What does Apple computers, AT&T, Citigroup, GM and 3m and Co. Have in common?
Besides being multi- million dollar companies, each of these use the Myers-Brigg Type Indicator when deciding to hire a person, in management. Myers-Brigg is a personality test, in which puts everyone into 16 different categories based on four classifications.
They are:
Extraverted vs. Introverted
Sensing vs. Intuitive
Thinking vs. Feelings
Judging vs. Perceiving
The test is an interesting one and can really show employers what type of candidate you might be for the Job. I found a great test online for free that you can take and I really like the way they explain your results. They are easy to understand and give you examples of people who are of your same subtype. I was an ENTJ. This meant I am Extraverted, iNtuitinve, Thinking and Judging. Only 1.8% of our population is a part of this sub type. This test basically tells me that I am the field Marshal. I am a natural born leader, I am very structured, and I follow procedure and regulations to a “T”. I find this to be very accurate about me. Jobs that would be excellent for me include: education, business management, finance, politics and computer programming. What I find amusing is that I have taken different test, and all of them have said I would do great in computer programming. I just have no interest in it.
People who are in my Subtype include, Bill Gates, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard M. Nixon, Margaret Thatcher, Al Gore, Lamar Alexander (former governor, US Secretary of Education), and My favorite Napoleon Bonaparte.
With a list of people like that, that must mean I a guaranteed for success right? Unfortunately that isn’t the case. It is how a person goes about achieving goals and if they find a job that is best suited for them. Success is never guaranteed, I believe it is something that is earned.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Problems in leadership
Leadership is defined by Webster’s as the capacity to lead. In business psychology a lot of things affect leadership, but first we must recognize there are two types of leadership charismatic and transformational.
Where I work in an ice cream shop, I am the morning shift manager. I am responsible for cleaning machines and such and preparing food. The general manager is responsible for the entire store. As far as our leadership Skills, I recognize that he is a charismatic leader, he has a strong following and people naturally respect him, and when he works, he will do stuff many other workers won't do. However some charismatic leaders have a superiority complex about them. What I mean by this is that, the leader will sometimes find themselves to be Larger-than-life, and very egotistical. They do not always act in the best interest of the company and will put there wants and needs before the needs of the business. If things like this get to out of hand, it can lead to charges ranging from grand larceny and security fraud to conspiracy.
In that aspect, I find myself to be more of a transformational leader, my leadership skills are something I have been developing since early high school. Transformational leaders have to have some charisma because it is the ability to reach out to employees, and fellow business man. I strive to make the shop a better place to work and the people who work under me I try to get them to better themselves to be better workers and to be more speedy making products and be more efficient.
I believe everyone has leadership potential, it is just a matter of having confidence, and trust, as well as respect, among the employer and employees.
"Merriam-Webster." Merriam-Webster Online. 2006-2007 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. April 17th 2007.
Where I work in an ice cream shop, I am the morning shift manager. I am responsible for cleaning machines and such and preparing food. The general manager is responsible for the entire store. As far as our leadership Skills, I recognize that he is a charismatic leader, he has a strong following and people naturally respect him, and when he works, he will do stuff many other workers won't do. However some charismatic leaders have a superiority complex about them. What I mean by this is that, the leader will sometimes find themselves to be Larger-than-life, and very egotistical. They do not always act in the best interest of the company and will put there wants and needs before the needs of the business. If things like this get to out of hand, it can lead to charges ranging from grand larceny and security fraud to conspiracy.
In that aspect, I find myself to be more of a transformational leader, my leadership skills are something I have been developing since early high school. Transformational leaders have to have some charisma because it is the ability to reach out to employees, and fellow business man. I strive to make the shop a better place to work and the people who work under me I try to get them to better themselves to be better workers and to be more speedy making products and be more efficient.
I believe everyone has leadership potential, it is just a matter of having confidence, and trust, as well as respect, among the employer and employees.
