How to spot personality styles at work!

Perhaps you have done a MyCareerMatch profile for yourself and are beginning to wonder 'what about all the other folks at work?' People do leave clues.

Here is a sample from our "Working with Different People" Workshop that can give you a quick insight into the people you work with... enjoy!

STYLES AT A MONDAY MORNING OFFICE MEETING:

A Driver will say, “I hate these meetings, all we do is talk, they’re a waste of time, nothing

ever gets done, I’ve got better things to do!”

The Promoter says, “Boy, did I have a busy weekend, deals were done, contacts made, I was

flat out on the phone, business is great!”

A Supporter will ask, “How was your weekend? We went to a movie, then my favourite

restaurant, took the kids to the beach, caught up with friends, helped a neighbour move,

visited my Granddad in the home”.

And the Analyser complains, “I wish they would send the minutes of the meeting out on

Friday so I could study them over the weekend and be prepared for this morning. We never

start on time”.

Still  not sure which is you? Do your profile now... CLICK HERE

Len Eagles at Eagles Consulting.

MyCareerMatch Presentation Video

I was recently invited to present at this conference...

I had the opportunity to do two one hour presentations to Careers Advisers and other 'Youth Service providers'.

This video is a summary of the presentation and gives a good overview of MyCareerMatch including how it is used the University Partnership Program that I coordinate:

Four Styles in Action

 We can see the four styles in action all around us...


Disneyland

When Disney opened their first theme park in 1950 they designed the park to appeal to people of all four styles. They wanted everyone who came to enjoy and experience something that matched their personal style.

Disney created four theme parks:

Adventureland appeals to Drivers. Excitement, Action, Exploration, Pirate dens, Haunted houses, Activity.

Fantasyland appeals to Promoters. World of dreams and make believe, fairy tails, it’s a small world, knights in shining armour and damsels in distress.

Main Street attracts Supporters. Old fashioned values, Family, Horseless carriages, Family restaurants, Gift shops, Old fire and police stations.

Tomorrowland attracts Analysers. A world of science and technological, Space travel and exploration, Monorails, Interactive hi tech futuristic displays.

Many writers use four characters to build their story around. They assign a behaviour to each person and that helps them write “in character”.

Here are some examples…

Harry Potter

Most schools have four houses so does Hogwarts School of Witchcraft. When students arrive they have the ‘sorting hat’ placed on their heads which reads their personalities and assigns a house to each student.

Slythern are Drivers

"Here you are in Slytherin where you'll make your real friends, Those cunning folk use any means to achieve their ends.“

Gryffindor are Promoters

"You belong in Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart, Their daring, nerve and chivalry set Gryffindor’s apart.“

Hufflepuff are Supporters

"You belong in Hufflepuff, where they are just and loyal, Those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid to toil.“

Ravenclaw are Analysers

"Here in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've a ready mind, Those of wit and learning  will always find their kind."

Ninja Turtles

 Ninja Turtles is another example of four different personality styles coming together to complement each other and form a great team. Each has special qualities the others don’t have.

  

Leonardo is the leader of the group and a Driver. He keeps the others in line. He’s in control directing the team to their next project.

Raphael has attitude and is a Promoter. His judgement usually causes trouble for all. His ideas are never thought out as to the consequences. 

Michelangelo is a Supporter. He’s optimistic and prevents fights between the other turtles. He keeps the peace and is ready to help. 

Donatello is an Analyser and is the brains of the group. He’s the craftsman who makes all their weapons.

Many TV shows are created around four main characters.

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is the longest running comedy show on TV.

Homer is a Promoter. He’s always got an idea or scheme and no matter what goes wrong he bounces back and is always optimistic. He wants the good things in life and to have fun. He’s very much a big picture person and not very concerned with details or problems he may cause.

Bart is a Driver. He is always looking to gain an advantage for himself. He’s inward looking and often ignores people’s feelings. He tries to figure out a way for him to get the most by doing the least. He’s full of action and can’t sit still.

Marge is a Supporter. She looks after the family, is concerned about each of them and provides encouragement when they’re down and recognition when they succeed. She’s interested in security and doesn’t like change. She puts others ahead of herself.

Lisa is an Analyser. She's smart, talented, has attention to detail and wants to do everything right. She practices, is top of the class and cares about politics and the environment. She’s a tender soul who doesn’t like failure or being criticised or being made fun of.

Sex in the City 

Perhaps you can now see why this show has been so popular.

Samantha – Driver

Carrie – Promoter

Charlotte – Supporter

Miranda - Analyser

A BRIEF HISTORY OF BEHAVIOURAL PROFILING

Beginning with Ezekile (590BC), in the Old Testament, we can see one of the first recorded references to four personality types. (see the table below)

Empedocles (444 BC), the founder of the school of medicine in Sicily, thought that everything was made of four "roots" or elements. The four elements, earth, air, fire, and water can be combined in an infinite number of ways, similar to the way painters create many colours with only four pigments.

