Understanding What is a Talent Compared to a Strength
I often write about talents and strengths. It’s easy to confuse these two definitions. Especially when trying to understand the innate personality traits of people in the context of coaching.
Given that, I believe it’s important to ground these definitions with a credible source. I also believe Gallup’s StrengthsFinder research fits this requirement. Using Gallup’s framework, strengths are the result of investing in talent. But what is a talent?
People inherit talents based on the nature and nurture their parents provide. Gallup uses 34 talent themes that I see as more personality talent traits than physical talent traits. One could use these talent themes to develop physical talent traits. Similarly, one also uses these talent themes to develop strengths.
With that said, Gallup defines a strength as the ability to consistently provide near perfect performance in a given area. What’s more, you can only develop a strength in an area by investing time practicing and training in that area. This means that if one ignores a talent it will never develop into a strength. In addition, the more talent one inherits in a specific area the easier it is to develop that talent into a strength and vice versa.
Ultimately, the most important takeaway from all of this is the better you understand your talents, the better you will be at developing your strengths.