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Selecting Officers Based Upon Character
Strengths: Applications for Leadership
Development
Prof Dr Ole BOE
1
Center for Security, Crisis Management and Emergency Preparedness,
University of South-Eastern Norway
Abstract. This chapter discusses how character strengths can be a relevant tool for
selection of military officers, prediction of entrance into a military academy, lead-
ership education, and prediction of military performance. Twelve character
strengths have been found to be important for Norwegian officers, and an observa-
tional instrument that can be used to measure character strengths in field exercises
has been developed and tested. The chapter also discusses the development of self-
proficiency, social proficiency, and subject matter proficiency, and which character
strengths to develop under each of these three proficiencies.
Keywords. Character strengths, armed forces, leadership development, virtues
1. Introduction
War is for participants a test of character. It makes bad men worse and good men better
(Chamberlain, 1915, p. 295)
Changes, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity characterize many modern military op-
erational environments. These types of situations are also referred to as VUCA, as an
acronym used to describe the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity of dif-
ferent conditions and situations (Stiehm, 2002). An additional challenge is “asymmetric”
warfare, that is, a type of conflict characterized by terrorism, guerrilla warfare, and ide-
ological manipulation (Matthews, 2014). This forces the military leader to constantly
rethink his or her role, as well as their norms and values in the chosen military profession
(Snider & Matthews, 2012).
“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you
with their ingenuity” (Patton, n.d.). This quote from General George Patton goes straight
to the heart of the Norwegian Armed Forces (NAF) leadership philosophy: mission com-
mand (Forsvarsstaben, 2014). The military leader must be able to express his or her in-
tention clearly and make sure that the personnel have perceived as precisely as possible
what to do and for what reason.
The document outlining the Chief of Defense’s basic view on leadership in the NAF
emphasizes that good leadership is based on mutual respect and trust between leaders
1
Corresponding Author, Ole Boe, USN School of Business, Department of Business, Strategy and Political
Sciences, University of South-Eastern Norway. E-mail: ole.boe@usn.no.
Disaster, Diversity and Emergency Preparation
L.I. Magnussen (Ed.)
© 2019 The authors and IOS Press.
This article is published online with Open Access by IOS Press and distributed under the terms
of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0).
doi:10.3233/NHSDP190031
109
and followers (Forsvarsstaben, 2012) and that leadership is based on relationships. The
NAF is also a value-based organization that must make sure that its mandate towards
society is professionally sound, both nationally and internationally. The basic values of
the NAF are respect, responsibility, and courage (known collectively as RAM in Norwe-
gian). These values are expected to accompany the officer’s decisions and actions (For-
svaret, 2016). The requirements of the military leader can further be summarized in the
words be–know–act, as described in Norwegian Armed Forces Joint Operational Doc-
trine. The officer is expected to have incorporated the military profession as part of
his/her personality, and to have knowledge and understanding of relevant interpersonal
and professional areas that provide action. Action here means to see opportunities, take
initiative, and inspire and provide care for the personnel (Forsvarsstaben, 2007).
In addition, companionship, loyalty, and self-sacrifice are emphasized because
the profession is exercised within a collective framework (Forsvarsstaben, 2014). Ro-
bustness, flexibility, trust, credibility, and authenticity are qualities sought by the of-
ficer. This signals the organization’s need to influence its employees with normative ori-
entations, called the divisional spirit. Closely linked to the divisional spirit is the concept
of character, which is a characteristic that can be found in each single individual. So
where do we educate personnel in the NAF to incorporate these values and character
strengths?
2. The Norwegian Armed Forces and the Norwegian Military Academy
The NAF consisted of 16,376 officers and civilian employees in 2014 (NSD, 2018). In
2017 the total number of employees (men and women) in NAF was 15,874. Table 1 gives
an overview of the number of employees in the NAF in 2017 as well as the number of
conscripts and also personnel in the Norwegian Home Guard.
Looking at Table 1, the total number in the NAF is quite small. In addition, most of
the personnel in the Norwegian Home Guard are former conscript soldiers who serve for
a few days every year, and they can be mobilized in case of need. The total number of
mobilizable personnel—military, civilian, conscripts, and Norwegian Home Guard—is
approximately 61,000, which is considerably fewer than the 300,000 who could be mo-
bilized during the Cold War2 (Bonafede, 2014).
Table 1. Number of employees in the NAF in 2017 and conscripts as well as personnel in the Norwegian Home
Guard.
Men % Women % Men and women
Military
1
10,255 88 1,341 12 11,596
Civilian
1
2,859 67 1,419 33 4,278
Conscripts
1
5,658 77 1,729 23 7,387
N
umber in the Norwegian Home Guard
2
37,823
Total number in the NAF 61,084
1
Forsvaret, 2018a,
2
Forsvaret, 2018b.
2
The Cold War describes the state of tension that arose between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, later between
East and West, after WWII (Gaddis, 2007).
