I know my Personality Type – Now What? Do Nothing!

I hear this all the time – now that I know my Personality Style, Type, Colour – what do I do with that information? NOTHING! That’s right ... nothing. Before you learned this new tool, you reacted to people in all kinds of ways like, getting mad, getting furious, trying to change people – all of which caused you great stress. Why can’t they Be Like Me?! After you learn about personality type – you are freed up to no NOTHING – just observe, relax and forgive, because you know that it’s not about you – it’s just about the other person – how they communicate and behave. You now can be a curious student of human behaviour. Not reacting as you normally would also makes the other person curious – go on try it with your children!


Ok that’s a bit extreme – but I had to get your attention – you see it’s not always appropriate to do nothing. With this new understanding comes a power to change how human relationships are nurtured. You now have the ability to walk in someone else’s shoes – to ‘get’ what goes on inside their brain. So what are the practical applications of the tool? When building rapport as an example? Step back and listen to the other person on a deeper level, listen to the words being used – words are powerful symbols. Observe their body language, energy and make eye contact. People give out a lot of clues about how they are feeling and thinking. Each of the personality types gives out huge clues about ‘what makes them tick’.

Green personality types will generally ask a lot of questions and challenge ideas and concepts. Blue personality types will use a lot of empathic language, and may ask how you feel or how your family is. The Gold Personality Type will be concerned with getting things right – you will hear a lot of ‘shoulds’ in their language. The Orange Persoanlity Type will be direct and often impatient to get the conversation going. Of course, this is only a small indication of the bigger picture – all of our communication is made through personal filters such as upbringing, culture, gender, values and beliefs.

It’s not about what you say – although words are a strong indication of what is being communicated – it’s about how it is being said. 55% of what we say is conveyed by body language and gestures, 38% by the tone of the words we use (how we say it) – only 7% is conveyed verbally. If you step back and try to ‘hear’ what is being communicated through a different lens or filter – your communication will be much more successful – try it!

Irene Anderson is a certified MBTI, True Colors, Personality Dimensions facilitator and a Professional Success Coach.

www.discoveryworkscoaching.com