Identify Strengths in Yourself and in Others to Build on the Best of You and the Best of Others.
If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles. –Sun Tzu
(Instructor Note: Prior to this block of instruction, all students should complete the VIA Survey of Character Strengths located at www.authentichappiness.org.)
Through a series of questions, the VIA Survey of Character Strengths provides a listing of your character strengths. Understanding character strengths is the “Be” in the Army’s “Be-Know-Do” model of leadership. Understanding who you are as person is the first step in understanding how you will use your knowledge, experience, education, and skills and what you can, and will do, as a leader. We are most effective as leaders when we are aware of our strengths and apply them in the right context. We can use the knowledge of our strengths and the strengths of those around us to maximize our ability to handle adversity. The VIA provides a listing of your top strengths; these are called your “signature strengths.” You can tell if a character strength is a signature strength by noticing if you feel true to yourself when you use it, if you can’t help but use it, if you feel energized when using it, and if you don’t need reminding to use it.
The strengths group into six categories (wisdom and knowledge, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, transcendence) which are known as virtues. These virtues help organize the strengths but are not meant to be rigid. Additionally, the list of character strengths is not meant to be exhaustive. It includes twenty-four strengths that are valued across cultures and time, but other character strengths exist that are valued in some cultures, but not in all cultures, such as competitiveness.
An important concept to remember is that each strength has a “shadow side.” A shadow side is a way in which the strength can get you in trouble at times or cause difficulty. For example, people with the top strength of humor sometimes offend others; people with the top strength of zest sometimes run other people ragged; and people with the top strength of optimism might underestimate threat.
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