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Myers Briggs – which type are you?

In our previous blog we explored the four temperaments, perhaps one of the oldest personality type models on the planet.  But to this, we now add a good all-rounder that has proved a helpful framework in which to consider why you work the way you do. 

No psychometric model predicts behaviour, but they can go a long way to explaining the motives behind our actions.  The Myers Briggs model is particularly robust, since it has been developed through over 60 years of research and has shown a high degree of reliability.

Where does the model come from?

The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was developed by Katherine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Myers Briggs, building on the work of Carl Jung.  It was Jung that first coined the Psychological Types in 1921, and his work was taken up by Katherine Brigg and her daughter post World War II to develop into a model of psychological preferences. 

Jung based his original theory on observations of many hundreds of patients and colleagues, whom he found displayed distinct differences in how they responded to the demands of everyday life and arrived at decisions.

 

What are the Types?

The MBTI is based on four opposing pairs, or dichotomies, that are related to how we interact with the world around us and arrive at our own decisions.

A questionnaire helps to define the preferences for each individual, which are always at the heart of our psychological make-up, but may not be immediately obvious to us, as we have learnt to adapt and change our responses based on work and life experiences. 

 

The MBTI model helps to explain why some people :

• may need to talk through their decisions in detail; whilst others need time to reflect and then present their decision.
• are very good at organising and planning their work and others appear to work in chaos.
• are good at remembering fine detail from a situation and others refer to general themes and patterns.
• make decisions based on facts; whilst other will refer to the emotional impact on others.

 

How can you use MBTI?

The framework like all self-assessment tools helps to raise your awareness of how you work and think and how this may impact on your work with others.  The Type indicators can also be informative when thinking of your career and life choices, by helping you to better understand the work roles and organisational settings that will suit you. 

For teams and organisations, it provides a common framework and language from which to explore the many differences in how team members, managers and leaders operate and can lead to a better understanding of the benefits of a diverse workforce.

 

About us

Agents2change works with some of the world's largest companies on change and implementation issues.  We regularly use MBTI as a developmental framework for leadership, team and organisational development.  If you’d like to know more contact us at:  feedback@agents2change.com

 

The Four Temperaments – What’s your type?

These days there are a plethora of tools, models and frameworks designed to explain the human psyche and how we work, but many of them do not stand the test of time.  However one model, which is perhaps the archetype of all modern psychometric models is that of the four temperaments. 

Over 2,500 years ago in the time of Hippocrates the idea of different types to define the human condition was introduced; this was called the Four Temperaments.  The early thinking was that the differences in mood, emotions and behaviours could be defined by ‘type’ has been a recurring theme in human history.  In the middle ages, right the way up to the eighteenth century, the four temperaments had an enduring appeal, although at that time it was linked to the rather dubious idea of physiognomy; the idea that one’s outer appearance could define one’s inner attributes.  

Of course such thinking could easily lead to stereotypes and discrimination and gradually the concept of the four temperaments fell out of favour.  However it does provide a remarkably fresh and topical way of thinking about the differences in human nature, and deserves to be reviewed in a more judicial light.  Essentially the four temperaments are linked to elements that help to explain and describe the behavioural characteristics within them.

 

 

Sanguine – Air

Typically this temperament is associated with creative and artistic types.  They would have a reputation for being energetic, changeable and perhaps hard to pin down to long-term commitments.  They are outwardly focused and concerned about the world and the environment they live in.  People gravitate towards their energy and often find them inspiring. 

Choleric – Fire

As the element suggests, this is often seen as a strong personality.  Focused on goals, actions and outward success; Cholerics are good at getting things done and getting those around them to follow.  At their most positive they are charismatic and charming, however if less well developed they can come across as dogmatic and bullying.  They often excel in entrepreneurial and leadership roles.

Phlegmatic – Water

One of the top qualities often associated with this temperament is reliability and calmness.  They are seen as hard workers, who will get on with their work with minimum of fuss.  Whilst they can make good leaders, it is not something that they would naturally pursue, preferring instead to have their own space and time to do what they wish.  Rules and routines are important to them and they do not like to have these interrupted or changed unneccesarily.