"Merriam-Webster." Merriam-Webster Online. 2006-2007 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. April 17th 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Personality in the Work Place
Personality is one of my favorite topics in general. It is how an individual represents and defines themselves. And when it comes to organizational behavior can make or break a leader. With that said, I am reminded of my tenth grade geography class, when we were learning about Buddhism. My teacher said that to achieve enlightenment, one must be self aware. The reason I bring it up is because, I can see how a person whose runs a company must know how they are come off. CEO’s and other business leaders are aware of the fact that it is important how, they come off, as far as discipline, and getting things done. So, a lot of business people will hire a business psychologist to give them a personality test, these test will tell the applicant, if they have leadership abilities, how they disciplined there employees, and how they work oversee employees.
I had the chance to take a sample test, and it broke down into the big five. The big five is the general base of most personality theories, and includes negative emotionality, agreeableness, extraversion, openness and conscientiousness. I will admit, I was very intimidate by this, and I was almost embarrassed, at my results for it showed my positive marks, but also my negative marks. But I feel it would be good to use myself as an example.
I scored High in the following:
In openness, which means I am more creative, innovative, inquiring and, imaginative
In conscientiousness, which mean I am prepared, reliable, precise, and ambitious
In extraversion, I scored high with it saying I am talkative, affectionate, and optimistic, outgoing
I scored Low in:
In agreeableness where I was more good-natured, helpful, trusting then rude, obstinate, irritable
And finally in negative emotionality, where I am always worrying, emotional, insecure, nervous, and I am usually not calm, secure, unemotional, relaxed.
Basically after taking the test, I realize I need to relax more and not be so stressed, because if the manager you worked under was always stressed, then that mean the environment you work in my be more stressful. The nice thing about these tests is, that you can take the sample ones, which are usually free and broader, but if you choose to pay the 40 to 200 dollars for the test, it will give you more in depth criticisms, and usually a consultant can better explain the answers to you.
I had the chance to take a sample test, and it broke down into the big five. The big five is the general base of most personality theories, and includes negative emotionality, agreeableness, extraversion, openness and conscientiousness. I will admit, I was very intimidate by this, and I was almost embarrassed, at my results for it showed my positive marks, but also my negative marks. But I feel it would be good to use myself as an example.
I scored High in the following:
In openness, which means I am more creative, innovative, inquiring and, imaginative
In conscientiousness, which mean I am prepared, reliable, precise, and ambitious
In extraversion, I scored high with it saying I am talkative, affectionate, and optimistic, outgoing
I scored Low in:
In agreeableness where I was more good-natured, helpful, trusting then rude, obstinate, irritable
And finally in negative emotionality, where I am always worrying, emotional, insecure, nervous, and I am usually not calm, secure, unemotional, relaxed.
Basically after taking the test, I realize I need to relax more and not be so stressed, because if the manager you worked under was always stressed, then that mean the environment you work in my be more stressful. The nice thing about these tests is, that you can take the sample ones, which are usually free and broader, but if you choose to pay the 40 to 200 dollars for the test, it will give you more in depth criticisms, and usually a consultant can better explain the answers to you.
Diversity
Diversity is by far one of the most complicated topics business psychologist must take. When I was looking at you tube, I never thought I would find a video for my blog, but then I remembered the TV show "The Office"(a comedy which has a strong basis of psychology in general). Diversity is often followed by profiling which is where people are singled out based on race, ethnicity, genders, and even sexual orientation. Even though the example from You Tube is pretty funny, in the office place it can be a serious issue.
Denny's years ago had acquisitions claiming they did not treat there customers of color well, and didn't hire people of different ethnicity's. Because of that, Denny’s started training the managers of the restaurants, different exercises to help ease and eliminate the bias.
The video from you tube is an example, of an exercise an owner might do with its employees. The idea is to get ones bias about the other person out in the hope and to help them realize why they feel that way. Then after resolving the issue they with demonstrate a change in behavior where they won’t show the bias as much, which ultimately will mean better customer service and inter group communication.
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