The first time I understood that peoples personalities played into their everyday actions was an “aha” moment. Being 25, the idea that everyone has a unique personality that affects how they interpret their surroundings and interact with others was not a concept I had thought deeply about before. Now that I was leading other staff members, it became clear that I had to learn how to best lead each individual in light of their personality.
As I began to do this, I saw a difference in our interactions and the way in which they lead. Part of knowing how to interact with others in a more effective manner meant that I had to understand myself fully. I realized that I was a very task driven person, and didn’t take enough time to care about the individual who was sitting across from me before we jumped into the business side of our meeting.
Your personality is who God made you to be. It is the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s distinctive character. Understanding our personality type, and the personality type of those you lead, is God honoring. Having a greater level of self-awareness as a leader begins with understanding yourself and how you are wired. This will then help you become a more effective leader.
Understanding the personality and emotions of others will lead to the best results, especially as you communicate in the day-to-day as well as vision and future change. A former colleague of mine is an introvert and serious by nature. Most people do not know how to interact with her. This became an issue as those who lead her did not know how to interact with her appropriately, how to lead her in such a way that she became the best version of herself and was productive in her work. As a church leader, you should know how to interact with your followers on a deeper level by understanding how the other person typically functions.
The Myers/Briggs Type Indicator personality inventory is a great starting point to understanding your personality. The assessment asks a series of questions that helps you determine your personality type. There are sixteen personality types. The assessment tells you how you view the world (introvert or extrovert), how you take in information (sensing or intuition), how you make decisions (thinking or feeling), structure of how you view the outside world (judging or perceiving).
Having this basic understanding of others on your team will help you to better lead them. This is one small step you can do to develop yourself and your team.
I encourage you to take the time for you and your staff to complete this free assessment that you can find online. Tell us your personality type in the comments below!
Stephanie
ps- check the comments below to find out my personality type!
My personality type is ENTJ. I had to find the balance between being task oriented as the “Executive” and show genuine concern for people.
I am an ENTP. Which means I love sparring and debate, love improving other people, try to understand people rather than judge them, and get bored easily. Haha.