Have you ever had a personality clash?

Have you ever had a Personality Clash?

What is a personality clash? A personality clash is a situation where two or more individuals have conflicting or incompatible personalities, beliefs, values, or attitudes that create tension or conflict in their interactions. This clash can arise due to differences in communication styles, personal preferences, goals, expectations, and ways of approaching tasks and problems.

Personality clashes can occur in various settings, including the workplace, social situations, and personal relationships. They can lead to misunderstandings, arguments, and decreased productivity, and can also cause stress and discomfort for those involved. Resolving personality clashes typically involves finding common ground, understanding the perspectives of others, and developing effective communication strategies to prevent future conflicts.

In this edition of the LinkedIn Accidental Managers Newsletter we will explore the importance of understanding personality, and the benefits of personality profiling.

But first a reminder of why self education for accidental managers and those with future aspirations of becoming a manager is important in the UK where management development opportunities are few and far between.

Middle Managers are Failing, and Costing the UK Economy ￡84 Billion a Year in Lost Productivity.

Middle Managers in the UK are failing because the vast majority (80%) of middle managers are accidental managers who have been promoted because they have proven themselves in a technical or functional role and have been rewarded with a promotion without the necessary management development to ensure they acquire the knowledge, skills, and behaviours to be competent, and confident emotionally intelligent leaders.

Instead, they are left to flounder, whilst trying to figure out how to manage effectively without burning out, and before they burn out every individual in their teams.

Organisations who fail to invest in the management development of their managers are setting them up to fail, as they lack the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviours in the following 10 areas of management competence:

Management of Self:

1.?????They don’t understand time management techniques and tools, or how to prioritise activities, or how to use different approaches to planning, including managing multiple tasks.

2.?????They don’t use time management and prioritisation techniques.

3.?????They are not able to create personal development plans for themselves or their subordinates.

Self-Awareness:

1.?????They don’t understand emotional intelligence and the impact they have on others.

2.?????They don’t understand different and learning and behaviour styles.

3.?????They are not able to reflect on own performance, working style and its impact on others.

Communication:

1.?????They don’t understand the importance of having great interpersonal skills or how to apply different forms of communication and techniques (verbal, written, non-verbal, digital) appropriately.

2.?????They are not able to communicate effectively (verbal, non-verbal, written, digital) and be flexible in their communication style.

3.?????They are not able to chair meetings or present using a range of media.

4.?????They are not able to use active listening, nor able to challenge and give constructive feedback.

Building Relationships:

1.?????They don’t understand approaches to partner, stakeholder and supplier relationship management including negotiation, influencing, and effective networking.

2.?????They have no knowledge of collaborative working techniques to enable delivery through others or how to share best practice.

3.?????They don’t know how to manage conflict at all levels.

4.?????They are not able to build trust or use effective negotiation and influencing skills or manage conflict.

5.?????They are not able to identify and share good practice or work collaboratively with others both inside and outside of the organisation.

6.?????They are not able to use specialist advice or support to deliver against plans.

Decision Making:

1.?????They don’t understand problem solving and decision-making techniques, including data analysis.

2.?????They don’t understand organisational values and ethics or their impact on decision making.

3.?????They are not able to undertake critical analysis and evaluation to support decision making.

4.?????They are not able to use of effective problem-solving techniques.

Leading People:

1.?????They don’t understand different leadership styles, or how to lead multiple and remote teams and manage team leaders.

2.?????They don’t know how to motivate and improve performance, or how to support people using coaching and mentoring approaches.

3.?????They don’t understand organisational cultures and diversity and their impact on leading and managing change.

4.?????They don’t know how to delegate effectively.

5.?????They are not able to communicate organisational vision and goals or how these to apply to teams.

6.?????They are not able to support the development of their subordinates through coaching and mentoring to enable and support high performance working.

7.?????They are not able to support the management of change within their organisation.

Managing People:

1.?????They don’t know how to manage multiple teams or how to develop high performing teams.

2.?????They don’t understand performance management techniques, talent management models or how to recruit and develop people.

3.?????They are not able to develop, build and motivate teams by identifying their strengths and enabling development within the workplace.

4.?????They are not able to manage talent and performance.

5.?????They are not able to delegate and enable delivery though others.

Operations Management:

1.?????They don’t understand operational management approaches and models, including creating plans to deliver objectives and setting KPIs.

2.?????They don’t understand business development tools (e.g. SWOT Analysis or PESTLE analysis), and approaches to continuous improvement.

3.?????They don’t understand operational business planning techniques, including how to manage resources, development of sales and marketing plans, setting targets and monitoring performance.