Melancholic – Earth

This temperament like its element, has its feet firmly rooted in the ground.  They are concerned about the here and now, and do not like needless flights of fancy.  Action and roles must have clear purpose, and they are often the first to find fault in poorly put together plans.  They tend to be quiet and thoughtful, but are in danger of becoming obsessive, if they are left to worry too much about details. 

 

Using the Four Temperaments in your organisation

The temperaments framework, like any other gives us a common language to consider the similarities and differences that are evident between us and our colleagues.  As one of the oldest personality theories, it provides a useful, easy to way in which to reflect on how and why we work the way we do.  To help you to do this, consider the following:

• Which one is your type and how might this differ from your boss and your colleagues?
• Does that impact on how you influence others?
• Can it help  you to understand conflicts that emerge in the workplace?

In our next blog we will look at how the model has been updated and is evident in the Myers Briggs type indicator which is widely used today.

About us

Agents2change works with some of the world's largest companies on change and implementation issues.  We'd love to hear your thoughts on this blog, innovation or change in general.  Share your comments here or email us on feedback@agents2change.com

Reviewing 2011 – Crossing the Rubicon

As we look back at 2011, we can see that in many ways and for many reasons it was an extraordinary year.  From revolutions to natural disasters, from political coups to civic disorder, from CEO departures to economic meltdown we have seen them all. 

The Arab spring,  saw not only an unprecedented amount of public protest against political leaders, but perhaps another revolution was how the campagins were coordinated and how they spread so quickly.  It started in Tunisia, but moved to over a dozen countries and has seen the toppling of three governments.  Many protesters used Social Media to communicate, organise and collaborate.  It is a very powerful example of how communication and globalisation are changing and the impacts that this can have.

It was the year that Apple lost their iconic boss Steve Jobs, which will certainly challenge the group to continue its trajectory as the worlds most innovative company.  Another bosses departure of quite another kind was Carol Bartz who was  dismissed from Yahoo in September. The troubled group has an uncertain future ahead.

In March, the world looked on with aghast as one of the biggest natural disasters of all time hit Japan, killing some 20,000 people.  The horror took a macabre twist as the nuclear reactors in the area threatened to go into meltdown, which was heroically avoided.  Although it was in many ways a confirmation of the safety of nuclear reactors, many countries chose to view it as quite the opposite.

The economy has had a thoroughly bad year.  US and Europe continue to see slow or non-existent growth.  The Euro-zone has threated to implode in on itself with crisis after crisis throughout the year.  Key sectors continue to struggle, with Banking and Retail hit worst. 

Protests were a big feature of the year, with a wave of anti-capitalists protests, starting with the Occupy Wall Street campaign which quickly spread to many of the worlds financial capitals.

In the Summer, the UK saw a breakdown of civil order when widespread violence and looting broke out, following a police shooting incident.  For three days, widespread protests looting and arson became a common feature in many large cities and completely overwhelmed the local police forces. Commentators cynically noted that certain business proved to be incubated from the looting with one high street having every business targeted except the local bookshop.

Perhaps when our children and our children’s children look back on 2011, they will see it as a turning point.  But a turning point to what?  We will have to wait and see.

Examining Culture #5 – The High’s and the Low’s of Cultural Difference

In this mini-series, we are looking at the challenges of managing across a diverse range of geographic and cultural boundaries.   We have already presented the findings of Hofstede,  Trompenaar & GLOBE.  Today we are looking at the last of the National Cultural theorist, Edward Hall.

 

In his book ‘Beyond Culture’ Hall took an anthropological approach to considering cultural differences.  In his book he looks at the various ways that societies deal with conflict, justice, truth and relationships.  He considers cultural differences from the perspective of how much meaning is interpreted through the context of the situation or how much relies on explicit messaging.  He introduces the concept of two main types of culture.  High Context – those which have meaning embedded in the fabric of life – through symbolism, rituals and relationships leading to short-hand or understated communication.  Low Context, by contrast, is more rule-bound, concerned with regulations and expectations, leading to explicit forms of communication.     See examples (below):

 

 

Hall’s model offers us insights into why some cultures spend more time codifying human behaviour and rules (Germany, America) and those that spend more time on relationships (Southern Europe).  We then see these differences manifest themselves through the way we, for example, develop statutes, run justice systems, appoint leaders etc.   

