Ever feel like everyone else somehow got a manual for success that you missed? You're not alone. For years, we've all wrestled with understanding our own talents and how to truly unleash them. Instead of chasing after one-size-fits-all advice or the latest self-improvement fad, what if you could access the unique capabilities already wired into who you are? This is where the 34 CliftonStrengths® themes come in, a robust framework developed by Gallup that digs deeper than typical personality assessments to uncover your distinctive patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving - the authentic strengths that make you, YOU.
What are the 34 CliftonStrengths® Themes?
The CliftonStrengths® assessment emerged from decades of Gallup's research into what makes individuals and teams thrive. Instead of focusing on weaknesses to be fixed, this approach zeroes in on your innate talents – the things you naturally do well and find energising. These aren't just skills you've learned; they are fundamental ways you think, feel, and act.
The 34 CliftonStrengths® themes are categorised into four overarching domains, providing a helpful structure for understanding different types of talent:
- Strategic Thinking: This theme revolves around how you analyse situations, make decisions, and think about the future. Examples include Analytical, Futuristic, and Ideation.
- Executing: This domain encompasses the themes that help you get things done and turn ideas into reality. Think of themes like Achiever, Discipline, and Responsibility.
- Influencing: These themes describe how you impact others, persuade them, and make your ideas heard. Examples include Communication, Command, and Woo.
- Relationship Building: This domain focuses on how you build strong connections, foster teamwork, and create a positive social environment. Themes like Empathy, Harmony, and Relator fall under this category.
Why Understanding Your CliftonStrengths® Matters
Knowing your top CliftonStrengths® – typically your top 5 or 10 – can be a game-changer in various aspects of your life:
- Improved Self-Awareness and Confidence: When you understand your natural talents, you gain a deeper appreciation for what makes you unique and valuable. This self-knowledge fuels confidence and helps you make choices aligned with your inherent strengths.
- Enhanced Career Development and Job Satisfaction: By identifying roles and responsibilities that leverage your strengths, you're more likely to excel and find genuine satisfaction in your work. Imagine a "Communicator" thriving in a client-facing role or a "Strategic" individual excelling in planning and analysis.
- Stronger Teamwork and Collaboration: When team members understand each other's strengths, they can collaborate more effectively, delegate tasks strategically, and appreciate diverse contributions. A team with a strong "Harmony" theme might excel at conflict resolution, while a team with "Activator" will be great at getting projects off the ground.
- Increased Productivity and Performance: Focusing on your strengths allows you to operate more efficiently and effectively. You'll find tasks that align with your talents come more naturally, leading to higher-quality work and greater output.
- Better Decision-Making: Your strengths influence how you approach problems and make choices. Understanding these tendencies can lead to more informed and confident decision-making. For example, someone with strong Analytical tendencies might prioritise data, while someone with Intuition might rely on gut feeling.
Understanding your CliftonStrengths® is like receiving a personalised roadmap to your potential. It moves beyond generic advice and taps into the core of who you are at your best. By embracing your unique talent DNA, you can unlock hidden genius, achieve greater fulfillment, and contribute more effectively to the world around you. Ready to discover the strengths that define you? Take the first step and explore the power of CliftonStrengths® with Wild & Wise.
Unlock your potential with Gerald Ang. Learn how his expertise in CliftonStrengths® and leadership development can help you build high-performing teams and achieve your career goals.
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Are you ready to unlock your strengths and achieve personal or professional growth? Whether you need help with personal branding, team alignment, or strengths-based coaching, Wild & Wise is here to guide you. Book your free consultation and take the first step towards your transformation.
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How to Think Like a CEO (Even If You're Not One Yet)
Whether you’ve just stepped into a new leadership role or are preparing for your next one, one shift makes all the difference:
You have to think like a CEO.
Managing Directors, CEOs, and business owners don’t just focus on what needs to be done, they obsess over how the business moves, where value is created, and what kind of leadership unlocks the team’s potential.
Here are 3 mindset shifts I often coach leaders to adopt early. They’re simple, but powerful and they separate the managers from the business leaders.
1. Zoom Out Before You Zoom In
Great business leaders are not reactive and don’t just solve problems. They always step back to understand which problems matter most. They ask questions:
- “What’s the bigger play here?”
- “How does this impact the customer, the market, the brand?”
- “What are we not seeing?”
If you’re always in firefighting mode, start practicing the habit of stepping back before you lean in.
In my business facilitation sessions, I help leadership teams cut through noise, align priorities, and refocus on what drives long-term value, not just short-term fixes.
2. Think in Systems, Not Silos
A CEO and Managing Director sees the entire business as one connected system.
Sales affects operations. People affect performance. Brand affects pipeline.
New leaders often focus only on their lane, which makes sense at first. But do note that the fastest way to grow is to learn how your decisions impact throughout the business.
One way I help teams do this is through CliftonStrengths® coaching. When leaders understand how their own thinking works, and how their teammates are wired, they start leading beyond just function, and into impact.