O. Boe /Selecting Officers Based Upon Character Strengths110
A relatively small number of current NAF employees receive their officer education
from one of three military academies. Naval officers are educated at the Naval Academy,
air force officers at the Air Force Academy, and Army officers at the Norwegian Military
Academy (NMA). All regular officer education is based on a three-year education lead-
ing to a bachelor’s degree and takes place at one of these three academies.
Since 1750, the NMA has provided education to officers (Hosar, 2000). It is the
oldest educational institution in Norway and is commonly known to provide the best
leader education in Norway (Forsvaret, 2018c). The NMA currently provides a three
year bachelor’s program in military studies and leadership for the Norwegian Army. This
education is offered along two separate lines: operational studies (KSO in Norwegian)
or engineering studies (KSING in Norwegian).
3. Leadership Development at the NMA
Leadership training and leadership development has been a key component throughout
the NMA’s history (Hosar, 2000). The NMA has in recent years had a program for lead-
ership development (Andersson et al., 2009; Jensen, 2013). It has been shown that this
leadership development program required a revision, partly because of experiences from
encounters with the unexpected and unforeseen in Afghanistan in recent years. Previous
studies have also shown that officers educated at NMA will face challenging and unfore-
seen situations after graduating from NMA (Heen, 2006: Heen & Wathne, 2006). This
is not unique for the officers from the NMA, as this is likely to happen for officers in
other national and international military academies after graduation. Facing these un-
foreseen situations will require sound leadership skills. Cadets need to have adequate
academic, social, and personal foundations to exercise leadership in such situations.
Based upon this, an effort to develop a new leadership development concept for the NMA
started in 2012. The basis for the new concept is the Norwegian Chief of Defence’s view
on the leadership of the Norwegian Armed Forces (Forsvarsstaben, 2012), which like the
Norwegian Armed Forces Joint Operational Doctrine (Forsvarets Stabsskole, 2007) pos-
its mission-based leadership as the basic leadership philosophy. These two governing
documents provide clear guidelines for how to conduct leadership development at the
NMA. The NMA’s new concept for leadership development was introduced at the NMA
together with the new educational plan for operational training during the summer of
2012. A difference between the new concept of leadership development and the old lead-
ership development program is that the new concept has a more holistic approach, re-
garding both leadership development as a concept and in its practical application in ed-
ucational settings (Lilleng, 2014). The new leadership development concept is referred
to as “Officer development: NMA’s concept for leadership development” and is cur-
rently documented at NMA in terms of an overall concept description for use by staff
and cadets (Boe, Eldal, Hjortmo, Jensen, Holth, Kjørstad & Nilsen, 2015; Boe, Eldal,
Hjortmo, Lilleng, & Kjørstad, 2014) and in several scientific articles (Boe, 2015a:
2015b; Boe & Hjortmo, 2017).
4. NMA’s Concept of Officer Development
Officer development, the NMA’s concept of leadership development for cadets being
educated at the NMA, is consequently the NMA’s comprehensive formation process of
O. Boe /Selecting Officers Based Upon Character Strengths 111
developing leaders for the Norwegian Army, and is a central theme in all NMA activity
(Boe, 2015a; Boe et al., 2015; Boe & Hjortmo, 2017). The description in this chapter is
intended to provide a common basic understanding of the conceptual thoughts that un-
derlie the officer development processes that take place throughout the three-year bach-
elor’s program at the NMA.
The starting point for officer development is based upon the definitions of leadership
and leadership development described in the Center for Creative Leadership Handbook
of Leadership Development (McCauley, Van Velsor, & Ruderman, 2010). Leadership is
here defined as the process of producing direction, alignment, and commitment in col-
lectives, and leadership development as expanding a person’s capacity to be effective in
leadership roles and processes. Leadership thus revolves around the development of
competencies to lead processes by virtue of being in leader roles, both formal and infor-
mal.
An officer resolves the vast majority of his or her assignments as part of a collective,
in relation to others and in a professional community. It is therefore central to military
leadership to establish direction, create obligations, and facilitate interaction in the mili-
tary unit they belong to. This is done in accordance with the profession’s values. Officer
development is therefore the process of developing each cadet’s professional identity
and his or her capacity to be effective in leadership roles and management processes
within the military profession (Boe, 2015b). Specifically, the development of officers at
the NMA has as its main goal to develop officer competency, particularly in the three
key roles that the NMA has stated that an officer must master: platoon leader, education
planner, and asset manager. All three roles reflect the military profession, but it is the
platoon leader role that most resembles the profession’s core: military operations. Ac-
cording to Matthews (2014), successful military personnel must be of high character, fair
and honest in dealing with each other, physically and morally courageous, and loyal to
their country and their units.
