Personality Types

This Saturday, I went to a leadership conference at the ACC downtown campus. Despite the ungodly hour (is 9:00 AM even a time on weekends?!) it was surprisingly energetic, interesting and fun. It was the second of four monthly volunteer-run and organized leadership events for youths.

The topic for this seminar was communication. Different communication styles naturally arise from different personalities, so four basic personality types were displayed. Everyone has all four of these traits within them at all times, but some people have a certain preferred style or habit that they tend to use most often. This can either be naturally what comes easiest to them, or what has been reinforced most often (for instance, some people are encouraged to be leaders, while others are rewarded for being more supportive).

None of the personality types are better or worse than any other, but their effectiveness can vary in different situations. Also, each type is balanced out with negative traits, so it's important to try to balance your overall personality with all of these types, so one trait won't be overwhelmingly dominant.

The first of these types is the director, who is strong-willed, fast paced, and dominant. However, the director's destructive traits can include becoming aggressive, controlling, impulsive, and intolerant.

Next is the inspirer, who is influencing, social, and optimistic. Destructive traits can include becoming frantic, hasty, gossipy, and disorganized.

The supporter is sensitive, cooperative, and patient, but destructive traits can include become stubborn, resistant, and withdrawn.

Finally, the observer is cautious, detailed, and creative, while their destructive traits can include becoming suspicious, indecisive, reserved, and perfectionist.

The supporter and the observer are more introverted, while the director and inspirer are extroverted. As always, here are some important things to remember about the care of both introverts and extroverts...

Can you tell what I am? Do you know which one you are? 

-Maya

p.s. A small warning: the other day I wanted to know what personality type I was so I took a Myers-Briggs test online, and I went through 73 questions - seventy-three questions - before I found out I had to pay $25 to see the results. This probably tells you something about my personality type, but unfortunately I won't know what exactly that is until someone gives me some money.