This is a nice short series that Tony Alessandra recently put up on YouTube that I would like to share with you. These two videos run under 5 minutes and are quite humorous.
I have seen Tony do this piece before but it is a very nice summary of how the visual, vocal and verbal can help you to understand others and their behaviours
I recently wrote a post on my Eclectic Change blog about my own personal work in progress of Eccentricity being a slippery slope. I created a non serious quiz as part of the post. Here is an excerpt and the quiz.
In popular usage, eccentricity refers to unusual or odd behavior on
the part of an individual. It could be construed as a personality
that is bizarre: conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual.
But there is another far more powerful meaning: out of center or having
an axis or point of support that is not centrally placed. Off
center means that being eccentric can show up in different
extremes. The word extreme is a clue. Here are some questions to help
you decided your own eccentricity.
Eccentricity Quiz
Scoring
Give yourself a point for each question that you answered yes
except for questions 1, 3 and 5. Give yourself a point for question
1, 3 and 5, if you answered no. If you have a score of
6 or more, you may be eccentric. (By the way, these questions and the
scoring is totally off the top of my head and is meant for amusement
purposes only.)
Here is another view of the top five indicators of an eccentric personality taken from Martin Howard's recent article on "Why we need eccentricity". Source is Dr. David Weeks*.
•
A non-conforming attitude• Creativity
•
Curiosity• Idealism
• An obsession with a
hobby or hobbies
In Eccentrics, David Weeks & Jamie James summarize findings
from
a systematic study of "eccentrics": highly talented and unusual
people. They infuse comedy and entertainment into the often barren
landscape of
social science research while investigating the fascinating characters.
Eccentrics vary between genuine geniuses and charming crackpots. Their
defining
features are a refusal to hold commonly held beliefs and/or refusal to
act
according to the norms of society.
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If you score well – you listen well. I don't think so. If you can figure out who is who, you are knowledgeable. No again. OK maybe this isn't related to the use of assessments by coaches or trainers but have fun anyway. Go ahead, test yourself with this fun celebrity voice-over quiz. In this Slate video, ten famous actors anonymously lend their voice talent—guess their identities. If it means anything – which I doubt, I only got the last one.
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I wrote an article for the Business Coaching Worldwide in 2005 and began:
Hi, My Name is Roberta and I am an Assessment Addict
Just
label me an INTP, Di, 5, Green with Orange (but red in another model),
Driver, Theoretical, Synthesist with high expressed control needs and a
fact finder / quick start action mode. Yes, it is true; I am an assessment
junkie. And if you know what most of this means, then you too need AA–Assessments Anonymous!
Obviously, the article was meant tongue in cheek.
What does your Name Tag Personality Badge Say?
I was horrified – OK maybe not horrified but dismayed to read an article at SmartBrief called: "Pink-slip personalities". This was definitely a catchy title that landed the article as one of the top five articles the second week of January.
The actual title is: "Your workplace personality could help or hurt your odds of keeping your job"
by Marcia Heroux Pounds. I hate scare tactics more than I hate labels.
With so many managers now looking over their staff lists to identify who they might have to lay off, the ability of employees to get along with each other, communicate well and work well in teams can come into play. Some companies, such as Slaton Insurance in West Palm Beach, Fla., have used personality tests to help employees understand each other and avoid disagreements. James Looram, author of "Your Essential Self," says employees need to keep in mind they don't have to like each other, they just have to work together. Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) (01/14)
It is OK if I choose to label myself – that is my prerogative but I do not think it is appropriate for me to be pressured socially to do so. I am not a two dimensional character and I am tired of individuals in organizations reducing staff into a color or a four digit anagram. Don't get me wrong, I love the MBTI and I am willing to tell you my type. I have personally benefited from understanding my Ennegram number. And I think the Kolbe which is the assessment of labeling in the above article is excellent.