5. Defining Character Strengths
Embedded within the relatively new positive psychology paradigm, one will find a lot of
research on different character strengths. In 2004, a character strength classification sys-
tem was developed. The result was the book Character Strengths and Virtues, classifying
24 character strengths sorted under six virtues (Peterson & Seligman, 2004): wisdom and
knowledge, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. The six virtues
each have a corresponding set of character strengths, which serve as psychological in-
gredients or pathways to these virtues. In addition, each strength needs to meet most of
the following 10 criteria: “fulfilling, morally valued, does not diminish others, has non-
felicitous opposites, trait-like, distinctive from other strengths, have paragons who ex-
emplify it, has prodigies, selective absence of it in some situations, and has institu-
tions/rituals to celebrate or express it” (Niemiec, 2013, p. 12). Under each virtue, there
are thus several character strengths that relate to the specific virtue. For instance, courage
entails emotional strengths that involve the exercise of will to accomplish goals in the
face of opposition, external or internal. Included in this virtue are the character strengths
bravery (valour), persistence (perseverance, industriousness), integrity (authenticity,
honesty) and vitality (zest, enthusiasm, vigor, energy). Courage is a fundamental aspect
for every military officer when it comes to leading others in dangerous contexts (Mat-
thews, 2014). Elements of courage have been said to include self-volition, a worthy goal,
O. Boe /Selecting Officers Based Upon Character Strengths112
and a significant personal risk (Lester & Pury, 2011). A lot of research into Peterson and
Seligman’s character strength classification system has been conducted over the past
10 years (see Niemiec, 2013, for an overview of the research up to 2013). Table 2 gives
an overview of the six virtues and the corresponding 24 character strengths.
According to Peterson and Seligman (2004), these six virtues and 24 character
strengths are recognized and valued all across the world.
Considering the fact that the military is the most powerful tool a state or nation can
have, one wants people serving in the military to be good people. A military leader will
probably encounter VUCA situations with unknown content and several unforeseen as-
pects. The unforeseen can be defined as “something that occurs relatively unexpected
and relatively low probability or predictability for those who experience and must deal
Table 2. Overview of the classification of virtues and character strengths, based on Niemiec (2013) and Peter-
son and Seligman (2004).
1. Wisdom and knowledge: cognitive strengths that entail the acquisition and use of knowledge
Creativity (originality, adaptivity, ingenuity)
Curiosity (interest, novelty-seeking, exploration, openness to experience)
Open-mindedness (judgment, critical thinking, thinking things through)
L
ove of learning (mastering new skills and topics, systematically adding to knowledge)
P
erspective (wisdom, providing wise counsel, taking the big-picture view)
2. Courage: emotional strengths that involve the exercise of will to accomplish goals in the face of oppo-
sition, external or internal
B
raver
y
(valour, not shrinking from fear, speaking up for what’s right)
P
ersistence (perseverance, industriousness, finishing what one starts)
I
ntegrit
y
(authenticity, honesty, speaking the truth, presenting oneself and acting in a genuine and sincere way)
Vitality (zest, enthusiasm, vigour, energy, feeling alive and activated)
3. Humanity: interpersonal strengths that involve tending and befriending others
L
ove (valuing close relations with others, both loving and being loved, being close to people)
K
indness (generosity, nurturance, care, compassion, altruistic love, niceness, helping others)
Social intelligence (emotional intelligence, being aware of the motives/feelings of self/others)
4. Justice: civic strengths that underlie healthy community life
Teamwork (citizenship, social responsibility, loyalty, doing one’s share, working well as a team member)
F
airness (just, treating all people the same according to notions of fairness and justice, not letting feelings bias
decisions about others)
L
eadership (organizing group activities, encouraging a group to get things done and at the same time maintain
good relations within the group)
5. Temperance: strengths that protect against excess
F
orgiveness and mercy (accepting others’ shortcomings, giving people a second chance, not being vengeful)
H
umility/modest
y
(letting one’s accomplishments speak for themselves, not regarding oneself as more special
than one is)
P
rudence (careful, cautious, not taking undue risks, not saying or doing things that might later be regretted)
Self-regulation (self-control; discipline; controlling one’s appetites, impulses, and emotions)
6. Transcendence: strengths that forge connections to the larger universe and provide meaning
A
ppreciation of beauty and excellence (awe, wonder, elevation, noticing and appreciating beauty, excellence
and/or skilled performance in various domains of life)
Gratitude (being aware and thankful for the good things that happen, feeling blessed)
H
ope (optimism, future-mindedness, future orientation, believing a good future is something that can be
brought about)
H
umour (playfulness, liking to laugh and tease, bringing smiles to others, light-heartedness)
Spirituality (religiousness, faith, having coherent beliefs about the higher purpose and meaning of the universe)
O. Boe /Selecting Officers Based Upon Character Strengths 113
with it” (Kvernbekk, Torgersen, & Moe, 2015, p. 30, authors’ translation). Based on this
definition, we can derive the question: Which character strengths would be the most
suitable for those who experience and must deal with these types of unforeseen and
VUCA situations? Not all the character strengths revealed in Table 1 are of equal im-
portance for military officers. For instance, West Point candidates at the U.S. Military
Academy score higher than civilians do on character strengths such as bravery, integrity,
leadership, teamwork, self-regulation, and persistence (Matthews, Eid, Kelly, Bailey, &
Peterson, 2006). The same character strengths have also been found to be a common trait
in famous and successful Norwegian officers in the period from 1940–2012 (Boe, Kjør-
stad, & Werner Hagen, 2012). It is further possible to trace several of these character
strengths through for instance the NMA’s motto “Si vis pacem, para bellum” (If you
want peace, prepare for war) (Forsvaret, 2017), or through the National Defense Acad-
emy of Japan’s motto, which consists of the three values “Honor, Courage, Propriety”
(National Defense Academy, 2018).
