If I am leading in this world and I am living in my purpose…..WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT CHARACTER STRENGTHS?
Character is the part of your personality that other people tend to admire, respect, and cherish. It is the total of those aspects of who you are as a person that leads others to see you as a person with integrity, a person who contributes, a person who can be trusted.
You are a person of character. Each of us has in us, to varying degrees, certain traits that others admire and respect. These traits are called "character strengths." For you, some may have already fully flowered, and you are expressing them actively in your life.
Some of these strengths may be dormant, waiting for you to refocus your attention on them. Some may have never gotten any deliberate attention from you over the years. Where ever you stand on each of the traits of character, they are already there in you.
WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT CHARACTER STRENGTHS?
I had completed several strength assessments (leadership, organization, & strengthquest, Myers-Briggs, DISC), and each had its purpose and served beneficial for me an organizational leader. The strengthquest helped me label areas that served helpful to me as a corporate leader.
My strengthquest assessment highlighted me as strategic, ideation, an achiever, a maximizer, and deliberative. Myer Briggs identified my personality as INTJ. I usually led with these strengths, and they too serve me well. Well, I decided to transition my skills into a career with a focus on helping others. Each of my identified strengths was beneficial for organizational use, but I required a little more to build relationships to help others.
At the beginning of me transitioning from the Director of Children & Families to being laser-focused on being a coachprenuer, I coached and mentored professionals of different industries daily. These individuals were the parents of the 200 children who received education & intervention services with the organization daily. I often found myself coaching these families through complicated "hard stuff" that the universe usually throws at us during life. I coached clients through leveling up in their careers, plans of joy & happiness, a celebration of legacy, military transitioning, educational fulfillment, and new relationships. Clients were coached on being resilient during divorce, death of loved ones, illnesses, family obstacles, children & adult behaviors, developmental delays, grieve, spiritual conflicts, & just life in general. It was so comfortable working with these clients, for they trusted me already, we had a developed relationship.
Seeking to expand my coaching services, beyond the doors of the organization I was leading and the professionals I was serving, I realized I was not exceptional with rapidly building an organic relationship and trust with people. I often felt anxious, distracted, and disconnected from those people I had not already fostered a trusting sustained relationship. When I listened to individuals, it was initially difficult to hear them deeply using my intuitive ear. I could only hear what was on the surface, often felt like I was going through the motions; it was Blah! Blah! Blah! I felt like a passive participant in the co-relationship we were building.
Being an extremely introverted maximizer, I did not have the tolerance of small talk. I was often strategic in my listening and inquiring. I was good for finding out the need, exploring the need with the client, having the client assess and seek solutions, and helping to create SMART goals and reassessing for results. Yes- my transition to my new career was elementary.
Last year I attended the Valorie Burton’s Coach Training Institute, participants were asked to complete the VIA character strength assessment, which told me more about my qualities. There are 24-character strengths, and my top ones are humility, love of learning; gratitude; love; creativity; hope, judgment, curiosity, perspective, and the appreciation of beauty & excellence. For the most part, I was excited and intrigued by this list. There were many positive, compelling words to describe me with no effort.
Reviewing each description, I became even more inspired by the character strengths, because I realized – yes!- this is me. Having a better understanding of these character strengths allowed me to lean heavily into my coaching practice. Now, I quickly build genuine relationships with other individuals and not just coaching clients.
Why do character strengths matter? When things are good, character strengths provide enhancements, allowing us to see what is exceptional in others and ourselves. When things are not so well, these strengths can balance the uproars and struggles often presented in life. Character strengths allow us to focus on the positives, preventing critical thoughts of ourselves and others. As we move forward with identifying and leaning into our character strengths, hold these perspectives in mind and heart.
Please complete the VIA survey character strength survey under the "Questionnaire" section. Warning there are over 200 questions; it will take at least 30 minutes.
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