Marcus Buckingham is a man on a mission. If the British-born leadership guru accomplishes his goal of starting a strengths revolution, pastors may well be some of the highest beneficiaries.

Buckingham is the charismatic and affable researcher and writer who has put "strengths" into the leadership lexicon in North America. Through his work with the Gallup organization and now on his own, Buckingham pushes the notion that each of us has a unique combination of strengths that we are best able to apply to our work and life. From my work as a ministry coach, I can confirm that his message is hitting home with many pastors.

One of Buckingham's premises is that each person has an innate set of strengths that can be applied to pretty much any aspect of life. In fact, Buckingham's research found 34 unique strengths that can show up in a near infinite set of combinations. What Buckingham calls "strength" is not really a talent or a skill set, but some combination that goes ...