The Greek philosopher, Hippocrates (400 BC), said behaviour is not the result of external factors. It is something that takes place inside of you, naturally. It's the fluids that run through your body. According to Hippocrates, if you have cold fast fluid you will be a very direct, dominant and decisive leader (A Driver). If you have fast warm or hot fluid, so hot and so fast that it might bubble out of your mouth, you would be the kind of person who talks all the time (A Promoter). Or maybe you have fluid that is warm and slow. In this case you would be family oriented, stable and relational (A Supporter). Or maybe you have slow, cold fluid. It would make you a thinker, meticulous, a perfectionist who wants exact details (an Analyser). Hippocrates named these different personality styles choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic, and melancholy.

Hippocrates' theory was expanded upon at the turn of the 20th century by a number of behavioural scientists. Carl Gustav Jung (1921), a Swiss psychologist, was one of the most influential modern behavioural theorists. In 1921 he published "Psychological Types" which described four psychological functions: thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition. Jung also classified these four types further by calling them either "introverted" or "extroverted."

The development of psychometric tests as we know them was primarily due to the work of American psychologists Dr. William Moulton Marston and Katherine Briggs. Marston was an expert in behavioural understanding. Interestingly, he was also the inventor of the polygraph (lie detector). In 1926 he published "The Emotions of Normal People" in which he outlined the current language. Until that time, this type of work was confined to criminally insane and mentally ill people. He grouped people along two axes: either active or passive tendencies dependent upon their either antagonistic or favourable view of the environment. From this, the four styles were formed: Dominance (D), Inducement (1), Steadiness (S), and Compliance (C), which today are known as DISC.

Katherine Briggs (Myers Briggs Type Indicator) began her studies on individual behavioural differences in 1915. Between 1923 and 1941 she and her daughter Isobel studied Carl Jung’s theories. In 1941 in order to meet a need derived from the advent of World War II, she matched skills, desires and career opportunities and developed a type indicator to describe characteristics as they relate to individual preferences.

Over the years various people have described our four styles in different ways. Some have described Drivers as being Aspirers, Promoters as being Inspirers, Supporters as Admirers and Analysers as Enquirers.

Some of you will know the Driver as the Choleric and the Promoter as the Sanguine and the Supporter as Phlegmatic and the Analyser as Melancholy. These terms originated with the Greek physician Galen 192-200AD and are widely know through Florence Littauer’s book “Personality Plus”.

Origin
Ezekiel 590BC	Lion  (bold)	Man (Humane)	Ox (Sturdy)	Eagle  (Far seeing)
Plato 340BC	Artistic	Intuitive	Sensible	Reasoning
Hippocrates 370	Cold  Fast Blood	Hot  Fast Blood	Warm Slow Blood	Cold  Slow Blood
Aristotle 325BC	Sensual	Ethical	Material	Logical
Irenaeuas 185	Spontaneous	Spiritual	Historical	Scholarly
Galen 190	Choleric	Sanguine	Phlegmatic	Melancholic
Paracelsus 1550	Changeable	Inspired	Industrious	Curious
Adickes 1905	Innovative	Doctrinaire	Traditional	Sceptical
Marston 1946	Dominance	Inducement	Steadiness	Compliance
Myers Briggs	Perceiving	Feeling	Judging	Thinking
Jung	Artisans	Idealists	Guardians	Rationales
Evans	Aspirers	Inspirers	Admirers	Enquirers
DISC	Dominance	Influence	Steadiness	Conscientiousness
Wilson	Driver	Expressive	Amiable	Analytical
Hartman - Colours	Red	Yellow	Blue	White
Myprofile	Drivers	Promoters	Supporters	Administrators
Mychild	Adventurers	Socialisers	Helpers	Thinkers
MyCareerMatch MyNetworkSuccess	Drivers	Promoters	Supporters	Analysers

Help for Careers Advisers, Teachers and Parents - Do you really know the student?

When it comes to giving advice to students on the subject of careers, Career Advisors are well aware of the influence that parents and peers have on the choices that students make. For over 20 years I was a Career Adviser at a secondary school in NSW and behind my desk I had a large poster that read: “HELP, I’m a prisoner of my family’s aspirations!”

Surveys confirm the result of students choosing a job that is “not them”. Over 70% of university graduates do not take up a job in which they graduated or majored in and according to SEEK, 68% of Australian employees are looking for a new job on a daily or weekly basis. Only 37% of employees surveyed said that they were “happy” in the job.

It’s not enough to listen to what the student tells you or even what subjects they are good at, to help advise them on a career pathway. You need to know who they are as a person and what personality traits they have.

The three fundamental questions are:

1. what they’re good at

2. what they’re passionate about and

3. does their personality suit the job

When these three drivers line up you can be reasonably certain that you are directing your students on a career path that will bring out their natural gifts and talents as well as reward and recognise their achievements.

I also know that most students find it difficult to write about themselves but when it comes to getting a job that’s exactly what is required.

How can a student find out who they are and which career paths their personality style is best matched to?

How can you as Careers Adviser assist students in processing and acting upon this information?

Launched in 2008 MyCareerMatch offers Careers Advisers a web based solution for students to complete a personal profile in less than 15 minutes. The report outlines the student’s strengths and values, a wide band of career choices and delivers valuable content they can add to their resume. In addition there are further links to assist students to further explore career options.

MyCareerMatch also offers Career Advisers a number of resources including an electronic PDF student workbook to do follow-up work with students using their report.

Parents are provided with a report that explains why their child behaves the way they do and how they can create a more positive climate at home to help and encourage them.

Contact us for further information.