PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS-THE IMPACT OF PERSONALITY

The subject of personality has received increasing attention from industrial/organizational psychologists in both research and practice settings over the past decade. But while there is an overabundance of information related to the narrow area of personality testing and employee selection, there has been no definitive source offering a broader perspective on the overall topic of personality in the workplace. Personality and job, at last, provides an in-depth examination of the role of personality in work behavior. An array of expert authors discuss the connection of personality to a wide range of outcomes beyond performance, including counterproductive behaviors, contextual performance, retaliatory behaviors, retention, learning, knowledge creation, and the process of sharing that knowledge.

Scholars have identified positive benefits for employees involved as protégés in informal mentoring relationships, including more frequent promotions, higher salaries, and greater career satisfaction. Alternatively, many organizations have recently developed formal mentoring programs, in which junior employees are assigned to higher-level managers for mentoring. Often, these programs are designed to provide women and other minorities with much-needed career assistance and access to powerful upper-level managers. The paper is an attempt to elaborate on the traits and benefits of personality in organizations

What strikes in your mind first when you look at following well-known people?

Dr. Abdul Kalam

Mr. Barak husain Obama

Mr. Amitabh Bacchan

Mr. Sachin Tendulkar

Mr. Ratan Tata

Mr. Mukesh Ambani

Mr. Narayn Moorti

Swami Vivekanand

Mother Teresa

Mrs. Kiran Bedi

They are all well-known faces for today’s generation, we all know them. We get lots of inspiration from them. They are role models for most of us. But what is common in all of them? Yes, the first thing that strikes in our mind is – WHAT A GREAT PERSONALITY.

The common factor is personality. Irrespective of their working areas, irrespective of lifestyle, irrespective of knowledge, they have one thing that is quite visible and make them stand apart, is their personality.

This is the age of much competition. Life is now really complex. Things are moving fast. There is a great variety of careers and professions. It makes the matter worse. One feels confused and bewildered in choosing the right career. The young students find themselves groping in the dark. As a result of all these, there is much unemployment and frustration. It also means lots of waste of money, time, and energy. They want to become IAS, executives, and have top positions without considering their qualifications and skills.

The personalities that are shown here have seen lots of up and down. Getting and depicting the right kind of personality has all the answers. If you have a good personality, strong optimism, ambition for fame and preparedness to face the worst, you can easily reach the top of the world. 

Generally, your personality is considered to be the totality of character attributes and behavioral traits that you possess. Your personality will differentiate you from another person, such as your spouse, personal friend, neighbor, an associate at work, and others. The type of personality you develop through the stages of life can adversely or positively affect your current life situation or future plans. Factors such as individual attributes, social attributes, how what you don't know can affect you, the keys to success from developing your personality, among others, will be of interest to you.

We are often seen as separate or different from another person base on our own thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition. Thinking enables us to recognize meaning, feeling helps us to evaluate and sensation provides us with perception and intuition points to possibilities available to us. Some consider feeling and thinking to be rational functions, but sensation and intuition as non-rational because they give rise to knowledge that cannot be reduced to any other mode of understanding. But we often demonstrate positive and negative individual attributes in our lives that can easily determine the success or failure in our personal relationships, academic pursuits, work goals, and daily general interactions with people.

THEN THE QUESTION ARISE WHAT IS PERSONALITY EXACTLY:

Personality is not easily defined. Basically, ‘personality’ refers to our attempts to capture or summarize an individual’s ‘essence’. Personality is person-ality, the science of describing and understanding persons. Clearly, personality is a core area of study for psychology, if not the core. Together with intelligence, the topic of personality constitutes the most significant area of individual difference study.

No two people are exactly the same - not even identical twins. Some people are anxious, some are risk-taking; some are phlegmatic, some highly-strung; some are confident, some shy; and some are quiet and some are loquacious. This issue of differences is fundamental to the study of personality. Where the differences come from: as with intelligence we have found that there is a mixture of nature and nurture involved.

Personality comes from the Greek word "persona", meaning "mask"

The word ‘personality’ derives from the Latin word ‘persona’ which means ‘mask’. The study of personality can be understood as the study of ‘masks’ that people wear. These are the personas that people project and display, but also include the inner parts of psychological experience which we collectively call our ‘self’.

