Before you start accepting interviews, it helps to know even more about yourself. Many personality tests are available to those who want to use them as tools for self-assessment. (Later, we'll talk a bit about employers' uses of these tests.) Some tests, such as the Myers-Briggs, enable you to examine who you are in considerable depth and come up with a detailed profile. Most psychologists in the Yellow Pages can either set up such testing for you or refer you to someone who provides the service. So can some career-counseling firms. However, both testing and counseling can be costly, and you might not want to invest the time and money at this stage.
Yet you might benefit from having a bit more insight into your personality. The LaHaye Temperament Analysis, provides such a test, along with a detailed analysis that offers concrete guidance.
LaHaye's test is based on a model that goes all the way back to Solomon, over 1000 years before Christ, was modified by Hippocrates, and was expanded upon by a physician named Galen early in the third century. The test delineates four temperaments-sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic-and presents twelve possible combinations by establishing one of the types as dominant and a second type as subordinate. The types are relatively easy to understand.
Sanguines and cholerics tend to be externally oriented; they face outward and display more concern for others. Melancholies and phlegmatic tend to be internally oriented; they face inward and show more concern for themselves.
THE RAPE MODEL
To help busy executives understand themselves and others quickly and make off-the-cuff guesses that lead to better communication, I adapted the four-temperament theory to the polarities of approach and avoidance behavior. I label the temperaments Approach I, Approach II, Avoidance I, and Avoidance II.
No one can say which type is best because it would first be necessary to establish the meaning of "best." If wealth were meant, for example, it might be useful to know that some of the world's wealthiest people fall into the Avoidance I and II categories.
During most executive-level interviews, candidates are well advised to display a balanced mix of Approach I and Approach II traits. They will then come across as enthusiastic and outgoing (Approach I) and yet relaxed and receptive (Approach II).
However, this is a generalization that may not apply to some careers. In addition, the interviewer's personality may dictate, at least in part, which mode would be most likely to succeed at that moment? If you feel that you are an Approach-oriented person, ask yourself whether you approach others (Approach I) or are receptive to their approaches (Approach II). If you believe you are Avoidance-oriented, ask yourself whether you try to keep others away from you (Avoidance I) or tend to withdraw from others (Avoidance II).
Approach I
(Active-Gregarious) Words, voice tones, and body language combine to say, "I want to approach you." Approach II (Passive-Reticent but Friendly) Words, voice tones, and body language combine to say, "I would accept an approach from you to me."
Avoidance I
(Active-Hostile, Aggressive) Words, voice tones, and body language combine to say, "I want to keep you away from me." Avoidance II (Passive-Fearful, Insecure) Words, voice tones, and body language combine to say, "I want to keep me away from you." To explore these preliminary assessments further, consider the information that follows to see which one might describe you-particularly during an employment interview.
Approach Modes
To determine whether you are an Approach person, ask yourself these kinds of questions; Do you tend to come on strong? Do you often take over or monopolize conversations? Do you seek attention? Do you tend to overdo your praises of others? Do others find it difficult to get a word in edge wise?
- Do you spend considerable time trying to push your own ideas and points even when others can offer valid counterpoints?
- Do you tend to be brutally frank and tell it like it is? Do you sometimes reveal more than you should? Do you sometimes resort to sweeping generalities and leave out key details along the way?
- Do you tend to downplay situations or try to sweep things under the rug?
- Do you sometimes start to express your views and then back off?
- Do you yield to others, perhaps more readily than you should? Are you generally supportive of others? Do you feel relaxed and appropriately assertive when you communicate?
- Are your overall messages (words, voice tones, non verbal) active or passive?
If you feel that you are Avoidance-oriented, these questions may help you check this out further:
- Do you sometimes (frequently, always) feel offended? Ignored?
- Treated poorly? Put off? Given the runaround?
- Specifically, do you need to impress, to persuade, or to be treated according to your set expectations?
- Do you tend to attack or criticize others? Do you engage in fault finding or blame laying? Do you sometimes put people down? Do you make demands of others? Do you set expectations for others in your relationships that they find difficult to fulfill? Are your expectations implied, or do you state them clearly?
- Do you feel the need to be in control?
Monitor your messages and ask yourself what conveys these impressions. Ask close friends and family members to give you constructive feedback in these areas. Ask them to describe your actions or give you their views on what seems to motivate them. Ask them also whether your total communication (words, tones, non verbal) sends clear messages or confuses others. Try to find out what accounts for that. Explore the intensity of the messages. Do you overdo or under do the signals?
Remember not to judge either yourself or the feedback your critics give you. Your purpose should be to understand yourself better so you can make the appropriate adjustments to each situation.
Once again, everyone has varying elements of the four types in his or her personality, and one type may merely predominate during your interviews. This, then, is the primary purpose for providing an assessment tool here: To help you understand yourself better so you can use the insight to have the best possible outcomes from the meetings.
You should learn how to apply this technique to others even during your interviews, so practice it on yourself now. Get comfortable with it. Then you will come to know yourself and others better, and that will lead to better communication by everyone.
