Empathy, Discipline, Input, Positivity, Communication

Has all 39

I have a work retreat coming up next week, and in preparation we were all asked to take the Strength Finder 2.o test online and read the book. The basic idea is that there are 39 strengths out there, and the test determines which qualities you most possess. You go online and choose between pairs of totally unrelated statements based on which is more true (i.e. "I enjoy learning about different cultures"/"I love when things are clean"). I was simply shocked that I did not rate high on all 39 aspects, since we all know that nearly every facet of my personality is amazing (note: ego is not one of the 39 strengths). Instead, SF2.0 told me that the following words best describe my strengths:

Empathy - The abilty to read other people and understand what they're feeling. The book states very clearly that this does not mean that you're a sympathetic person - basically, I understand people's feelings, but I don't necessarily respect them or do anything to help them. This would be why yesterday, when I was on the bus with a screaming baby, I understood that it wasn't the mother's fault, but still joined the rest of the passengers in shooting her dirty looks until she looked rightfully ashamed with herself.

Discipline - I know this is really surprising to those of you who know how easy-going, schedule-resistant, and non-germ phobic I am. The book says that that I am organized, timeline-driven, and ordered. Essentially this gives me great satisfaction as it means that my compulsion to alphabetize our soup (and subsequent berating of Jared when the vegetable is put in front of the minestrone) and frequency of being the first person at wedding (even beating the groom) is a built-in part of my character, and I need not be flexible about it. In fact, it is a strength, and everybody else should get on board with my excellent to-do lists.

Input - I apparently have a desire to amass new knowledge and share it with others, e.g. performing exhaustive Facebook stalkings of people I went to middle school with, subsequently Googling their husbands and employers, and then sharing any unflattering/mock-worthy facts with my friend Rachel.

Positivity - A distant cousin of delusion, positivity allows me to see the nutritious aspects of brownies, the educational properties of Bravo's reality programming, and the fitness benefits of walking from my car into the mall.

Communication - I enjoy speaking to people both through engaging conversation. I am also highly skilled at communicating my thoughts through the written word (see this blog).

Has anybody else taken one of these tests? I'm eagerly awaiting the part of the retreat where we learn how the things that are awesome about us impact the awesomeness with which we perform our work. Like, how exactly does my skill for "positivity" help when I'm seating a 500 person dinner? Besides preventing me from stabbing myself in the eye from boredom, I mean.

Will report back. In the meantime, please feel free to post what you think your strengths are in the comments section so I can look them over and judge your feelings ("empathy").