents (naturally recurring behaviors) with knowledge and skills (capabilities that can be learned and improved).

The book identifies 34 themes of talent that govern your areas of greatest potential strength. Here's the best part — and the reason that many of you will find your purchase compelling: With each copy of the book, the buyer receives a unique user identification code that allows them to fill out the "StrengthsFinder Profile" online. This assessment tool identifies your top 5 themes of talent. With a clear understanding of these themes (all 34 are defined in detail) and the additional guidelines provided by the authors, you are on your way to developing a clearer understanding of the roles that you should emphasize in your professional and personal lives.

If you buy-in to the authors' philosophy, you can use these concepts to support employee development efforts and team building throughout your organization. The book (and the unique online code) lists for $27.00 — a small price to pay for access to an extremely powerful assessment tool that could lift your organization to the next level. You can reach the Center for Simplified Strategic Planning, Inc. via e-mail at

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