Ditzy, Snotty, Bossy & Irritated

Ditzy, Snotty, Bossy & Irritated
Understanding Personality Types


We have 11 people that make up our company. We had a company retreat today. It was awesome. One of the components of the retreat was learning about social styles and figuring out what our individual styles are. It was a highly interactive session which involved a lot of standing up and moving around based on questions from our presenter Bob Heavers from Priority Management in Denver. (highly recommend him)


In the midst of all the laughter and puns tossed about the room, what we saw is that our 11 people make up the melting pot that is our office. Not two of us are the same. Sure we mirror components of each others personalities, but we are not the same. Thank goodness! We all compliment one another in a really beautiful and convoluted way AND our needs are different.

One of the true gems about this training was finding out what people need (to be right, produce results, have personal security or gain personal approval), their growth action (to declare, to listen, to initiate or to check in) and their back-up behavior rather, how they act when you raise tension in their environment (withdraw, become autocratic, acquiesce or attack). This is very valuable in the workplace but can be extremely useful when you apply this to your clients.

What should you do when you know someone just wants the bottom line? How should you handle a client that needs ALL the facts and details before making a decision? What should you say to an extremely expressive and outgoing person? How do you talk to someone that is hesitant to even work with you because they don't trust you yet? Being versatile, that is to say being able to work well with all social styles will increase your value and set you apart from your competition.

Additionally, knowing yourself and controlling yourself are two very useful tools to have when working with other human beings. Next, spend some time to get to know others. Think about how you should best communicate and interact with them. Doing something for others, we were taught, and adjusting your style to their needs will create more productive relationships.

Bottom line, always follow the platinum rule: "Treat others the way they want to be treated."

P.S.
Why did I title this blog Ditzy, Snotty, Bossy & Irritated? Well, let's just say those are some of the funnier traits in our team members including myself. Bonus - I thought it would get more people to read this post...which is one of my favorites!


P.S.S.
A shout out to North American Title of Greeley for the yummy omelet bar! You guys rock!