Stop Tuning into the Loudest Voice in the Room. Your Business will Boom with Different Personalities.
It’s vitally important that all organisations search for value in different personality traits and realise the importance of adapting environments to be inclusive of as many personalities as possible. In this article, I address a few main ways in which you can lead this process in your organisation and the positive effect it will have on it.
Why Different Perspectives Matter
In a nutshell, different perspectives matter as they enable you to see concerns, queries, information and insights that your own personality trait might restrict your view of. For example, individuals with a dominant personality trait will often be focused on getting immediate results and taking action. In doing so their direct actions, self-confidence and ability to take risks might obscure them from factors identified by those with different traits. Others who are people orientated might bring social issues to the table that haven’t been addressed; someone with a conscientious trait may have data that will help execute a change more accurately.
Listening to others allows you to accommodate and understand more from different types of people. This creates a naturally supportive environment in which people work together to meet a certain goal; it is a much more effective way to work. To put this another way, a team full of people with the same personality traits is more likely to fail than a rounded team where different perspectives and preferences are embraced.
As a team leader then, developing a space where different perspectives are respected is an important task that can have a direct impact on whether projects succeed or fail. Here are just a couple of examples of ways to include the voices of those with different personalities in order to gain a wider range of perspectives.
Brainstorms and Workshops are Challenging for Some
Different personality traits mean that individuals perform or react to situations differently. Those who consider themselves to be conscientious are often reserved and quiet. However, their motivations to gain knowledge and ensure accuracy whilst having an attention to quality means that their perspective on situations can be very important. For example, they may have already analysed data that relates to a particular project and have formulated some ideas for going forward. In a brainstorming session however, they may not feel comfortable enough to raise their ideas or might feel that the session is a waste of time as they have already determined the right course of action!
A leader must recognise that differences in personality traits mean that team members need to be handled in different ways. Those who are more analytical and speak less need to be made to feel like a valued part of the team and encouraged to contribute in a way that suits them.
Watch out for Narrative Dominators
This links back to previous discussions which have stressed the importance of being self-aware. By identifying and understanding your own personality traits, you are able to begin to appreciate others and can identify the values that they hold.
For example, narratives can often be dominated by those who are faster paced; these are more outgoing, social and willing to have their voices heard (the dominant and influencer traits). To others, those with the Dominant style might seem forceful, intense, demanding and impulsive and therefore might not wish to engage with them. However their style and way of thinking is not to be undervalued as they can be the driving force behind ‘getting things done’.
By being self-aware, you should start to realise the best ways to connect with those who have different traits in order to get value from them. If you tend to let others do the talking by nature make an effort not to sit back and let the narrative be dominated by one particular set of people. Instead, you should find ways to connect with them by appealing to their characteristics and adapting your own traits (for a short period at least). If you are detail oriented remember that others aren’t.Talk to them about the big picture rather than getting caught up in details or start to voice your own concerns.
This process of adapting and challenging creates a melting pot of ideas; the different perspectives of those with varying personality traits are shared, discussed and analysed, resulting in a much better outcome for the business. Any action after this can then be taken with the support of the whole team without one voice having dictated a decision.
Being Self-Aware is Everything; Learning to use this is Everything Else
This expression summarises everything I have discussed above and should be the key takeaway point. Once you have an understanding of your own traits and preferences, you should be prepared to adapt yourself when required even if it means putting yourself in situations you are not always 100% comfortable with. In doing so, you can start to work more effectively with the people in your workplace.
For me as an introvert, my self-awareness has encouraged me to recognise the value of networking, put myself out there and work for a team, and stand my ground when a counter-argument arises with a more vocal figure.
This doesn’t mean you have to seek to change your own style, however; just adapt it to achieve things you want to achieve for yourself and the organisation. As a leader a key test is to figure out how to get the most out of everyone, including yourself!