So, is this avatar me? Or this serious version? Or how about me at 2? Cute, yes, but I am so much more that these pictures. These are mere representations of me; a snap shot in time. A piece of the puzzle that makes up Roberta F. Hill. They may capture a little bit of me to those who know me well but if you don't. . . you end up making your own assumptions. Why do you think we try to get great looking professional pictures to post on our blog, or web site, or bio or book? I like my new picture up top – informal and makes me look less than my real age!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In keeping with this discussion I am pleased to present the following article (where you will find great comments) in full by a colleague, Sandy McMullen, from her own blog on PersonalityPlusinBusiness.com entitled:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Repeat after me “I am not a label”
Imagine a work environment where everyone has their MBTI type label posted on their office door. This may strike some as just terribly efficient. But no No NO NOOOOO…this is just bad practice and a misuse of the MBTI or any other assessment tool IMHO.
People are NOT any label that you might hang on them, and this way of viewing the use of assessment tools does a disservice to everyone. MBTI professionals are very careful in their language to make the distinction. They will talking about “those with a preference for Extraversion” as opposed to “those who ARE Extraverts”. People are wonderfully complex and they definitely should not be limited by any label. People HAVE a preference – they AREN’T their preference. This distinction matters.
When you hang a sign on a door that limits possibilitites for genuine engagement. People can make all kinds of false assumptions based on too little information and misunderstanding. It is an act that separates us from each other rather than building true connection and compassion.
Knowing that someone may have a different type helps me to understand how they process information and make decisions differently from my way of being. I don’t have to take their behaviour as a problem or weird or even better than mine – simply different. If I spend some time observing myself I may even come to appreciate the benefit of how their type handles some situations where my way of processing may have blind spots.
Yes – use the MBTI to learn how to communicate with other styles. Yes – use the MBTI to find work that fits your natural ways of being. Yes – use the MBTI to learn to see and appreciate each other and to share in a way that builds trust. This approach involves real conversation about our different perspectives and a desire to learn and understand those with whom we work. Putting type labels on office doors may do the opposite – contributing to judgment and alienation. Don’t do it even if you think people will be okay with it – it may seem harmless but it isn’t.
About the author:
Sandy McMullen is accredited in several assessment tools including the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Emotional Intelligence 360 (ECI) assessment. She holds a B.A. from the University of Western Ontario. Please visit Sandy's websites at www.sandymcmullen.com and www.personalityplusinbusiness.com
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I love when these sorts of things come across my desk and all the more if it relates to something that I can share on one of my blogs! This comes from The Training Zone. Please click the link and check it out for yourself .
As Christmas draws near, the competencies of Santa and his Elves will
once more be tested to the limit. Dawn Smith asks an expert panel to
consider the training needs of Big S and his team, and the challenges
involved in delivering the training. Below are their suggestions for a
North Pole training programme. Happy Christmas!
As a Certified Master Coach who is interested in assessments, leadership and teams this is my favourite one:
Finally, Jennifer Taylor suggests that a supportive executive coach
might be found for Santa, to develop his leadership skills. In
particular, she is concerned that Santa’s standard response of ‘Ho Ho
Ho’ is not in line with the leadership style that the HR Elf will
surely be trying to inculcate throughout the team.
Christmas Competition
After reading the competencies, perhaps you have additional contributions? Do you have any great tips to add
to Santa’s training assessment? The funniest suggestion will win a copy
of Balance Learning’s latest product, EmailLogic, with two runners up
getting a copy of a great new book – one will receive a copy of
‘Meeting Magic’, the other a copy of ’54 Tools and Techniques for
Business Excellence’. So get your thinking caps on, and good luck!
Email your suggestions to editor@trainingzone.co.uk
In theory this video has absolutely nothing do do with assessments but that has never stopped me before! With amazing brilliance, I shall make connections . . .
