How well do you know your employees? Do you get how they are wired? If you understood how they were wired, how would it impact the way they serve one another, your clients, the company as a whole?
As businesses grow, you as a leader cannot do everything on your own. You must delegate to other people, which requires working with various personality types. This can be a good thing. Hopefully those who report to you have a variety of personality types that can benefit the company. The more diverse the personality types, the better; they can catch blind spots, they have a wide variety of strengths benefiting the company, and more growth can happen for all.
However, different personality types can also present challenges. For example, there can be more conflict than you are comfortable with as people misunderstand why other personality types communicate the way they do or work the way they do. Some can seem frustrated or stressed by an assignment while others are energized by the same assignment.
Most leaders use the one style they feel most comfortable using or the style they believe will be most effective. Some employees respond and others don’t. This leads to spending time and energy trying to bring up those who are lagging or to higher turnover in the hopes of finding more motivated employees. Without realizing it, these leaders may be working harder than they need to be.
Quick Fix to Help Understand Differing Personalities
Want a simple fix that really works?
Administer the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). It is the most-used assessment across the globe with over 2 million taking it every year. It only takes ten minutes to complete, yet the results are powerfully long lasting.
You will gain insight and understanding on how each of your employees is wired and you will quickly learn:
- How to work successfully with each of your employees
- How to motivate them
- How to avoid frustrating them
- What pitfalls they need to work on
- What the warning signs are when they are stressed out
- What they look like when their stress has reached a chronic level
Think of how this would impact your leadership. You would know how to adjust your style to empower those who work with you.
Using Myer-Briggs Personality Test in Hiring Process
Now let’s take it a step further. What if you used this as part of your hiring process? Among the other things you do to determine if someone is a good fit, the MBTI can also help you find the right personality type for the current needs of your company.
Leadership is about bringing different personalities to work successfully together to reach a vision. When leaders understand how those different personalities are wired, they are more than well on their way to achieving their greatest goals with less effort than they have done so in the past.
Chew On This: How would knowing the way each of your employees is wired impact 2016? How would each of them knowing how the others are wired impact your company?
If you have any questions feel free to email me at ryan@ryancbailey.com or call (404) 421-8120.
Ryan C. Bailey is an Executive Coach who helps business leaders develop in-demand high performing teams.