"I" IS FOR PERSONALITY

According to Adams (1954, cited in Schultz & Schultz, 1994) personality is “I”.

Adams suggested that we get a good idea of what personality is by listening to what we say when we use "I". When you say I, you are, in effect, summing up everything about yourself - your likes and dislikes, fears and virtues, strengths and weaknesses.

The word I is what defined you as an individual, as a person separate from all others.” (Schultz & Schultz, 1994, p.8)

 "I AM" EXERCISE

Write 10 honest endings to "I am..."

Share them with someone

Does this sum up your personality? Why or why not?

A contemporary definition for personality is offered by Carver and Scheier (2000, p.5): “Personality is a dynamic organization, inside the person, of psychophysical systems that create a person’s characteristic patterns of behavior, thoughts, and feelings.” Carver & Scheier (2000, p.5)Dynamic Organisation: suggests ongoing readjustments, adaptation to experience, continual upgrading, and maintaining Personality doesn’t just lie there. It has a process and it’s organized. Inside the Person: suggests internal storage of patterns, supporting the notion that personality influences behaviors, etc.

Psychophysical systems: suggests that the physical is also involved in ‘who we are’

Characteristic Patterns: implies that consistency/continuity which is uniquely identifying of an individual

Behavior, Thoughts, and Feelings indicates that personality includes a wide range of psychological experience/manifestation: that personality is displayed in MANY ways.

NOW, WHAT ACTUALLY PERSONALITY MEANS

Whenever we talk about personality most of us go for "LOOKS". But here comes the diversion of definition. Is personality at a glance means to say "LOOKS"? For me, it is partial. The foremost thing or the main thing for which we can determine or perceive another stranger is via his external or physical outfit, as no one can know how he is? His behavior, character at a glance so personality at a glance goes for "LOOKS". But, most of the people only think that if a person has good looks, then he/she has got personality and I totally disagree this statement. He/she only possess looks, external personality but not personality as a whole. So to analyze or determine somebody's total personality we have to understand him/her which needs time. Someone might not be good looking but he/she can have his/her behavior, character outstanding and vice-versa.

Personality traits are not inborn or genetically inherent. We have to develop or enhance these traits after landing on earth. We are the only one who can develop our whole personality. There are others like our parents who are always there to help us but the actual hero is with us. If we are interested to develop our personality we need to learn many things and might be more and more and more things. Apart from academic education we must have to learn many extracurricular things like:

1) Public Speaking Skills.

2) Body language Skills.

3) Handwriting analysis Skills.

4) Behavioral Skills.

5) Anger Management Skills.

6) Fitness Skills.

7) Yoga and Exercise.

8) Food habit.

9) Communication Skills.

10) Friends making Skills.

11) Relationship Skills.

12) Super learning Skills.

13) Dealing with problems.

14) Self or Auto-Suggestions skills and much more which can't be listed here.

A person can only be a real person when he/she can be cent percent successful in fulfilling his/her whole responsibility and the above-mentioned points are the key points and landmarks to make one RESPONSIBLE, RATIONAL, BOLD, BRAVE and SMART

It can be defined as something which enhances your personality, like your presence your looks, your attitude, your skills at a given moment, or a situation. Every situation can enhance your personality. With your skill, one can change any situation to a favorable one. PERSONALITY ads up to external factors like your job, your work environment, your relationship with people. It is necessary to have a personality for any given job or develop it.

Personality is what makes a person a unique person, and it is recognizable soon after birth. A child's personality has several components: environment, and character. Temperament is the set of genetically determined traits that determine the child's approach to the world and how the child learns about the world. There are no genes that specify personality traits, but some genes do control the development of the nervous system, which in turn controls behavior.

The second component of personality comes from adaptive patterns related to a child's specific environment. Most psychologists agree that these two factors—temperament and environment—influence the development of a person's personality the most. Temperament, with its dependence on genetic factors, is sometimes referred to as "nature," while the environmental factors are called "nurture."

