Starting Monday, and lasting for two weeks, Partner Schools nationwide are learning about perspective. This strength comes on the heels of open-mindedness. The back-to-back nature of these strengths is by design, as open-mindedness and perspective are closely related — and comprise the foundation of empathy.
Open-mindedness comes from challenging your preconceived notions. Perspective comes from truly listening to others when they talk and working to understand new points of view when reading books, listening to stories, or watching movies.
So what is perspective and why does it matter? Perspective is closely associated with wisdom — and distinct from intelligence. People with this strength are sought out for advice because they understand multiple points of view. They can more aptly see the big picture and can make sense of the world’s complexity. Perspective, therefore, gives individuals the capacity to achieve clarity and the ability to see to the heart of difficult matters.
On a group level, perspective helps couples, teams, communities, and societies act wisely and correctly. Individuals with the strength of perspective help their group navigate difficult or uncertain circumstances because they’re poised and can identify opportunities for success.
And, as a reminder, you can find all of our weekly slide presentations on our website’s Resources page. Enjoy the slides — and please be sure to let us know how it’s going by posting to Twitter and using the #PositivityInAction hashtag!