Personality
Recently I’ve been looking through the results of some testing that has been carried out into my personality.
The results have been interesting!
I know that there a quite a few people who are sceptical about the validity of psychometric testing, particularly of such an emotive concept such as ‘personality’. I also know that there are those that strongly question the validity of its application to the real world, particularly the world of work. Seeing it as a bastard child of the ‘human resources industry’ spreading its malign influence through the corporate world and providing more work for overpaid consultants.
However, I have always found this field rather fascinating and carrying out and looking at these tests rather enjoyable. My particular favourite is the Myers-Briggs test (you can do a free online test here) to which I come out as an INTJ personality type.
I have also found that, while these things need to be considered with a degree of caution and with an understanding of their limitations, they can have a lot of practical use. They can provide useful insights into how you operate as a human being and can be particularly useful in looking at the dynamics within a particular team.
The results I’ve been looking at recently came from tests designed by Professor Jo Sylvester from the Work Psychology Partnership. She has been looking at the personality of politicians, having previously done some work for the Conservative party, and has recently been doing a lot of work for local government. In particular, working on the Political Skills Framework for the IDeA.
The tests that I was lucky enough to get to do, ones that I completed myself and some “360 degree” test carried out by colleagues, were carried out as part of the Next Generation leadership course I have been participating in. The personality testing is intended to look at my personality in the context of political leadership.
Working on the principle that these things only amount to an amusing diversion unless you actually think about how you should make use of the findings, I have decided, mainly for my own reference, to post here the three lessons that I think I have learnt;
1) I need to have more confidence in my political understanding and judgement.
2) I need to spend more time and make more of an effort to explain my ideas and communicate what I am trying to achieve with a particular issue or initiative.
3) I need to pay more attention to how I work with people on an individual basis. I should taking more positive actions to establish better relationships with colleagues.
This content was originally posted on my old Process Guy blog.