Know Yourself

One of Socrates more well-known statements is γνῶθι σεαυτόν - know yourself. He also suggested that the unexamined life is not worth living. This is where reflection comes in to play. To look back on our interactions, understand our reactions and make the necessary modifications or improvement for future interactions can be a very worthwhile activity.

There are quite a few options for psychometric testing available which can enable us to know ourselves better. Myer Briggs, Clifton Strengths, Strengths Deployment Inventory and DISC or DISC Advanced Profiles to name but a few. One personality test suggests that you can become your best self, which is at the heart of most of the psychometric tests available. By knowing yourself, your motivations and behaviours, you can tailor your behaviour and play to your strengths. The ability to create rapport is a critical resource for most of us. We don’t have to change our personality, but in order to accommodate others we need to understand what drives people and recognise options for effectively improving relationships.

All of this is so much more important as we all have to learn to play in the sandbox with others more. Some psychometric testing provides tools and resources for interpersonal relationships better than others. There is merit in avoiding complex results that make interpretation and alignment with others more difficult. One psychometric test provides your top 34 strengths. This may be helpful for self-analysis but not as beneficial for evaluating interpersonal relationships. 

 Knowing yourself is critical. We all get to observe behaviours but it usually takes digging to get to our motivations. A view that I have long held, but only recently had confirmed by Relationship Awareness Theory is that our strengths can be our weaknesses. Any strength, misapplied or dialled up at full strength can become a weakness. Being aware of our strengths, and ensuring they are applied appropriately in each circumstance, can enhance our interactions with others.

For example, good attention to detail is a critical strength for many fields – surgeons, aircraft engineers, etc, but there can be a fine line between someone with good attention to detail and pedants – a term that is not often used positively. This is where it is helpful to know when to apply your strengths. 

Diversity is the key to good group work. It is usually essential that there be at least some in any group that have good attention to detail to keep everything on track. Likewise it is always helpful to have the influential / sociable person who can provide the social cohesion to the team and keep the wheels of diplomacy with stakeholders well oiled. 

Benefits of psychometric testing for employers is that it can help employers meet the needs of its employees. No two employees have the same need. Some operate better with more structure while another may operate better with more flexibility. An awareness of different ‘personality types’ can help to accommodate needs. Obviously there has to be some standardization in an organization but we also know that a ‘one size fits all’ approach rarely works. It is also helpful to know when staff are likely to be more fatigued, if they spend a lot of time working outside of their comfort zone. For example, it is helpful for a deliberate paced task-oriented person who spends a lot of time interacting with others in open ended tasks to understand why they may be more fatigued. It doesn’t mean they can’t do that job, it just means that there may need to be compensatory functions to ensure staff satisfaction.

DISC ADVANCED® is designed for the workplace,  measuring both the subconscious “real self” and the conscious behavioural styles. It can be used individually, in pairs or teams. Feel free to contact me to see if I can help you access these assessments, or for further information. Knowing yourself, your co-workers and others you interact with can help you to tailor your behaviour, and understand theirs, thereby creating a more harmonious environment.

As Socrates indicated, reflection is a good thing. It is even more valuable if we have means to put that knowledge to good use, seeking to know ourselves and others better, and using that information to create rapport and improve relationships with others. Knowing yourself should not be an end in itself, use the information positively in your interactions with others.