Understanding Preferences and Personalities

At first glance I thought that my personality results were different from what they were ten years ago when I took a similar test on Pinterest. To my surprise my old Pinterest test results displayed the same thing! I am still the same, an ESFJ-T, this time the test referred to me as a Consul. The prior Pinterest version was more geared towards careers and displayed the ESFJ type as a Caretaker, with an ideal job being a Registered Nurse! I would have to say that this personality test does accurately describe who I am. The assessment describes me as someone with an extroverted mind, who gains energy from my surrounding observations, who follows emotional expression and social harmony, with decisiveness, clarity, organization, all while remaining self-consciousness and success driven, with a bit of perfectionism thrown in the mix (Personality Types, n.d.)! 

    When I was younger, I would’ve considered myself to be shy and an introvert, so it’s interesting to see that I’ve grown into an extrovert though, 61% to be exact! In Sarah Cain’s TED talk she mentioned that schools used to have kids lined up in rows and you would conduct your schooling mostly alone at your desk. I do remember majority of my classes being like that, but the classes that did have us sit together in groups caused me much anxiety. I remember not speaking at all because of my shyness. I would say that I’m an extravert when I’m comfortable in a setting with people I know, but if I’m in a large group I most likely won’t be speaking. I do love that Sarah Cain discussed how our culture evolved to value the man of action vs the man of contemplation, hence leaning towards a work industry that seems to value the extrovert (TED, 2012). I feel that the introvert and extrovert feed best off one another and can gain collaboration through one another’s strengths and weaknesses. 

                I will say that a weakness for Consul’s like me is the vulnerability to criticism. As a new graduate nurse I was ecstatic to have landed my dream job at my dream hospital. I actually felt on top of the world to have been offered two positions and been given the choice of which hospital to pursue my nurse residency. Within the first six months I found myself clashing with the tightly knit clique within my unit. It was unfortunate, because we were all around the same age, except that I was the new graduate. It truly felt like a situation where “nurses eat their young” and I was heartbroken because I thought I had my dream job. I would dwell on any criticism received, both the harsher ones and kinder ones, they all seemed to affect me the same. Looking back, I think those nurses had already formed a tight bond, so when you add in my weakness of vulnerability to criticism along with the need to feel appreciated, that job was destined to end in a puddle of tears.

               I would have to say that the tone of that unit was set by the leader, the unit nurse manager. After listening to Pat Ebrights webstcast on Complexity Adaptive Systems Theory I can’t help but think back to that nurse manager. She would make changes on the unit that seemed to be one sided without much thought to the broader scale and how it might impact her staff on other shifts or maybe even the ancillary staff. She was the hub of the unit and kept everything functioning, but if she had a bad day, you could easily feel the trickle effects throughout the unit and it was terrible (Pat Ebright - Complex Adaptive System Theory, 2010). 

                My personality values social harmony and can sense the feelings around me, therefore causing me to actually hate conflict. I’m uneasy with it and after watching conflict resolution webcast I can see some traits from myself and my coworkers. When I was younger I would be in complete denial, but because I hate the awkwardness, I have learned to just confront the person, but still in a polite and respectful way so I don’t have to live with that tension. Some of my coworkers seem to use the stress leave and call in when conflict arises (Thats Easy Learning, 2013). I’m often seen as a mediator in situations and our text describes that mediators need to exhibit proper demeanor and respect amongst parties (Albert et al., 2020). I find that my personality and need for social harmony gravitates towards this quite easily.  A leader should be confident in managing conflict because there will be miscommunication and personality challenges in the work setting. Sometimes I feel that my supervisor is just putting out fires between co-worker issues! 

Albert, N. M., Pappas, S., Porter-O’Grady, T., & Malloch, K. (2020). Quantum Leadership: Creating Sustainable Value in Health Care: Creating Sustainable Value in Health Care. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Pat Ebright - Complex Adaptive System Theory. (2010, February 2). [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNFFEJqz9YA&feature=youtu.be

Personality Types. (n.d.). 16 Personalities. Retrieved January 18, 2023, from https://www.16personalities.com/profile

TED. (2012, March 2). The power of introverts | Susan Cain [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0KYU2j0TM4&feature=youtu.be

Thats Easy Learning. (2013, July 12). Conflict Resolution [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY5TWVz5ZDU&feature=youtu.be