Strengths as Strategy: Using Character Strengths in Leadership and the Classroom

Leadership in early childhood education is often described in terms of skills and competencies. While those matter, research from positive psychology suggests something equally important: how leaders and educators recognize and use character strengths.

Character strengths are universal human capacities such as curiosity, kindness, perseverance, creativity, and self-regulation. The VIA Classification of Character Strengths, developed through decades of research and shared by the VIA Institute on Character, provides a common language for understanding what is best in people (viacharacter.org).

In leadership, applying a strengths lens changes how adults show up at work. Leaders who know and intentionally use their own strengths are more likely to build trust, navigate stress, and foster engagement. Strengths-based leadership also shifts supervision conversations away from deficits and toward growth, contribution, and potential.

The impact extends into classrooms. Research on character strengths in early childhood shows that teachers naturally observe strengths such as curiosity, love of learning, creativity, and kindness in young children, even when they do not yet have formal language for them. When educators intentionally name and nurture these strengths, children develop greater self-awareness, emotional regulation, and resilience.

This creates a powerful alignment. Leaders who model strengths-based practices create environments where educators feel seen and valued. Educators, in turn, create classrooms where children’s emerging strengths are recognized and supported. Families experience programs that honor who their children are, not just what they can do.

Character strengths are not an add-on. They are a strategy for leadership, learning, and belonging across early childhood systems.

A strengths-based question: What strengths do you see most often in yourself, your colleagues, and the children you serve?