Temperaments - easy read
Being disabled doesn’t mean that we all feel the same way.
Some people like to put us in a box and label us. Just looking at Sync, we can see how different people feel differently about leadership and leading. Being different is a good thing.
Don't put me in a box!
Because we feel differently about working and leading, this means we probably do things differently too.
There are many tests and exercises in the world of leadership training that tell us what ‘type’ we are but are they useful to us?
Even Mark, who is our expert on leading, found the 'put me in a box' thing hard. He felt better when he realized that being told you were a certain way was just an ‘idea’ and not 100% true.
Temperament is the word we use to show how we usually react and feel at work. Here are 4 to think about. We’ve put colours with them, to make them a bit clearer. See if you can see yourself in them? what colour do you think you are from this list?
The 4 types
• Artisans - ORANGE are very ‘out there’ and creative. They like praise and they speak their mind. They like to experiment and try things out by diving in ‘straight in’
• Guardians - GOLD look after things, and protect things. They think step by step, taking their time and making sure they get things right. They don’t like to rock the boat .
• Idealists - BLUE like to think things through in their head and share their ideas so people can get excited and take the ideas forward. People like them because the things they come out with are often very motivating and get people going
• Rationals - GREEN like to build things by making sure they look at all angles and review things well to see if they work and so a project or a plan can be the best it can be.
What are you? What can you be?
You may find you have bits of you in all of these types and for different times and places you may have to be a bit more orange or a bit more green!
This is a real leading skill to be able to look at a situation and decide which bit of you needs to come out to make the best of what's going on.
Get thinking about what you are and can stretch to!
Jo Verrent, Sync project manager
