Copyright © 2016 Shannon Polly & Associates; All rights reserved

Character Strengths Are Critical to 

Successful Conflict Management in the 

Workplace

March 8, 2016

Shannon Polly, MAPP, ACC
Agenda

 Recap on positive psychology

 Research on strengths

 What are character strengths?

 Character Strengths Matter

Copyright © 2016 Shannon Polly & Associates; All rights reserved
BLUF

 Identify Strengths in Self and Others helps to build 

Strengths of Character.

 Knowing and using your strengths and the strengths of 

others will strengthen your effectiveness.

Copyright © 2016 Shannon Polly & Associates; All rights reserved
Copyright © 2016 Shannon Polly & Associates; All rights reserved

What is Positive 

Psychology?

Positive Psychology is the scientific study of 

psychological well-being and 

human flourishing
Where is this being applied 

today?

 United States Army 

 The Gallup Organization 

 PwC

 Geelong Grammar School 

 DC Courts

Copyright © 2016 Shannon Polly & Associates; All rights reserved
Sigmund Freud

Figure out what is 

wrong.

Fix what is wrong.

Martin E.P. Seligman

What is right with us?= 

What makes us strong?

Prevent.

Copyright © 2016 Shannon Polly & Associates; All rights reserved
Causal Relationship

HAPPINESS

SUCCESS

Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005

Copyright © 2016 Shannon Polly & Associates; All rights reserved
Happier People...

 Improved self-confidence and leadership, warmth, 

sociability, more friends and higher supervisor ratings 

 Higher incomes

Copyright © 2016 Shannon Polly & Associates; All rights reserved
Well-Being Matters

 Higher income

 More friends

 Longer marriages

 Less colds (and illness)

 Less cardiovascular illness

Lyubomirsky, S; King, L and Diener, E. (2005, Fisher, 2000)

Copyright © 2016 Shannon Polly & Associates; All rights reserved
Is it possible to change your level of happiness 

and well-being?

Lyubomirsky, Sheldon & Schkade, 2005
Two Flawed Assumptions

 Each person’s greatest room for growth is in 

his or her areas of greatest weakness 

 Each person can learn to be good at almost 

anything

When in reality...

 Each person’s greatest room for growth is in 

the areas of his or her greatest strength

 Each person’s talents are enduring and 

unique
Interesting Statistic...

People who have the opportunity to 

focus on their strengths every day are 

6x as likely to be engaged in their jobs 

and more than 3x as likely to report 

having an excellent quality of life in 

general.
Teams that report using their 

strengths every day...

 Higher – well-being

 Lower – turnover

 Higher – Productivity

 Higher – Engagement

 Higher – Customer Service
What is a Strength?

A strength is a pre-existing capacity for a particular 

way of behaving, thinking or feeling that is authentic 

and energizing to the user, and enables optimal 

functioning, development and performance.

Alex Linley

CAPP (Centre for Applied Positive Psychology)
What’s in it for you?

 Some recent research...

 People who used their strengths in new ways for one 

week, were happier up to 6 months later

 managers who emphasize strengths see performance 

improve by 36.4%

 a focus on weaknesses can produce a drop in performance 

of 26.8%

 employees who work in their strengths are more likely to 

achieve their goals

 a strengths-based approach leads to lower levels of stress 

and higher levels of well-being

Source: Harter, Schmidt and Keyes (2002)
We can choose what we focus 

on...
Character Strengths Matter: 

How to Live a Full Life
Character Strengths

Based on work by Chris Peterson 

and Martin Seligman

 What is right with you? 

 Who are you at your best?

 How are you already using your Signature Strengths (the 

strengths that best describe you)?

 How can you use your Signature Strengths to achieve 

optimal performance?

 How can you strengthen your team/negotiations through 

your focus on strengths? 
All strengths are good...

 But we can’t have them all!

 All of us have top strengths and bottom strengths.

 Your top strengths are called your Signature Strengths.
Signature Strengths

 One believes that he/she is being “true to oneself” when 

using the strength.

 One feels that he/she can’t help but use the strength 

(when the opportunity to do so arises).

 When using the strength, one feels energized rather than 

exhausted.

