I Am Mediator, Hear Me Roar!
I think it’s time to admit that I am a personality-test-aholic. Between the 16Personalities, StrengthsFinder, Strengths Profile, and Enneagram tests, I know more about myself than I probably ever need to. In case you’re wondering, I am an INFJ, my top strengths are innovation and adherence, and my enneagram type is 9 wing 1. You might find this hard to believe, but when I learned that my homework assignment this week involved taking yet another personality test, I was pretty excited. Sally Hogshead’s Fascinate Test offers an interesting twist on your average test, however. It’s a surprisingly short, yet creepily accurate way to reveal how the world sees you by defining your archetype, which is further broken down into primary, secondary, and dormant advantages. Learning about these is intended to best help you put yourself in advantageous positions, as well as understand how to avoid situations that are putting you at a disadvantage. As someone who will be entering the workforce soon, this seems like crucial information for making positive impressions and learning how I best work with others.
My Name is Mediator
No, that’s not quite as intimidating as Russell Crowe’s famous speech in “Gladiator.” On a positive note, I did see a lot of myself in the description of my archetype. The Mediator is described by the adjectives steadfast, composed, structured, effectual, and vigilant. My primary advantage is “alert,” meaning I’m proactive, organized, and detailed. It’s like the test knows I use a color-coded planner, Google Calendar, and too many to-do lists. My secondary advantage is “trust,” indicating stability, dependability, and familiarity. My dormant advantage is “power,” essentially meaning that I don’t like playing bad cop.
What I found interesting about these results is that the qualities associated with my primary advantage are things I know to be true about myself, while those associated with my secondary advantage are what I hope others see in me, but question if they truly do or not. My dormant advantage is something that I value and respect in other people, but have trouble seeing in myself. Also, while reading my results, it truly felt like an external evaluation of myself. I felt an increased sense of confidence when reading about being alert and trustworthy, the same way I would if someone told me that in person. On the other hand, I felt a small sense of uneasiness when reading about my dormant advantage, which almost instantly verified the results in my book.
My Personality Test Toolbox
Your average toolbox probably has a hammer, screwdriver, pliers, and a wrench. Mine has the results of five different personality tests — seemingly useless if you don’t find the information interesting, but insanely valuable in almost any setting. The Myers-Briggs Personality Test (I took a shortened, free version on 16Personalities) has been most useful in understanding how I behave in social settings. It made me more aware of my introverted tendencies and what recharging can look like for me. The strengths tests I took are very similar to the Fascinate Test in that they are about what you bring to the job that you do. The ability to clearly communicate what areas I can help move something along in and what areas I may hold a project back in help define what types of positions I would be best fit for, and what situations will quickly drain me. As I focus on developing a personal brand, I want to emphasize not just situations where I think I excelled, but also situations where the people I worked with thought I excelled. The Fascinate Test words your qualities in a way that makes your worth to a team abundantly clear. It’s a test absolutely worth having in your toolbox.
