Expressing Myself

Yesterday I attended one of those much-ridiculed Team Workshops.  This one was actually very good - enjoyable and informative.  One of the sections was to divide our team into "personality types" using the Merrill-Reid model.  The basic characteristics of each are:

• Driver: · Objective-focused · Know what they want and how to get there! · Communicates quickly, gets to the point · Sometimes tactless and brusque · Can be an "ends justify the means" type of person · Hardworking, high energy · Does not shy away from conflict
• Expressive: · Natural salesmen or story-tellers · Warm and enthusiastic · Good motivators, communicators · Can be competitive · Can tend to exaggerate, leave out facts and details · Sometimes would rather talk about things than do them!
• Amiable: · Kind-hearted people who avoid conflict · Can blend into any situation well · Can appear wishy-washy · Has difficulty with firm decisions · Often loves art, music and poetry · Highly sensitive · Can be quiet and soft-spoken
• Analytical: · Highly detail oriented people · Can have a difficult time making decisions without ALL the facts · Make great accounts and engineers · Tend to be highly critical people · Can tend to be pessimistic in nature · Very perceptive

No one personality type outshines the other or is preferable to the other - but all complement each other in different ways. If you are choosing a team for a difficult task, it is a good idea to have representation for each on your team for a balanced approach to the task at hand. Our team consisted of one driver, one expressive and eight amiables.  Not exactly balanced!  The Driver was our Chief Executive, and I was the Expressive.  The Workshop leader had spotted this from the moment he met me, he claimed.  His evidence was my bright pink patterned blouse amongst a sea of grey and navy blue, and the fact that I couldn't talk without gesture.  Of course, hindsight is a wonderful thing, but he was right.  This table gives a great comparison of equivalents - apparently I am also Peter from the Bible, a monkey, the colour orange, Tigger, Snoopy and Poor Me.  The most interesting thing is, a year ago, I would probably have been an Analytical.  Experience and a change in my working role has obviously had an effect.