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Strengths Insight and Action-Planning Guide SURVEY COMPLETION DATE: 10-31-2012
Talal alshammary
Your Top 5 Themes
Deliberative Context Woo Positivity Relator
What's in This Guide?
Section I: Awareness
A brief Shared Theme Description for each of your top five themes
Your Personalized Strengths Insights, which describe what makes you stand out from others with the same theme in their top five
Questions for you to answer to increase your awareness of your talents Section II: Application
10 Ideas for Action for each of your top five themes
Questions for you to answer to help you apply your talents Section III: Achievement
Examples of what each of your top five themes "sounds like" -- real quotes from people who also have the theme in their top five
Steps for you to take to help you leverage your talents for achievement
363275760 (Talal alshammary) © 2000, 2006-2012 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Section I: Awareness
Deliberative Shared Theme Description
People who are especially talented in the Deliberative theme are best described by the serious care they take in making decisions or choices. They anticipate the obstacles.
Your Personalized Strengths Insights
What makes you stand out?
Instinctively, you are considered a businesslike individual by most of your teammates. Why? You probably avoid activities in the workplace or classroom that make you appear foolish. It’s very likely that you are likely to be the team member who is known for weighing the pros and cons rather than rushing recklessly to conclusions. You seldom make impulsive or rash decisions. By nature, you embody the proverb “Still waters run deep.” Quiet by nature, you give deep thought to many matters. Often you appear earnest and dignified to others. People benefit from your clear-sightedness as well as your sympathetic understanding and insights. Because of your strengths, you are somewhat private about your personal life — that is, your past, your present activities, or your future plans. You tend to be selective about what you tell and to whom you tell it. Driven by your talents, you often are described as a no-nonsense person. You are determined to examine the smallest details of processes, problems, regulations, plans, and contracts. Breaking these into their basic parts helps you better understand them. You are easily annoyed by individuals who fail to give you enough time to methodically investigate, study, or think through things.
Questions
1. As you read your personalized strengths insights, what words, phrases, or lines stand out to you?
2. Out of all the talents in this insight, what would you like for others to see most in you?
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Context Shared Theme Description
People who are especially talented in the Context theme enjoy thinking about the past. They understand the present by researching its history.
Your Personalized Strengths Insights
What makes you stand out?
By nature, you create a vision of the future by unraveling what happened in the past. You strive to understand the what, when, who, where, how, and why of events. You are determined to create a framework of facts so you can put things in perspective. Instinctively, you are an enthusiastic student of the past. Why? The past offers insights about the coming months, years, or decades. When you can make sense of what has occurred, you are much more prepared to deal with upcoming changes or opportunities. Chances are good that you are quite intrigued by history’s significant events and people. Information about global conflicts fascinates you. Because of your strengths, you are inclined to read about major wars. While some people find this topic boring or irrelevant, you are quite fascinated with it. Whenever you read about global conflicts, you feel impelled to collect more information. One book or article is likely to lead you to another then another. You experience the story of humankind unfolding before your eyes on the printed page. Driven by your talents, you routinely gather historical facts or artifacts — that is, pictures, tools, books, artwork, correspondence, or documents. You often wait to determine whether this information is useful. Your interest in history probably has no purpose other than to answer your own questions. You are simply intrigued by the past and its people. The future starts to take shape in your mind as soon as you begin to rummage through your collection of historic truths and objects.
Questions
1. As you read your personalized strengths insights, what words, phrases, or lines stand out to you?
2. Out of all the talents in this insight, what would you like for others to see most in you?
363275760 (Talal alshammary) © 2000, 2006-2012 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Woo Shared Theme Description
People who are especially talented in the Woo theme love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person.
Your Personalized Strengths Insights
What makes you stand out?
By nature, you occasionally search for the right words to make your point. Even so, few people even notice your momentary struggle. Perhaps being able to put friends or strangers at ease quickly is one of your special gifts. Instinctively, you demonstrate a natural fondness for human beings. As a result, many individuals are attracted to you. They sense you really understand what they are feeling, thinking, or experiencing at the moment. People usually appreciate your willingness not to discount or belittle their emotions, ideas, or reactions to events. It’s very likely that you declare life is very exciting. You welcome opportunities to accept various types of people into your circle of acquaintances, teammates, family, or friends. The more people you have around you, the happier you are. Chances are good that you typically fill your time with reading when friends or special support groups are far away. You peruse — that is, studiously examine — fiction or nonfiction, newspaper accounts, correspondence, magazine articles, or research papers. This helps you forget the loneliness you can feel. In the process of pulling together insights or information, you broaden your knowledge base. Driven by your talents, you feel forlorn — that is, miserable or deprived — when you are separated from someone who is dear to you. You yearn to spend time with your friends. Their absence saddens you.