While there is still controversy as to which factor ranks higher in affecting personality development, all experts agree that high-quality parenting plays a critical role in the development of a child's personality. When parents understand how their child responds to certain situations, they can anticipate issues that might be problematic for their child. They can prepare the child for the situation or in some cases they may avoid a potentially difficult situation altogether. Parents who know how to adapt their parenting approach to the particular temperament of their child can best provide guidance and ensure the successful development of their child's personality.

Finally, the third component of personality is character—the set of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral patterns learned from experience that determines how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. A person's character continues to evolve throughout life, although much depends on inborn traits and early experiences. Character is also dependent on a person's moral development.

PAINT YOUR LIFE WITH A DIFFERENT COLOUR:

 Factors involving Personality Development      

In today's world, academic knowledge alone is not sufficient to grow and excel in life. A lot of other factors need to be taken care of before we go ahead. We see such things on a regular basis. Today it is no longer possible to get a job or an admission just on the basis of an entrance test. Each of these processes is followed by either a Group Discussion or a Personal Interview, or both. This is clear that we not only have to be technically and academically sound but also on other personality fronts. Personality is not what can be improved in a day's or week's or month's time. Remember, personality development is a continuous process.

You come to know of your strengths and weaknesses and will also know how to capitalize on your strengths and improve upon your weaknesses.

General Awareness: General awareness is your in-depth knowledge about your society and surroundings.

Social Skills: Social Skills is the way you interact with your peer group.

Presentation Skills: Presentation Skills is how good you are at in presenting your idea.

Creativity: Creativity means presenting old ideas in a new way.

Communication Skills: Communication is what the receiver receives.

Positive attitude: Positive attitude makes the final difference in presentation

PERSONALITY FOR THE PURPOSE OF GETTING A JOB

It is generally agreed upon fact that a successful individuals work with people and not on them. They work smart and not hard. They make friends and retain them. These people would always reach the top and stay there, and finally, always have a  positive attitude towards life.

Personality can also be understood by the way.

(1) We perceive reality,

(2) how we react to life,

(3) how we look at things, will impact throughout the frame of our personality. A lot of personal growth and self-fulfillment can be achieved if one is aware of the need to develop one's true potential.

MAJOR REQUIREMENTS TOWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALITY: 

The following are the nine major requirements toward the development of a FINE career personality:

1) KINDNESS

2) CLEANLINESS OF BOTH MIND AND BODY

3) UNSELFISHNESS

4) GOOD DISPOSITION

5) OBEDIENCE TO IDEALS AND PRINCIPLES

6) HONESTY IN ALL THINGS

7) TRUTHFULNESS

8) LOYALTY

9) GOOD HEALTH

GETTING ON WELL IN THE JOB:

If you want a strong personality which can lead to career success, you might want to consider the following tips and tricks:

Keep smiling

Smiling improves your mood, and can also help put people on your side. For those who like frowning, try a smile instead. And fake it until you make it..

Be polite

An ordinary man can become great if he is polite. He may also lose trust and respect if he is rude and inconsiderate with his words.

Speak sweetly

We should speak in a way that pleases ourselves and others as well. Speaking sweetly is an expression of the feelings we have for others.

"It costs nothing to speak nicely. In Thai culture, particular words such as 'ka' and 'krub' express politeness and sweetness."

Good manners

Say "Thank you" when colleagues offer a helping hand. These days, the word "thank you" is one of the most neglected words in our language. Also say "Excuse me" to get someone's attention.

Open a conversation

A friendly greeting can bring down barriers between people. It can also create a friendly atmosphere which influences everyone who comes into contact with you.

Dress appropriately for the job

Ensure that you look tidy and clean, at least to start the day. An interviewer may consider a job applicant who wears untidy clothes as someone who also tends to turn up to work late.

Choose the right color and style of clothes for work.

If you are a graphic designer, wearing a shirt with flowers or cartoon patterns at work is nothing out of the ordinary.

However, on formal and serious occasions, avoid red and pink. Opt for neutral colors such as white, grey, or black instead.

"Bright colors can distract participants in a meeting. They should focus on the topic being discussed, not what you are wearing."

First impressions

Every moment of our life is a golden opportunity; we should make the best use of every chance we get.

