Your Personality
“If you have anything really valuable to contribute to the world it will come through the expression of your own personality, that single spark of divinity that sets you off and makes you different from every other living creature.”- Bruce Barton
Your Personality
Your personality, helps you understand how you relate to the world around you. This also means that it helps you predict how likely you are to be a good fit for a specific job and or a specific entrepreneurship pursuit. Personality theorists believe that we have common characteristics that group us into specific personality types. This insight, therefore, helps you figure out why you act in certain ways and why you do the things that you do. Knowing who you are and how you react in different scenarios enables you to take charge of your career and life in many ways. You may now understand why you feel very drained in certain environments as an introvert, or as an optimist, you now understand why no matter the circumstances around you, there is always a still small voice inside of you that says, everything will be alright.
One of the best-known and widely used personality tests is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). It is based on the work of Carl Jung, the famous Swiss psychiatrist who studied personality archetypes and founded analytical psychology. Katherine Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers, expanded on Jung's theory to identify a total of four pairs of opposing psychological elements. According to the theory, everyone has a preference for one of the characteristics within each pair, and we use that preferred
The four psychological scales are as follows:
1. Extraversion-Introversion - This deals with our flow of energy.
Extroverts are stimulated by events and people external to themselves. They show their feelings, learn by talking and work well in groups.
Introverts prefer private reflection, self-examination and self-discovery. They hide their feelings, prefer to work alone and learn by watching.
2. Sensing-Intuition - This is how we learn information.
Sensing people use their five physical senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell) to interpret the world. They like real-life examples, prefer practical exercises and get the facts while possibly missing the main idea.
Intuitive people prefer to rely on instincts. They work based on hunches and feelings, use their imaginations and get the main idea while missing some of the facts.
3. Thinking – Feeling - This is how we make decisions.
Thinking people use logic and objective criteria. They ask 'Why?' and enjoy debates.
Feeling people use their values and subjective ideas. They use lots of words and they prefer harmony, agreement and helping others.
4. Judging-Perceiving - This is how we deal with the world.
Judging people are purposeful and they like structure, plans, rules and organization.
Perceiving people take a laid-back, relaxed approach. They're flexible, open to change and like to explore.
As you can see, there is no perfect single grouping. We believe striking a balance between the groupings might be a great idea. Your personality will help you navigate life at work and outside of work, it will also help you understand other people (your colleagues/business partners) and why they behave the way they do.
Most of the work you will do in any company will revolve around working with other people. How you talk to people, listen to and treat others and deal with challenging circumstances shapes the legacy that you leave with the work that you do. This is where your personal brand building starts. Build a strong foundation for your story by first understanding your personality.
There are many personality tests you can take online to try and understand your personality type. However, we have worked out some personality types that might be a great starting point for you to begin with before going online.
Read these personality groupings and find the most fitting for you and let your advisor know which one you chose, what you think about it? Does it make sense? Did you know this before?
Try also this free online personality test from Humanmetrics and see what it says in comparison to what you already have.
At the end of this exercise, you should know your personality type. You will also be able to:
- Use your personality to better inform, weigh and make decisions towards desired outcomes.
- Communicate more effectively by recognizing how you naturally give and receive information and how others interpret it.
- Learn how to successfully manage your career by navigating challenges and obstacles way better using your strengths.