Questions
1. As you read your personalized strengths insights, what words, phrases, or lines stand out to you?
2. Out of all the talents in this insight, what would you like for others to see most in you?
363275760 (Talal alshammary) © 2000, 2006-2012 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Positivity Shared Theme Description
People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.
Your Personalized Strengths Insights
What makes you stand out?
By nature, you naturally feel upbeat about life when you realize you can read several hundred pages of written material in a single sitting. Instinctively, you regularly participate in goal-setting sessions. You are apt to be quite optimistic about your life, work, or studies when you have played a role in establishing your objectives or priorities. Because of your strengths, you normally feel very good about life, especially when specific people accept your bold, assertive, and self-reliant style. You are even more optimistic when the same individuals permit you to make your own choices. Driven by your talents, you are more satisfied with life when you set aside time to consider what you want to accomplish in the coming months, years, or decades. You probably design action plans to reach important goals. Chances are good that you routinely tune in to individuals’ subtle and not-so-subtle yearnings to be cheered up, supported, and motivated. You have a knack for inspiring people. They sense that you are aware of their feelings, thoughts, and needs. They probably feel better about themselves when you are with them.
Questions
1. As you read your personalized strengths insights, what words, phrases, or lines stand out to you?
2. Out of all the talents in this insight, what would you like for others to see most in you?
363275760 (Talal alshammary) © 2000, 2006-2012 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Relator Shared Theme Description
People who are especially talented in the Relator theme enjoy close relationships with others. They find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal.
Your Personalized Strengths Insights
What makes you stand out?
Driven by your talents, you are comfortable offering suggestions to people who regularly seek your counsel — that is, recommendations about a decision or course of action they are considering. These individuals usually feel deep affection for you. You are likely to spend time together socializing as well as working or studying. Instinctively, you feel pleased when friends seek your counsel. Being asked for guidance uplifts you. It often gives meaning to your life. Chances are good that you embrace life more fully when you are surrounded by people whose personal aims or professional ambitions are clearly defined. By nature, you are happy to share your perspective on things when asked. You really appreciate people who have a gift for beginning discussions or making small talk. These individuals usually create a safe environment for you to express your ideas and feelings. It’s very likely that you have the ability to instruct, train, or offer suggestions to people who look to you for assistance.
Questions
1. As you read your personalized strengths insights, what words, phrases, or lines stand out to you?
2. Out of all the talents in this insight, what would you like for others to see most in you?
363275760 (Talal alshammary) © 2000, 2006-2012 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Questions
1. How does this information help you better understand your unique talents? 2. How can you use this understanding to add value to your role? 3. How can you apply this knowledge to add value to your team, workgroup, department, or
division? 4. How will this understanding help you add value to your organization? 5. What will you do differently tomorrow as a result of this report?
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Section II: Application
Deliberative Ideas for Action:
You have naturally good judgment, so consider work in which you can provide advice and counsel. You might be especially adept at legal work, crafting sound business deals, or ensuring compliance to regulations. Whatever your role, take responsibility for helping others think through their decisions. You can see factors that others may not see. You will soon be sought as a valuable sounding board. Explain your process of careful decision making — that you highlight risk in order to take control and reduce it. You don’t want others to misconstrue your Deliberative talents for tentativeness or fear of action. You inspire trust because you are cautious and considerate about sensitive topics. Use these talents by taking on opportunities to handle delicate issues and conflicts. Rather than take foolhardy risks, you are apt to approach a decision cautiously. Trust your instincts when you believe that something is too good to be true. During times of change, consider the advantages of being conservative in your decision making. Be ready to explain these advantages to others. Don’t let anyone push you into revealing too much about yourself too soon. Check people out carefully before sharing confidential information. You naturally build friendships slowly, so take pride in your small circle of good friends. Partner with someone with strong Command, Self-Assurance, or Activator talents. Together you will make many decisions, and these decisions will be sound. Temper the tendency of others to haphazardly move into action by declaring a “consideration” period before decisions are made. Your caution can serve to steer others away from folly and toward wise conclusions. Give yourself permission to withhold your opinion until you get all the facts and have an opportunity to ponder your stance. You are not someone who embraces change immediately; you are apt to reflect on possible outcomes so that all the angles are covered. As a deliberative person, you function as a “brake” for more impulsive types who wish to move quickly.
