Creating A Strengths-based Community

(excerpted from a proposal about developing a strengths based community in a non-profit organization I was participating in)

I am very interested furthering the development of strengths-based communities for example in organizations, or other types of communities. Potentially, this could mean identifying strengths of individuals in the community, and helping individuals learn ways to integrate favorite strengths and utilize them often in their daily lives, e.g., recovery, personal life, work life, and so on. Perhaps even more importantly, this also can mean learning how to help individuals in the community work interactively in nurturing ways to grow personalized strengths and qualities more effectively - to build community based on strengths. Many organizations and communities of various types (education, non-profit, business) exist that are finding ways to do this. These communities are showing that like-minded people can work collaboratively and supportively in creative ways to empower one another through the development of individualized strengths. I have seen many that are currently doing this, but one that is really cool is the Noel Strengths Academy at Azusa Pacific University, the direct website is http://www.apu.edu/strengthsacademy/

I have been discussing strengths for some time in Positive Psychology groups I faciliate, and recently we have identified some important underlying components of strengths. I think one of the most important things when considering strengths is to acknowledge that in our culture people often equate the notion of strength with physicality or perhaps equate strength with "force" or "rigidity." For the most part, the people in the group seemed to agree that these are, if not skewed, then essentially limited views of strength. So, therefore it is important to clarify what we mean when we speak of strengths. The strengths we are referring to when developing strengths are internal strengths or skills or qualities such as strengths of character, talents, aptitudes, life-skills, and so on. I personally feel that authentic internal strength is more closely aligned with concepts like balance, fluidity, firmness, allowance/allowing, humility, tolerance, flexibility, equanimity, clarity, kindness, and other virtues, rather than necessarily associated with rigidity, force, physical strength, oppressiveness, territoriality, toughness, hostility, fear-based perspective, and so on. To some people, the previous statement may seem obvious or even foolish, but unfortunately very often these still tend to be mistaken for strengths. I also think that one of the most important key points about strengths is that strengths always energize us rather than deplete us, and it is a highly individualized process, the theory behind the Realise2 assessment by Linley explains this perspective quite well.

I am aware that many assessments exist that can be useful in helping to identify human strengths, and that can help people integrate personal strengths into their lives. However, no single assessment or even collection of assessments can cover the whole range of possibilities of how the integration of strengths may be able to influence a person's life and recovery. The possibilities are myriad and quite exciting, and frankly the fields of mental health and psychology are merely touching the surface of how this process can be transformational for someone in recovery, or someone seeking to enhance their life.

Simultaneously, because of such myriad possibilities, this means that doing so (integrating strengths) also has the potential to be overwhelming. So, it also seems to make sense that it is critical to simplify and learn about strengths in a methodical and clear-cut way. I have found that the assessments are most importantly vehicles for learning more about oneself, about one's strengths, about the strengths and skills of others, and about strengths in general e.g., they are merely suggestive and not prescriptive, and cannot replace the essential learning curve of self-awareness, reflection, and self-examination.

Although Howard Gardner was certainly not the first to do research or work with human strengths, one might be able to say the basis of the strengths philosophy emanates from, or at least in many ways parallels Gardner's work on Multiple Intelligences (MI) because Gardner helped people to break out of the box to see that intelligence is not one-dimensional; that human intelligence and strength are multi-dimensional and actually differentiated in various modalities and not necessarily only dominated by one single ability as previously thought. Historically in modern science, intelligence has probably most often been described in terms of cognitive capacity.

The primary assessments I am interested in are:

1.The Values in Action (VIA) developed by Martin Seligman former President of the American Psychological Association (APA).

2.The Strengthsfinder 2.0 developed by Donald O. Clifton, who has been referred to as the "father of strengths-based psychology."

3.Multiple Intelligences, developed by Howard Gardner at Harvard University

4.Realise2, this is a UK based assessment with 60 themes which was developed by Alex Linley who studied "strengthspotters" these are people who are skilled in the identification of strengths and skills in others.

5.MBTI, based upon the work of Carl Jung

I think all of the above (as well as perhaps others not mentioned) have merit and can be useful, however, as we discussed, I think it is probably best to rely upon a couple of assessments rather than numerous in order to not be overwhelming. _____
_______________________________________________
Here is a little bit of information about each assessment mentioned
The Values in Action (VIA) this was developed by Martin Seligman (widely considered founder of Positive Psychology) and Chris Peterson and this can be taken free at http://www.authentichappiness.com/
Seligman and Peterson studied many of the global wisdom traditions and came up with 24 of what they felt were the most commonly used virtues falling into 6 categories

1. Wisdom and Knowledge

Creativity
Curiosity
Open-mindedness
Love of learning
Perspective

2. Courage

Bravery
Persistence
Integrity
Zest

3. Love and Humility

Love
Kindness
Social Intelligence

4. Justice

Citizenship
Fairness
Leadership

5. Temperance

Forgiveness and Mercy
Humility
Prudence
Self-control

6. Spirituality and Transcendence

Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence
Gratitude
Hope
Humor
Spirituality

The VIA merely identifies the individual's top three strengths. It is free to take but for fees can be assessed professionally.

