It is important to be clear that personality and temperament are not the same, since it is common to think that a person is not capable of carrying out his work because he is of this or that personality, when in reality it is the emotional predisposition that is interfering with the performance.
“Watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words, they become actions; watch your actions, they become habits; take care of your habits, they become character; take care of your character, it becomes your destiny ”. Buddhist proverb
While it is true that I do not believe in destiny, it is also true that I believe that one is the result of their actions, experience and history. For some time I have held the belief that to be great you have to take care of the little things and that this will make a difference.
As a manager or director of any organization, you will have people in charge and one of those “little things” that you have to take care of is taking time to get to know our staff. Certainly, understanding human nature is not easy, but it is not about making a whole diagnosis or spending hours on this matter, No! It will be much easier to know the predisposition, both our own and our staff, towards certain aspects of work and life. This predisposition, which can be seen as the common way a person responds emotionally, is known as temperament.
On many occasions personality is confused with temperament. The first being the sum of all the personal or behavioral characteristics by which an individual is recognized, unlike the temperament that is, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, an emotional response, a predisposition.
It is important to be clear that personality and temperament are not the same, since it is common to think that a person is not capable of carrying out his work because he is of this or that personality, when in reality it is the emotional predisposition that is interfering with the performance.
At a given moment, temperament, from a managerial point of view, can be considered as an indicator of the potential for success in business, taking into account that to the extent that we know our temperament and that of the personnel in our charge, it is the measure In which perhaps we can understand the differences between each of us and that understanding affects us in the ease of making a better distribution of activities, according to the capacities of each one.
For this reason and based on Keirsey's theory of temperaments, before placing someone in any position, we must take into account what activities are going to be carried out and consider the temperament of the person who will occupy that position so that the performance can be predicted successful.. But what temperament should go in what position? Here are some examples:
SJ or Guardians temperament
As they tend to follow rules, and they are precise, they will say: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" So positions where this type of temperament fits perfectly are those of precision or that require following procedures such as: Operations, Security, Finance, Accounting, Production.
SP or Artists Temperament
They have a high need for freedom and space, they are flexible. They enjoy the moment and are spontaneous. They apply the phrase: "General and abstract ideas are the source of the greatest errors of humanity." This temperament will perform very well in areas or disciplines such as: Art, Architecture, Culture, Music, Dance as well as recreational or outdoor activities.
NT or Rational temperament
They are people who achieve their goals, they are independent people, intellectually curious, they are people based on principles, they are architects of change and they constantly ask themselves: "What if…" This temperament will be successful when performing in: Areas of innovation, any work independently, creation of new departments, in organization, research and development, marketing and sales.
NF or Idealistic temperament
They are people who are supportive of others, are friendly and have a vivid imagination. They are hypersensitive to conflict, they are in a constant search for themselves and they are people who want to "Become". They will perform well in areas or disciplines such as: Philosophy, Public Relations, Customer Service, Communication and in general areas that have direct contact with people.
Now that you know the different temperaments and the positions where they can be carried out, I invite you to identify your own temperament by recognizing some of their characteristics and that may allow you to know if you are in the right job or perhaps, under the belief that nothing is chance, the question arises: "Am I where I should be?" Or simply one should ask: "Predisposition or Destiny? Will temperament be what can determine me?"
Based on the Myers-Briggs theory, Keirsey, says that people are of a certain shape due to their temperament and explains that these are given based on how people collect information from the environment (which can be with the senses (S) or through intuition (N) and how it processes it, which can be either Rationally (T), through feelings (F), making judgments (J) or through perception (P)). The combination of the collection and the process of the information gives 4 types of basic temperaments, which are mentioned below:
SJ or Guardians
They are people loyal to the system, they are governed by duty, they are very reliable, they have resistance to change since they preserve traditions.
SP or Artists
They consider themselves free-spirited people, they are good in crisis situations, they are impulsive, they have a high need for freedom and space.
NT or Rationals
They are people who achieve their goals, they are independent people, intellectually curious, they are not conformists, they are people based on principles, and they are architects of change.
NF or Idealists
These are people who have interpersonal skills, have a great capacity to convince, have a vivid imagination, need motivation and recognition.
References
- Keirsey, D., Please understand me II,: Temperament, Character, Intelligence, 1998 White, L., On Management Skills, Strategic Direction, ITAM Business Magazine, No. 2 Year 1, June-August, 2002. Pgs.25-27.