Questions
1. Which of these action items speak to you? Highlight the actions that you are most likely to take.
2. How will you commit to taking action? Write your own personalized action item that you will take in the next 30 days.
363275760 (Talal alshammary) © 2000, 2006-2012 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Context Ideas for Action:
Before planning begins on a project, encourage the people involved to study past projects. Help them appreciate the statement: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” If you are in a role that requires teaching others, build your lessons around case studies. You will enjoy the search for the appropriate case, and your students will learn from these precedents. Use your understanding of the past to help others map the future. At work, help your organization strengthen its culture via folklore. For example, collect symbols and stories that represent the best of the past, or suggest naming an award after a person who embodied the historical traditions of your organization. Partner with someone with strong Futuristic or Strategic talents. This person’s fascination with what “could be” will stop you from becoming mired in the past, while your deep understanding of context will stop him or her from ignoring the lessons of the past. Together you are more likely to create something that lasts. Accept change. Remember that your Context talents do not require you to “live in the past.” Instead, you can actually become known as an active agent for positive change. Your natural sense of context should allow you to identify more clearly than most the aspects of the past that can be discarded and those that must be retained to build a sustainable future. Use fact-based comparisons to prior successes to paint a vivid picture for others of “what can be” in the future. The real-life illustrations you create can build confidence and emotional engagement. You recognize that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Probe your friends and coworkers about actions that might have contributed to their current successes so you can help them make better choices in the future. This will help them put their decisions into an overall context. Read historical novels, non-fiction, or biographies. You will discover many insights that will help you understand the present. You will think more clearly. Compare historical antecedents and situations to your current challenge. Identifying commonalities may lead you to a new perspective or an answer to your problems. Seek out mentors who have a sense of history. Listening to their memories is likely to spark your thought process.
Questions
1. Which of these action items speak to you? Highlight the actions that you are most likely to take.
2. How will you commit to taking action? Write your own personalized action item that you will take in the next 30 days.
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Woo Ideas for Action:
Choose a job in which you can interact with many people over the course of a day. Deliberately build the network of people who know you. Tend to it by checking in with each person at least once a month. Join local organizations, volunteer for committees, and find out how to get on the social lists of the influential people where you live. Learn the names of as many people as you can. Create a file of the people you know, and add names as you become acquainted. Include a snippet of personal information — such as their birthday, favorite color, hobby, or favorite sports team. In social situations, take responsibility for helping put reserved people at ease. Find the right words to explain that networking is part of your style. If you don’t claim this theme, others might mistake it for insincerity and wonder why you are being so friendly. Partner with someone with dominant Relator or Empathy talents. This person can solidify the relationships that you begin. Your Woo talents give you the ability to quicken the pulse of your surroundings. Recognize the power of your presence and how you open doors for an exchange of ideas. By simply starting conversations that engage others and bring talented people together, you will take performance up a notch — or several. The first moments of any social occasion are crucial to how comfortable people will be and how they will remember the event. Whenever possible, be one of the first people others meet. Your capacity for meeting and greeting new people will help to quickly put them at ease. Practice ways to charm and engage others. For example, research people before you meet them so you can talk about your common interests.
Questions
1. Which of these action items speak to you? Highlight the actions that you are most likely to take.
2. How will you commit to taking action? Write your own personalized action item that you will take in the next 30 days.
363275760 (Talal alshammary) © 2000, 2006-2012 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Positivity Ideas for Action:
You probably will excel in any role in which you are paid to highlight the positive. A teaching role, a sales role, an entrepreneurial role, or a leadership role will make the most of your ability to make things dramatic. You tend to be more enthusiastic and energetic than most people. When others become discouraged or are reluctant to take risks, your attitude will provide the impetus to keep them moving. Over time, others will start to look to you for this “lift.” Plan highlight activities for your friends and colleagues. For example, find ways to turn small achievements into events, plan regular celebrations that others can look forward to, or capitalize on the year’s holidays and festivals. Explain that your enthusiasm is not simple naivety. You know that bad things can happen; you simply prefer to focus on the good things. You may get your greatest joy by encouraging people. Freely show your appreciation of others, and make sure that the praise is not vague. Consistently seek to translate your feelings into specific, tangible, and personal expressions of gratitude and recognition. As you share your Positivity talents, be sure to protect and nurture them. As necessary, insulate yourself from chronic whiners and complainers, and intentionally spend time in highly positive environments that will invigorate and feed your optimism. Don’t pretend that difficulties don’t concern you. Other people need to know that while you find the good in virtually every situation, you are not naïve. Recognize challenges, and communicate the reasons for your optimism. Your positive approach will be most powerful when others realize it is grounded in reality. Because people will rely on you to help them rise above their daily frustrations, arm yourself with good stories, jokes, and sayings. Never underestimate the effect that you can have on people. Avoid negative people. They will bring you down. Instead, seek people who find the same kind of drama and humor in the world that you do. You will energize each other. Deliberately help others see the things that are going well for them. You can keep their eyes on the positive.
