What's Your Type at Work?

Are you one of those organized people who always complete your projects before they are due? Or do you put off getting the job done until the very last possible moment? Is your boss someone who readily lets you know how you are doing? Or does she always leave you unsure of precisely where you stand? Do you find that a few people on your team are incredibly creative but can never seem to get to a meeting on time? Do others require a specific agenda at the meeting in order to focus on the job at hand?

Bestselling authors Otto Kroeger and Janet Thuesen make it easy to recognize your own type and those of your co-workers in Type Talk at Work, a revolutionary guide to understanding your workplace and thriving in it. fully revised and updated for its 10th anniversary, this popular classic now features a new chapter on leadership, showing you how to be more effective on the job. Get the most out of your employees - and employers - using the authors' renowned expertise on typology. With Type Talk at Work, you'll never look at the office the same way again!

Chapter 1

"Would you mind doing this our way?"

We are so well intentioned. Nearly everyone, it seems, talks a good game when it comes to being open, accepting others' differences, and staying on top of our fast-changing world. If we were to ask you, "Will you be open with us?" or "Would you do this our way?" you'd probably respond, "Of course!" And you'd most likely mean it.

But life, as we know all too well, just isn't that simple.

Accepting others' differences is a difficult thing to do for even the most open-minded individual. One way that we deal with differences-in looks, behavior, attitudes, or anything else-is through name-calling: "He's such an eager beaver." "She's kind of a motor mouth." "He's as skinny as a bean pole." And on and on. Name-calling is a convenient way of cataloging or labeling an individual's characteristics. It's one of the most natural things we do.

Nowhere does name-calling have more impact than at work. Our co-workers, bosses, subordinates, and customers provide a wealth of material for name-calling, whether we think these things or actually say them. That colleague down the hall who insists on bursting into your office every time he's got something to say, regardless of how little you may welcome the intrusion, is dubbed a chatterbox. That customer who insists on reading every word of every document-twice-is known as a nitpicker. The employee who always wants to do things her own way is called a rebel. And the superior who never gives you praise no matter how hard you work is referred to as a coldhearted jerk. And it isn't even time for your morning coffee break!

The fact is each of us has his own style, his own preferences, and his own ways of facing life's challenges. One person's laid-back style is another person's lack of motivation. Your thinking out loud is our annoying distraction. Someone's need to keep up with change is someone else's conviction to not fix what ain't broken. Those differences in style can lead to a great deal of misunderstanding, miscommunication, and resentment. And in the process feelings get hurt, communication channels break down, and a host of organizational illnesses proliferate, from absenteeism to alcoholism. Left unchecked, productivity and profits, to say nothing of morale, will inevitably plummet.

At work our good intentions are further tested by the increasingly diverse nature of our jobs and workplaces. Almost every imaginable culture and gender truth is being challenged. It's rare these days that someone stays with a company for more than a few years; we're almost expected to jump from job to job, and even career to career, over the course of our work lives. Everything about the workplace seems to be in flux; the technology, the language, our job descriptions, our ethics, and sometimes our very selves. Wherever you sit in your organization-at the top, middle, or bottom-the challenges are greater, the pace is quicker, and "the future" is closer than ever before.

The ability of some companies to survive and even thrive amid all this turmoil is directly linked to the degree with which employees and management communicate effectively with one another. We're not talking necessarily about an open and frank exchange of views, or about becoming best friends with your bosses, colleagues, and subordinates. We're talking about turning the many differences among us into powerful tools instead of divisive intrusions. We're talking about putting our good intentions to work in a way in which everybody wins.

Copyright © 2002 by Otto Kroeger and Janet M. Thuesen and Hile Rutledge.

Tags: Success, Career & Money, Psychology & Psychiatry, Personality