“An attitude of positive expectation is the mark of the superior personality.” Brian Tracy
Whether I’m guiding a group in team building, strategic planning, or relational growth, one of my first steps is to do a personality review on each participant. I do this for 3 reasons:
- Personality affects everything we do. The way that we eat, make love, fight, drive, talk and walk are shaped by our personality. In fact, name a behavior, and you can be sure that your personality affects how you express it. So, for anyone seeking to lead or work with others more effectively, insight into likely behavior patterns is valuable information.2. Understanding personality can ease relational differences. Participants often discover that differences between them really aren’t interpersonal, but have their basis in personality dynamics. I’m not surprised any longer when I hear a previously offended person say something like, “All this time, I thought you just didn’t like me, and now I can see that we’re just wired differently. It was never about me, was it?”
3. Personality analytics affirm strengths and reveal growth opportunities. Usually, the strong elements of a person’s personality also point to their likely challenges. Take their personality strength to the extreme and there you’ll find their growth potential. So, the bubbly, friendly extrovert, who brings life to the office, may also be the one who needs to be careful of being too self-centered.
There are several personality tools available. I like the Myers-Briggs instrument for groups that will be having a long term relationship together. Here’s a free link for an abbreviated MB tool:
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp
For shorter term relationships, I prefer a personality tool that is simple and has immediate value in improving connections with customers and casual contacts. I use the Hippocratic four basic temperaments. Here’s a free link:
http://www.gotoquiz.com/results/hippocratic_personality_test
The bottom line is that there’s relational, leadership and customer service value in the information that the personality analysis provides. I recommend that you add it to your skill set.