Another significant observation from Hall is relationship to Time.  Monochromic and Polychromic societies display differences in how they respond to and use time.  Monochromic  being those groups that take time as a finite resource, where punctuality is expected – ‘time is money’.  Polychromic groups view time as a flexible resource that can be juggled around the needs and priorities of relationships and tasks at hand.  We can easily imagine how business leaders from one group, negotiating and working with a leader from the other dimension, might well lead to frustration and conflict, merely because their approach to tasks and punctuality might vary.  Hall’s booked helped to highlight these difference and what might be the basis to them. 

Hall’s insights and models were developed from an anthropological perspective.   This means that his lens was both US based, but also concerned with human behaviour and rituals in the context of their unique evolution.  It was not developed with the business world in mind, unlike the other models, but it does provide a useful frame of reference in which to consider the manifestation of conflict and tensions across different national cultures.

What experiences have you had with cross cultural conflicts?  Does this model help explain the reasons for those conflicts?  Please share your thoughts or experiences on cross cultural management here, or email us if you would like to find out more about our work in this area at feedback@agents2change.com

Examing Culture #2 - Is Hofstede's view of Culture relevant?

Hofstede is seen as one of the key writers and proponents of cultural theory, through his research in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s and to which he has continued to add.  His research was based on employees within one organisation – IBM and covered over 116,000 responses, 72 national subsidiaries and 20 language, taking the data at two points in time over a four year period.  When first published, over 20 years ago, it was one of the most extensive pieces of research in the area of culture and lead to some critical thinking of what characteristics are observable in different national cultures.

The central premise to Hofstede’s work is that Culture and cultural identity are learned attributes developed over time and he coined the process ‘mental programming’.  

 

We can see how culture is ever-changing, in the ways that values and priorities change from one generation to another.  For example, we can see if we look back at key decades in UK society, that values changed from:  Being frugal and economical in the 1940’s  (key themes: ‘War’ and ‘Rations’); being hard-working and strong family values in the 1950’s  (key themes:  Post-war Industrial growth); being expressive and freedom of speech in the 1960’s  (key themes: Feminism, Free Love, Student Revolts); being politically aware and experiencing hardships in the 1970’s  (Increased political unrest, widespread strikes and large scale unemployment).  Thus we can say that culture is at the same time traditional yet ever changing.  The shifts in cultural values are harder to view in the day-to-day, but evident when looked at through a longer lens. 

This brings some interesting challenges to modern day multi-nationals, as it means that cultural identity and values needs to be understood and observed to a point, but that people are open to and willing to change their values and priorities if it makes sense for them to do so. 

Culture can feel like an intangible and hard to grasp concept, yet it is both general – i.e. definable at a national or continental level; but also specific – i.e. definable at an organisational, team and even family level.   And for each of these situations a new set of norms might be applied. 

Hofstede originally defined  four dimensions of culture as a way of mapping and explaining differences in national cultures.  If we look at how European countries map out on these dimensions, we see some interesting patterns:

Each dimensions looks at a different aspect of human interactions:

1.            Power Distance:  Defining and prioritizing power in their environments – e.g.. how much are hierarchies respected and maintained

2.            Uncertainty Avoidance: How important is it to know what is coming next and how much effort is invested into avoiding uncertainty

3.            Individualism ‘v’ Collectivisim:  What is more important – to be known and respected as an individual or to be part of and respected as part of a community (or group effort)

4.            Masculine ‘v’ Feminine:     “Masculinity pertains to societies in which social gender roles are clearly distinct and focused on material success; femininity pertains to societies in which social gender roles overlaps (i.e. both men and women are supposed to be modest, tender and concerned with quality of life)” (Hofstede P.82)

To these original dimensions, a fifth was added – Long Term’v’ Short Term Orientation.

 

The dimensions give us a frame of reference in which to consider and view culture, and it does allow us to perhaps explain differences that emerge across different countries, even in one geographic regions such as Europe.  However Hofstede was at pains to point out that the purpose of his cultural landscape was not to allow us to fall in to the trap of stereotyping countries and national cultures.  Far from it, Hofstede believed that by having a frame of reference, we could free ourselves up from our own cultural bias, to look at cultures with a more objective lens. 

There are a number of issues with Hofstede’s study methods and conclusions, which remind us of the need to treat it critically.  The first is that the data is focused around the respondents in one organisation – IBM.  Whilst an organisation of sufficient size  (well over 120,000 employees at the time of the research) to provide a statistically significant sample, but that does not mean it is representative on a national level.    

