Many founders I know took the Gallup StrengthsFinder at some point. And most of them liked it. Rightly so. The result feels precise, it names strengths you had only sensed vaguely, and it gives you a language for what you are naturally good at.
Still, the same question stays open for many as before: and what exactly do I do with it now? This piece looks at both sides. What StrengthsFinder really does for agency founders, and where, honestly, it stops.
What Gallup StrengthsFinder Does Well
Let us start with the praise, because it is earned. StrengthsFinder, officially CliftonStrengths, measures 34 talent themes. Recurring patterns in thinking, feeling and acting. The result shows you what you are naturally strong at, and it does so remarkably cleanly.
The real value lies in the perspective. Instead of tinkering with your weaknesses, the test turns your attention to what already runs smoothly and suggests investing more there. For a founder who spent years trying to be equally good on every front, that is a freeing shift. You stop repairing yourself and start sharpening yourself.
Where StrengthsFinder Stops for Founders
As good as the test is in its own discipline, it is not built for two decisions that agency founders get stuck on regularly. And Gallup says so itself.
No Role, Only Talents
StrengthsFinder gives you a list of your talents. It does not give you a seat. From "you are analytical and full of ideas" it does not automatically follow which entrepreneurial role you should hold. Talents are raw material. A Best Seat is the decision about where that raw material is worth the most. This step, from strength to role, the test leaves to you. It describes the ingredients, not the dish.
No Hiring Answer
The second point is even clearer, and Gallup is remarkably open about it. CliftonStrengths deliberately asks neither about education nor about résumé or skills, only about natural talent patterns. Gallup explicitly classifies the test as a development and not a selection instrument, literally as "a development tool, not a selection tool". It is not validated for personnel selection, and Gallup itself recommends not using the results for hiring decisions or for comparing candidates. For talent-based hiring, Gallup offers its own separately validated tools instead.
That is no weakness of the test. It is simply not its job. But it does mean that StrengthsFinder tells you nothing about which type your team needs next.
The Question That Stays Open
That lands us exactly on the two decisions that really occupy an agency founder day to day. Am I in the right seat myself? And who do I hire next?
That is the wrong-seat and the next-hire question. StrengthsFinder gives you valuable ingredients for both, but answers neither. It shows you your talents and leaves you alone with the translation. No reproach, but a limit worth knowing before you expect more from the test than it ever promised.
When Which Approach Fits
From this follows no either-or decision but a clear division of labor.
StrengthsFinder is strong when you want to understand your own strengths better and use them more deliberately. As a reflection tool that helps you recognize your natural zone and spend more time there. That is what it is made for, and there it is good.
A role-based assessment is strong when you have to make a decision. When you want to know which entrepreneurial role fits your DNA and which profile your team is missing. One approach clarifies who you are. The other clarifies what you do with it. Mixing them up leads to disappointment: you expect the strengths test to hand you an instruction it never wanted to give.
Thinking Both Together
You get the most out of them when you do not play the two against each other but run them in sequence. Your talents from StrengthsFinder tell you what your raw material is. A role-based assessment translates that raw material into a Best Seat and into a concrete next-hire profile.
Only then does "these are my strengths" become "so I belong in this seat, and so I hire this type next". The strengths view stays valuable, but it gains a direction. And direction is exactly what you are missing next Monday morning when you face the question of what you should actually do differently.
Gallup StrengthsFinder shows founders their talents but not their Best Seat and not their next hire. Gallup itself classifies the test as a development, not a selection instrument. The two decisions agency founders get stuck on stay open as a result.
FAQ
Is StrengthsFinder useful for entrepreneurs? Yes, for reflecting on your own strengths. For role and hiring decisions it lacks focus, because it measures talents but outputs neither a fitting seat nor a team gap. Gallup itself advises against using it as a selection instrument for hiring.
What is the difference between strengths and a Best Seat? Strengths tell you what you are good at. The Best Seat tells you which entrepreneurial role fits that. Two people with the same talents can belong in very different seats, depending on what their team and their business look like.
What does the CORE Navigator add? A Best Seat and a next-hire profile. The translation of talents into concrete decisions: which role fits you and which type your team needs next.
Add a direction to your strengths view. The free QuickCheck shows you in around 20 minutes which entrepreneurial role matches your DNA, and gives you a first hint about your next hire. If you then want the full picture with a worked-out next-hire profile, you will find it in the Premium report.
About the Author
Founder
Joram Hoefs is the founder of CORE-Navigator. With over a decade of experience in business consulting and personality diagnostics, he has made it his mission to develop data-driven tools that help entrepreneurs understand and leverage their unique DNA.
More posts by Joram Hoefs