Questions
1. Which of these action items speak to you? Highlight the actions that you are most likely to take.
2. How will you commit to taking action? Write your own personalized action item that you will take in the next 30 days.
363275760 (Talal alshammary) © 2000, 2006-2012 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Relator Ideas for Action:
Find a workplace in which friendships are encouraged. You will not do well in an overly formal organization. In job interviews, ask about work styles and company culture. Deliberately learn as much as you can about the people you meet. You like knowing about people, and other people like being known. By doing this, you will act as a catalyst for trusting relationships. Let it be known that you are more interested in the character and personality of others than in their status or job title. This is one of your greatest talents and can serve as a model for others. Let your caring show. For example, find people in your company to mentor, help your colleagues get to know each other better, or extend your relationships beyond the office. No matter how busy you are, stay in contact with your friends. They are your fuel. Be honest with your friends. True caring means helping the other person be successful and fulfilled. Giving honest feedback or encouraging your friend to move out of a role in which he or she is struggling is a compassionate act. You probably prefer to be seen as a person, an equal, or a friend, rather than as a function, a superior, or a title. Let people know that they can address you by your first name, rather than formally. You might tend to withhold the most engaging aspects of your personality until you have sensed openness from another person. Remember, building relationships is not a one-way street. Proactively “put yourself out there.” Others will quickly see you for the genuine individual you are, and you will create many more opportunities to cultivate strong, long-lasting connections. Make time for family and close friends. You need to spend quality moments with those you love in order to “feed” your Relator talents. Schedule activities that allow you to get even closer to the people who keep you grounded and happy. Make an effort to socialize with your colleagues and team members outside of work. It can be as simple as lunch or coffee together. This will help you forge more connected relationships at work, which in turn can facilitate more effective teamwork and cooperation.
Questions
1. Which of these action items speak to you? Highlight the actions that you are most likely to take.
2. How will you commit to taking action? Write your own personalized action item that you will take in the next 30 days.
363275760 (Talal alshammary) © 2000, 2006-2012 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Section III: Achievement
Look for signs of achievement as you read these real quotes from people who share your top five themes. Deliberative sounds like this:
Dick H., film producer: “My whole thing is to reduce the number of variables out there — the fewer the variables, the lower the risk. When I am negotiating with directors, I always start by giving in on some of the smaller points right away. Then once I have taken the smaller issues out of play, I feel better. I can focus. I can control the conversation.”
Debbie M., project manager: “I am the practical one. When my colleagues are spouting all of these wonderful ideas, I am asking questions like, ‘How is this going to work? How is this going to be accepted by this group or that group of people?’ I won’t say that I play devil’s advocate, because that is too negative, but I do weigh the implications and assess risk. And I think we all make better decisions because of my questions.”
Jamie B., service worker: “I am not a very organized person, but the one thing I do without fail is double-check. I don’t do it because I am hyper-responsible or anything. I do it to feel secure. With relationships, with performance, with anything, I am out there on a limb, and I need to know that the particular branch I am standing on is solid.”
Brian B., school administrator: “I am putting together a safe-schools plan. I am going to conferences, and we have eight committees working. We have a district-wide review board, but I am still not comfortable with the basic model. My boss asks, ‘When can I see the plan?’ And I say, ‘Not yet. I am not comfortable.’ With a big smile on her face, she says, ‘Gee, Brian, I don’t want it to be perfect, I just want a plan.’ But she lets me be because she knows that the care I take now pays big dividends. Because of this pre-work, once the decision is made, it stays made. It doesn’t unravel.”
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Context sounds like this:
Adam Y., software designer: “I tell my people, ‘Let’s avoid vuja de.’ And they say, ‘Isn’t that the wrong word? Shouldn’t it be déjà vu?’ And I say, ‘No, vuja de means that we’re bound to repeat the mistakes of our past. We must avoid this. We must look to our past, see what led to our mistakes, and then not make them again.’ It sounds obvious, but most people don’t look to their past or don’t trust that it was valid or something. And so for them, it’s vuja de all over again.”
Jesse K., media analyst: “I have very little empathy, so I don’t relate to people through their present emotional state. Instead, I relate to them through their past. In fact, I can’t even begin to understand people until I have found out where they grew up, what their parents were like, and what they studied in college.”
