Customer Reviews
Transformation in the Workplace! - By: Colleen Messina, 18 Nov 2008 
"Now, Discover Your Strengths" is a breath of fresh air. I can relate, as authors Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton describein their book, to people who tend to focus on their weaknesses instead of identifying their talents & building them into strengths. Before reading this book, I used to focus on everything that I thought needed improvement instead of seeing that there were natural areasin my workplace that I excelled in. I am a loan servicer at an investment bank, & I have discovered that I am currently performingin a job that capitalizes on my strengths & my talents. My knack for organization & discipline has earned me the role of training new hiresin my department. Without recognizing this talent, I may have turned down the opportunity when my supervisor suggested that I take on this responsibility. I really enjoy my work.
I've also found satisfaction with my workplace from reading books by authors Ariel & Shya Kane. Before reading their book,Working on Yourself Doesn't Work: The 3 Simple Ideas That Will Instantaneously Transform Your Life, I would complain about my job, thinking that it was just a job that paid the bills, always dreading 9:00AM on Mondays & day dreaming about 5:00PM on Fridays. My existence at my workplace was so unsatisfying that I was miserable. After reading their books, including How to Create a Magical Relationship: The 3 Simple Ideas that Will Instantaneously Transform Your Love Life: The 3 Simple Ideas That Will Instantaneously Transform Your Love Life & Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment, I have discovered that if I fully engagein the moment with my life, the mundane tasksin life become magical. Magical - asin fun, easy, & satisfying. Not only have I found that I have unique strengths by reading "Now, Discover Your Strengths", I have found a life of easein my workplace, by reading the award winning books by Ariel & Shya Kane.
Don't buy used copies! - By: N. Kirkham, 14 Oct 2008 
The book provides a single -use access code to complete an online survey, that is at the heart of the book. Unfortunately if you buy a used copy & the previous owner used the code, then you are unable to complete the survey; effectively making this book useless as a tool to understand your talents.
A point well taken, but... - By: T.R., 08 Oct 2008 The idea of the book is to help you find your talents, build your strengths, which willin turn, improve your performance.
Building your strengths is indeed somthing that is often overlooked, as most of the time we seek to improve our weaknesses- that's a point well taken- & a good reason to buy the book. However two more things also need to be mentioned. First, why can't we work on building both our strengths AND our weaknesses? In other words, why do we have to necessarily pick just one? I feel that many weaknesses can be improved upon.
Secondly, discovering your talents & doing what you're good at may not necessarily improve your performance. Why? Because there are lots of things we're good at, but still hate to do nonetheless. For instance, I'm really good at cleaning houses & debating, but I don't like to really do either one. People really perform well when its something that they know how to do AND when there's something meaningful/importantin it for them. Anyway, just some food for thought. Readers may also be interestedin The Sixty-Second Motivator.
Revealing, easy read and a good on-line assessment - By: Mr. Robert C. Tearle, 30 Jan 2008 This is a quick read & his other books are too. Which is a compliment.
Easy to relate to & apply.
I have used the on-line assessments for both myself & employees, & for me I have found them pretty accurate! Today I am buying yet ano book ~ the on-line assessment is foc when you buy the book ~ & I'll be using the assessment next week when looking at a prospective hire.
I have combined some of the conceptsin this book when interviewing (I run a recruitment business) with others previously established & found it can support a good match & vice versa help identify ones which are not.
It would be good if an easy read on emotional intelligencein the context of the workplace were available ~ I havent found one yet. If authors see this, please understand small text sizesin books are really hard work ~ this book (Now, Discover your strengths) isnt I'm just making the point.
The Good is the enemy of the best. - By: Andrew Moules, 04 Oct 2007 Main idea: Most organizations hold on tenaciously to two fallacies (1) That anyonein the organization can be trained to do any task, & (2) That the greatest room for potential growth for any individual isin his area of greatest weakness. This book turns these on their head by stating (and proving) the opposite is true: (1) That training across the organization ultimately needs to focus on specialty areas of diverse contribution, & (2) That the greatest room for potential growth for any individual isin his area of greatest strength. In other words, let's let Tiger Woods play golf & Pavorotti sing. This should resonate with Paul's advice on spiritual gifts....
