9. Character strengths

Character strengths are such an important element of positive psychology that for many people and organizations who work in this field, they have become the central focus of their work, to the exclusion of all other positive psychology topics. One reason is that strengths are such a tangible, concrete subject. When you talk about strengths, people easily grasp what you mean. There’s none of the confusion or raised eyebrows that you often get when hedonic or eudaimonic well-being are mentioned (see Chapter 1). And what’s more, the language associated with strengths is, by and large, pretty down-to earth.

At the time of writing there are several well-known classifications of strengths.

Firstly there’s an assessment of personal, or ‘character’, strengths: the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS, or VIA for short) is probably the best known in positive psychology circles. It’s made up of 24 universal character strengths, such as love, curiosity and social intelligence. The basic online VIA-IS assessment is free and includes a short report showing your strengths in top-down order, with an option to pay a small fee for a more detailed report.

The second model is the Strengthscope™ assessment of work-related strengths. This model is also available online, and assesses the 24 strengths which are most critical to your work performance, such as decisiveness, results focus and collaboration.

Lastly there is Realise2, which spans both work-related and personal strengths, and is based on 60 different psychological attributes including ‘listener’, ‘rapport builder’ and ‘time optimizer’. For links to these strengths models, see the Resources section at the end of the book.

A misconception about strengths

People often confuse strengths with competencies, talents or skills, but in positive psychology they are not the same thing. For this reason, I’ve omitted the Clifton StrengthsFinder™ which, despite its name, actually measures the talents that act as the foundations for strengths development, rather than the strengths themselves.

For example, the 24 VIA-IS character strengths differ from competencies, talents and skills in that:

  1. They are morally valued in their own right
  2. They cannot be wasted.

It’s worth remembering that the various strengths models used by positive psychologists do not necessarily define strengths in the same way, so take care!

What is a strength?

In models such as Strengthscope™ and Realise2, strengths are those personal attributes which energise us, which feel like us and which enable optimal performance. It’s very likely that your strengths are the things that you are good at.

When is a strength not a strength?

If you have a competence, talent or skill in something, you are by definition good at it. In positive psychology terms, a strength is most probably something you are good at because you use it a lot but not necessarily! For example, it could be that you have an ‘unrealised strength’ (using Realise2 terminology), that is, a strength which lies dormant, waiting to be discovered and developed to its maximum potential.

To illustrate this, here’s the story of my colleague Sally. She’s an excellent organizer – if you want an event to run smoothly, whether it’s a social event at work, a kid’s birthday party or a community litter-pick, she’s the woman to ask. She knows exactly who to contact, what to do and how to do it, and she gets it done efficiently and professionally. The right people turn up, in the right place at the right time, everyone enjoys themselves and says what a wonderful job she’s done.

But does Sally feel good about organizing? No! ‘I know I’m good at organizing stuff and I can do it with my eyes closed’, she says, ‘that’s why people always ask me to do it. And it’s pretty easy work, but when I think about it, it doesn’t really feel like me at all. And I don’t feel energized by it, quite the reverse. In fact I’m absolutely drained by the time it’s all over.’ In other words, Sally has a competence in organizing, but it is not one of her strengths.

Identifying your strengths

You can identify your strengths because they:

Also, you won’t have to force yourself to use your strengths, you’ll be intrinsically motivated to do so (see Chapter 15).

What kind of things fit the bill for you? When you are at your best, what are you doing? A great tip from Alex Linley is to look back to your childhood days for clues. So take time to reflect on your early life, remembering the things you loved doing, were good at or found easy to do.

In my case, I’ve always loved researching and writing – I wrote my first book aged nine, voluntarily completed several research-based projects during the school holidays and nowadays rarely go anywhere without a pen and paper in my pocket.

Remember that your strengths may not always be obvious to you. Sometimes we aren’t aware of our strengths at all (i.e. we haven’t identified them), or we take them for granted. Often we assume that other people can do the things we do as well as we can.

Alex Linley suggests that another clue to identifying your latent or unrealized strengths is to think about the times when you get frustrated with other people’s inability to do things as well or as quickly as you. This may be a sign that you have a strength in this area which you haven’t fully recognized.

Benefits of playing to your strengths

There is growing empirical evidence to suggest that using your strengths every day is beneficial to your psychological well-being in a number of different ways, such as:

Not only does playing to your strengths improve your well-being, research suggests that it also improves your performance at work, makes you more engaged and more likely to achieve your goals. I’m sure you’ll agree that these are very compelling reasons to identify your strengths and start using them more, both at home and in the work-place.

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Using your strengths in new ways

Complete the online VIA-IS (see the Resources section for the URL). The full version is free and takes about 25 minutes to do. I’d recommend doing the full version in preference to the short one.

When you receive your online strengths report, cast your eye over the list of strengths. Do you identify with the strengths which appear at the top (say the top 3–5)? Do they feel like the ‘real you’? Are you surprised by the ones at the bottom?

Now look at your top strengths, and think about how you might use them in new ways. Here are some of psychologist Chris Peterson’s suggestions:

Now that you get the idea, think up your own ways to use your top strengths, and commit to doing so every day for the next week.

If you are reading this book with a partner or friend, why not brainstorm together or pool your ideas? Sometimes it’s easier to think of great suggestions for other people.

Carry out some of these new activities using your top strengths and make a note in your well-being journal of the benefits you notice.

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Strengths toolkit

Another good way of thinking about your strengths is as a personal toolkit, an invisible collection of resources which you can draw on at any moment to help you tackle challenges and resolve issues.

Think of an issue that you are currently facing at home or at work. Summarize it in one or two sentences in your well-being journal. Now list your top strengths underneath. Taking each one in turn, think how you might use that strength to deal with the problem in front of you.

For example:

Naima failed to get a promotion recently and she feels upset and demotivated. As a fairly reserved individual, it had taken her a while to get enough self-confidence together to put herself forward, so it’s understandable that not getting the job is disappointing. It’s starting to affect her performance in the office and she’s beginning to wonder if she’s even in the right career.

Naima’s top VIA strengths are: perseverance, bravery and leadership.

Now write down your issue and your ideas for action in your well-being journal and commit to doing them.

You’ll find that using your strengths in this way gives you the added confidence, motivation and energy to tackle problems which might otherwise drain you.

Finally, think about what single small change you could make using your strengths that would make the biggest difference at home or at work. Record this in your well-being journal and commit to taking action immediately.

A word about weaknesses

Whist empirical research confirms the long-term well-being benefits of identifying and playing to your strengths, there are two important caveats to take into consideration.

Firstly, it’s likely that you’ll have strengths in some areas and weaknesses in others. If you complete the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths you’ll be aware which are your top and bottom strengths. It may be that you can get through life perfectly well without paying any attention to the strengths which appear at the bottom of the list. However, this may not be the case. If, for example, they include leadership and social intelligence and you work as a team leader, then to be fully effective in the workplace you may need to address them in some way. If this is the case for you, find ways to tackle the weakness and make it less important, for example, undertaking additional training, working with a coach or mentor, or working with colleagues who have complementary strengths which you can draw on as and when you need to.

Secondly, you need to bear in mind that it’s possible to overdo or overuse a strength, and when this happens, the strength paradoxically becomes a weakness. Strengthscope™ calls this ‘strengths in overdrive’. As an example, if you overuse the strength of courage, you may find yourself taking unnecessary risks or challenges that have a high chance of failure, and friends and colleagues may perceive you as reckless, impulsive or foolhardy. So, it’s worth remembering to use a little old-fashioned common sense when considering how and when to play to your strengths!

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