I feel like most people know how to beat a personality test. We either know the right answer or, at least we know what we want to sound like. I don’t think this is intentional. I think we often answer the way we want to be seen, versus how we really feel.
So today, when I took a strengths finder quiz for an online course I’m doing, I decided to be brutally honest. It was simply for my personal consumption so I didn’t really see the need to think through my answers. I suppose it helped that the questions were also designed quite well. I didn’t know what to expect.
One thing’s for sure, I didn’t expect the results I got. There are no wrong answers here. The quiz basically lists out 24 strengths and ranks them for you.
My top 10 strengths are:
- Fairness
- Curiosity
- Judgement
- Honesty
- Kindness
- Love
- Creativity
- Love of learning
- Gratitude
- Perspective
I know I have a love for learning and curiosity but, I was pleasantly surprised by the love and kindness angle. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an unloving or unkind person. I guess I don’t see myself as a very outwardly emotional person.
Another interesting perspective is that none of these strengths fit in with my job profile. I work in corporate finance, which is a very analytical world and slightly brutal even. I guess if I’d taken this test before I settled on a profession, I would’ve probably realized that I don’t fit into that world. I’ve been told I’m not a typical corporate banker, and after 16 years now I’m thinking that may be it’s true. Or, may be my strengths have changed as I’ve matured and grown. Hopefully, it’s the latter.
If you’re interested in finding out your strengths, you can take the test at https://www.viacharacter.org/. You need to sign up but it’s free.
Looking through a frosty window... 