I just completed my 7th book of the year, “What’s My Type?” by Hurley & Dobson. I’ve always been interested in understanding personality types ever since I first discovered the Myer’s Briggs personality typing reading the book “Type Talk”. It was very revealing for me being an introvert and lover of science, the book helped me to understand my own personality and how I relate to others (pretty important for an Introvert as especially important if you’re a leader and manager of people). In case you’re wondering, my Myers Briggs profile is INTJ.
Hurley & Dobson’s book focused on the Enneagram, which is another method of understanding personality types. The book describes 9 primary personality types. According to Enneagram theory, everyone emerges from childhood with one of these 9 types dominating their personality. This specific dominating personality type colors the way we see the world, make decisions and adapt to our early childhood environment. The model is a pretty deep one and I’m still absorbing the information and applying to my life.
The big take-way from the book is something I’ve always know and am continuing to apply. Teachability is extremely important. Much of our life is spent in non-teachable (if that’s such a word) mode. We think we know everything…and that thought pattern is an illusion even a self-deception. There are many things we do not know. We must force ourselves to actively listen to those around us. Pay attention to why certain situations frustrate us or get us angry. If you’re familiar with “Emotional Intelligence”, I’m talking about self-regulation. Call it humility.
zelf gemaakt (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
As a leader you should be spending a lot of time listening to your people. Really digging deep to understand what they’re saying. I don’t mean abdicating the role of a leader, but really listening to those who are at the front lines. Business is a fluid situation, things change and strategies don’t always work. As you business grows, the underlying root causes become ever more complex. Being teachable is a key that will help you understand the truth (which is not always black and white). Sometimes, you can actually be the barrier, the problem if you will. Again being teachable (or humble) will help you to move forward. This is one the principles I try to embrace as I lead the executive team at Astonish and one that I’m sure I’m only beginning to understand.
