Making the Best of Your Personality in the Workplace

October 3, 2014      |      Posted on Posted in In the News
Making the Best of Your Personality in the Workplace

ACI President Erin Krehbiel is a frequent writer on LinkedIn. See Krehbiel’s recent article below, originally published on LinkedIn.

Have you ever noticed yourself wanting to jump up and scream when a colleague sluggishly proposes a solution? Are efficiency and speed-of-thought key traits of your favorite people? Ever been accused of not being nice? Have you been told that you intimidate or even scarepeople? Well… maybe that last one is just me.

If the answer to some or all of those questions is “yes,” you may also be of the dominant personality profile. I had always considered myself a caring and thoughtful person, but as it turns out, that is not something that people readily get from me. If you value logic and efficiency above all, easily coming off as nice or empathetic is not natural.

I came out of the womb in charge – a first-born, type A personality, over-achiever (when I applied myself) and a general “know-it-all” for most of my life. It took a few very hard knocks to make me see how much of a pain I was. With my abundance of drive and confidence, I insisted I was an excellent communicator, listener, and empathizer. But upon delving into my personality profile, I learned that it couldn’t have been further from the truth.

In 2001, I became aware of personality profiling when I joined ACI Specialty Benefits, who as a company uses the DISC personality assessment as a guide to find best fits for various roles. I was skeptical at first and frankly a bit offended as I completed my first assessment. As I read the profile that lay before me, complete with negative aspects of my personality, there was only one possible conclusion – this test is a crock!

And for those who are not yet self-aware, that is a likely reaction. We all work with people who are not self-aware – annual reviews are a shock, things are never their fault, and forget candid, creative or productive banter: it’s all bound to offend. As I did more research into my personality profile (to be a good sport), I learned about the other types and how they related. And over time, I grew to accept and embrace the all of the parts of my personality, including the difficult aspects. Communicating became much more effective and my team success flourished. I started to learn to actively listen, and over time digest the fact that even if I know the answer, it is often more effective for the other party to feel like they figured it out.

For those that who share the “High D” dominant personality type, keep these tips in mind:

1. Strong or dominant personalities often benefit by softening their tone and adding personal details to engage the team, especially for team members with more emotional natures.

2. WE know YOU know it all, but if you lead a team to reach the answer themselves, it is not only great for morale, but increases the likelihood of more productive thinking in the future.

3. Understand the strengths of a dominant personality in a position of leadership. When steering a strong ship, sometimes “The Captain” needs to come out.

4. Give credit to the team when credit is due; acknowledgement is often sweeter when shared.

5. Surround yourself with self-aware people and encourage introspection: it will making working together more effective and so much fun – trust me!

And remember – there is no “final destination.” It is an ongoing process, and it is easy to creep back to scaly former habits when frazzled. Realizing the strengths and weakness of your personality can be the most powerful business decision you will ever make, and applying them effectively leads to more than success and leadership, but also peace of mind.

What is your experience with DISC or other personality profiling such as MBTI? What are your thoughts on using such profiling as insight into job fit?