To be an effective leader, I discovered that you need a basic understanding of personalities. I’m not inferring that you need to thoroughly know all the personalities types. But you should recognize the four basic types. As a leader, this will allow you to figure out the strengths and weaknesses of your team. Furthermore, I recommend that you start by understanding your own personality type. Why? Because you will learn that everyone doesn’t view the situation as you.
Types of Personalities
There are many types of personalities. However, understanding the four basic types will allow you to recognize how to help your team members be successful.
Sanguine ~ this person is a very social person who likes to be with people. They are talkative, enthusiastic, and active. They prefer to see the bright side of life. They are not likely to see the bad side of a situation. Their weakness of will and lack of discipline makes it easy for them to be undependable. They should be in a position that allows them extensive exposure to people.
Choleric ~ they are described as independent, goal-oriented, decisive and ambitious. They are good leaders and enjoy taking charge and being responsible for the outcome of a project. They can be vengeful and short-tempered. Additionally, they hate to admit they have flaws and they always want to be right.
The weakness of a choleric is that they are hard to please and tend to be rough on people. If they only knew how others look to them for approval and encouragement, they would spend more time patting them on the back, which would generate greater dedication from them.
Melancholic ~ these individuals tend to be analytical and detailed-oriented, and are deep thinkers and feelers. They often strive for perfection within themselves This person relies on facts instead of speculation. They are not as confident as the choleric and the Melancholic person worries about how other people feel about his or her work.
Many melancholics work in the arts and become craftsmen of high quality. The humanitarian vocation will attract melancholics to the staff. It takes the melancholic mindset to become a doctor because of the perfection that is required.
Phlegmatic ~ these individuals have the most stable temperament. They have no fear of rejection and can handle unaffectionate and hostile people. They tend to be more relaxed, peaceful, and easy-going. They tend to work well under pressure and are extremely dependable.
Phlegmatics are definitely not risk-takers. Because they struggle with the problem of personal insecurity, they often stay with one company.
Personality Combinations
There are many combinations of the four main personality types listed above. In fact, I doubt if you will find anyone that is 100% of any one particular type. They could have a mixture of all four but one type will be the dominant one.
I highly recommend that you take the time in understanding personalities. Here is a link for a free personality test. In fact, they believe there are 16 personality types. Here is another website that lists the top 10 personality tests.
