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Lesson 1: Leadership
Keirsey Temperament Sorter (with Journal Entry 3)
The Keirsey Temperament Sorter will place you in one of four categories that reflect your natural preferences. The Sorter is not to be used to pigeonhole people, as there are multiple factors that make each of us unique; however, some general tendencies have been shown to be common among people in each category, no matter where they live. (Note that an assessment of cultural differences is beyond the scope of this course, but will be discussed in a subsequent course, ENGR 802, Engineering Across Cultures and Nations).
In taking this assessment, you will have four temperament categories, which can be viewed as a simplification of the 16-category Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Even though there are only four categories, the temperament categories are still surprisingly powerful, easy to recognize and implement. In addition, they have a strong basis in both history and modern times.
The four temperaments are discussed in the following tabs:
The Artisan, around one-third of the population, represents a free-spirited, fun-loving, flexible, joyful, optimistic, impulsive, and action-oriented person (a famous example is Ronald Reagan). Artisans strive for action, making good trouble-shooters who despise routine.
Review the following video to understand the Artisan in more depth:
The Idealist is diplomatic, empathetic, trusting, and trustworthy. He or she sees human potential, believes in the importance of ethics and integrity, and seeks group unity (e.g. Ghandi is an example). Idealists give recognition freely and search for their own identity (“what will I be when I grow up”). Though they represent only about one-sixth of the population, Idealists form a third of the teaching profession. Idealists are good at forming and maintaining teams, though they despise disagreements.
Review the following video to understand the Idealist in more depth:
The Guardian values responsibility, procedure, structure and authority; he or she tends to be orderly, resist change, and prefer decisiveness. Guardians, who represent about 40% of the population (e.g. Mother Theresa is one) and about 50% of teachers, expect factual evidence to support any decision made. At work, they desire to be part of a meaningful organization, help keep the organization on track, and do not like disarray.
Review the following video to understand the Guardian in more depth:
The Rational is a curious, competitive nonconformist (like Albert Einstein) who tends to want independence from authority but struggles with self-doubt and argumentativeness. Rationals make up roughly 10% of the population and strive not only to be competent themselves, but also to be with competent people. They usually look to implement change in the future.
Review the following video to understand the Rational in more depth:
Stop, Think and Reflect: Journal Entry 3
- What are the positive and negative tendencies of the four temperaments?
- How would these tendencies impact leadership performance?
Pause in your work and reflect on this question. Submit your answers in the Journal Entry 3 text box before you move on to the rest of the course content.
Taking the Temperament sorter assessment is a first step at building self-awareness, as it allows you to understand your inner-self, tendencies, and preferences in more depth. The second step involves understanding how people in the four temperament catagories prefer to interact, thus building self-awareness of your impact on others. Building this external awareness does not happen in isolation; it occurs within interpersonal relationships and interactions.
The Harvard Business Review article, “Redefining leader self-awareness by integrating the second component of self-awareness” (Taylor, 2008), discusses the importance of recognizing your impact on others:
An essential part of leadership is being other-focused (Quinn & Qunn, 2009). The very idea of leader self-awareness suggests an interpersonal process. Specifically, leadership requires a leader, a follower, and a context (Day, 2000; Day & Halpin, 2004; Fiedler, 1996) and is the interaction of these three (Fiedler, 1996). Within this relational view of leadership (Day, Zaccaro, & Halpin, 2004; Uhl-Bien, 2006), leadership development therefore “must attend to the social and intrapersonal nature of the phenomenon [and] depends on fostering social relations among individuals” (Day & Halpin, 2004, p.6). Because leadership is relational (Day et.al., 2004; Kouzes & Poster, 2002; Uhl-Bien, 2006), leaders must develop connections with followers so they become aware of followers' perspectives, hopes, goals, strengths, and developmental needs. (Taylor, 2008, p.59).
The Keirsey Temperaments influence interpersonal interaction in a myriad of ways, though they may have the strongest effect on communication. For example, in preparing a presentation, a team with a strong representation of Rationals may well concentrate on the big picture and how their new ideas will change the organization in the future. However, if the audience includes a high percentage of Guardians, who value facts and prefer maintaining existing structures, the presentation may not be readily accepted. Understanding the temperaments can play a significant role in improving communications.
A leader can ask “Do I react in a way that is most appropriate for the situation, that helps to create positive relationships and move the organization forward?” You may see that your natural tendencies are not always the best, especially when you have to interact with different temperaments.
As we noted earlier, self-awareness is a key foundation for leaderss—knowing yourself, your natural tendencies, can allow you to control your responses. Suppose you are an Artisan, and the team decides that a routine duty should be assigned to you. Your natural reaction may be to shun that assignment. But, if you take time to reflect, you might realize that it is needed for the betterment of the team, allowing you to move forward with the assignment and do it well.
Likewise, awareness of your teammates' personality preferences can be very powerful. Not only can you play to their strengths, you can also work to strengthen their abilities in the areas they may avoid. Lesson 8 will explore this concept further.
The key to getting the most out of psychometrics is to be open to expanding your horizons and to share your preferences with your team so that they get to know more about you. Psychometric information is a very powerful tool and a very deep topic. You may want to extend your study of it; in fact, you are encouraged to do so. In addition, as you progress through other courses in this program, you will delve into other psychometric tools.
To get a feel for two other psychometric assessments, watch the following five-minute video.