You’ve probably heard all about the power of CliftonStrengths and want to bring it to your team. Or you’re a leadership or talent development professional that is helping roll out CliftonStrengths to teams you support. 

You’ve heard the stats that employees who focus on strengths bring companies 29% higher profit, 23% higher engagement, 19% higher sales, and 72% lower turnover. 

You’re excited about how powerful this tool is but then you start digging into the logistics—how do you get codes, distribute them? Do I need to buy everyone a book? 

Don’t worry, I am going to walk you through everything and provide different options to see which works best for you and your team. I will break down the mistakes I frequently see and how to fix them making your life easier. Plus, you'll learn my hack for getting the least expensive assessments!

And if you'd rather watch a video, check out this here.

About Me

My name is Reuben and I am a Gallup-certified CliftonStrengths coach who has been coaching and teaching this for almost 25 years. I have lead hundreds of workshops with thousands of people and mostly work with Leadership Development teams at Fortune 100 companies. 

In addition to seeing everything that these teams do, I have tried every possible way to administer the assessment and have come up with a set of best practices to make your life easier. 

Here are the three phases to rolling out CliftonStrengths for a team.

Preparation gets everything setup and is what you’ll be doing before anyone even takes an assessment. 

Execution is where you’ll distribute codes to everyone.

Follow-Up is where the real fun starts and you start seeing the fruit of your hard work. 

Preparation

This first phase is the most critical, and it's the one most people rush through. Getting this part right sets the foundation for everything else.

Step 1: Define Your "Why" and Get Leadership Buy-In.

Before you even think about leveraging CliftonStrengths you need to ask yourself why you're doing this. What is the business outcome or goal you are trying to solve? Boosting employee engagement or performance, team collaboration, leadership development. 

There are so many business problems that CliftonStrengths help solve. It’s important to know what you are solving. 

Once you have your "why," you need to get your own leadership on board. A huge mistake is trying to run this as a rogue, bottom-up initiative. For this to have a lasting impact, senior leaders need to see its value. 

Often, the best way to do this is to have them experience it for themselves first. This is why I do so many free consultations and give away so many resources to people. When people experience the power of CliftonStrengths and how much it can help them become successful, it unlocks their mind to see the possibilities and potential. 

Ways I have been this work very well are starting small with a Strengths exploration workshop with the executive team or senior management. A one-on-one coaching session where they can have their own “aha” moment. Or even just the word of mouth testimony from a co-worker have all done wonders to open the door. 

Step 2: Consider a Certified Partner

You’ve heard the phrase, “begin with the end in mind.” What is your end result? Do you want your team to be operating at their best in their strengths zones, fully engaged, minimizing their weaknesses, and working together effectively as a team? 

All of those things and more are possible but usually it takes an expert to guide them there. 

If you are a Gallup-certified CliftonStrengths coach then you probably have the resources to do this yourself. However, what I’m seeing more and more of is that LD professionals might have the certification but they don’t have the bandwidth or the narrow expertise to really pull this through to get maximum results.

I work with many Fortune 100 companies and their LD teams will rely on an outside expert like myself to come in and do the heavy lifting for them so they can focus their attention elsewhere. 

We will talk more later about what happens after everyone has taken the assessment. Speaking of…

Step 3: Choosing the Right Assessment (Top 5 vs. Full 34).

Now that you have leadership buy in you want to decide which version of the assessment to use. Here are the primary two options for you to consider first: the Top 5 CliftonStrengths or the Full 34 report. So, which one is right for your team?

Here’s the difference:

The Top 5 CliftonStrengths report gives you just that. Your top 5 (out of 34) talent theme results. In 2025 this assessment costs $25 when you buy directly from Gallup. I’ll talk about more purchasing options later. This is a great choice when budget is a concern and you want to get the assessment taken by as many people as possible including entry level or individual contributor roles. One other benefit of using the Top 5 is that there is less information and less things to overwhelm someone. 

The Full 34 report is the premium option. It gives you a complete ranking of all 34 talent themes, which is incredibly insightful for personal development and for identifying things that might drain an individual's energy. For many people, knowing their 6-10 is kind of like finding out your other side and can be crucial when you need to tackle a task that is a little outside your comfort zone. You also see some blind spots for your top 10 that are major aha moments for people to realize that what they’re doing, the way they are wired and acting is hurting their team or themselves, and not helping them. 

