Henry Ford was quite insightful when he said, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” But how do we do that when differences in personality types can naturally create biases and barriers, and especially in stressful environments?
Nothing brings out the best in us and the worst in us like turnarounds. A turnaround is like driving a Ferrari convertible 200 miles an hour through Jurassic Park. A turnaround is a rapid-fire event with gotchas lurking everywhere: not enough time, not enough people, not enough information, not enough sleep — too many delays, too many surprises, too many reports, too many deadlines. Add to that the challenge of every personality type sharing a very small space and trying to link, synch and move as one because that is what it takes to accomplish the near-impossible task at hand.
Have you given more thought to the issue of personality types? What are the four types we need to consider? For the sake of descriptive labeling, let’s call them 1) Logical, 2) Likeable, 3) Sociable and 4) Director.
- The Logical personality tends to show less emotion and less assertiveness, but can be a strong asset for any team.
- The Likeable personality tends to show more emotion and less assertiveness and can be a superb asset for any team.
- The Sociable personality tends to show more emotion and more assertiveness and can be an outstanding asset for any team.
- The Director personality tends to show less emotion and more assertiveness and can be a remarkable asset for any team.
Based on the limited information about each personality type, are you beginning to think about people who may fit these profiles?
(Cross-posted at WTMC's The Turnaround Coach blog.)
