If you’ve
been in the work world for any length of time, chances are you’ve participated
in at least one personality assessment. These
assessment tools, many of them based on the work of Swiss psychotherapist Carl Jung, use a series of
questions and psychometric indicators to provide individuals with increased
awareness of their own behaviors and, ideally, better understanding of the
behaviors of others. Many organizations
are now using these tools in their hiring process, to assist with team
building, and in leadership development and sales training programs.
While
increased self-awareness and better understanding of others generally results
in improved communication and harmony, the “typing” that is inherent in many of
these tools can have a negative effect. There have been many articles recently, for example, about
introverts and extraverts, two types identified by Jung. Which type makes a
better leader, a better employee, a better salesperson? Reducing the complexity of the human
personality into such a narrow scope can limit an individual in their own eyes
and the eyes of others. It puts people in a box.
It’s time to
get out of the box.
A more innovative, comprehensive and
realistic approach is to focus on traits, not types. Assessments that use this approach, such as Lumina Spark, recognize the complex contradictions
that make each one of us unique. An individual may have both introvert and extravert qualities, for
example. There are multiple facets of
introversion and extraversion. Those facets may be utilized more or less
dependent on the present situation. By
measuring a person’s use of polar opposite traits,
individuals can be seen for their unique capabilities rather than limited by
typing them into a category.
Based on the latest academic research
in the “Big 5” personality traits, and integrated with certain elements
of Jungian theory, the Lumina framework embraces the fact that each individual
possesses opposing personality traits. It’s “both and” thinking versus “either
or” thinking.
Everyone
possesses all five of the “Big 5” personality traits – extraversion,
agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience – but
we each possess them to varying degrees. We are unique individuals, not types.
Individuals
are complex, and should not be placed in boxes, limiting the beliefs about
their effectiveness, their capabilities and their ability to develop and
expand.
“He who knows others
is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.” – Lao Tzu
If you’d like to learn more about these assessments for you
or for your organization, please contact me for your local Lumina Learning
Affiliate. You can reach me at RebeccaBales@luminalearning.com.
Lead on,
Rebecca
