What are your Strengths?

What is best about who you are? What do you achieve in those moments when you cultivate focus, put your strengths into action, and inspire positive impact in the world? People who actively know and grow their strengths are 18X more likely to flourish.

If you are like most leaders, chances are you may not have a meaningful sense of your strengths. In fact, two-thirds of leaders are either unaware of, or underuse, their strengths (Linley, 2008). Energize your success by knowing what your strengths actually are. Take the VIA Strengths Survey.  It is free, scientifically validated and only takes 10-15 mins.

What are character strengths?

Character strengths make up the best of who you are. Strengths are the psychological ingredients of human greatness. Every person has 24 character strengths in varying degrees. Each strength is reflected in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Your signature strengths are those qualities that intrinsically come most naturally to you. What makes you unique is how you put your strengths into action in the world.

Character strengths are at the heart of the science of positive psychology. Research led by Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman (2004) and 55 other social scientists resulted in the VIA Classification of Character Strengths. VIA is an easy-to-use scientific nomenclature for identifying and understanding human strengths. The VIA framework classifies the psychological positive traits in human beings across all cultures, nations, and beliefs. The descriptive nature of VIA means that it does not prescribe solutions.

VIA is used in education, business, consulting, psychology, coaching, and other fields to help people tap into their character strengths. They are: appreciation of beauty and excellence, bravery, creativity, curiosity, fairness, gratitude, forgiveness, honesty, hope humility, humor, judgment, kindness, leadership, love, love of learning, perseverance, perspective, prudence, self-regulation, social intelligence, spirituality, teamwork, and zest. There is no one “right” combination. All strengths matter. 

Each character strength is grouped into one of six categories of virtues, which are universally common to all cultures. The framework offers cognitive, emotional, social community, protective and spiritual strengths. Wisdom characterizes cognitive strengths that entail the acquisition and use of knowledge. Courage defines emotional strengths that involve the exercise of will to accomplish goals in the face of opposition, external or internal. Humanity describes interpersonal strengths that involve tending and befriending others. Justice represents civic strengths that underlie health community life. Temperance illustrates strengths that protect against excess. Transcendence personifies strengths that forge connections to a larger universe or spirituality and provide meaning. 

VIA Strengths & Virtues

Wisdom

The Virtue of Wisdom:

  • Creativity: Original; adaptive; ingenuity
  • Curiosity: Interest; novelty-seeking; exploration; openness to experience
  • Judgment: Critical thinking; thinking things through; open-minded
  • Love of Learning: Mastering new skills/topics; systematically adding to knowledge
  • Perspective: Wisdom; providing wise counsel; taking the big picture view

Courage

The Virtue of Courage:

  • Bravery: Valor; not shrinking from fear; speaking up for what’s right
  • Perseverance: Persistence; industry; finishing what one starts
  • Honesty: Authenticity; integrity
  • Zest: Vitality; enthusiasm; vigor; energy; feeling alive and activated

Humanity

The Virtue of Humanity:

  • Love: Both loving and being loved; valuing close relations with others
  • Kindness: Generosity; nurturance; care; compassion; altruism; “niceness”
  • Social Intelligence: Aware of motives/feelings of oneself & others

Justice

The Virtue of Justice:

  • Teamwork: Citizenship; social responsibility; loyalty
  • Fairness: Just; not letting feelings bias decisions about others
  • Leadership: Organizing group activities; encouraging a group to get things done

Temperance

The Virtue of Temperance:

  • Forgiveness: Mercy; accept others’ shortcomings; give people a second chance
  • Humility: Modesty; letting one’s accomplishments speak for themselves
  • Prudence: Careful; cautious; not taking undue risks
  • Self-Regulation: Self-control; disciplined; managing impulses & emotions

Transcendence

The Virtue of Transcendence

  • Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence: Awe; wonder; elevation
  • Gratitude: Thankful for the good; expressing thanks; feeling blessed
  • Hope: Optimism; future-mindedness; future orientation
  • Humor: Playfulness; bringing smiles to others; lighthearted
  • Spirituality: Religiousness; faith; purpose; meaning

What are the benefits of strengths?

Success and happiness in work and life comes from knowing and growing character strengths. People who actively use their strengths in new ways everyday are 18X more likely to flourish. Using strengths can help improve relationships, enhance overall wellbeing, and build resilience to overcome adversity. 

Strengths help people outperform others with a greater sense of happiness, wellbeing and life satisfaction. In the workplace, people who use their strengths everyday are more likely to be 6X more engaged, 8% more productive, and 15% less likely to quit. Teams who use their strengths are more likely to experience 12.5% more productivity and 8.9% more profitability. Organizations with a strengths based coaching culture report revenues above that of industry peer groups (46% vs 39%), and employees who are more highly engaged (61% vs. 53%). 

What are your strengths? 

The VIA Survey is a free scientifically validated tool that you can use to better understand your character makeup. Millions of people from around the world have taken it. The survey consists of a 240-item questionnaire, and uses 5-point Likert-style items to measure the degree to which a you reflect each character strength. The survey identifies and ranks your 24 strengths, from your top to your lesser strengths. Your top signature strengths are effortless and energizing. Those valued qualities that come most naturally to you, and thrive at the core of who you are.

Energizing your strengths is the foundation for being your best self. The more you lead from your strengths, the more authentic, fulfilling and successful your leadership can be. You can use your strengths to manage stress, become happier, and grow relationships with the people who matter most to you. When you know your best strengths, you can learn, lead, live and love more fully.

Download the VIA Strengths & Virtues classification chart

 
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