Character Strengths

In our world, we have frequently misused the word “character”, what it means and what it does for us (and for/to others). We often treat character as a on or off or narrowly defined (person lacks integrity, has ego, etc) condition. There are many interesting but not well grounded “google” definitions of character strengths. There are more unique combinations of character strengths than people on our planet. Our strengths are used in degrees and not simply in a have it or not manner.

The reality is that just about everything we do is through our character strengths. For example, you can’t build relationships or trust without using your character strengths. You won’t gain competency in something without using your character strengths. Our character strengths, especially signature strengths (the ones used most frequently) have been uniquely built into our thoughts and behaviors through a lifetime of situations we have faced and learned from. Much of our character has been built from our “single digit” years of age, although MAJOR life events can shift our strengths around and will continue to mold us.

What is not generally known is that through years of study, it’s been identified that when we truly know our character strengths and call upon them in the diverse, situations we face, we can perform MANY (well over 3X) times better. We can improve our overall well-being and resiliency by knowing and using them more intentionally. This benefits us individually as well as collectively in team settings. Knowing team character strengths helps others to appreciate the diversity of strengths that a team has and needs to consistently use to succeed.

In my sessions, I use a highly proven and revealing character strength assessment tool. If you are interested in hearing more, please reach out. This tool positively influences team dynamics.