Theme vs strength
At Positive Leadership, the CliftonStrengths© assessment is an important and practical tool in the work we do. If you’ve been following us for awhile, you’re familiar with it. Today, I want to talk specifically about the idea of strengths and share an example — from my own life — of observing someone using one of their strengths.
Once you understand the concept of strengths, you’ll be able to start seeing them in the people around you. Remember the definition of a strength that we get from CliftonStrengths©: an activity where someone performs consistently and near-perfectly. Our strengths are a combination of our natural talents, skills, and knowledge.
In my town, there is a chef who owns a small business that offers in-home meal preparation. She goes to clients’ homes and cooks them an entire week of custom meals in their own kitchen. I decided to try this service out.
First, the business owner interviewed me for an hour to find out my food preferences. The next week, she showed up with bags of groceries and went right to work, and three hours later she left having cooked an entire week’s meals. I was blown away.
The process was effortless for her. She made polite conversation with me, listened to her headphones, and prepared multiple meals — all at the same time. The activity gave her energy. She made it all look so easy. And the results were delicious. It was clear I was observing someone carrying out one of their strengths.
I thought about the contrast between the way she performed the activity versus how I cook a meal. It takes my full concentration. I have to refer to the recipe multiple times as I go. I constantly doubt if I am doing things correctly, and I never know if the end result will turn out to be worth the effort and expense. While I may not be stressed out the entire time, it’s not an activity where I can be relaxed. That’s because cooking is not one of my strengths. But it was clear that cooking was this woman’s strength.
This is strength in the exact way Dr. Clifton, the creator of CliftonStrengths© (originally StrengthsFinder©), meant it. This woman had not taken the CliftonStrengths© assessment. I did not know her themes — although I’d be curious to know what they are. But everything that we need to know about strength was on full display as she prepared the meals.
As Dr. Clifton emphasized, a strength is not just a talent; it is the consistent, near-perfect application of talent, combined with skills and knowledge. This chef’s ability to seamlessly multitask, adapt recipes to my preferences, and finish in record time wasn’t just a reflection of natural talent. It was clear that her years of honing this craft had turned her talent into a true strength. This is a perfect illustration of what Positive Leadership would call alignment — where her talents, skills, and the activity of cooking were perfectly aligned, allowing her to perform at her best.
Themes vs. Strengths: A critical distinction
As good as she was, she’d be the first to say there are many other people who can do what she does and even do it better. And that takes nothing away from this being a strength. The important thing is that all those other people would have different themes from her. Themes contribute to a strength, but they are not a strength. A strength is an activity. Different themes contribute different qualities to a strength.
It’s also important to recognize that strengths are unique to each person. The way this chef approaches her work is deeply personal, informed by her own blend of talents, experiences, and knowledge. Another chef with different CliftonStrengths© themes might approach the same task differently — perhaps focusing more on the creativity of the recipes or the efficiency of the process. This highlights an important principle in Positive Leadership: strengths are not just about achieving outcomes, but how those outcomes are achieved. The uniqueness of each person’s strengths contributes to the richness and diversity of teams and organizations.
Consistency: The hallmark of true strength
An activity needs to be performed both near-perfectly and consistently. Occasionally, I could make a dish and have it come out really good. It has happened. So, I have produced near-perfect performance sometimes, but I could not do that on a consistent basis. For this woman, all ten dishes she created that day were near perfect. And she performs that same activity near-perfectly for many clients every week.
This consistency is what distinguishes a true strength. The chef’s ability to deliver high-quality meals day after day is not just the result of talent, it’s the byproduct of intentional effort, repeated practice, and learning. In Positive Leadership, this would be seen as progression, not perfection. Her progression in the craft of cooking over the years has led her to a place where she not only excels but can perform effortlessly, aligned with her strengths.
Observing the chef in action was a powerful reminder of how strengths, when fully developed, can transform the way we work and interact with the world. Whether it’s cooking a meal or leading a team, when we operate from a place of strength, we move with confidence, ease, and energy. Recognizing and leveraging strengths not only enhances individual performance but also creates environments where people can thrive — the ultimate goal in Positive Leadership. This experience has reinforced for me that recognizing and honing our strengths is not just a personal advantage — it’s a key to creating value for others. By focusing on what we do best, we not only enhance our own performance but contribute to the thriving of those around us. Strengths aren’t just about what we’re good at — they’re about what energizes us, what we can do consistently well, and what allows us to make a lasting impact.