6. Which Character Strengths Are the Important Ones for Officers at the NMA?
A series of studies conducted within the framework of the NMA’s research project on
character may shed some light on which character strengths are considered important for
officers. A common theme in these studies has been to give the participants a list of the
24 character strengths as described by Peterson and Seligman (2004), and to ask the
participants to indicate on a 5-point scale how important each character strength is for
military officers. This list is referred to as the Character Strengths Questionnaire (CSQ)
(Bang, 2014; Boe & Bang, 2017; Boe, Bang, & Nilsen, 2015a; 2015b; 2015c). Below a
short overview of the conducted studies and the research findings from the research pro-
ject at NMA will be given.
A common finding in studies using the CSQ is that the same 12 character strengths
emerge as the most important for military officers at the NMA (Boe & Bang, 2017).
These can be seen in Table 3, categorized under the five virtues to which they belong.
As can be seen from Table 2, none of the character strengths from the virtue tran-
scendence, that is, appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, humour, and
spirituality, were important for the officers at the NMA. The chosen 12 character
strengths were later named “The Big 12” (Boe & Bang, 2017).
7. The Link Between the NMA’s Concept of Officer Development and Character
Strengths: The Officer Competency Model
A person can express his or her values through one’s character. This has been shown to
play an important role in aspects such as leadership, adaptability, and achievement
Table 3. Overview of selected character strengths categorized according to virtues.
Courage Wisdom and Knowledge Justice Temperance Humanity
Bravery Open-mindedness Teamwork Self-regulation Social intelligence
Persistence Creativity Leadership
Integrity/honesty Love of learning Fairness
Perspective
O. Boe /Selecting Officers Based Upon Character Strengths114
(Gayton & Kehoe, 2015a; Matthews, Eid, Kelly, Bailey, & Peterson, 2006; Picano &
Roland, 2012). But within which types of areas is it possible to see this expression of
character and character strengths in military officers? And how is this connected to of-
ficer development? An important note here is that one’s character strengths, or possible
lack of them, come out in difficult and challenging situations and under unforeseen con-
ditions. It is in these types of VUCA situations that one’s true nature comes forward.
Looking at combat situations, Park (2005) investigated the content analysis of the narra-
tives accompanying U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor recipients. Park found that
100% of the recipients were brave, and their next highest character strengths were self-
regulation, persistence, leadership, and teamwork. Matthews (2011) surveyed U.S. Army
captains who had just returned from combat rotations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was
interested in which character strengths these officers had used effectively in combat. In
descending order from the most used character strengths, they were teamwork, bravery,
love, persistence, and integrity. When life is on the line, either one’s own life or one’s
fellow soldiers’ lives, or that one will have to take lives, these character strengths seemed
to matter most. In contrast, the least used character strengths in combat were prudence,
spirituality, curiosity, creativity, and appreciation of beauty and excellence.
The positive side of character strengths is that they can be developed through in-
creased vigilance and effort, and character strengths is a phenomenon that exists along
with objectives, interests, and values (Biswas-Diener, Kashdan, & Minhas, 2011).
In 2014, the NMA launched a research and development project to examine the na-
ture of character, what specific character strengths are particularly crucial for military
officers to develop, and if and how such character strengths can be developed in cadets
at the NMA (Boe, 2014). An important aim of this research and development project was
to investigate to what degree character strengths can be used for selection of military
officers. Research conducted through this project (“Character in military officers”, Boe,
2014) has shown that officers should have sufficient self-proficiency, social proficiency,
and subject matter proficiency so that they can exercise leadership in challenging, diffi-
cult, and unforeseen situations (Boe 2015a, 2015b, 2015c, 2013). These three proficien-
cies are thought to lead to the incorporation of officer competency and are shown in
Fig. 1 (elements written in Norwegian). Officer competency also has to be in accordance
with the existing norms and values in Norwegian society (Forsvarsstaben, 2007). Officer
competency is also linked to certain character strengths that are deemed necessary for
military officers (Boe, 2016). The NMA has designed an officer competency model in-
corporating the four areas of expertise (Boe, 2014; Boe et al., 2015), also shown in Fig. 1
(elements in Norwegian).
