I forgot how fun this learning thing can be. This week I learned a lot.
1. My personality
2. How to live my personality for what it is.
3. How to relate to other personalities.
4. Conflict is necessary for growth.
5. Growth exists in the places that others haven’t realized.
6. Change is not a sign of weakness, but a symptom of growth.
It turns out that I am an ESFJ. Yep, that is me. As I looked at the strengths I nodded along… I am practical, have a sense of duty, loyal, warm, and connect well with others. I scroll down a bit and look at the weaknesses, and I grunted along this time. It said I worry about by social status…umm not since my 20’s, but ok. Inflexible, yes, except this also changed when I met my husband. I guess that I could be more flexible. Reluctant to Innovate or Improvise, that is a hard one. I am not an innovator, but I encourage others to do so. Improvise is something I admit to actively working on. Vulnerable to Criticism, oh boy here we go, yep that’s true. It is also why I did some soul reflection years back and came up with my life motto’ “You can’t change your circumstance, only your response to it”. ESFJ’s are also described as Too Needy and Too Selfless. I am not needy, yes! Finally one that didn’t fit, but I am "too selfless", to be fair that one can sometimes be true. I enjoyed learning of the details of this type of personality, I found it to be so interesting in fact, that my incessant jabber about it inspired my hubby to take the exam himself. It turns out that he is a very rare INFJ Advocate type. It was very fun to read about him and reflect on our lives, we have both helped each other in our areas of weakness. I guess opposites really do attract.
The fact that my husband is an introvert has helped me to do some of the things that Susan Cain (2012) suggested, I respect the need for self-reflection and limited group activities. My hospital is currently on a journey to take us to the digital age that is more continuous and dynamic to not only sustain but move us forward. These are some of the same ideas that were touched on in the Quantum Leadership video (2014). The system we use is the Lean system (Toyota Lean Management), it is designed to help include everyone. I believe that my knowledge of introverts has helped when asking for people to be assigned tasks. I can assign standalone tasks to our introverted team members and group tasks to our extroverts. This helps us all be a part of the team, and put forth our best effort as well.
Caroline McHugh's video was fantastic. I loved her vibe, she was embodying the exact points that she was teaching in that speech. I could never have the guts to wear short hair, nevertheless look so stylish while wearing it. One point that specifically touched me was that we are living our best selves when we are young children (2013). I find that Caroline’s appearance and candid ideas reflect this idea at its core. We are our best selves when we wear our personalities on our sleeves. It is freeing as well, to not feel pressure to hide under a persona that we want others to perceive.
Personality is also a key component in resolving conflict. Conflict, though tough, is one of the more positive things a leader can do to move forward. It allows us to confront an issue that is in the way of our progress as well as allow us to coach our team to reach new heights. Susan Clark and CrisMarie Campbell (2015) speak of using the energy that the conflict has created to force the question that we wouldn’t have asked before. If we use this, as well as factor in the personality factor, we have a better chance of getting to the root cause and pushing past the perceived issue. I have had an example of an employee who was frustrated and perceived I was taking responsibility away from her. I asked this person why she thought I was taking responsibility away from her. Her response was, well, you said that you knew I was overwhelmed so I didn’t need to attend this meeting. She told me she felt like I was punishing her. I knew that she had made that assumption without communicating her concerns. I clarified for her that I in fact said that she didn’t have to worry about attending a meeting. I knew she was busy, I was already going to be there, I felt like I was taking something off of her plate and helping her out. I was very hurt that she felt I intended to punish her, I thought I was helping. I asked her to communicate to me in the future if she has a clarification question. I told her that I would do a better job communicating where I was coming from as well. If I had taken into account her personality type, I would have known from the start that I needed to lead with my reasons for the action that I took. I am a firm believer that our mistakes are the best learning tools and I plan to use this tool to make changes in the future.
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| A communication breakdown can lead to a much larger issue than the original conflict. I am just going to go out on a limb and assume that we all know the above story line. #FriendsisaTVstaple |
I felt that the video from both Ledgerwood and Gutsche touched on a similar theme. That is that we need to look at life with different lenses (2013). In both situations it is the ability to view the world from a perspective that is rare that gives us the ability to grow. Gutsche (2015) spoke of the NASA scientist who used his Origami after-work passion to give him the insight to answer the question of how to fit complex satellites into rockets. He also spoke of his own father who used what could have been seen as unfortunate situations into opportunity.
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| It sure looks like a bank run. In It's a Wonderful Life, we see George Bailey keep his cool and seize the opportunity to move his community forward by turning an economic crash into a growth opportunity. Yes, at the end of the day he only had Two Dollars to show for his work, but it was his work that was the victory. |
I think it appropriate that in order to use my own example of systems thinking I embodied multiple ideas that were explored this week. I realized that I used the perspective of an authentic self, in a childlike state. I looked at this issues from a lens that shows a glass half full perspective. I realized that what I once thought of as a painful parental obligation has given me insight. the top thought that came to mind when I was watching the video on The Complexity of Life (2009) was…
I surprised myself that this was the example that I initially thought of. I was not previously a fan of the Power Rangers, but this movie was so important to my 6 year old daughter. It was pleasantly fantastic, with a wonderful message. If you watch the clip, the Rangers are confused as to how they are supposed to fight this creepy villain all stuck together. In fact they fall at first. It is that fall that helps them to get on track again and join together to make their newly formed Megazord move forward as a team. This is how I see our healthcare system working together. We can all be independent entities, and if we spend too much time looking at each segment, we miss the larger message. However, when we unite, and figure out how to move as one, we move forward as a hero in the community.
References
ESFJ - THE PROVIDER MBTI The Myers & Briggs 16 Personality Types (Personality Test) ANIMATION. (2016, December 02). Retrieved January 18, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzuTeWUoZq4
J. (2014, March 31). Quantum Leadership Webinar | Jones & Bartlett Learning. Retrieved January 18, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF8xqKTjC5w
TEDTalks: Susan Cain--The Power of Introverts [Video file]. (2012, March 2). Retrieved January 18, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0KYU2j0TM4
T. (2013, February 15). The art of being yourself | Caroline McHugh | TEDxMiltonKeynesWomen. Retrieved January 18, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=veEQQ-N9xWU
B. (2009, October 07). The Complexity Of Life. Retrieved January 18, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1biuNl90380
T. (2013, June 22). Getting stuck in the negatives (and how to get unstuck) | Alison Ledgerwood | TEDxUCDavis. Retrieved January 18, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XFLTDQ4JMk
T. (2015, March 05). BETTER & FASTER: Innovation Keynote Speaker Jeremy Gutsche's Top Speech on Innovation. Retrieved January 18, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFshvhzcCVw
T. (2015, July 13). Conflict – Use It, Don’t Defuse It | CrisMarie Campbell & Susan Clarke | TEDxWhitefish. Retrieved January 18, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o97fVGTjE4w
We were on a break. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18, 2018, from https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1477058915ra/20912446.gif
Capra, F. (Director). (n.d.). Its a wonderful life [Video file]. Retrieved January 18, 2018, from https://i.pinimg.com/originals/28/12/e2/2812e271cc2f00ee39573751d89f8b36.jpg
M. (2017, October 13). Power Rangers (2017) - The Mighty Megazord Scene (9/10) | Movieclips. Retrieved January 18, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jojFdN-oysU
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