CS Strengths Deck: Tips and Helpful Information

Click here or scroll down for:

  1. Tips for getting the most out of your CS Strengths Deck
  2. Expanded detail on the 3 Stage Process
  3. What Is A Talent / Theme / Strength?
  4. Notes on choosing Talent Tiles
  5. Understanding the different tiles
  6. Domain details

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Tips for Getting the Most out of your CS Strengths Deck

  • Focus on Self-Awareness

    • Deep Personal Reflection
      Dive into self-reflection by focusing on how your talents manifest in daily life. For example, think about situations where a particular talent helped you succeed, or where you could have used it more effectively.
    • Goal-Oriented Reflection
      Choose or adapt prompts to align with your personal goals. For instance, if you’re preparing for a career change, reflect on how your talents could help you in a new role or environment.

  • Journaling for Growth

    • Solo Journaling
      Use the downloadable Hex-note template to record your thoughts, track your progress, and revisit past reflections.
    • Strength Mapping
      Map out your top talents on a regular basis, choosing different prompt tiles to explore how your strengths might help you navigate upcoming challenges or opportunities.

  • Discussions with Others

    • Engaging with Others for Insight
      While the focus is on solo development, you can discuss your strengths with trusted friends, mentors, or colleagues to gain different perspectives. Reflecting on how others perceive your talents can provide valuable insights into how you can further develop these strengths.
    • Sharing Reflections
      Share some of your journaling reflections or Hex-notes with someone you trust. Their input could help you see how your talents are visible to others, giving you new ideas for how to use those talents more effectively.

  • Practical Application

    • Action Planning
      After each journaling session, create actionable steps to apply your talents in real-life situations. For example, choose a talent and make a plan for how to use it intentionally in the coming week.
    • Solo Challenges
      Create solo challenges to test your talents in new scenarios, such as applying them in a different environment (e.g., a hobby or volunteer project), and reflect on the results.

Expanded Detail on the 3 Stage Process

  • The 3 Stage Process: Prep, Explore, Action

    Each exercise is split into three stages: Prep, Explore, and Action, designed to guide you through a structured yet flexible process for self-reflection, insight, and growth. Each stage builds on the previous one, helping you move from preparation to deeper exploration and finally to actionable steps that promote personal development. This process allows you to identify strengths, recognize potential areas for growth, and create a clear path forward.

  • 1. Prep (Preparation)

    The Prep stage is where you set the foundation for the exercise. This involves arranging the tiles or materials that will guide your reflection and exploration. During this stage, you will organise the elements (such as the Talent, Situation, or Identity tiles) that provide context for the exercise, helping you focus on specific strengths, situations, or challenges. Think of it as getting your tools ready before you dive deeper into the exercise.

  • 2. Explore

    In the Explore stage, you engage in deeper reflection. You’ll examine the relationships between the elements you’ve prepared - such as how your talents  show up in different contexts or situations. This is where you’ll assess how your talents can manifest as strengths or weaknesses and reflect on past experiences or potential future applications. Through this exploration, you’ll gain insights into how your talents influence your behavior and effectiveness in various contexts.

  • 3. Action

    The Action stage is where you take the insights gained from the Explore stage and turn them into concrete steps for growth and development. You’ll identify specific actions that will help you further develop your strengths or better manage any weaknesses that surfaced during your exploration. By selecting 1 or 2 key actions to focus on, you create a clear plan to apply your learning in real-world situations, driving personal growth and improvement.

What is a Talent / Theme / Strength?

  • Talent

    A talent is a naturally recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behaviour that can be productively applied. It’s your innate ability to do certain things instinctively well without much effort.

  • Theme

    A theme is a category of talents that reflect a person’s dominant patterns of thinking, feeling, or behaving. CliftonStrengths® identifies 34 different talent themes, such as Achiever®, Strategic®, and Empathy®, which represent a person’s top talents in action. 

  • Strength

    A strength is the ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance in a specific task. Strengths are developed when you take your talents and refine them with knowledge and skills through practice and application.

Notes on Choosing Talent Tiles

  • Understanding yourself better through your talents

    Your Top 5 from your CliftonStrengths® assessment are usually a good place to start, but you could instead choose the talents which best describe what you used in a particular situation, or any others you would like to work on.


    You can decide whether to use the Strength Side (solid color) or Stumble Side (white with border) of each Talent Tile.

  • Understanding how other people’s talents affect you

    Rather than look directly at your own talents, you can explore how you interact with others and how their talents affect you - e.g. take an Identity Tile such as “I value…” and choose Talent Tiles which reflect what you look for or see in other people you interact with.

  • Understanding how you work as a team

    Use tiles representing your team’s collective talents to explore strengths, identify gaps, and improve collaboration. Reflect on how the team works best and create strategies to enhance performance and alignment.

Understanding the Different Tiles

  • The CS Strengths Deck includes several different types of tile to help you explore your talents in a variety of ways. 

    If you have lost your copy of the ‘Getting Started’ booklet that came with your CS Strengths Deck Solo Edition, you can download a printable copy here:

    Download 'Getting Started' PDF

  • Talent Tiles

    Each of the 34 talent themes has its own tile to help you recognise how it can both help and hinder you, depending on how it’s applied.

    Strength Side (solid color): shows the positive aspects of the talent and how it can contribute to your success.

    Stumble Side (white with border): highlights potential challenges or pitfalls that can occur when the talent is overused or mismanaged.

  • Domain Tiles

    The domains are broad categories to help you understand the different ways your talents contribute to your personal and professional life. 

    The Domain Tiles, split by color, describe the domains and list the 34 talent themes within them. 

    See below for more details.

  • Prompt Tiles

    There are two types of prompt tile which provide different contexts for exploring your talents:

    Situation Tiles: these tiles focus on different situations or environments you might encounter. They encourage you to think about how your talents manifest in specific contexts, such as when you're at your best, in social settings, or when leading others. By using these tiles, you can reflect on how your talents adapt to different scenarios and what helps you thrive.

    Identity Tiles: these tiles prompt you to explore aspects of your identity, motivations, and aspirations. They help you consider how your talents shape who you are, what energises you, how you interact with others, and how you want to be seen. Using these tiles allows you to connect your talents to your personal goals and values.

  • Exercise Tiles

    The Solo Edition includes 5 exercises designed to guide you through structured activities that help you explore, understand, and apply your talents in a meaningful way. 

    One side of the tile follows a 3 stage process to help you reflect on your talents, understand how they interact in various scenarios, and develop actionable steps to use them more effectively. The other side explains the objectives of the exercise.

    Each exercise also has a corresponding diagram tile with a visual representation of the completed exercise.

  • Key

    Hexagonal tiles with labels and text on a white background

Domain Details

  • Purple: Executing Domain

    Focuses on turning ideas into reality, keeping the team on track, and ensuring goals are met.


    Achiever®, Arranger®, Belief®, Consistency®, Deliberative®, Discipline®, Focus®, Responsibility®, Restorative™

  • Green: Strategic Thinking Domain

    Focuses on ideas, innovation, and the ability to plan for what’s ahead.


    Analytical®, Context®, Futuristic®, Ideation®, Input®, Intellection®, Learner®, Strategic®

  • Orange: Influencing Domain

    Focuses on persuading, motivating, and leading others to achieve outcomes.


    Activator®, Command®, Communication®, Competition®, Maximizer®, Self-Assurance®, Significance®, Woo®

  • Blue: Relationship Building Domain

    Focuses on connecting with people to create strong and supportive teams.


    Adaptability®, Connectedness®, Developer®, Empathy®, Harmony®, Includer®, Individualization®, Positivity®, Relator®