Before we get into the topic, I’d like to introduce what CliftonStrengths is.

Understanding “CliftonStrengths Top 5” - The Beginning of Deep Self-Discovery

In late 2024, I had the opportunity to attend the Supervisory Skill for Talent Management (SupTa) course at NIDA, which included a workshop to discover our strengths using the CliftonStrengths tool (formerly known as “StrengthsFinder” by Gallup). This tool analyzes a person’s strengths through an in-depth questionnaire, resulting in a report of our “Top 5 Strengths” that reflect our thinking, feelings, and behaviors with accuracy.

What I learned is:

To achieve sustainable success, it’s not mainly about “fixing weaknesses”
But it must start from “knowing and building on the strengths” that already exist within us

This changed my perspective as a leader of a software development team at a German company. Instead of focusing on fixing team weaknesses, I shifted to leveraging each person’s strengths to create collective power.
And when I looked back at the hit business series Mad Unicorn, I could clearly see the “strengths” expressed through the main characters.

Mad Unicorn - A Series Reflecting the Startup World Through the Lens of “Strengths”

Mad Unicorn has become popular in Thailand and trended on Netflix in late May, and has been widely discussed online through June 2025. The content is not just entertaining but also deeply reflects the Thai startup business world.

The story focuses on a fictional company called “Thunder Express,” a delivery company with an online platform. There are three main characters, each representing a key role in the business team:

1. Santi - Founder (CEO)
2. Ruijie - Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
3. Xiaoyu - Strategist / Financial Advisor (CFO/Strategic)

If we use CliftonStrengths to analyze them, we can clearly see each person’s “strengths”…

Note: The CliftonStrengths used here are only my assumptions. For accuracy, each person should take the assessment themselves to get a personalized report. 😀

🧭 Santi - The Visionary Leader and Driver

Top 5 (Assumed):
Futuristic, Achiever, Command, Activator, Competition

Team Management Approach:

1. Sets big goals for the team to “look far ahead”
2. Dares to make decisions in risky situations
3. Focuses on “taking action now” rather than overthinking
4. Believes in victory and is driven by competition
5. Has persuasive communication skills

🔎 Strength: Leads the team beyond limits with willpower and vision

⚠️ Caution: May push the team too hard, leaving little room for others’ voices, causing team fatigue

Lesson: Leaders like this need a team that complements what’s missing, acts as a partner, and provides thoughtful consideration

🧠 Ruijie - The Principle-Driven Technologist

Top 5 (Assumed):
Analytical, Deliberative, Intellection, Consistency, Responsibility

Team Management Approach:

1. Values quality and accuracy
2. Makes decisions based on data, not feelings
3. Does not compromise on principles or standards

🔎 Strength: The pillar the team relies on for principled decisions

⚠️ Caution: May be too slow, less flexible in high-speed situations

Lesson: Leaders like this need to open up to speed, flexibility, and change, and consider others’ feelings

🤝 Xiaoyu - The Financial Strategist Who Understands People

Top 5 (Assumed):
Strategic, Empathy, Connectedness, Harmony, Individualization

Team Management Approach:

1. Sees the big picture and plans long-term strategies
2. Builds cooperation among team members
3. Understands and listens to each person’s feelings
4. Connects people’s strengths to create collective power

🔎 Strength: The team’s glue, helping everyone work together

⚠️ Caution: May avoid making tough decisions that need to be faced

Lesson: Suited for managing people and team culture, with good financial planning and thoroughness

Lessons for Building a Strong Team - From Series to Real Life

I manage a small software development team of 5 people in a department about ~5 years old. We weren’t the best team in the organization at first, but what changed the game was…

I started using the principle of “understanding strengths” to design how we work together

Once we understood who was good at what, we saw results:

• Tasks matched the right people, roles were clear
• Built confidence in team members and saw growth opportunities
• The team became a driving force for innovation in the core business
• “Our small team” became one of the quality teams in the organization

✨ Summary

CliftonStrengths is not just a “fun test” but a mirror reflecting each person’s true potential
When we learn from a series like Mad Unicorn: Express War and reflect on ourselves in real life,
we find that…

🎯 Strengths are the energy source of success
🎯 When we know what kind of power we have, we can take ourselves and our team farther than we thought

If you’ve never taken the CliftonStrengths assessment, I recommend trying it. You can find it in the book with a test code inside Strengths Finder 2.0 or take the assessment directly on the CliftonStrengths website. If you get your Top 5 results, feel free to discuss with me! 😉

More

1. The 34 CliftonStrengths Themes
2. Mad Unicorn on Netflix