How CliftonStrengths and the Big Five Expose the Real Reason You're Stuck
BY MIKE VINCENT | 10 DEC 2024
Consider how two powerful frameworks—the Big Five Personality Model and Gallup’s CliftonStrengths—combine to unlock a deeper understanding of your leadership potential. By leveraging the alignment between the Big Five traits and the four CliftonStrengths domains, you can gain actionable insights for personal growth and team success.
While I was slogging through the prerequisite training to become a certified Gallup CliftonStrengths coach, I did what any self-respecting nerd would do: I dove straight into the Technical Report.
What? You didn’t feel the overwhelming urge to drop everything and revel in tables and charts? Just me?
Cool, cool. Guess I’ll just go sit at the lunch table labeled 'Data Enthusiasts Only'... all by myself.
This paragraph on page 22 of the report stuck out to me:
“Executing themes are most highly correlated with Conscientiousness; Influencing with Extraversion; Relationship Building with Agreeableness; and Strategic Thinking with Intellectence. As with the CSF themes individually, none of the four theme domains has a strong correlation with Emotional Stability.”
Notice that? No correlation with the Emotional Stability/Neuroticism personality type. That’s weird.
The Big Five: A Proven Framework for Personality
The Big Five Personality Model (or Five Factor Model) is widely regarded as the gold standard in understanding personality. It identifies five traits that form a comprehensive personality map validated across cultures and contexts:
CliftonStrengths: Unleashing Unique Potential
Gallup’s CliftonStrengths groups 34 talent themes into four domains:
The Strengths-Big Five Connection
According to the Technical Report, the four CliftonStrengths domains each align with one of the Big Five traits (but not all of them):
Executing ↔ Conscientiousness: Emphasizing dependability and goal-orientation.
Relationship Building ↔ Agreeableness: Building empathy and trust.
Influencing ↔ Extraversion: Energizing and inspiring others.
Strategic Thinking ↔ Openness: Driving creativity and analysis.
Interestingly, Neuroticism—linked to negative emotions—is notably absent, reflecting CliftonStrengths’ focus on positive, strengths-based growth.
Why Neuroticism Doesn’t Fit
While Neuroticism highlights emotional challenges, its absence from CliftonStrengths signals a deliberate focus on empowering positive traits. Research suggests that strengths-based development fosters resilience and well-being, avoiding the pitfalls of dwelling on vulnerabilities.
The implication is powerful: Traits associated with Neuroticism, such as anxiety, self-doubt, or emotional instability, can be counterproductive because they often reinforce negative patterns, limit confidence, and divert energy from growth. Instead of inspiring action and progress, they can lead to rumination and stagnation, preventing individuals from leveraging their strengths to overcome challenges and achieve their potential.
Some resort to neuroticism because it can also serve as a tool for some short-term purposes in specific contexts. Neuroticism can provide a narrative that validates struggles, making individuals feel understood and seen. However, this can be self-defeating if it perpetuates a negative self-image. It can be used for preemptive problem-solving—anticipating worst-case scenarios to create an illusion of control over uncertainty, helping some navigate stressful situations.
Displaying emotional instability can sometimes elicit sympathy, attention, or support, reinforcing these behaviors in social dynamics. Additionally, some societies romanticize emotional sensitivity or self-doubt, associating them with creativity, intelligence, or depth.
While these patterns can provide temporary benefits, they often come at a significant cost: chronic stress, strained relationships, and reduced life satisfaction. Recognizing these dynamics allows individuals to stop sabotaging their potential and shift toward more adaptive, strengths-based strategies.
A psychologist friend of mine, specializing in neuropsychology, recently shared with me that she views neuroticism as “the raw end of many talents.” I couldn’t agree more—it captures the concept perfectly.
Genetic predispositions, life experiences, and coping mechanisms can contribute to negative emotional patterns. However, cultural and social influences such as workplace expectations and lack of support systems can also influence this personality type.
This is where leaders can have the greatest influence when they become aware that neuroticism can be managed and mitigated through self-awareness, stress management techniques, and resilience-building strategies—all hallmarks of good leadership.
Leading with Strengths
Aligning CliftonStrengths with the Big Five offers a nuanced lens for leadership development. By focusing energy on actionable strengths rather than dwelling on negative emotional patters, leaders can cultivate resilience, build thriving teams, and achieve lasting success. Harnessing the synergy between CliftonStrengths and the Big Five equips you with tools to lead confidently and inspire progress.
When you focus on your strengths you are, by definition, rejecting the negative patterns that lead to counterproductivity.
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