Strengthsfinder
-From the Now Discover Your Strengths website "The Clifton StrengthsFinder measures the presence of 34 talent themes. Talents are people's naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied. The more dominant a theme is in a person, the greater the theme's impact on that person's behavior and performance."
You can find the names and definitions of the 34 strengths themes identified using Strengthsfinder, at the following link http://www.strengthstest.com/theme_summary.php
Multiple Intelligences
*Gardner identified 8 areas of intelligence

1.Verbal/Linguistic - "Word smart"

2.Musical/Rhythmic - "Music smart"

3.Logical/Mathematical - "Logic smart"

4.Naturalist - "Nature smart"

5.Bodily/Kinesthetic - "Body smart"

6.Visual/Spatial - "Picture smart"

7.Interpersonal - "People smart"

8.Intrapersonal - "Self smart"

also, here is a link to a pretty good free online MI assessment http://www.literacyworks.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html

Realise2 A UK based assessment from the field of Positive Psychology, over 50,000 people have taken this assessment. -From the Cappeu (the official) website "Realise2 assesses 60 strengths according to the three dimensions of energy, performance and use, making it truly unique and distinct from the typical one-dimensional strengths test. These three dimensions are then used to identify where your strengths lie across the four categories of realised strengths, unrealised strengths, learned behaviours and weaknesses."

"The Strengths Book" written by the developer Linley includes a description of all 60 strengths and explains the theory behind it, which is quite simple but potent. I have this book if you would like to check it out. The official website is http://www.cappeu.com/Realise2.aspx

Also take a look at the Realise2 "4m Model" which will give some better explanation http://www.cappeu.com/Realise2/TheRealise24MModel.aspx

MBTI I will leave this one out for now, since it is perhaps a bit more involved and I think you are already knowledgable of the concepts

Compassionate Heart

Current research in science shows how powerful kindness and compassion are. Obviously the actions of kindness are beneficial, that’s always been known – we have always been able to see clearly how acts of generosity benefit the lives of those we help. For example, if you help a senior citizen neighbor carry the groceries, you can readily observe how it eases the burden on her back and disposition. Or, if a traveler is lost, providing directions to help find the way to a loved one’s home, for example, a smile spreads across her face and you can see how she is immediately relieved of her anxiety. But what science also now shows is that even simply thinking about or envisioning kindness is extremely powerful to well-being, which can also bring benefits to those around us, because we know intuitively that our moods, feeling, and mind states are contagious and can shift the consciousness of any group of people we are with. So, when you are less stressed and feel happy, you tend to convey fewer tense or stressed feelings to those around you.

A growing body of scientific evidence shows that simply meditating on thoughts of kindness and compassion is beneficial to both physical and mental health. Research performed at University of Wisconsin by a team led by Richard Davidson, and research led by Barbara Frederickson at University of North Carolina, as well as research at Duke University show that cultivating thoughts of kindness can help to reduce anxiety, negative emotions and moods, minimize physical pain, lessen anger and psychological stress, and at the same time increases feelings of hopefulness and optimism.

This author is not saying that actions of kindness aren’t extremely important, because of course they are. But the point is that action with spirit and thoughtfulness can even go to a deeper and more profound level, penetrating to the level of the human spirit. When we offer an act of kindness it is truly the spirit with which we perform it that makes it profound. If you give a very generous tip to a waiter at dinner yet snarl, moan, and berate them the whole time they have served you, surely they appreciate the extra pocket change but are probably thinking to themselves (in a cynical, sarcastic manner), “Hey, I can do without the tip, I think I’ll survive this week without your generous help.” But if you do it with a smile and warm heart, they’ll very likely accept it with gratitude and excitement.

So, the message here is not, “Don’t give.” By all means do give --Yes, give! But when you give, give with all your heart, soul, and mind. Also, even when you aren’t giving, you can actually do stuff to help make your heart more pure, so that giving has more meaning. When you’re not able to give in a physical way, you can think about giving, you can meditate on kindness, and contemplate compassion --your heart will change for the better, and others will surely feel it. Doing this, you are cultivating positive emotions and well-being in your own life, which also spreads to those all around you.

What is Mindful Communication?
Mindful or compassionate communication is a way of learning to connect with others from a heart level. It is about being present in the moment and listening with one's whole being. Although compassionate communication is truly an organic (and historically timeless) process, it is highly influenced by recent work of Dr. Marshall Rosenberg and his method of Nonviolent Communication (NVC).