Gregg H., accounting manager: “I recently moved the whole office to a new accounting system, and the only reason it worked was that I honored their past. When people build an accounting system, it’s their blood, sweat, and tears; it’s them. They are personally identified with it. So if I come in and blandly tell them that I’m going to change it, it’s like me saying I am going to take your baby away. That’s the level of emotion I was dealing with. I had to respect this connection, this history, or they would have rejected me out of hand.”
363275760 (Talal alshammary) © 2000, 2006-2012 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Woo sounds like this:
Deborah C., publishing executive: “I have made best friends out of people that I have met passing in the doorway. I mean, it’s awful, but wooing is part of who I am. All my taxi drivers propose to me.”
Marilyn K., college president: “I don’t believe I’m looking for friends, but people call me a friend. I call people and say, ‘I love you,’ and I mean it because I love people easily. But friends? I don’t have many friends. I don’t think I am looking for friends. I am looking for connections. And I am really good at that because I know how to achieve common ground with people.”
Anna G., nurse: “I think I am a little shy sometimes. Usually I won’t make the first step out. But I do know how to put people at ease. A lot of my job is just humor. If the patient is not very receptive, my role becomes that of a stand-up comedian. I’ll say to an eighty-year-old patient, ‘Hi, you handsome guy. Sit up. Let me get your shirt off. That’s good. Take your shirt off. Whoa, what a chest on this man!’ With kids, you have to start very slowly and say something like, ‘How old are you?’ If they say, ‘Ten,’ then I say, ‘Really? When I was your age, I was eleven’ — silly stuff like that to break the ice.”
363275760 (Talal alshammary) © 2000, 2006-2012 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Positivity sounds like this:
Gerry L., flight attendant: “There are so many people on an airplane that I have made it a point over the years to single out one or two on a flight and make it something special for them. Certainly, I will be courteous to everybody and extend to them the kind of professionalism that I would like given to me, but over and above that, I try to make one person or family or small group of people feel particularly special, with jokes and conversation and little games that I play.”
Andy B., Internet marketing executive: “I am one of those people who loves creating buzz. I read magazines all the time, and if I find something fun — some new store, new lip gloss, whatever — I will charge around telling everyone about it. ‘Oh, you just have to try this store. It is so-o-o cool. Look at these pictures. Check them out.’ I am so passionate when I talk about something that people just have to do what I say. It’s not that I am a great salesperson. I’m not. In fact, I hate asking for the close; I hate bothering people. It’s just that my passion about what I say makes people think, ‘Gosh, it must be true.’”
Sunny G., communications manager: “I think the world is plagued with enough negative people. We need more positive people — people who like to zero in on what is right with the world. Negative people just make me feel heavy. In my last job, there was a guy who came into my office every morning just to unload on me. I would purposely dodge him. I’d see him coming, and I’d run to the bathroom or go some other place. He made me feel as if the world was a miserable place, and I hated that.”
363275760 (Talal alshammary) © 2000, 2006-2012 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Relator sounds like this:
Gavin T., flight attendant: “I have many wonderful acquaintances, but as for true friends that I hold dear, not very many. And I’m real okay with that. My best times are spent with the people I’m tightest with, like my family. We are a very tight-knit Irish Catholic family, and we get together every chance we can. It’s a large family — I have five brothers and sisters and ten nieces and nephews — but we all get together about once a month and yuk it up. I’m the catalyst. When I’m back in Chicago, even if there is no birthday or anniversary or whatever, I become the excuse for getting together and hanging out for three or four days. We really enjoy one another’s company.”
Tony D., pilot: “I used to fly in the Marines, and, boy, you had better be comfortable with the word ‘friend’ in the Marines. You had better feel good about trusting someone else. I can’t tell you how many times I put my life in someone else’s hands. I was flying off my friend’s wing, and I’d be dead if he couldn’t get me back safely.”
Jamie T., entrepreneur: “I’m definitely selective about my relationships. When I first meet people, I don’t want to give them very much of my time. I don’t know them; they don’t know me — so let’s just be pleasant and leave it at that. But if circumstances make it so that we get to know each other better, it seems like a threshold is reached where I suddenly start wanting to invest more. I’ll share more of myself, put myself out for them, do things for them that will bring us a little closer, and show that I care. It’s funny because I am not looking for any more friends in my life. I have enough. And yet with each new person I meet, as soon as that threshold is reached, I feel compelled to go deeper and deeper. Now I have ten people working for me, and I would call each of them my very good friend.”
363275760 (Talal alshammary) © 2000, 2006-2012 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Questions
1. Talk to friends or coworkers to hear how they have used their talents to achieve.
2. How will you use your talents to achieve?
363275760 (Talal alshammary) © 2000, 2006-2012 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
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- Strengths Insight and Action-Planning Guide SURVEY COMPLETION DATE: 10-31-2012
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