Personality: On and off the job

I survived in bureaucracy by studying human behavior. I would bring books to work and analyze everyone around me. I looked kind of weird staring at people, examining the book, then looking back again at the person I was studying like I was drawing a portrait. In meetings colleagues would give me funny looks.

But I learned a lot about other people’s personalities. I could almost figure out what they would say next. In the process I became more tolerant of various personalities, realizing how different we are from each other.

It took me a while to learn that more important than figuring out others was to figure out myself. The Greeks had it right: the secret is to Know Thyself!

You can get to know your true self with two powerful tools for studying personality types. One is the Myers-Briggs Personality Type. It includes a questionnaire that helps you to understand how you take in information or perceive what’s going on around you and also tells you how you make decisions about what you perceive. People are very different in these respects. A good website for taking the test on line is: http://www.yourlifespath.com/. The site also includes the Strong Campbell Interest Inventory which points you toward specific careers that fit your true interests.

A deeper personality tool is the Enneagram. It describes nine personality types, each with, not only its strengths, but also its challenges. As you learn about these types and cultivate your “inner observer” you come to a deeper understanding of what’s driving your behavior. You see, we walk around on “automatic,” controlled by our personality instead of being present with who we really are. The place to learn more about this and use the questionnaire is http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/.

Of course, every person is unique, so be careful not to pigeon hole folks and write them off as a particular personality type. Above all, remember, the purpose of these types is not to analyze others but to help you know yourself. Every person decides what her/his type is and it’s a lifelong endeavor to really know.

Many organizations are using these tools to enhance relationships between workers. Take a look. You might want to recommend these instruments to your teammates.