NOTE: THIS PRODUCT STILL USES THE NAMES:
[ARTISAN, GUARDIAN, RATIONAL, IDEALIST].
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DEVELOPMENTS RELATED TO THE 4 TEMPERAMENTS.
 “Peak
performance” is a term that most
of us associate more with athletics than
with work. Yet workplace excellence, what
I call peak performance, has never been
more important than it is today for individuals
at all levels within an organization.
Peak
Performance:The Key to Ongoing Employability
Employers’ expectations have never
been higher for their staff. Yet many,
many employees I have trained and coached
over the last several years would also
say that company loyalty has never been
lower. Long gone are the days when finding
a successful company, working hard, and
doing what you’re told was a guarantee
of lifetime employment. Today’s workplace
is much more fluid, less predictable,
and less secure for many individuals.
Statistics Canada recently declared that
the average permanent job in Canada now
lasts approximately three and one half
years. (It may give you some comfort to
know that the average CEO today holds
that position for about 2 years.) The
situation is virtually identical in the
United States.
One
of the implications for today’s workers
is the need to make sure they are always
employable. Phrases like “lifelong
learning,” “upgrading your skills,”
and “continuous improvement”
are now common in our workplaces and reflect
the need for individuals to make sure
that they never fall behind in having
up-to-date skills. And the level of those
skills is only going to increase as technology
continues to evolve and organizations
become less hierarchical in their structure.
The
Conference Board of Canada recently published
a document entitled “Employability
2000+” based on extensive consultation
with dozens of leading Canadian organizations.
The paper outlines current employers’
expectations regarding basic skills they
require in their employees. (The document
is subtitled “The skills you need
to enter, stay in, and progress in the
world of work.”) A small sample of
the skills expected includes the following:
- Locate,
gather, and organize information using
appropriate technology and information
systems.
- Plan, design
or carry out a project or task from
start to finish with well-defined objectives
and outcomes.
- Plan and
manage time, money and other resources
to achieve goals.
- Understand
and work with the dynamics of a group
- Work independently
or as part of a team.
- Be creative
and innovative in exploring possible
solutions.
Such
skills are now considered basic!
The
point I am making is quite simple. Employers
expect peak performance from their staff.
And while excelling in the workplace is
not a guarantee of employment, it certainly
increases the odds that you will continue
to be a valued member of your organization’s
work force and that you will be considered
for promotions should you want them.
And
should you find yourself the unfortunate
casualty of a downsizing, merger, or closure,
being a peak performer will guarantee
that you have good references, solid results,
and current skills to market to potential
employers.
The
Quick
Guide to the Four Temperaments and Peak
Performance: How to Unlock Your Talents
to Excel At Work will show
you how to evaluate whether or not your
knowledge, skills, and talents are functioning
at a peak level and how to improve them
if they are not.
Temperament-Based
Talents (edited
from original)
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Catalyst™
Diplomatic Intelligence
Diplomatic intelligence
is the talent for dealing with people
in a skillful, sensitive manner
that enables bridges of mutual understanding,
cooperation, and consensus to be
built. They possess the requisite
skills to realize these aspirations
in their own relationships and in
helping other parties work or live
together more productively.
Idealists draw
heavily on their natural gift for
empathy in dealing diplomatically
with others. Not only are they able
to anticipate how others will feel,
and often feel what others are feeling.
This empathic connection enables
them to see a situation from another
person’s perspective and to
communicate that perspective to
others. Thus, conflict resolution,
mediation, and consensus building
are often tasks at which the Idealist
excels. |
Stabilizer™
Logistical Intelligence
Logistical intelligence
is the talent for planning and
managing the flow of goods, materials,
personnel, or information so that
tasks are done accurately and
on time. Guardians typically have
an implicit awareness of the best
way to structure or organize a
project or task in order in which
to accomplish it correctly. Planning
the sequence of events, creating
realistic timelines, determining
and allocating resources, and
checking the details are all aspects
of this intelligence at work.
These capacities
rely on the Guardian’s natural
bent for sequential thinking,
the tendency to look at things
in sequence and determine the
best order in which to accomplish
something so that it works correctly
and gets to the right person.
Ordering, numbering, prioritizing,
and systematizing are further
components of this way of thinking.
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Theorist™
Strategic Intelligence
Strategic intelligence
is the talent for developing a plan
of action to achieve an ultimate
objective. As such, it requires
the ability to think abstractly
about desired outcomes, to analyze
current resources and circumstances,
to account for multiple variables
in planning, to generate and evaluate
multiple possible scenarios, and
finally, to coordinate the allocation
and deployment of the resources
necessary to achieve the selected
strategy.
These talents
draw upon the Rational’s natural
capacity for systems thinking. Rationals
seek to understand the underlying
principles of how a system works
(be it a social, organizational,
mechanical, or philosophical system).
They are adept at understanding
how the various parts/elements of
the system interact and integrate
with each other in producing the
actual or intended results. |
Improviser™
Tactical Intelligence
Tactical
intelligence is the talent for
organizing and maneuvering people,
objects, plans, or processes to
achieve an immediate aim or desired
result. As such, it requires a
strong ability to quickly read
the current situation and assess
relevant information, details,
and actions. Tactical intelligence
also includes the ability to make
decisions and respond with actions
that will achieve the desired
outcome or objective in light
of the immediate circumstances.
This
intelligence renders Artisans
highly gifted at seeing and seizing
current or near-future opportunities
that others often overlook. Artisans
are naturals at noticing what
is immediately doable, what resources
are available, and where they
can leverage their actions for
the greatest impact.
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