What makes you get up and go to work in the morning? Are you in it for the money and the eye-grabbing resume entry? Or have you invested your heart into this job because it makes you so happy? Perhaps this seems like a loaded question? Well, that’s because it is—and the answer to what drives you to go to work every day is different for everyone. While one person might be motivated by productivity, for another person, the idea of focusing on the bottom line instead of personally meaningful projects is nothing short of horrifying.
When it comes to thriving in the corporate world, INTP personality types stand on shaky ground. We know that INTPs with their analytical minds are creative problem solvers, loyal to their organizations and are great at addressing complex technical issues. They have a reputation for working incredibly hard to exceed their own high standards.
You're bored at work and planning your next move. You've taken a personality test or a career aptitude test, read up on the type of careers that are perfectly aligned with work style, and made a list of all the different options. You may have spent a fair chunk of time researching those options, matching them up to your strengths, interests, passions and hobbies, and a few have really captured your interest.
Do you work for a boss who refuses to delegate certain tasks or who “does not have the time to teach?” If so, then you’re not alone. Many managers have received no training in delegation and the lack of this critical skill can make them really tough to work with. If your boss doesn’t delegate, then you might feel like she doesn’t fully trust you. Worse, you could end up feeling like you’re being held back and bossed around from task to task instead of being allowed to grow in your career. What to do?
In an ideal world, every employee would finish every item on his to-do list without any problems or stress. Back in the real world, the sheer number of things to do is dizzying and there’s only a finite amount of time to get them done. This means that time management—the art of using your time productively, based on the day’s priorities—is one of the most important skills your employees can have.
When people talk about pre-hire personality tests, they usually mean questionnaires like the Myers Briggs Inventory, the Big Five or the DISC profile. A test, like a numeracy or literacy test, has a right or wrong answer so you can pass or fail it. A personality questionnaire, on the other hand, helps the employer figure out if your strengths and weaknesses match up with the job requirements. You can’t actually flunk or ace a personality test—it simply shows if you’re a good fit for the job.
Shyness is not the same as introversion, although the two personality traits sometimes overlap. An Introvert needs time alone to recharge after busy work periods and gets mentally drained after spending a lot of time with others. A shy person is much more anxious about the social interaction itself.
As a manager, it’s easy to put your direct reports into boxes. There’s the creative one, the empathetic one, the one who likes autonomy and the one who like clear boundaries and set routines. There’s also another special breed of worker in the world, and that’s the person who has borderline manic levels of productivity yet spends a lot of the time kicking back and doing...well nothing. Someone who is lazy and a hard worker, all at the same time.
How do you manage someone when you’re never quite sure where they’re at? Here are some tips.
Every well-constructed team should have a mix of personalities. Some people like to take the lead and work well with very little supervision. Others need a little extra help but are generally happy to follow the guidelines and detailed planning the manager has set for them. And then there are those who are not inclined to follow the rules at all. If you're in the latter group, you might be a powerhouse of generating ideas, and you might be among the most productive people in your department, but you just have to have flexibility in the way you do things.
Most people consider having high standards a good thing. Constantly striving for excellence is a sign that you're committed to your job and support others by setting the bar high for their performance as well. You can easily spot a perfectionist, because he's the one who takes extreme care in finishing work, always wants to do more, and is insistent on driving up quality standards.
THE FINE PRINT:
Myers-Briggs® and MBTI® are registered trademarks of the MBTI Trust, Inc., which has no affiliation with this site. Truity offers a free personality test based on Myers and Briggs' types, but does not offer the official MBTI® assessment. For more information on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator® assessment, please go here.
The Five Love Languages® is a registered trademark of The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, which has no affiliation with this site. You can find more information about the five love languages here.
