Not another Buzzfeed quiz...
“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” — Stephen R. Covey
The Question
Can Personality Tests Mean Anything?
I'll cut to the chase and say it right now: I like using personality tests as tools in my work with clients.
The DISC assessment is even a core piece of our Leadership Development Program, yet I hear folks say to me all the time: "There's no way I'm going to memorize all the different DISC profiles."
But you aren't meant to. Personality tests have gotten a bad rap. But I think there's a better approach to them in your leadership toolbox.
The Research
The problem with personality tests is that people try and use them to pigeonhole others, saying, "You're like this, so you must be like that."
But here's the deal with your personality style: if we're using the DISC assessment with four main categories, and even if "D" is the highest one for you, how high it is can change how your deep personality traits show up. So, in reality, there are about 500 different potential outcomes in this report. However, we simplify it. Why? Well, because we want to identify patterns.
Some Advice
Generally, people stay true to their personality profiles roughly 75 to 80 percent of the time.
Even more interesting is that as you delve into personality dynamics and intentionally work on your emotional intelligence, you are less likely to act solely within your profile because you've learned to adapt and stay flexible in various situations.
Your Hack
To get more out of your personality tests, this week's hack is to change your approach and use them to inform your curiosity and feed your emotional intelligence.
If you've ever thought that personality tests are more like corporate horoscopes than useful leadership tools, I want you to think of the following analogy:
A personality test can be thought of as a hammer. You have a hammer but lack the skill of building a house, the use of the hammer on its own doesn't get you anywhere.
Personality tests are a tool within the skillset of emotional intelligence to help your ability to understand yourself and others and even help you adapt yourself in service of others based on their needs. This makes emotional intelligence a core skill set of our leadership practice.
When leaders use personality tests as part of their emotional intelligence toolkit, it's not just about knowing their team's personalities. It's about using that knowledge to motivate, engage, coach, build trust, empower, and communicate effectively. This helps create a strong, cohesive team and ultimately helps you grow into a phenomenon leader.
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Parting Thoughts
So why do we bother with personality tests?
They're your key to smoother relationships as a leader. They help us understand ourselves better, get a handle on those around us, and learn how to connect with them.
Taking a personality test is just the beginning. It's not about cramming your brain with personality types; it's more about spotting common patterns and staying intentionally curious about the individuals around you.
Use this tool right, and your relationships will just get one step closer to you.
Want to unlock your relationships further? Then, work on developing your emotional intelligence! Check out our blog to get you started The Top 13 Emotional Intelligence Books
Unicorn Leaders — The Podcast
Have you heard the newest episodes!?
Our most recent podcast guests are: Kyle Racki and Krista Skalde.
Kyle Racki (CEO and Co-Founder of Proposify) helps thousands of businesses remove the bottleneck of proposals and get more visibility into the close. In his episode, he lays out the framework of the job of a CEO and some of the important pieces they’re faced with including creating vision and auditing values, building out the executive team (title politics are real), hiring leadership contextually, having difficult conversations and holding people accountable.
Krista Skalde (Operating Partner and CTO of Inovia Capital) shares her look at organizational systems and how to think when designing the organizational structure. She highlights how it should not be designed from a people-centric place but rather around the needs and direction of your business. It’s important to be mindful when you do design around people and whether it is sustainable long term.
Take a listen & subscribe.
THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Sincerely, The Unicorn Labs Team