From the course: How to Be a Better Boss

Personality types

From the course: How to Be a Better Boss

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Personality types

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- To be a great manager or leader, you need to understand the people who you work with. So I just want to have a look at that now. Now, there are loads of theories of personality and I'm just going to pick one and I'm going to pick my favorite one, because I find this one very practical. I use it all the time on my customers, particularly, but on the people I work with generally as well. And the key is to communicate in the way that they would like you to communicate. So, not just to think, well, that's how I am, but to think what are they like? So, some people want lots of detail. Some people want minimum detail. Some people want lots of facts and evidence, whereas others, they want an exciting vision of the future. They're more emotionally driven. So the key is to work out what kind of person you're dealing with and to speak their language. And this applies to everyone who you work with. So it could be the team who work for you. It could be your colleagues in other departments who you deal with on the same sort of level. It could be your boss. And then of course, customers and suppliers. So this applies to everyone. Now, we're not going to go into loads of detail, because the whole point about this course is these are just brief tips that you can use, but let's have a quick look at the four types of people. And then I'm going to give you the task of putting your colleagues, team, equals, boss, customers, everybody. I want you to put all of those into one of these four boxes if you can. Now, you'll find that it won't work with everyone. Some people are kind of in the middle and you're not really sure what they are. So that's fine. But if it works with half of them, then that's a result, 'cause it's going to help you to adapt to those people. And particularly to the quite strong personality types. They are easier to identify. And it's also more important that you adapt when you deal with them. So this works best for the ones who really need to be dealt with differently. So, four types of people, and if you look at the diagram, we've got two axes. And the first axis is extrovert to introvert. So we've got the really quiet people on the left and they are the ones who you would call introvert. But they're the ones who they like to think. They like to listen rather than talk. They like lots of detail. That kind of person. The more cautious person. On the right you've got the mouthy, outgoing, decisive, just weighed in type people. And by the way, there's no right or wrong. It's just how people are. And we need all the types in a team. So we've got from quiet to outgoing. The other axis, which I've got from top to bottom. The top two I've got are the logical people. They like to have facts and reasons and numbers. And it's all down to logic. They're ruled by their head. The bottom two people are ruled by their heart. So their decision making preference is emotional. They're much more influenced by how other people feel, how they feel. So with them, they're ruled by their heart. Again, no right or wrong. People are just different. So if you look at the four combinations. Top left, you've got the quiet, logical person. That's the analytical kind of engineers and accountants are quite often in that box, although not always. You've got the top right box which are also logical, but they're more outgoing. And these are the controllers. They're the sort of tough, decisive, you know, ballpark, just get on with it type of people. You've got the bottom right enthusiasts. So they are also outgoing, but they're much more emotional than the controllers. So enthusiasts love an exciting vision of the future. And then bottom left, also emotional but quieter, you've got the amiables, and these are the lovely caring people who are into things like trust and relationships and teamwork and that sort of thing. So you've got the four types. I want you just to see if you can allocate your colleagues to those boxes, because once you've worked out what type somebody is, you can then make sure that you deal with them in the way that they want to be dealt with. So, you can imagine how if they're an analytical, you'd want to calmly go through all the details and facts with them, spreadsheets, that sort of thing. If you're dealing with a controller, you just want to cut to the point. You know, just three key reasons, bullet points, that sort of thing. If you're dealing with the enthusiast, then everything's got to be fun. This is why we're doing it. You got to keep a bit of an eye on them 'cause they're quite disorganized, and just make sure that they don't drop any balls. And then the bottom left, the amiable. You need to spend a bit of time with them. Get to know them, become their friend. Listen to them. Show that you actually care and make sure that they feel involved and that you're working as a kind of partnership with them. So, your challenge is to put your colleagues into those four boxes and think about, how should you perhaps handle them differently to how you have been handling them? 'Cause you'll have one natural style depending on what you're like. And that might not be the best style for the other three. But remember, it's okay if some don't really fit. That's absolutely fine, because if this works for half of them, that is still a result. So, download the diagram now and put as many people who you can that you work with into the four boxes.

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