Maximizer
Excellence, not average, is your measure. Taking something from below average to slightly above average takes a
great deal of effort and in your opinion is not very rewarding. Transforming something strong into something superb
takes just as much effort but it is so much more thrilling. Strengths, whether yours or someone else's, fascinate you.
Like a diver after pearls, you search them out, watching for the telltale signs of a strength. A glimpse of untutored
excellence, rapid learning, and a skill mastered without recourse to steps--all these are clues that a strength may be
in play. And having found a strength, you feel compelled to nurture it, refine it, and stretch it toward excellence. You
polish the pearl until it shines. This natural sorting of strengths means that others see you as discriminating. You
choose to spend time with people who appreciate your particular strengths. Likewise, you are attracted to others
who seem to have found and cultivated their own strengths. You tend to avoid those who want to fix you and make
you well rounded. You don't want to spend your life bemoaning what you lack. Rather, you want to capitalize on the
gifts with which you were blessed. It's more fun. It's more productive. And, counter intuitively, it is more demanding.
Student Strategies:
General
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Always be aware of the strengths you want to develop, and use them.
Focus on a few key activities, and put considerable time and effort into them.
Read self-development books in order to learn more achievement strategies.
Focus on the potential, not the obstacles. Your talents will help you excel in any setting.
Capitalize on your talents and strengths. Use them all the time!
Realize that you accomplish more when you use your strengths.
Academic Life
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Pay attention to how you learn best. Whatever your learning style may be, use it in all classes and areas of
study.
You may be a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner.
In college there is one major area of study that you should focus on in every class and every subject matter:
study success! Find out what made scientists, historic figures, great innovators, and your professors
successful. The greatest outcome of college will be your understanding of what makes people, societies,
cultures and groups successful.
Study Techniques
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Read wherever you feel most comfortable (i.e., the library, the coffee shop, or at home). The goal is to be
your best at learning. How you do it is less important, as long as you are honest with yourself.
Relationships
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Help others use their strengths to the fullest.
Choose friends who encourage academic achievement and performance.
Choose friends who are striving for the same goals.
Create a peer support group for every class in your effort to attack your classes and be the best through team
effort.
Create a lifestyle that revolves around people who also have high academic goals.
Develop a list of names and phone numbers of people who can share information and be resources to you as
you learn how to learn more effectively.
Ask others how they capitalize on their strengths.
Develop relationships with your professors. As they get to know you, they will appreciate your efforts and
strengths.
Motivate other people to optimally use their talents. Help them build on their strengths. In the process, you
will become stronger and more highly motivated.
Associate with people who appreciate your strengths as well as their own.
Motivate others through your energy and strengths.
Meet regularly with mentors and role models for advice and inspiration.
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Mentor others.
Class Selection
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Take courses that build on your strengths.
When planning your classes and major, think about your talents first. In what area of study do you have the
greatest strengths and talents?
Co-curricular Activities
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Find an internship or job in which you can utilize your strengths.
Through mentoring or tutoring, teach others to fully utilize their strengths.
Join organizations and clubs that will allow you to fully use your strengths.
Career
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Work with people in whom you can see potential, and develop that potential.
Choose a working environment in which you can work individually with other people and motivate them.
Choose a career that allows you to improve on the qualities you already have.
Choose a career in which you can work as a team member.
Select a company that has employees who are passionate about the field in which they work.
In your work, don't hide your weaknesses; just make them irrelevant by fully developing and applying your
strengths.
You can become a great manager and organizational leader as you learn to spot the strengths of others and
provide opportunities for those people to work in concert with their talents.
When you lead and supervise, help others see their talents and how their talents make a difference.
Remember that your strengths and your mission are interrelated. You will find that you are fulfilled in career
in which your strengths and mission can be most completely lived out.
The best job for you is the job in which you can do what you do best on a regular basis and are appreciated
for doing it!