When I traveled to Georgia last month to see President Jimmy Carter teach Sunday School, it made me think about the concept of character.
I want to share a bit of my trip and also a link to a free character strengths profile.
When I was researching my trip, I was heartened to see comments from Republicans about admiration for Carter as a person even if they did not agree with aspects of his presidency. I have admired his character and spiritual grounding for many years. I first saw him when he campaigned at the Beaver Valley Mall and volunteered for his campaign as a senior in high school. His message at the Sunday School Class was one of love, service and peace. At 94 he was sharp and witty. If you want to check things out for a pilgrimage/bucket list, go to [email protected]. Plan on a long night. I arrived at 3:03 AM and was car 35 winning me a seat in the third to last pew. People attending were from across the US as well as international visitors.
In thinking about character in the workplace I wanted to share some research, so here is a link to those of you who may want to delve in. I moved in a different direction when I enjoyed some synchronicity with a mastermind group of career counselors. Some of them use the Character Strengths Profile. From my own experience of taking it, I prefer to address the four core parts of self-assessment (interests, skills, personality, and values…what you want from a job) separately. The profile combined aspects, and I find it simply a nice self-awareness and self-development tool.
Click here if you would like to take the free 15 minute VIA Institute on Character survey.
As a reminder and motivation for us all about character, I’m listing the core traits as noted by VIA here:
- Wisdom: creativity, curiosity, judgment, love of learning, perspective
- Courage: bravery, perseverance, honesty, zest
- Humanity: love, kindness, social intelligence
- Justice: teamwork, fairness, leadership
- Temperance: forgiveness, humility, prudence, self-regulation
- Transcendence: appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, humor, spirituality
Finally, I’d like to close with a quote:
“I have one life and one chance to make it count for something… My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference.”
― Jimmy Carter
