StrengthsFinders defines Belief this way:

People who are especially talented in the Belief theme have certain core values that are unchanging. Out of these values emerges a defined purpose for their life.

It was very personally satisfying to see this be one of my primary strengths. I do have some very strong core beliefs that anchor me and drive me. From a professional standpoint, one of my core principles is that everything I do is to be done with the intent to add value to the bottom line. It has to be ethical, of course (another core belief), but the point here derives from my experience in the UX space.

I have had a debate a number of times with other UX practitioners about the purpose of the field. By and large, members of this space claim to be responsible to make users happier with their interaction and to feel more at ease. My response is that I agree, to a point. If UX as a practice only exists to make people feel good then a number of terrible decisions from a business standpoint are likely to occur. What UX is really about is making users more at ease with the process of meeting the business objectives. And in the end, if the business objectives don’t match the user’s needs then the business objectives will change. But either way, we will be driving toward the primary goal of increasing company value. Core beliefs help with staying focused on the things that matter.