What makes us who we are?We each have characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours that make us unique and form our personalities.There are different theories as to how these personality traits emerge. Freud, among others, suggests we go through a series of stages and how we fare at each stage determines our strengths and weaknesses and our preferences for ways of doing things. And the personality traits that arise tend to remain fairly consistent.Efforts to categorise our traits are thought to date back to Ancient Egypt but it was the Ancient Greeks who developed the Four Temperaments model and arguably created the first ‘personality profiling system’.The concept of personality models and profiling has since expanded and now numerous tests can be done to ascertain our dominant traits, tendencies, preferences and other aspects of character: these theories and tests being increasingly used in management, recruitment, selection, training and teaching.Understanding personality types can be helpful for appreciating difference and recognising special strengths and qualities in others and ourselves. It also identifies areas for development. Various models provide a clearer understanding of motivation and behaviour. Such awareness provides insight into bridging communication gaps created by differing styles and approaches, thereby improving relationships and promoting greater teamwork and better allocation of roles within a system, ensuring everyone is working to their strengths.Psychoanalyst and scholar, Carl Jung, formed the basis of several of today’s psychometric systems, with the theories in his book, Psychological Types, published in 1921. He suggested that we each tend towards either extroversion (where attention and energy is motivated by and directed to outward events/factors in the world around us) or introversion (where attention is motivated and directed to inner, subjective matters, managing ourselves and our inner experience).Jung also developed a framework to explain differences in how we make decisions/judgments and how we gather information. Each task having two opposing ‘functions’ with individuals tending more towards one than the other: can you guess which you lean to?Reasoning and judging we tend towards either:Thinking — looking for meaning and understanding using analytical/objective thought, principles, standards and criteria.OrFeeling — looking for value, more subjectively, personal, valuing intimacy and humane approachesPerceiving and gathering information we tend to use either:Sensation — a sensual perception of what exists based on what is realistic, practical and down to earth.OrIntuition — considering the possibilities of a thing, where it’s from and where it’s going, using hunches, speculation, imagination.It’s easy to imagine how two people, each with opposing functions, might have difficulty communicating and agreeing on ideas or approaches, without an awareness and appreciation for the other’s complimentary thought processes.In the 1940s, Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother Katharine Briggs developed Jung’s theories into a usable methodology and system for understanding and assessing personality: their psychometric, Myers Briggs® test.In addition to Extroversion (E) or Introversion (I), Sensing (S) or Intuition (N), Thinking (T) or Feeling (F), they added another element, Judging (J) or Perceiving (P) which indicates how we react to the world, whether we prefer to make decisions (J) or keep our options open (P).The Myers Briggs® test is one of several favoured by HR departments and is a copyrighted test incurring a fee. The result allocates you with one of sixteen different Myers Briggs® MBTI® personality type combinations: a four-letter code made up of the bracketed initials above, indicating your preferred function in each of the four dimensions.For example, mine is ENFP (Extroverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving). This alone makes little sense without the accompanying explanation detailing the attributes and strengths common to my ‘type’, the areas to improve and pitfalls I might encounter due to my preferred tendencies.Many of the psychometric models and testing systems consider similar traits and share common descriptors.Currently popular is the DISC model, which presents a series of four main ‘type’ descriptions (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Compliance). The DISC test aims to identify people’s dominant or preferred type and one or two supporting types from the four. This is represented by a graph and personality description based on the mixture of the types. Tony Robbins offers a free online DISC assessment at: www.tonyrobbins.com/ue/disc-profile. phpIt is important to stress that there are no ‘good or bad’, ‘right or wrong’ preferences or types, just that certain types or preferences can be more or less effective or appropriate in certain situations.Slightly different and offering useful insight and opportunity to improve team dynamics is the Belbin Team Role profiling test, (licensed and available only through purchase). It discerns our individual strengths and styles and which ‘role’ best utilises them in a team setting. Below are the potential ‘roles’, some characteristics and uses of strengths:— Coordinator — able to get others working to a shared aim, confident: clarifies group objectives, sets agenda, establishes priorities, but does not dominate discussions.— Shaper — motivated, achievement-driven, competitive: looking for patterns and practical considerations— Plant — innovative, creative, problem-solving: source of original ideas, suggestions and proposals— Monitor-Evaluator — critical thinker, analytical: contributes a measured and dispassionate analysis and objectivity— Implementer: systematic, structured, dependable, practical: turns decisions and strategies into defined and manageable tasks— Resource Investigator — affable, good communicator, negotiator: brings in ideas/information/developments from outside the group, team salesperson, diplomat— Team Worker — supportive, flexible, listener, mediator: the glue of the team, encouraging smooth running.— Finisher-Completer — attention to detail, high standards, delivers to schedule and specification: maintains urgency and relentless follow-through— Specialist — technical expert, driven by professional standards and dedication to personal subject areaIt is clear to see that each role has value and is vital to the team’s efficiency and success; everyone makes their contribution according to their strengths.Above are listed just a few of the myriad psychometric tests and preference quizzes available. Tests exist to determine leadership style, Emotional Intelligence quotients, learning style, interest scales, motivation style … the list goes on. Many can be found on the internet.And while the awareness they provide is useful, the results should not be used to pigeonhole people or excuse negative habits, “that’s just my style, I can’t help it”. Most traits have a spectrum in which our tendencies lie. And the tests don’t measure capability or intelligence. Used correctly, they can be helpful tools for developing others and ourselves and improving communication, interactions and relationships towards greater success.Julia Pitt is a trained Success Coach and certified NLP practitioner.For further information contact Julia on (441) 705-7488, www.juliapittcoaching.comPS: The website mentioned I last week should have been www.5lovelanguages.com. Apologies for the misprint!