1. Wisdom – Curiosity, love of learning, judgment, ingenuity, emotional intelligence and perspective
2. Courage – Valour, perseverance and integrity
3. Humanity – Kindness and loving
4. Justice – Citizenship, fairness and leadership
5. Temperance – Self-control, prudence and humility
6. Transcendence (which refers to the virtue of escaping the self and its general pettiness) – Appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, spirituality, forgiveness, humour and zest.
Well, how do you score? Lists like these can be turn-offs in various ways, from “not another survey” to “whose agenda are they peddling now?”
A less worthy form of turn-off, as I experienced on reading the above list, is “I mistrust their methodology and so the list can’t be any good”. In other words, I’d rather not look at myself too closely in case I don’t measure up!
Beyond that fear, however, a bit of reality creeps in.
First, I would like to think that I can do most of these virtues some of the time, although who wouldn’t say this about themselves? I’m reminded of the putdown of Zaphod Beeblebrox in Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series: “He was clearly a man of many qualities, even if most of them were bad ones”.
Second, in the two main areas of my life, home and my work, several virtues are my lodestars for action. Love of learning; emotional intelligence, and forgiveness are those I particularly seek to develop. I learn much about forgiveness from my children; my best parenting comes from rising above my hurt and fear to be open to new possibilities.
And in work, a love of learning urges me to discover myself through my contact with clients and their organisations. I am fortunate that at present, ‘the project of the self’ – namely, self-development – is possible through my work. Long may I strive for this to continue.
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