The officer competency model is shaped like a pyramid with a triangular base and
three side surfaces that meet at a common vertex. The NMA has chosen to define the
pyramid’s foundation and side surfaces as constituting the fundamental areas of exper-
tise: self-proficiency (selvkompetanse in Norwegian), social proficiency (sosialkompet-
anse in Norwegian), and subject matter proficiency (fagkompetanse in Norwegian). The
model’s top element, officer competency (offisersompetanse in Norwegian), constitutes
competence of particular importance for practitioners of the military profession. The
model’s foundation is in principle constructed of three independent pyramids that repre-
sent social proficiency, subject matter proficiency, and self-proficiency. The integrated
composition visualizes the mutual interaction of the proficiency areas and how they con-
tribute to and underpin the pyramid’s top element. The three independent pyramids lead
to an enhanced relational competence (relasjonskompetanse in Norwegian). Officer
competency is understood as an “extended function” of all areas of proficiency. The
O. Boe /Selecting Officers Based Upon Character Strengths 115
NMA adds officer competency through developing all areas of proficiency, either by
developing each proficiency by itself or by developing the proficiencies in synergy with
each other. It is in this synergy and in the seamless interface between the proficiencies
that the NMA aims to facilitate interdisciplinary and excellent arenas for officer devel-
opment. Officer competency thus deals with the actions an officer takes in order to carry
out and solve a given mission. This element is the ability that the officer has to transform
self-proficiency, social proficiency, and subject matter proficiency into actions that will
obtain the defined objectives and solve a mission (Boe, 2015a). The NMA has thus de-
fined the need for officer development in three areas of proficiency and one area of com-
petency, and the 12 important character strengths can be found in these different areas
of the competency pyramid. The character strength of fairness can be found in all three
areas of proficiency, as it is relevant for all three areas. The three areas of proficiency
and the area of competency are described below, together with the relevant character
strengths that the NMA wants to develop in its officers.
Self-proficiency maintains the individual dimension that consists of personality, per-
sonal skills, and character strengths that enable self-management. This is accomplished
by teaching individuals how to manage and regulate their thoughts, feelings, and actions,
in other words how they manage themselves and develop their personal capacity. From
the virtue of courage, the development of the character strengths of integrity, persistence,
Figure 1. Officer competency model.
O. Boe / Selecting Officers Based Upon Character Strengths116
and bravery are important. This virtue may possibly be said to be the most important
virtue for military officers. Officers also need to feel what is right, and fairness as a
character strength from the virtue of justice becomes important to develop. From the
virtue of temperance, the character strength self-regulation is also important to develop.
In sum, the character strengths integrity, persistence, bravery, fairness, and self-regula-
tion are important for officers to develop within the self-proficiency area.
Social proficiency maintains the interaction dimension that enables effective collab-
oration with others during missions. To lead others, an officer must be aware of how
individuals interact in social contexts. Officers must be able to handle others in a fair
way, and the development of the character strength fairness from the virtue justice is
important for this. Officers must also be able to lead others. The character strength lead-
ership from the virtue justice is thus important to develop. The character strength social
intelligence from the virtue humanity is also important to develop for officers, as is the
character strength teamwork from the virtue justice. Summing up, the important charac-
ter strengths to develop for officers within the social proficiency area are fairness, lead-
ership, social intelligence, and teamwork.
Subject matter proficiency maintains the academic dimension, consisting of the dis-
ciplinary knowledge and skills that form the basis of the deliberations and decisions that
one takes, which in turn enables one to lead the work in the unit. Subject matter profi-
ciency also includes critical thinking ability. Officers need to know what is right, and
here the development of the character strength fairness from the virtue justice will be
important. In addition, all the four character strengths open-mindedness, creativity, love
of learning, and perspective from the virtue wisdom and knowledge are important for
officers to develop within the subject matter proficiency area. Thus within subject matter
proficiency the five important character strengths to develop for officers are fairness,
open-mindedness, creativity, love of learning, and perspective.
Officer competency maintains the professional dimension and enables effective
leadership in a military context. Solving missions requires that the officer can translate
his or her competency into practical action. To choose the correct action the officer must
first and foremost understand the context in which the action is going to happen, and
then understand the effects that will result from the chosen action. Officer competency
is then the result of the development of all the character strengths within all areas of
proficiency.
8. Character Strengths in the Norwegian Army Special Forces
In a study of the Norwegian Army Special Forces, the CSQ was again used, resulting in
15 character strengths being identified as important. The same 12 character strengths
were found to be the most important for military officers as in the previously mentioned
studies at the NMA. However, in addition to these 12, the character strengths of curiosity,
humility/modesty, and forgiveness and mercy were also considered as important (Boe,
Nilsen, Kristiansen, Krogdahl, & Bang, 2016). An explanation for this finding might be
that being selected for and serving in a military special unit is more demanding and com-
plex, and thus requires a wider range of character strengths than previously identified in
the studies at the NMA. A second possible explanation is that the Norwegian Army Spe-
cial Forces military officers tend to be older and probably also more mature than the
military officers at the NMA.