3. Shift from Control to Influence
CEOs and MDs don’t try to control everything. The reality is, even when I was the MD, we can’t.
Leaders influence, align, and empower others to deliver.
The same goes for new managers and small team leaders, even if you're leading a team of five. Always pause, think and ask these questions:
- “What do I need to let go of?”
- “Where can I give more context, not just instructions?”
- “Am I helping my team create clarity or confusion?”
If your team feels stuck, or if you’re carrying too much on your shoulders, it’s a sign your leadership thinking needs to evolve, and that’s where I help coach professional and leaders.
You don’t need the title to start thinking like an MD.
You just need to start leading with curiosity, clarity, and courage.
Unlock Your Hidden Strengths to Thrive in Any Situation
With tech, jobs, and global trade and tariffs constantly shifting, staying relevant means being ready for anything. It's about looking ahead and adapting, not just reacting to what's already happened.
Getting Your Mind Ready for Success
To do well in this crazy world, you gotta think right:
- Believe You Can Learn: Know that you can get better at stuff if you try. Don't be afraid to learn new skills.
- Be Open to Good Stuff: Be ready for new chances; updating your resume to reflect your growth.
- Watch Your Words: If you say you're stressed or tired, you'll feel it.
- See Yourself Winning: Imagine yourself doing great.
- Think There's Plenty for Everyone: Don't worry about missing out, everyone has their own unique strengths.
- Write Down What You Want: Make your goals clear with numbers like profits, followers, etc.
- Put in the Work: Taking aligned action and enjoying the effort of doing it works every time.
Being Flexible: Key to Staying Relevant
Things like new tech and changing trade rules can mess things up. You gotta be flexible.
- Keep Learning: Never stop learning new stuff. Be willing to learn new skills.
- Bounce Back: Learn to deal with problems and see them as chances to grow.
- Listen to Feedback: Use what people say to get better.
Using What You're Good At
Knowing your strengths is super important.
- Know Yourself: Figure out what you're good at and what you like.
- Focus on Your Strengths: Spend time getting better at what you’re already good at.
- Work with Others: You can’t do everything. Find people who are good at what you're not.
- Be Yourself: People trust you when you’re real.
When Flexibility and Strengths Work Together
When you can change and use your strengths, good things happen. You can handle anything and find new chances.
CliftonStrengths® and Finding Your Way
Knowing your CliftonStrengths® can help you use your talents. This tool shows you what you're naturally good at. If you use those strengths in a world that’s always changing, you'll do great. Knowing your CliftonStrengths® helps you stay relevant and shows your value, no matter what happens.
Strong Teams Aren’t Built on Strategy Alone
You’ve probably been part of a high-functioning team, one where things just flowed and clicked. One that we all felt great. Positively challenged and energised. Thankfully, I’ve been in a few teams like this throughout my career.
Not just because everyone was smart or experienced, but because there was mutual respect, trust, and a rhythm in how things got done. We all felt great to be part of a solid team. We covered each other, got each other’s backs and didn’t feel the need to prove ourselves.
And yet, I meet so many leadership teams that have a clear strategy but still struggle with performance. They’ve got the goals, the org charts, and the smart people. But something's just…. a little off.
More often than not, it’s not a strategy issue, it’s a behavioural one.
You can align on the what, but if there’s no alignment on the how. How decisions get made, how conflict gets addressed, and how feedback is shared, teams will keep circling the same frustrations.
As Lee Kuan Yew once said, “A nation is great not by its size alone. It is the will, the cohesion, the stamina, the discipline of its people.”
Swap “nation” for “team” and it still holds.
Strategy Without Shared Behaviour Is Just Noise
• Many teams operate on assumed behaviour.
• They assume others will speak up when something’s not working.
• They assume alignment means agreement.
• They assume silence means consent. It doesn’t.
• What looks like a misalignment in outcomes is often a breakdown in expectations, communication, and shared standards.
• The highest-performing teams don’t leave behaviour to chance; these performing teams name it, they model it, and they revisit it.
Where Strengths and Coaching Shift the Game
Whenever I work with teams using CliftonStrengths®, what we uncover isn’t just a list of talents. We discover why tension exists between certain individuals. We clarify why certain conversations get stuck. We shift from labelling personality to exploring how each person contributes, leads, and collaborates best.
It’s not fluffy. It’s foundational.
As Gary Vaynerchuk says, “Self-awareness is being able to accept your weaknesses while focusing all of your attention on your strengths.”
That’s how leadership grows. That’s how teams evolve.
And when paired with real coaching: not advice-giving, not cheerleading, but reflective, strategic coaching led by someone who’s walked the business floor, you start seeing real movement.
• Better decisions.
• Clearer roles.
• More honest conversations.
• Fewer assumptions.
• More flow.
The Ask Isn't “Are You Performing?” It’s “How Are You Showing Up?”
The work is not just hitting goals. It’s about building a team culture where high performance isn’t forced, it’s enabled. That’s where strengths-based coaching and leadership development can help. Not as a quick fix, but as a real, human process.