Prepare yourself for business meetings. Put off meetings if you have just exchanged angry words with someone in your private life.

"Anger is your enemy. Getting angry habitually can also prevent you from developing your personality."

Learning who you are dealing with in business is another key to success.

If you are with someone who talks fast, you should increase the speed at which you yourself speak. People tend to like others who are like them.

Be humble

Thais tend to like someone who is humble. Try to think fast, but speak little. Being over-confident does not go down well.

Be smart

Be enthusiastic about learning new things, particularly topics that affect your work. Acquiring relevant skills can help improve your performance.

Positive attitudes

People who have positive and healthy minds tend to establish good relations with others. Always fill your mind with fresh and positive thoughts.

Good listeners and conversationalists

Try to make eye contact with the person you're talking to. Listen more, and speak less. Express your own ideas and feelings when necessary. If you do, give honest ones. Nod your head when you agree with an idea.

JOB PERFORMANCE AND PERSONALITY:

Job performance and personality are related. It appears that the relation between job performance and the five factors is more a consequence of the social aspects of the workplace than of ability. Research indicates that cognitive ability is more strongly correlated with task performance than any of the five factors are correlated with task performance. The five factors are strongly correlated with cooperating with others and enjoying the overall workplace experience, which are key components of long-term job success.

The five factors are:

1.    Job satisfaction

2.    Devotion in the workplace

3.    Absence

4.    Teamwork

5.    Personal selection

Being absent from work or working as a team are correlates of personality that directly affect whether one will succeed in the workplace, and they are strongly correlated with the Big Five and not with cognitive ability.

It is worth noting that the majority of research has been on sales or other occupations in which interacting with people is required. Is it possible that these studies are skewed? Perhaps researching individuals in jobs that require very little human interaction would yield different results.

Conscientiousness and extraversion are the two aspects of the five-factor model that are always correlated with positive job performance, although conscientiousness is more positively correlated (extraversion is negatively correlated with job performance in that it appears to inspire more absence, but only when combined with low levels of conscientiousness). Agreeableness is negatively correlated with job performance within a leadership role. Openness to experience, in general, is unrelated. Neuroticism is negatively correlated with job performance.

Cognitive ability may allow an employee to complete a specific task, but the ability to work with others and to stay motivated are aspects of personality. The five-factor model is a valid predictor of workplace performance. Personality is an indispensable consideration for employers looking for quality employees.

Leaders with proper skills in motivation, who stimulate and challenge subordinates, are referred to as transformational leaders.

Transformational leadership consists of four constructs: charisma or idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. These are leaders whose teams always outperform everybody else. These types of leaders are the ones whom everyone wants to be like or to have on their team. How do transformational leaders relate to job satisfaction? Transformational leaders take time to answer the questions of an individual worker. They make the worker feel needed. When team members feel as though they are needed by the team, they are more likely to be satisfied with their job. Transformational leaders act toward other employees like coaches and mentors, and many times are seen more like the person with all the answers then as a higher-ranking employee. The transformational leader does not have to be the appointed leader either. The transformational leader can be a normal team member with all the traits of a transformational leader, acting to mitigate the diminishing effect that a non-transformational leader has on the team. The subject of personality has received increasing attention from industrial/organizational psychologists in both research and practice settings over the past decade. But while there is an overabundance of information related to the narrow area of personality testing and employee selection, there has been no definitive source offering a broader perspective on the overall topic of personality in the workplace. Personality and job, at last, provides an in-depth examination of the role of personality in work behavior. An array of expert authors discuss the connection of personality to a wide range of outcomes beyond performance, including counterproductive behaviors, contextual performance, retaliatory behaviors, retention, learning, knowledge creation, and the process of sharing that knowledge.

Scholars have identified positive benefits for employees involved as protégés in informal mentoring relationships, including more frequent promotions, higher salaries, and greater career satisfaction. Alternatively, many organizations have recently developed formal mentoring programs, in which junior employees are assigned to higher-level managers for mentoring. Often, these programs are designed to provide women and other minorities with much-needed career assistance and access to powerful upper-level managers. The article is an attempt to elaborate on the traits and benefits of personality in organizations

Dr. Ritu Soryan