The goal of the present study was to identify the positive character traits of staff working with a special education population and further understand how staff apply these traits in their work. Twenty-eight staff from a school/treatment program for students with autism and related developmental disorders completed the VIA Inventory of Strengths Survey. The five most highly rated traits included Kindness, Honesty, Humor, Fairness, and Love. Participants who rated these five traits the highest took part in a semi-structured interview. Responses indicated that staff used these positive traits to motivate others, foster other positive traits, maximize student progress, avoid negative outcomes, promote coping, build strong relationships, and meet the individual need of students. That these positive traits could be "contagious" and have reciprocal benefit was often noted, and overarching themes included a commitment to progress and doing the "right" thing. Limitations and future directions are discussed.