Strangely, besides the Abbott and Costello skit of "Who’s on First" or even Orwell’s 1984, I was also reminded of the Jo-Hari Window which is pertinent
to this blog. I often use this model in conjunction with team training and The Platinum RuleTM Behavioral Style Assessment
"The Johari Window model
was developed by American psychologists Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in the
1950′s, while researching group dynamics. Today the Johari Window model is
especially relevant due to modern emphasis on, and influence of, ‘soft’ skills,
behaviour, empathy, cooperation, inter-group development and interpersonal
development."*
*A fantastic resource for all sorts of things is www.BusinessBalls.com
Finally, I do intend on drawing a connection between this absurd contradiction and twisted logic to the use of assessments. It is quite easy to fall into the trap of trying to convince ourselves and those that we are working with that an assessment can actually uncover the unknown – they don’t. They might help surface our blind spots as shown in the Johari Model’s Hidden Self but the theory suggests that it takes an unusual or unexpected event (not a quiz) to bring out the unknown. In truth we know very little about ourselves and others but assessments may be a small step towards self awareness but probably not enlightenment.
Assessments are simply attempts to measure what is. Therefore, I think MySpace video strongly qualifies as some form of assessment if not the normal kind that I write about. In addition there is a mention as to the type of font one uses reflects one’s personality:
How NOT to Make a Powerpoint
In some ways, the Assessments Today
blog is really about learning about ourselves and others to be all that we can
be. So I want to encourage all forms of
self discovery be they “personality” assessments or food for thought. To that end, I want to tell
particular item because, Julia does actually mention “personality tests”. As I said, a bit of a stretch perhaps. I found this amusing and surprisingly
candid. You may not share this view as
it just poke fun at religion but it doesn’t come across as disrespectful. At least not to me.
Each year, TED hosts some of the
world’s most fascinating people: Trusted voices and convention-breaking
mavericks, icons and geniuses. The talks they deliver have had had such an
impact, the producers thought they deserved a wider audience. Each week, they
release a new talk, in audio and video, to download or watch online. To check out what is available go here.
I couldn’t help but find a way to add this here – it is so funny. The reason we need trainers and coaches is age old:
By Roberta Hill
Just label me an INTP, Di, 5, Green with Orange (but red in another model), Driver, Theoretical, Synthesist with high expressed control needs and a fact finder / quick start action mode. Yes, it is true; I am an assessment junkie. And if you know what most of this means, then you too need AA–Assessments Anonymous!
Not only do I take every quasi assessment that I can get my hands on, I keep a record of them all. Recently, while I was clearing out my papers for my move to Geneva, I stumbled across an old file that had some of my earlier results from before 1980. Scary, isn’t it? What is more disturbing is that over the years, I have retaken many of the same instruments or variations therein and my results really haven’t changed. There is definitely a pattern and a consistency… as there should be. That’s the good news.
Some people tell me that they don’t like assessments because "They all say the same thing." In some instances, particularly with behaviorally-based instruments there is some validity to this observation. This is a good thing. How many times do we have to hear the same message before we choose to do something about it? There should be continuity and relationships between the various instruments, even if the models and theories are different. In my view, assessments give insights into who we are and how we may show up in the world. They aren’t about trying to reinvent ourselves. Different assessments do this from various starting points and use languages or concepts that each of us relate to in different ways. So one instrument may build on another, and coaches can use this information to assist clients to make better choices and decisions.
The bad news is that we tend to easily label people, box them in and stereotype them, based on our biased understanding and interpretation. We either make excuses for behavior or we limit our beliefs about others. In other words, we’re bigots. I confess to you that I do it more than I care to admit. I tend to justify it by explaining that I am just using it as quick language to help the person I am talking to "get on the same page." It is still dangerous unless used in generalities and NEVER to explain some action by a specific individual. We have all seen it done. "Oh, well you know, he did that because he is a… (you fill in the blank)." It is unacceptable in gender, cultural and religious discussions, so why should we tolerate it around assessments?
To counteract these tendencies, I have started a new AA group with my very own Twelve Step program. Here are the principles for the Assessments Anonymous Recovery Group:
If you have recognized that this program may be for you, contact Coach Roberta to find out about our next meeting. By the way, first names only!
Author’s note: I strongly believe in the power and work of those involved in Twelve Step recovery programs and this tongue-in-cheek article is in no way meant to offend.
Copyright 2005 Roberta F. Hill, AssessmentsNow.com Used with permission. This article first appeared in Business Coaching Worldwide (Issue 3, 2005).
