Why you should care about personality tests

Personality tests aren’t about getting the ‘best’ score. You can’t win. There’s no right or wrong answer. Instead, they just give you an informative insight into your strengths and weaknesses, helping you to better understand what makes you tick.

There are flippin’ loads o’ different personality tests that you can take. While they might be fun to while away a slow Friday afternoon at the office, there are actually many legitimate reasons why you should A: take a personality test, and B: give two hoots about the results.

Myers-Briggs 

You may have heard of the Myers-Briggs Personality Types and its categories like ISTP and ENTJ.

Those results aren’t acronyms gone bad – those letters represent particular traits.

Developed by mother and daughter Katharine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers, this model is based on psychoanalyst Carl Jung’s work. The types act as reference points for you to understand your unique personality and how it shapes your world.

Generally speaking, Jung believed that people prefer one out of the following four pairs:

●      Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I)

●      Sensing (S) or Intuition (N)

●      Thinking (T) or Feeling (F)

●      Judgement (J) or Perception (P)

While you may believe at heart that you are an introvert or that you trust your brain over your heart, completing the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator? under the supervision of a qualified MBTI? practitioner may be an eye-opening process.

16 Personalities

With its basis in the Myers-Briggs model, 16 Personalities is a free, online-based personality test that gives your results as one of 16 characterfully named personalities within the categories of Analyst, Diplomat, Sentinel and Explorer.

These personality types correspond with the Myers-Briggs types, and each one features a detailed description of:

●      Strengths & Weaknesses

●      Romantic Relationships

●      Friendships

●      Parenthood

●      Career Paths

●      Workplace Habits

Don’t those sound like super interesting things to learn about yourself? The insight that you can gain into the workings of your own brain are fascinating to me, and they also help better understand those around us based on their personality types.

You can also see which celebrities and fictional characters share your traits. Along with being a bit of fun, this gives you further insight into the different personality types by viewing them through a familiar reference point. I’m a Defender, along with Queen Elizabeth II, Beyonce and Halle Berry.

“The Defender personality type is quite unique, as many of their qualities defy the definition of their individual traits. Though sensitive, Defenders have excellent analytical abilities; though reserved, they have well-developed people skills and robust social relationships; and though they are generally a conservative type, Defenders are often receptive to change and new ideas.” 

Yeah, I’m quite happy with that!        

Kolbe Indexes

The Kolbe Indexes focus on your strengths and how you can make the most of them. Created by Kathy Kolbe, the Indexes are backed by over 35 years of scientific research and designed to give an accurate interpretation through a quick, fun multiple-choice test.

Kolbe measures how much mental energy a person has for certain types of activities. The results are given in terms of your individual scores for:

●      Fact Finder

●      Follow Thru (let’s say Through for us in the UK)

●      Quick Start

●      Implementor

These scores delve into the types of roles and tasks that people are best suited to. For example, an entrepreneur may score highly in Quick Start but low in Follow Thru. This would mean that they have a lot of big ideas but don’t always see them through to completion. I bet you know quite a big-picture thinkers like that, right?!

Knowing a person’s scores in these areas greatly benefits the hiring process. If our entrepreneur was hiring, they would benefit from someone with complementary scores to fill the gaps. In this case, someone with a high Follow Thru (Through!) score who’s strong at taking action would be ideal.

Take a look at my Kolbe results to find out a little more about how I work.

Identifying weaknesses does NOT mean there’s something to fix

Whatever test you choose to take, your results will likely give you a variety of strengths and so-called weaknesses based on your personality type. However, this does NOT necessarily mean that you need to improve those perceived weaknesses.

In truth, it’s extremely beneficial to be aware of the areas that you naturally struggle with. This allows you to better plan your work, delegate tasks, or ask for assistance from someone who excels where you don’t.

Our different personality types all complement each other and allow us to work better together by understanding where our strengths lie, and where other peoples’ strengths lie; and THAT is what makes a powerhouse of a team.

Besides, if we were all the same, life would be as dull as dishwater – and our #getshitdone club would break up before it even began because certain tasks would never get done.

Find support where you need it

No matter what your personality type, there are other personalities that will complement yours and provide support in the right areas. Often, when hiring, we choose people just like us. It’s our default state. Yet successful businesses thrive when the team has a variety of skill sets.

Besides, using a more thorough selection process based on personality type theory encourages the hiring of team members rather than employees.

As an Online Business Manager, I support clients through the hiring process so they have the right people doing the right things within a team.

If you’re looking for the right people to support you, contact me and let’s discuss your business needs.

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