Can we all just Get Along?
Recently, the Westminster Dog Show dominated the News. If you watched it, you likely noticed that the American Kennel Club places breeds into groups based on their particular set of uses, purposes, and characteristics. Well, we humans can do the same by using behavioral and personality testing.
One of the first meetings I attended out of Business School at my new job was a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Seminar. It was conducted over two (2) days and I likely learned more about myself than in the previous twenty-five (25) years of my life.
The test provides great insight to how one processes and approaches their environment. For those of you familiar with the test, I tested out as an ENTP - Extrovert Intuitive Thinking Prospector. This type is often referred to as the big idea person, The Visionary, The Thinker, and The Debater. It has proven to truly be a personality marker throughout my entire career. From the second day of that seminar through today, I believe I embody an ENTP. It has helped me reflect at times why something has been so successful or such a failure.
Many large corporations, educational institutions, and governments will use this tool in assessing the viability of a candidate for certain jobs. It has been a fascinating walk through personal and Business relationships for me. In my opinion, it is a test worth taking. It has been insightful and correct in assessing most of my interactions, accomplishments, and challenges. And to think it was developed by a mother/daughter pair in the early 1900s! Women who have come before us continue to shape our journey forward.
Another personality test more widely used today is DISC. Wikipedia presents the following definition: DISC is a behaviour self-assessment tool originally based on the 1928 DISC emotional and behavioural theory of psychologist William Moulton Marston, which centred on four personality traits: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Compliance.
I have heard a lot about this test but had not had the opportunity to take it until recently. Our IWON (Illuminate Women Owners Network) Idea Exchange will be taking this test at our inaugural meeting. We are lucky to have a Certified Administrator as a close friend to many in the group. My results were no surprise showing Dominance as 50% of my makeup. I am just learning the implications of my results and look forward to our group engagement on September 1st.
if you are open to understanding how you approach situations and how you interact with other like-minded or not so like-minded people, you, like me, may find these tests invaluable. See if your employer offers them or if you are self-employed, a Google search will yield many online and in-person agencies offering MBTI and/or DISC assessments. In my experience, they are both very worthwhile.
Fitting in is something we all deal with throughout our life. Be like our German Shepherd friend , Nala, a member of the AKC Working Group, in our Blog photo, understand how to fit in with your Sporting Companions, the Barbet. If we can all understand how to get along better, we can truly move forward.
Be well.
