{"id":440,"date":"2013-01-21T21:42:24","date_gmt":"2013-01-21T21:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.workplaceinteractors.com\/theinteraction\/?p=440"},"modified":"2013-01-21T21:42:24","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T21:42:24","slug":"book-review-standout-by-marcus-buckingham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.workplaceinteractors.com\/theinteraction\/2013\/01\/21\/book-review-standout-by-marcus-buckingham\/","title":{"rendered":"Book review: StandOut by Marcus Buckingham"},"content":{"rendered":"

My latest review for\u00a0Perdido<\/em><\/a><\/strong> Magazine\"StandOut\"<\/a><\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cKnow thyself.\u201d \u2013 temple of Apollo at Delphi<\/p>\n

\u201cAlways remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.\u201d \u2013 Margaret Mead<\/p>\n

Self-assessments are irresistible.\u00a0 We all love to compare ourselves to others, find out what our strengths are (and our weaknesses, if you force us to look at them).\u00a0 We proudly proclaim our communication styles (\u201cI\u2019m very high D\u201d), our Myers\/Briggs types, even our zodiac signs.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m usually a little skeptical of these assessments, though.\u00a0 With most of them, it\u2019s pretty obvious where the questions are heading, and it\u2019s hard not to skew your answers toward a flattering outcome.<\/p>\n

I remember taking the Kuder Preference Test as a senior in high school, after a frustrating week as editor of my school newspaper.\u00a0 I was so fed up with dealing with others that I swore I would never put myself in charge of anything ever again.\u00a0 Of course, the test the next day produced a near-zero score on leadership, as I shuddered my way through every question that proposed heading up projects or managing employees.\u00a0 (I\u2019ve since held several leadership positions and enjoyed the experience, so clearly my low score was a product of the moment, not of destiny.)<\/p>\n

But bearing in mind that assessment tests can be ephemeral, I was intrigued by the one that comes with StandOut<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Marcus Buckingham, formerly of Gallup, has specialized for years in helping people discover their strengths:\u00a0 their natural abilities, interests and orientations.\u00a0 In this new book, Buckingham premieres a new test, developed with Dr. Courtney McCashland, which promises to \u201cunlock your best performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

This new assessment identifies nine \u201cstrengths roles\u201d that represent constellations of qualities.\u00a0 \u00a0The test would identify my top two roles \u2013 where, according to Buckingham, I would make my greatest contribution:\u00a0 \u201cYour top 2 Roles are the focal point of all your talents, themes and skills. They describe your instinctive way of making a difference in the world. Know them well and you will know how to win at work.\u201d<\/p>\n

I carefully cut open the sealed insert bound into the book and then messily scraped off the foil with a quarter, to get my secret access code to the online test \u2013 free with the purchase of the book.\u00a0 After creating an account on Buckingham\u2019s website, I was ready to begin.<\/p>\n

The assessment was more interesting than most.\u00a0 Each question is timed, to discourage rumination and calculation.\u00a0 The situations were often unexpected, and usually the multiple-choice options were all decent solutions; I had to pick the one I was most likely to do.\u00a0 Not once was I asked, \u201cWould you rather read a book or go to a party?\u201d<\/p>\n

My top two roles, when revealed, turned out to be not quite what I was expecting.\u00a0 Apparently, that\u2019s not uncommon; in the book, Buckingham says, \u201cIt\u2019s not unusual for people\u2019s Top 2 not to reflect what they think they should have gotten\u2026.Try to keep an open mind about what StandOut is telling you regarding how you may be perceived by others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mind open, I began to read what the book said about my roles.\u00a0 And it\u2019s an interesting collection:\u00a0 not only the definition of each role, but also suggestions for how to describe myself at a performance appraisal; how to make an immediate impact; how to take my performance to the next level; what to watch out for; and how to win as a leader, a manager, and a salesperson.\u00a0 Although it\u2019s hard to imagine myself saying \u201cI\u2019m one of the most resilient people I\u00a0 know\u201d in an interview, I found a lot of the ideas intriguing.\u00a0 I especially liked the suggestions for how to communicate with those whose strengths differ from mine:\u00a0 allow them time to sift and reflect, provide more details than I might think are necessary, and so on.<\/p>\n

The book has a few short chapters that describe how the assessment came into being, why innovations work better when they\u2019re keyed to people\u2019s roles, and how to build on your strengths.\u00a0 Except for those, all of the material in the book is available on the StandOut website, where you can take the assessment and receive your results for $15.\u00a0 The website also shows you how your top two roles work in combination, ranks all the roles from your assessment, and gives you an action planning form called the Strengths MAP.\u00a0 So if you consider paper and ink \u201cso last century,\u201d you might want to skip buying the book and go directly to your computer.<\/p>\n

There are useful ideas here, although I wouldn\u2019t agree with the author that StandOut<\/i> is \u201cThe Rosetta Stone for understanding your strengths and those of the people around you.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0But then, I\u2019m a Gemini.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My latest review for\u00a0Perdido Magazine: \u201cKnow thyself.\u201d \u2013 temple of Apollo at Delphi \u201cAlways remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.\u201d \u2013 Margaret Mead Self-assessments are irresistible.\u00a0 We all love to compare ourselves to others, find out what our strengths are (and our weaknesses, if you force us to look at them).\u00a0 …<\/p>\n

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