O. Boe /Selecting Officers Based Upon Character Strengths 117
9. Character Strengths in Staff Students vs. Cadets
This study investigated whether there existed any specific differences in the 24 character
strengths between military cadets at the NMA and staff students at the Norwegian Com-
mand and Staff College at the Norwegian Defence University College. The CSQ was
again used to collect data on which character strengths were important for military offic-
ers. The staff students scored significantly higher than the NMA cadets on 13 character
strengths and lower than the NMA cadets on one character strength. For the remaining
10 character strengths—leadership, open-mindedness, persistence, courage, love of
learning, fairness, self-regulation, hope, humility/modesty, and prudence—no significant
differences were found between the staff students and the cadets. The staff students
scored significantly higher on these 13 character strengths: integrity, social intelligence,
perspective, creativity, curiosity, forgiveness and mercy, kindness, vitality, humour,
gratitude, appreciation of beauty and excellence, spirituality, and love. The only excep-
tion, where the staff students were found to score lower than the NMA cadets, was on
the character strength teamwork (Boe, Nilsen, Østergaard, & Bang, submitted). A plau-
sible explanation for the differences between the two groups is that the staff students are
approximately 15 years older than the cadets at the NMA and therefore probably have
had more time and possibilities to work on their character strengths and thus develop
them over time. This can be traced through the higher scores that the staff students gave
to less important character strengths such as humility/modesty, forgiveness and mercy,
kindness, vitality, gratitude, appreciation of beauty and excellence, and spirituality.
10. Observing Character Strengths in Field Exercises
The Big 12 selected character strengths have been used to develop (Bang, Boe, & Nilsen,
2015a; Boe, 2015a) and to validate an observational instrument to observe the character
strengths in field exercises at the NMA (Bang, Boe, Nilsen & Eilertsen, 2015; Bang,
Eilertsen, Boe, & Nilsen, 2016). The observational instrument is referred to as OBSer-
vation of Character Strengths in Field (OBSCIF) and, as far as the author is aware, this
is the first objective measuring instrument of character strengths found in the world. OB-
SCIF consists of 36 questions, and it assesses a cadet’s behaviour in relation to the Big
12 character strengths that have been established as important for a military leader. The
OBSCIF has proved to a very high degree to be able to predict the performance of the
cadets during the Combat Fatigue Course and other field exercises at the NMA (Bang,
Eilertsen, Boe, & Nilsen, 2016; Boe, Davidson, Nilsen & Bang, 2016; Boe, Heiskel,
Grande, Nilsen, & Bang, 2016).
In a study using the OBSCIF, Boe, Davidson, Nilsen, and Bang (2016) posed the
research question to what extent there exists consistency between NMA cadets’ self-
assessment and their observed behaviour. The cadets assessed themselves and were as-
sessed by their peers and by an instructor after having completed an extreme field exer-
cise, the Combat Fatigue Course. The results revealed that the peers and instructor had a
much higher consistency in the correlations than any of the other combinations. For the
peers and instructor the correlations reached significance for these 10 character strengths:
leadership, integrity, persistence, bravery, teamwork, self-regulation, perspective, crea-
tivity, love of learning, and social intelligence. The character strengths fairness and open-
mindedness were not significantly correlated between peer cadets and instructor ratings
of the cadets. This might be due to possible challenges to observe any behaviour related
O. Boe /Selecting Officers Based Upon Character Strengths118
to these two character strengths during a field exercise. The cadet’s self-assessment cor-
related with peer assessments on seven out of the 12 character strengths: leadership, per-
sistence, open-mindedness, teamwork, perspective, love of learning, and social intelli-
gence. On the other hand, the cadet’s self-assessment and the instructor’s assessments
correlated on only four character strengths: leadership, integrity, self-regulation, and per-
spective. The four character strengths on which the cadets had rated themselves highest
were integrity followed by teamwork, persistence, and love of learning. The same four
character strengths have been found to be rated the highest in other military studies using
the same character strengths (Consentino & Castro Solano, 2012; Gayton & Kehoe,
2015a, 2015b; Matthews, Eid, Bailey, & Peterson, 2006). The findings from this study
thus supported that the OBSCIF functioned well for observing character strengths
through behaviour.
11. What About the Validity of the OBSCIF Instrument and Observation of
Character Strengths?
The NMA has used two different instruments to measure character strengths in its cadets.
The instruments are a self-report questionnaire called Values In Action-Inventory of
Strengths (VIA-IS) (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) and the OBSCIF (Bang, Boe, Nilsen &
Eilertsen, 2015; Bang, Eilertsen, Boe, & Nilsen, 2016). The purpose of the research in a
study by Boe, Heiskel, Grande, Nilsen, and Bang (2016) was to determine whether the
NMA has chosen the right methods of measurement of character strengths in its cadets.
Data was gathered before and during a field exercise with high physical and psycholog-
ical stress. The observational instrument OBSCIF was used for data collection during the
exercise “The demands of war”, a military field exercise that lasts for five days (Bang,
Boe, Nilsen, & Eilertsen, 2015). The exercise is intended to prepare the cadets for war-
like situations where special focus is put on leadership and uncertainty. To achieve a
nuanced picture of the cadets, observations were collected from three different sources:
instructors who followed a team, cadets who assessed themselves, and cadets assessing
each other. One week ahead of the exercise the cadets filled out the self-report form
VIA-IS. The VIA Institute on Character has conducted tests on psychometric data and
concluded that the VIA-IS test in long form (240 questions) has a satisfactory internal
consistency of α = .83 (VIA Institute on Character, 2016).