The Full 34 report is $60 and if you have the budget, I definitely recommend this assessment for many reasons. 

Very often what I see is that if a team doesn’t have the budget to get the Full 34 for everyone, they will get the Full 34 for their more senior leaders and managers and get the Top 5 for individual contributors. 

One other consideration is that because I have been doing this for so long that I have developed tools and resources that open up information to unlock more potential from the Top 5 report only. 

Feel free to contact me and we can discuss your particular situation if you’re not sure which assessment to go with. 

Step 3: Procuring Assessments

Okay, you’ve got your “why” and you’ve chosen your report. Now it's time to actually get the codes. There are two main ways to do this. I’ll break down their pros and cons and give you my recommendation.

Physical Distribution

When I first started leading workshops and distributing codes I would purchase the Gallup book, Now Discover Your Strengths and later on StrengthsFinder 2.0. Each book would have a Top 5 assessment code that I would rip out and give out to take. 

My best hack is that the book, How Full Is Your Bucket has the same Top 5 assessment code but is only $10 on Amazon! This is by far the cheapest way to get the assessment. 

The pros to this method are that some people love having the book. It can also be the most cost effective if you get How Full Is Your Bucket. 

The con to this is that you need to wait for shipping and the biggest con for me is that when you do this at scale it is very difficult to manage the collection of results for hundreds of people. If you have a handful of people on your team and they all sit next to you in the office this can be a great way to get started. If you use the How Full Is Your Bucket book, you also nullify the information you get from a Strengths book.

P.S. If you like reading and learning the information, I would recommend the original Now Discover Your Strengths book or my all-time favorite book that I feel has the best and most complete information for Strengths in a single book is Strengths Quest even though it is written for college students. 

Electronic Distribution

Enter electronic distribution. If you go to my.gallup.com and create an account, you can purchase as many codes as you want directly from Gallup and distribute the assessment codes electronically. If you have already taken the assessment, you should already have an account so you can log into that and use that. 

Just recently, Gallup upgraded their systems also so if you or anyone on your team has taken the assessment more than once, you can bring all of your results together into one account.  I’ll talk more about that later. 

You can tie an individual email to each assessment code or get a list of all the assessment codes in a spreadsheet that you can distribute in any way you want after that. 

The HUGE benefit to doing this is that you can see everyone’s assessment results from your account. 

As someone who has been doing this for more than two decades, hunting people down to remind them to take their assessment and then getting them to send you their results takes a lot of time. 

Now, if you have tons of time on your hands because you’ve mastered AI and are bored at work with nothing to do, by all means stick with physical distribution. 

If you’re like me and you like things to be as easy and efficient as possible, I recommend doing electronic distribution. 

So one more time, when you are checking out, make sure you either create an account or are logged into your existing account. 

Part 2: The Execution Phase (The "Rollout")

OK now we’re ready for ready for execution and the actual rollout. 

Step 4: The Kick-Off Communication.

How you introduce this to your team is everything. Please, do not just forward them an automated email with a code or even worst, have Gallup send the assessment straight to their email without any context or preparation. That’s the fastest way to guarantee low participation. 

Let your team know what they’re about to do and WHY. Let them know the personal benefits of taking this assessment and that they can find benefits even outside of work like accomplishing their health and fitness goals, to becoming a better parent or spouse. Check out this playlist for resources on all of those. 

Giving them clear directions and expectations is also very helpful. At the bottom I’ll give you my free direction PDFs you can use and download to send to your team on how to take the assessment. 

Here are four key things to include in your communication along with assessment instructions.

What is CliftonStrengths? Briefly explain that it’s not a test you can pass or fail. It’s an assessment to identify their natural patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior—their talents.

Why are we doing this? Share the "why" you defined back in Frame it positively. Something like: "We're doing this to better understand and appreciate the unique talents each of us brings to the team. This will help us collaborate more effectively and give everyone more opportunities to do what they do best."

What is the process? Let them know how they will get access to the assessment whether an email directly from Gallup or a link and a code from you. 

What is the deadline? Give a clear and reasonable deadline, usually about one to two weeks. This creates a sense of priority. Also, tell them what the next step is, which is typically a team workshop to discuss the results. I’ll talk more about that later and give you resources on how to do that effectively.

