CliftonStrengths® is the most rigorously researched strengths assessment in the world — six decades of psychological research, recognized by the American Psychological Association, used by 37 million people.
After flying B-24 missions in World War II and earning the Distinguished Flying Cross, Don Clifton wanted to spend the rest of his life doing good for humankind. That led him to a library at the University of Nebraska — and to a discovery that changed psychology.
Every book on the shelf was about what is wrong with people. Not a single one was about what might be right with them. So he asked a question that would take six decades to fully answer:
Clifton spent the rest of his life answering it. He studied thousands of high-performing individuals across hundreds of professions, distilling their patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving into the 34 talent themes that became CliftonStrengths®. By the end of his life, he had built an entirely new branch of psychology — and the field recognized him for it.
In 2003, the American Psychological Association — the world's largest body of psychologists, representing over 130,000 researchers, clinicians, and educators — awarded Don Clifton its Presidential Commendation, naming him the Father of Strengths-Based Psychology.
It is the only such recognition ever given for a strengths assessment — before or since. This isn't a marketing claim. It's how the field of psychology officially recognized his life's work.
Naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior. You're born with these.
Time spent practicing — building knowledge and developing the skills that surround your talent.
Consistent, near-perfect performance — what you do better than 10,000 others.
This is the formula 37 million people have used to understand what they're built to do.
CliftonStrengths® is the most adopted, most researched, and most validated strengths assessment on the planet. The data is the reason organizations keep choosing it.
“A strengths-based approach to management is the single best means of improving the employee–manager relationship Gallup has observed.”
— Oxford Handbook of Positive Organizational ScholarshipMost personality tests sort you into a category — a number, a color, a four-letter code. CliftonStrengths® identifies your specific patterns in rank order, creating 33 million unique Top-5 combinations.
There is no "type" that captures you because there is no one else wired exactly like you. That's the difference.
Take the assessment. Then we'll help you actually use it.
“There is something you can do better than 10,000 other people, and we just need to find what that is.”
— Dr. Don CliftonCliftonStrengths® and StrengthsFinder® are registered trademarks of Gallup, Inc. StrengthsByDesign™ is an independent coaching practice using Gallup's research-backed framework.