At The People Perspective, we talk a lot about the fact that communication is integral in being an effective leader. BUT not everyone is the same and therefore not everyone will communicate or receive communication the same way. Educating yourself on personality profiles and communication styles can take you to new levels of leadership, relationship building and overall workforce efficiency.
One of our upcoming blog posts will be about the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. There is a call for companies to step up and stand up for change and to become more welcoming and intentional about inclusive, diverse workplaces. If you are going to truly work on adding diversity and do it well, you will have to incorporate proper training on how individuals can work most efficiently and effectively with people who are different than them. People from different backgrounds and cultures will inevitably have a wide range of personality and styles, and as leaders, we can’t expect everyone to come in and adapt to one style or profile.
You can’t reap these rewards without doing the work. You must provide your team with the training and tools to work on self-awareness and collaborating with others. Our consultants at The People Perspective use DiSC as our tool for uncovering and training on personality profiles. Here is a short overview:
Understanding personality and communication has two parts. One must first dig into learning their own style and profile. This takes a huge amount of self-awareness and reflection. The second part is being able to pick up and understand others profiles and style. Once you understand yourself you can be much more effective at learning other people and how you can best interact with them based on your patterns and theirs. Just because you understand the profiles however, does not mean every pattern in personality or communication is compatible. Have you ever seen two people not be able to get anything accomplished or people that just cannot communicate? This would be an example of what happens when you’re not aware of how communication styles can hinder productivity and collaboration. If you are aware of the difference, you can make the necessary adjustments to work collaboratively and cohesively, even if you don’t necessarily mesh well with that certain individual. Still don’t believe me that it is important to learn to understand others personalities and communication styles? Here are reasons why it is important and what benefits your organization could see from training on this:
- Psychology shows that if you understand the personality profiles of those around you, there is less likely to be conflict.
- Company Benefit: More collaboration and productive conversations
- Utilizing personality profile tools can help gain a mutual understanding and respect within teams. By knowing how people work best, and how they interact with others, more efficient strategies for leadership, problem solving & feedback can be developed.
- Company Benefit: Stronger company culture and increased employee morale
- Understanding personality profiles and communication preferences can assist teams in providing better customer service and connection with others.
- Company Benefit: More effective and productive workforce. Plus, happier clients and customers!
- Personal effectiveness goes hand in hand with professional development. Understanding your own preferences and style can help increase your productivity, engagement, leadership skills and ultimately, your personal & professional development.
- Company Benefit: Your team will exhibit greater self -awareness, emotional intelligence and leadership capabilities.
Understanding personalities and language styles is only the beginning. It can provide a solid foundation for everything you want to achieve in your business; from sales and marketing, to customer service and team work, to succession planning and more. It is critical in business, from entry level through executive level, to learn how to communicate with a variety of people, personalities and styles.
