To Know, Know, Know You

Want to get to know me?

I’m an ENTJ on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator — my preference is to be an Extraverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Judger (that last one means I like to decide, and decide now, thank you very much).

On the Kolbe Conative Strengths Index, I am a natural Fact Finder, followed closely by Quick Start. That means I will do the research but then want to get going (see “Judging” above).

The Clifton Strengths Finder indicates that my top strengths are: Strategic, Ideation, Activator, Communication, Input.

“Bunch of assessments, bunch of results. So what?” Hear this a lot from people. “Yeah, yeah. But just tell me what it is I’m supposed to do with my life.”

Look, these assessments do serve to tell me more about you — but, really… they’re designed to tell you more about you.

Because one thing I know for sure: the more you know about yourself and your innate preferences, the more clear you are. When you are clear, you make better decisions. When you make better decisions, you’re happier and more successful.

And who doesn’t want that?

Some people resist assessments because they don’t like being “put in a box” or “labelled”. These people probably have very high preference toward Perceiving and I love them for sticking to their type. (That’s a Myers-Briggs reference — Perceivers just want to keep all of their options open. In the trade we call this their P-ness, which is a little Myers-Briggs joke. OK, a stupid Myers-Briggs joke, but there you have it.)

But when I see the lightbulb go off over someone’s head when they realize they aren’t wrong and they don’t need to be fixed — that, instead, they need to play to their innate preferences and solid strengths — it’s a highlight of my work.

I’m talking about the woman who berated herself for years for having to talk to think, until she realized that’s the way she’s wired. Or the man who shifted his continual “loser” self-talk as he realized that he just liked to be flexible and keep his options open (got in touch with his P-ness, yuk, yuk). Or the woman who, for the first time, figured out why she was so frustrated working for other people — she has all the attributes of a CEO and needs to move toward that kind of role.

Accepting your preferences, strengths and talents, and then aligning your actions with what it is you do best, naturally, is the easiest and most efficient way toward success.

And when it comes down to it, knowing yourself — inside and out — and living authentically, P-ness and all (I couldn’t help myself), will make you not only successful, but happy. And you’ll do it the easy way — by just being yourself.

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