Cadets filled out the VIA-IS before the field exercise and were then observed by
both peer cadets and experienced instructors during the exercise. The cadets, their fellow
cadets, and the instructors filled out the OBSCIF after the field exercise. Cadets’ self-
assessments on the VIA-IS revealed very low correlations with both peer and instructor
assessment of OBSCIF, and high correlations between self-assessments on VIA-IS and
OBSCIF. On the other hand, correlations on OBSCIF between peers and instructors were
high, whereas correlations between self-assessment and peers and self-assessment and
instructors were low. Some possible sources of error could explain the mixed results.
Sources of error may be related to the person being evaluated, the one who observes, the
context, and/or the instruments that are used to collect data. However, some significant
correlations were found within the methods, which may mean that some character
strengths are better suited for measurement through self-reporting and others through
observation (Boe, Heiskel, Grande, Nilsen, & Bang, 2016). As a measure of reliability,
the Cronbach’s alpha has been found to be over .70 for the OBSCIF, except for the char-
acter strengths bravery, open-mindedness, and creativity (Boe, Davidson, Nilsen &
O. Boe /Selecting Officers Based Upon Character Strengths 119
Bang, 2016). Values over .70 are acceptable and indicate that the instrument is valid and
reliable (Cronbach & Meehl, 1955). Cronbach’s alpha is a measure of internal con-
sistency, that is, how closely related a set of questions are as a group (Cronbach, 1951).
12. Character Strengths and Selection of Officer Candidates
The Norwegian Chief of Defence (Forsvarstaben, 2012, p. 11) has stated, “[Military
leadership] is about doing the uncomfortable and being able to cope with it, overcoming
powerlessness, and avoiding emotional breakdown. Military leadership will demand a
robustness in order to think clearly and effectively, and cope with one’s feelings when
facing complex and difficult situations” (authors’ translation). The selection process to
the NMA, as well as to the Naval Academy and Air Force Academy in Norway, uses a
variety of measures to find the best possible officer candidates. For instance, IQ tests,
personality tests, an interview, prognoses of leadership, and academic potential based
upon previous performance and physical tests are used for this task. Still, it is hard to
predict among the selected officer candidates who will be the most successful in his or
her job as an officer.
Previous attempts to identify suitable character and to predict performance in the
military and in other high-risk organizations have usually been based upon measure-
ments of personality (Elsass, Fiedler, Skop, & Hill, 2001; Picano & Roland, 2012;
Picano, Williams, & Roland, 2006). One challenge with this is that personality is about
differences between individuals when it comes to how one reacts to circumstances, while
character is about the values that govern the actions and behavior. In a meta-analysis
conducted by Picano, Roland, Rollins, and Williams (2002), it was found that personality
and general mental ability could account for only 15% of the variance in ratings of the
suitability of applicants for high-risk occupations. A total of 80 personality and intelli-
gence measures were examined in this meta-analysis. On the other hand, character
strengths can be developed through increased vigilance and effort (Biswas-Diener,
Kashdan, & Minhas, 2011).
13. Prediction of Entrance into a Military Academy
Norway has three military academies offering basic officer education to cadets: the NMA
for the Norwegian Army, the Royal Naval Military Academy, and the Royal Air Force
Academy. Is it possible to use character strengths as a valid predictor for entrance into
these three military academies? A study by Boe, Nilsen, Wangberg, and Bang (submit-
ted) examined whether character strengths were applicable for selection into these three
military academies. Selection into the three-year bachelor’s degree officer’s course,
named “GOU” in Norwegian, was done by examining any relationships between self-
assessed character strengths and gaining entry into one of the three military academies.
The applicants used the VIA-IS) (see above) (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). Data collec-
tion was conducted during the Joint Admission and Selection for the Military Academies
(FOS KS in Norwegian) in 2015, where the respondents were the total number of appli-
cants for the GOU for that year. Independent samples t-test, and later analysis of vari-
ances (ANOVAs), were applied to find out if there were any differences between the
applicants who were offered the course and those who were not. Scores on each of the
O. Boe /Selecting Officers Based Upon Character Strengths120
six virtues were constructed by taking a mean of the individual character strengths be-
longing to the specific virtue. A self-assessed mean value was then obtained from each
of the six virtues. The analysis of the VIA-IS results revealed a significant difference
between the two groups for two of the core virtues: wisdom and knowledge and courage.
Applicants being admitted to one of the three military academies scored themselves sig-
nificantly higher on these two virtues than applicants who were not admitted. This indi-
cates that how applicants score themselves on wisdom and knowledge and courage can
be used for selecting personnel to the GOU. For the individual character strengths, the
ANOVAs further revealed significant differences between the two groups for the
strengths of open-mindedness, perspective, courage and social intelligence. This indi-
cates that these strengths might be applicable for the selection of personnel to the GOU.
