Play to Your Strengths

Joseph Wise knows exactly what he's good at. The 44-year-oldCEO and chair of eSchool Solutions, an Orlando, Florida, companyproviding information technology systems to schools, is sodisciplined that it's an uncommon day when he doesn't checkoff every item on his to-do list. He's got strong core values,and he rarely strays from them. He's also great at winningothers over, has a powerful drive to be recognized and is a masterarranger. "Basically, I'm a juggler," Wise says ofthis last talent. "I can put many factors in order, aligningpeople, processes and money."

Wise gained such knowledge about his character and talents fromthe results of his Strengths Finder profile, a test designed byThe Gallup Organization to tell people what talents they possessand, conversely, what talents they lack. The flip side is just asimportant, Wise says. Because of the Strengths Finder test, Wiseknows, for instance, that he is not talented in anything involvingmeasurement and numbers.