4.?????They lack knowledge in management systems, processes, and contingency planning.

5.?????They don’t understand how to initiate and manage change by identifying barriers and know how to overcome them.

6.?????They don’t understand data security and management, and the effective use of technology in an organisation.

7.?????They are not able to input into strategic planning and create plans in line with organisational objectives.

8.?????They are not able to support, manage and communicate change by identifying barriers and overcoming them.

9.?????They have no commercial awareness, and therefore they are unable to identify and shape new opportunities.

10.??They are not able to create or deliver operational plans, set KPIs, or monitor performance against plans.

11.??They are not able to produce reports, providing management information based on the collation, analysis and interpretation of data.

Project Management:

1.?????They don’t know how to set up and manage a project using relevant tools and techniques or understand process management.

2.?????They don’t understand approaches to risk management.

3.?????They are not able to plan, organise and manage resources to deliver required outcomes.

4.?????They are not able to monitor progress and identify risk and their mitigation.

5.?????They are not able to use relevant project management tools.

Finance:

1.?????They don’t understand business finance. They don’t know how to manage budgets or conduct financial forecasting.

2.?????They are not able to monitor budgets and provide reports, and consider financial implications of decisions and adjust approach/recommendations accordingly.

We live in a world of accidental managers, and senior managers in organisations who recognise some or all of the management deficiencies listed above, need to step up and insist from their organisations that middle management development is an essential investment to drive, performance, productivity, and profitability.

If you are a senior manager looking to find management development opportunities for your middle managers, and future managers click on the link below:

Personality and Personality Profiling

What is personality?

Personality refers to the set of characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours that distinguish one individual from another. It encompasses various aspects of an individual's psychological makeup, including their temperament, values, attitudes, and motivations.

Personality can be influenced by a variety of factors, including genetics, environmental factors, and personal experiences. It can also change and develop over time, although some core aspects of an individual's personality tend to remain relatively stable over the course of their life.

There are many different theories and approaches to understanding personality, including psychodynamic, trait, humanistic, and social-cognitive theories, among others. Each of these perspectives offers unique insights into the nature of personality and the factors that shape it.

What is Personality Profiling?

Personality profiling is the process of analysing an individual's personality traits and characteristics in order to gain insight into their behaviour, preferences, and motivations. This is typically done through the use of various personality tests or assessments, which are designed to measure specific aspects of an individual's personality.

Personality profiling can be used in a variety of contexts, including in business, and psychology. In the business world, personality profiling is often used in the hiring process, to help identify candidates who are a good fit for a particular role or company culture. In psychology, personality profiling can be used to help diagnose and treat mental health conditions, or to better understand the underlying causes of a person's behaviour.

There are many different types of personality tests and assessments, each of which measures different aspects of an individual's personality. Some of the most commonly used personality tests include the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), DISC, and Insights Discovery.

My preference is for Insights Discovery and not just because I am a Licensed Practitioner. I believe Insights Discovery is simple to understand and user friendly. Over the past 4 plus years I have profiled hundreds of managers, facilitated workshops on Insights Discovery, and facilitated team building for organisations including BMW, Rolls-Royce, Oxford University Press, and Plastic Omnium.

Click on the image below to watch a short introduction to Insights Discovery.

The Insights Discovery personality profiling tool can provide many benefits, including:

1. Self-awareness: Insights Discovery can help individuals gain a better understanding of themselves, their preferences, strengths, and areas for improvement. This self-awareness can help individuals to make better decisions and communicate more effectively with others.
2. Team building: The tool can be used to build more effective teams by helping team members understand each other's personalities and communication styles. This understanding can lead to more effective collaboration, increased productivity, and improved morale.
3. Leadership development: Insights Discovery can be used to develop leadership skills by helping individuals to understand how their personality impacts their leadership style. This knowledge can help individuals to adapt their approach to better connect with and motivate their team members.
4. Conflict resolution: Understanding different personality types can help individuals to resolve conflicts more effectively by understanding where the other person is coming from and adjusting their communication style accordingly.
5. Improved communication: By understanding their own and others' communication styles, individuals can tailor their communication to be more effective, leading to better relationships, increased productivity, and more successful outcomes.

Overall, Insights Discovery can provide individuals and organisations with valuable insights into their personalities and communication styles, leading to more effective teamwork, leadership, and communication.

If you are interested in finding out more about the benefits of Insights Discovery, and how it can be used to improve personal effectiveness, team performance, and productivity in your organisation click on the link below.

That's all folks for this edition of the LinkedIn Accidental Managers Newsletter, in the next edition we will be exploring interpersonal and communication skills which are essential for emotionally intelligent leadership.