Step 5: Distributing the Codes & Tracking Completion.

Now, go into your Gallup Access dashboard. You’ll have the option to distribute the codes you bought. Usually, the easiest method is to "Email Codes." This lets you input your team members' names and email addresses, and Gallup will send a personalized invitation directly to them. Critically, this method also lets you track their completion status right from your dashboard and lets you see who has which code. You can also retract codes in case something happens. 

In some cases, it can be handy to use the Export Codes features. If you do this, make sure you are one of those logistical people who knows where everything is because it’s easy to lose track of who has what code. 

Over the next week or two, your job is to be an encouraging presence. You can monitor progress in your dashboard and send gentle, personal reminders to those who haven't finished yet. A simple, "Hey, just a friendly reminder to complete your CliftonStrengths by Friday. I’m really excited to discuss the results with everyone!" goes a long way.

Part 3: The Follow-Up (The "After the Assessment")

This is where the real value comes in. So many times I have heard the sad story that a well-meaning company has everyone take CliftonStrengths. But then that’s it. No one explains what it is, why they do it, or how to use it. 

This is like giving someone their dream car but not the keys to drive it. It’s just a waste of time and money now. 

However, I am so glad you are watching this video because it tells me that you’re not going to make that same mistake. 

Step 6: Scheduling Workshops

The biggest thing you can do after everyone has taken the assessment is to hold one or more workshops to dive into the results and how everyone can actually use their results. 

After doing hundreds of workshops for thousands of people I have had so many of them tell me that learning about Strengths changed their life. Many times, this is even after they first did the assessment with a company where they didn’t have any follow up and didn’t learn anything leading to a poor experience. 

One director at a large Fortune 100 company even told me that she was really not looking forward to our Strengths workshop because of a bad prior experience. But after doing a workshop with me, she was one of CliftonStrengths and my biggest proponents.

So if you're not a certified coach, seriously consider bringing one in to facilitate this first session. Of course, I would love to do it myself but I know tons of people who might be a great fit for you. An external expert can create a safe space and guide the conversation to ensure it's a powerful and positive experience for everyone.

This also what I do, day in and day out so I’ve learned things and have access to resources and tools that I have development myself that no other coach in the world has access to. 

OK, so the focus of this video is not to explain how to conduct an introductory workshop. Contact me and let me know if that’s where you’re at and we can schedule a free call where I can tell you what to do and my recommendations. 

Step 7: Common Pitfalls to Avoid.

Finally, here are some common pitfalls to avoid to get the most out of your investment. 

Pitfall 1: Focusing on Weaknesses. 

The entire philosophy of CliftonStrengths is to focus on what’s right with people, not what’s wrong. Avoid the temptation to use the results to try and "fix" someone's lesser talents. The goal is to invest in and develop their natural strengths.

Pitfall 2: Using Strengths as an Excuse. 

You might hear someone say, "I can't do that, it's not one of my strengths." Gently but clearly correct this. Strengths are not an excuse for bad behavior or for not contributing. Your themes describe how you most naturally get something done, not if you can do it. You can see a great example of this in my video on becoming a better public speaker using your Strengths. You don’t need Communication or Woo or Significance. Anyone can use their top 5 to become better at almost anything. 

Pitfall 3: "One and Done." 

The biggest pitfall of all is treating this as a one-time event. A great rollout isn’t an event; it's the start of a cultural shift. The organizations I have seen the biggest impact is where Strengths is part of their daily language. When I was a people leader we talked about Strengths constantly. 

Weave strengths into your regular team meetings, one-on-ones, and performance reviews. Use the Team Grid to map out your collective talents and spot potential gaps. One of the other benefits of digital distribution is that you can create a team grid with up to 5 people. If you have a bigger team than that, download this Team Grid 

that you can fill out with your entire team to see your team makeup. 

Conclusion

So there you have it—the complete guide to administering CliftonStrengths for your team.

Preparation, execution, and follow-up. 

Below are some resources to help you administer and distribute CliftonStrengths to your team!

How to Take the Assessment Direction PDFs

• Directions for email assessments

• Directions for assessments with a code

More Resources

• Team Grid

Contact me for a complimentary consultation if you want to a Gallup-certified coach to lead your next workshop. 

Social Media

Watch some free videos online via my social media accounts!