Strategy and Personality
Who are you? Good question, no? The study of personality can be interpreted as the study of masks people wear. The word ‘personality’ is derived from the Latin word persona, which was used for the mask worn by actors in ancient Rome to change their appearance. Nowadays, however, personality generally refers to our attempts to capture an individual’s ‘essence’: the assets we have, the complex set of qualities and attributes (behavioural, temperamental, emotional and mental) that characterise us as individuals and make us unique and distinct.
No two people are the same, not even twins. What, then, is our personality built around? Personal experiences, beliefs, expectations, desires, values, and behaviour, mostly based on our interaction between culture and the individual – meaning society and us. An individual’s personality also shapes the behaviour and technique that underlies problem solving. Your personality is your starting point. It is where you begin your journey towards a new vision by creating and leading positive change through personal growth. This is why we need to understand our personality, and have a primary focus on personal development to handle this new and sometimes contradictory world. Now, with the conclusions and insights you have gained about creative thinking, comes the assessment of your personality.
How do you define your individual human capital, your substance, your competences and skills, knowledge and creativity, personal attributes such as courage and drive, empathy and integrity, in everything you perform and produce? Your strategy springs out of your personality. Not everyone can do every job, but assessments help us to define roles you can play and maybe even unearth a hidden talent in an unsatisfactory job. Bear in mind that when you feel good you do your work best. A study by Proteus, a London-based consulting company, states that only 9% of European workers have a job that fits their personality structure.5 So what are the other 91% doing? Could this be the reason, perhaps, why so many of us have that strange feeling of not fulfilling our total potential?
Knowing your own personality helps you also to understand your learning style, which is important. Today you need to take life-long learning seriously. And it is also a great way to learn about yourself, and your relation to your peers.