14. Using Character Strengths to Predict Performance
How important are the 12 character strengths for how the military cadets perform aca-
demically and physically during the NMA bachelor’s programs? In a study by Bang,
Boe, Nilsen, and Eilertsen (2017), the purpose was to examine to what extent the 12
character strengths could predict how well cadets succeed during their bachelor’s pro-
grams, and if character strengths could outperform mental intelligence as a predictor of
cadet performance.
The cadets’ character strengths were measured with OBSCIF filled out by peer ca-
dets at the end of a combat fatigue exercise. The cadets’ performances were measured
by physical tests and grades from different courses of the bachelor’s programs. Mental
intelligence was measured as a general ability score, based on a combined measure of
the performance on three tests: arithmetic, word similarities, and figures. Analyses in-
cluded partial correlations between the 12 character strengths and cadet performance in-
dicators, controlling for mental intelligence. Ten out of 12 character strengths—bravery,
love of learning, leadership, integrity, perspective, creativity, self-regulation, persis-
tence, open-mindedness, and teamwork—correlated moderately to strongly with how the
cadets performed either academically or physically, even when controlling for intelli-
gence. The character strengths fairness and social intelligence did not correlate signifi-
cantly with any of the performance criteria. The results indicate that character strengths
as observed by fellow cadets are strong predictors for how the cadets performed academ-
ically and physically during the bachelor’s programs at the NMA.
15. Conclusions
This chapter has dealt with leadership development, character strengths, and selection of
officers. Character strengths have been shown to be a relevant tool for leadership educa-
tion and selection of military officers. The CSQ has proved itself to be valid for finding
out which character strengths are important for officers, and the OBSCIF has been found
to be a valid instrument for predicting performance in officer cadets.
The differences found between the younger cadets at the NMA and the older Special
Forces officers and staff students at the Norwegian Command and Staff College make
sense, as being older and more mature most likely will lead to changes in one’s values.
Another possible explanation is that younger officers are braver because they have less
experience than do older ones.
O. Boe /Selecting Officers Based Upon Character Strengths 121
Also, a limitation to the studies reported in this chapter is that not much is known
about the participants’ background and social development. How does childhood and the
pubertal period impact on future leadership characteristics? Some characteristics can be
learned and some must be developed during childhood. However, there is no way to
know which characteristics belong to those acquired during childhood or in young ages.
The results from the studies conducted at the NMA and described in this chapter
indicate that there seems to be a very strong consensus among at least Norwegian mili-
tary officers regarding which character strengths are seen as important for military offic-
ers. However, more work will be needed, as the observational instrument is not yet fully
developed or validated, and the number of participants in the studies until now has been
low. Future research on character strengths should focus on the whole spectrum of lead-
ership, from small-unit leadership to high command in the military. This may reveal if
there are certain clusters of character strengths or specific character strengths required
for successful leaders at different levels of leadership.
Character strengths thus seem to be important predictors for how well cadets suc-
ceed during their bachelor’s programs, and they outperform mental intelligence as pre-
dictors of cadet performance (Bang, Boe, Nilsen, & Eilertsen, 2017). Military education
programs should consider selecting cadets characterized by certain character strengths,
and aim at further developing these character strengths during education (Boe, Nilsen,
Wangberg, & Bang, submitted).
However, a challenge regarding the concept of character is that it is easy to talk
about but not so easy to know how to develop character. It is not so easy to know which
character strengths are the most important when selecting officers. Michelson (2013)
emphasized the importance of taking moral decisions in modern warfare. In his article,
Michelson criticised the U.S. Army’s character development program and questioned
whether the U.S. Army's doctrine and existing methods for developing character is suf-
ficient.
Acknowledgements
This research work was supported by the Norwegian Military Academy, the Norwegian
Defence University College and by the University of South-Eastern Norway. The author
wishes to thank Senior Lecturer Merete Ruud at the Norwegian Military Academy for
valuable help with the language of this work. The views expressed in this article are those
of the author and do not represent any official position held by the Norwegian Armed
Forces.
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Contributor. Ole Boe is Professor of Organization and Management at the USN School
of Business, Department of Business, Strategy and Political Sciences, University of
South-Eastern Norway. He served as an Associate Professor of Military Leadership at
the Norwegian Defence University College in Norway in 2017–2018, and as an Associ-
ate Professor of Leadership and Leadership Development at the Norwegian Military
Academy from 2003–2016. Professor Boe has co-authored the book The Lieutenant and
the War (in Norwegian) and has written over 280 articles and research reports within
themes related to leadership and leadership development, stress management, and deci-
sion making. Professor Boe previously served for many years as an operational officer
in a Norwegian military special unit, and he is a graduate of the Norwegian Defence
Command and Staff College. He is currently the editor of three new books on military
leadership in Norway.
O. Boe /Selecting Officers Based Upon Character Strengths 125
The author(s) of this publication is/are solely responsible for its content. This
publication does not reflect the opinion of the publisher. The publisher cannot be held
liable for any loss or damage that may occur because of this publication.