 The motivation to use the strength comes from within the 

person. (No one else has to remind or persuade him/her 

to use it.)
VIA Strengths: the Really Big 24

Peterson & Seligman (2004)

www.viame.org

1. Wisdom 

 curiosity

 love of learning

 judgment/critical thinking

 creativity

 perspective

2. Courage

 bravery

 perseverance

 honesty

 zest/enthusiasm

3. Humanity

 love and be loved

 kindness

 social intelligence

4. Justice

 citizenship/ teamwork

 fairness

 leadership

5. Temperance

 forgiveness/mercy

 modesty/humility

 self-control/self-regulation

 prudence/caution

6. Transcendence

 appreciation of beauty & excellence

 gratitude

 hope/optimism

 humor

 spirituality
Distribution of Character 

Strengths among U.S. Adults

Park, Peterson, & Seligman, 2006
Name the Signature Strength...

 Name one or more of the Signature Strengths of the 

individuals presented.

 Refer to your handout for a list of strengths.
Eddie Murphy
Ben Franklin
Peyton Manning
Rosie the Riveter
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Mother Theresa
Jane Goodall
ADR
Identify Strengths in Self and 

Others: Key Principles

 Know your strengths: Knowing your strengths is as 

important as knowing your weaknesses.

 Can’t have them all: No one can have all the strengths.

 Shadow side: Each strength has a shadow side that 

can get you in trouble or limit you.
You at Your Best

 Tell her about a time at work when you were at your 

best, when you were truly flourishing

 Share what strengths you were using

 Partner/audience will then tell you what additional 

strengths they heard
Debrief

 What did you notice?

 Did others add strengths you didn’t realize?

 How could you use this in your work?
Activity – Identifying Your 

Strengths

 Write down your ‘At my best’ story

 What strengths were you using?

 Where might your shadow side come into play?

 Timing: 5 minutes

 Then – write down some of the strengths in the chat 

panel or raise your hand to share
HYPOTHETICAL

You are serving as a mediator for an institutional client. 

Prior to the mediation, a party says the following to you in 

private:

• I do not want this mediation to blow up into a shouting 

match.

• I am worried that there will be a great deal of emotion.

• We seem to agree on 4 of the issues but the last 2 are 

very tense and I do not know if we will be able to resolve 

this today.

How can you use your strengths in this situation?
Strengths Survey Discussion:

Debrief

 What did you learn through this activity?

 What are examples of how you use your top strengths?

 What strengths have you developed through your work 

in ADR?

 What are examples of the shadow side of your 

strengths? What can you do to minimize the shadow 

side?
Identify Strengths:

Applications

 How can your knowledge of Character Strengths help 

you to be a more effective team member and to build 

stronger relationships?

 What strengths do you need to develop and/or shadow 

sides do you need to manage?

 How can you help cultivate a willingness to ask for help 

(in yourself or a buddy/family member) by using a 

strengths perspective?

 How do you use strengths to rejuvenate?
Research on Character Strengths

 Shows that using your strengths (especially 

your top ‘signature’ strengths) in new ways 

leads to greater happiness for up to 6 months
The Book –

ACT 1: Awareness

 What are VIA Strengths?

 What are your VIA Strengths? 

 Go to http://viame.org

 Why are they important?

 Well-being 
ACT 2: Explore 

 Stories and reflections

 Ways to build 

 Read aloud passages to act “as if”

Part 1 of Character Strengths Matter
Ways to Build the Strengths

Forgiveness

More ideas? 

http://bit.ly/BuildCharStrengths
ACT 3: Take Action

 At home 

 At work 

 At school

 On vacation

 With small children

 With colleagues

 With family members

 With troubled youth

 With clients

Part 2 of Character Strengths Matter

Apply ideas 
Acting ‘As If’

 What is it?

 How to do it?

 Exercise: Listen to the following passage

 What strength do you hear? 

 What emotions do you feel?

 Timing: 5 minutes
Acting ‘As If’ Exercise

 Find a partner

 Both of you read the handout

SILENTLY

 One of you read one passage 

ALOUD to your partner

 Both of you share your reactions 

 Switch to read second passage 

ALOUD to partner

 Timing: 5 minutes
QUESTIONS?
Action Plan

 What is your top insight from the talk today?

And

 What is the one thing that you will try when back at 

work?
Other People Matter
RESOURCES

Websites

The Values in Action (VIA) Institute website

CAPPEU website

Strengthsfinder

Positive Psychology Program blog

Books

Peterson, Christopher. A Primer in Positive Psychology. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Polly, S & Britton, K., eds. Character Strengths Matter: How to Live a Full Life. Delaware: Positive 

Psychology News, 2015.

Seligman, Martin E. P. & Peterson, C. Character Strengths and VIrtues. New York: APA & Oxford Press, 

2004.
Thank you!

 Shannon Polly, MAPP, ACC

 www.shannonpolly.com

 info@shannonpolly.com

 @shannonpolly (Twitter)

 @positivebizdc (Twitter)