CliftonStrengths

CliftonStrengths
Name	CliftonStrengths
Developer	Gallup
First release	1999
Purpose	Strengths assessment
Format	Online assessment

CliftonStrengths CliftonStrengths is a proprietary strengths-based assessment created by Gallup, designed to identify individuals' recurring patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior. It is used by corporations, educational institutions, and governmental agencies to inform leadership development, team composition, and talent management. The instrument ties into management consulting, organizational development, and leadership curricula delivered by firms and universities.

Overview

CliftonStrengths profiles are delivered by Gallup and often integrated into programs at Harvard University, Stanford University, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Princeton University, Yale University, Columbia University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Chicago, London School of Economics, INSEAD, Wharton School, Kellogg School of Management, IMD, London Business School, Duke University, Northwestern University, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, UCLA, University of Michigan, University of Texas at Austin, Georgetown University, New York University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of California, Berkeley, Dartmouth College, Oxford Brookes University, University of Edinburgh, McGill University, University of Toronto, Monash University, University of Melbourne, National University of Singapore, Tsinghua University, Peking University, Seoul National University, University of São Paulo, University of Cape Town, University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Australian National University, University of Hong Kong, University of British Columbia, ETH Zurich, University of Zurich, University of Amsterdam, Humboldt University of Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin.

History and Development

The assessment traces its intellectual lineage to the work of Donald O. Clifton, whose research on strengths informed Gallup's productization in collaboration with consultants from McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company, Accenture, Deloitte, PwC, Ernst & Young, KPMG, Booz Allen Hamilton, A.T. Kearney, Capgemini, PricewaterhouseCoopers practitioners and academics from University of Nebraska–Lincoln, University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan School of Business, Indiana University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Minnesota, Iowa State University, Auburn University, Texas A&M University. Gallup publicly introduced the instrument in the late 1990s and expanded delivery through partnerships with executive education providers such as Center for Creative Leadership, FranklinCovey, Toastmasters International, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Association for Talent Development.

Assessment and Methodology

CliftonStrengths is administered online and yields a ranked list of themes based on forced-choice items informed by psychometric work similar to approaches used in studies at American Psychological Association-affiliated labs and psychometrics centers at University of Cambridge and University of Oxford. Validation efforts cite comparisons with inventories produced by researchers associated with Hans Eysenck, Raymond Cattell, Donald Super, John Holland, Gordon Allport, Frederick Herzberg, Abraham Maslow, Kurt Lewin, B.F. Skinner, Carl Rogers, Albert Bandura, Philip Zimbardo, Daniel Kahneman. Instrument scoring and norming have been reported by Gallup and discussed in peer contexts at conferences like American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Annual Conference, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention.

Strengths Themes and Domains

The inventory organizes responses into themes grouped conceptually into domains used in organizational practice promoted alongside Gallup coaching and training programs. These themes are incorporated into leadership curricula at institutions such as Harvard Business School Executive Education, INSEAD Executive Education, London Business School Executive Education, Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Education, Wharton Executive Education, Kellogg Executive Education, Sloan School of Management offerings and cited by executives from companies including Microsoft, Google, Apple Inc., Amazon, Facebook, Meta Platforms, Inc., IBM, Intel, Cisco Systems, Oracle Corporation, SAP SE, Salesforce, Tesla, Inc., General Electric, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, Nike, Inc., Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Walmart, Starbucks, IKEA, Siemens, Boeing, Airbus, Toyota Motor Corporation, Ford Motor Company, BMW, Daimler AG, Shell plc, ExxonMobil, Chevron Corporation, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, UBS Group AG, Credit Suisse.

Applications and Use Cases

Organizations deploy the tool for executive coaching, team composition, succession planning, and undergraduate career advising at universities like University of Southern California, Boston University, Emory University, Vanderbilt University, University of Notre Dame, Michigan State University, Purdue University. Nonprofits and public sector entities including United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Health Organization, Red Cross, United Nations Development Programme have reported using strengths-based frameworks analogous to Gallup’s in development and humanitarian programming. Professional associations and sports franchises such as National Football League, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, English Premier League, Fédération Internationale de Football Association sometimes integrate strengths coaching into athlete development and front-office talent systems.

Validity, Reliability, and Criticism

Academic scrutiny has compared the instrument’s psychometrics to legacy measures developed by researchers at University of Minnesota, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, Yale University, Harvard University, Stanford University, and critiqued commercial assessments in reviews published in outlets tied to American Psychological Association, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Academy of Management Journal. Criticisms focus on proprietary scoring, norm transparency, construct overlap with trait models from Gordon Allport and Raymond Cattell, and commercial deployment practices discussed in analyses by outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Economist, Harvard Business Review.

Commercialization and Organizational Impact

Gallup’s licensing, certification, and training model positions the instrument within a consultancy ecosystem alongside firms like McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company, Deloitte, Accenture, PwC, KPMG, EY, and education providers at Harvard Business School, Wharton School, INSEAD, London Business School, enabling scale adoption across multinationals including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Apple Inc., IBM, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Walmart, Starbucks, Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Toyota Motor Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Siemens, Boeing, Airbus, and public institutions such as United Nations, World Bank, World Health Organization. The market positioning has prompted debates on ethics, data ownership, and workplace surveillance in forums hosted by European Commission, U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Congress of the United States, UK Parliament, OECD, World Economic Forum.

Category:Psychological assessments