Blodgett et al (2008) after examining Hofstede’s model conclude that “Hofstede’s cultural instrument lacks sufficient validity when applied at the individual unit of analysis”.  McSweeney B (2002) goes further to systematically deconstruct and debunk his theories stating that “The scale problem of Hofstede’s research is radially compounded by the narrowness of the population surveyed” and that Hofstede oversimplified the importance of organisational culture as a component and a relevant factor when matching samples across countries.  Yet despite this criticism, I think that St Claire-Ostwald (2007) offers wise words when she states  “To reject totally Hofstede’s or similar functionalist models of national culture, before more satisfactory models have been developed, would be to throw away valuable insight.”

Hofstede’s model still has influence on our current thinking of Culture and its interpretation.  One can see his influence in other important models, such as those of Trompenaars and GLOBE, which will be covered in the next section of this series. 

Culture is ever-present and all-pervasive and however much we want to imagine that business as usual can continue without it, it cannot.  However by becoming more aware of it, is the first step in managing its consequences.

Please share your thoughts or experiences on cross cultural management here, or email us if you would like to find out more about our work in this area at feedback@agents2change.com

 

Further Reading:

Blodgett J, Bakir A &  Rose G (2008)  A Test of the Validity of Hofstede’s Cultural Framework, Advances in Consumer Research (Volume 35)

Hofstede G (1994) Cultures and Organizations: Intercultural cooperation and its importance for survival; Software of the Mind, London: HarperCollins

McSweeney, B. (2000). Hofstede's model of national cultural differences and their consequences: A triumph of faith – a failure of analysis. Human Relations, 55(1), 89-118.

St Claire-Ostwald B (2007) Carrying Cultural Baggage: the contribution of socio-cultural anthropology to cross-cultural coaching, International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring 5(2), 45-52

 

"7 Graces of Marketing" virtual blog tour

Today I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day 9 of the Virtual Blog Tour of author Lynn Serafinn whose book The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell launches on Amazon on Tuesday December 13, 2011.

 

Lynn Serafinn, MAED, CPCC is a certified, award-winning coach and teacher, marketer, social media expert, radio host, speaker and bestselling author. Her eclectic approach to marketing incorporates her vast professional experience in the music industry and the educational sector along with more than two decades of study and practice of the spirituality of India. In her work as a promotional manager she has produced a long list of bestselling mind-body-spirit authors. Passionate about re-establishing our connection with the Earth, she supports the work of the Transition Town network in her hometown of Bedford, England.

 

Yesterday, Lynn visited Charly Leetham at http://askcharlyleetham.com/book-launches/what-are-the-7-graces-of-marketing/login  , where they talked about marketing strategies and messages in this approach for small business owners.

 

Today, I'd like to share with you a recent interview I had with Lynn when I got to ask her questions about the new horizon on marketing.    I hope you enjoy it.

 

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Mary McGuire: There is so much written about marketing – what can we learn that is new from you book?

Lynn Serafinn: First of all, let me clarify that The 7 Graces of Marketing isn't a "how to" book at all. A lot of people who know my work might be expecting a handbook for how to do marketing using social media, as that is what I help people with professionally, but I didn't want to write a book like that. Instead, this book is intended to be an eye-opener for both business owners and consumers, showing just how powerfully marketing impacts our lives and much of it in a negative way.

 

I unveil a lot of rather "unsavoury" aspects to marketing, much of which people might not be aware. I call these "The 3 Furies of Marketing" and "The 7 Deadly Sins" of marketing. I have researched for two years to find clear evidence, statistics and examples, so people could understand how modern marketing has contributed to massive imbalances in our health, our economy and our natural environment. And, of course, I didn't just want to spread the "bad news", so I also offer a new paradigm, which I call "The 7 Graces of Marketing".

 

I've delivered many talks on this subject, usually to groups of small business owners. In my experience, many small business owners don't like to do marketing, but they cannot understand why they have such a mental block towards it. This often has a negative impact upon their businesses, and as a result, they feel like they are failing as business owners. Some of the most typical people in this category are holistic professionals and creative artists. But when I unveil to them the many unspoken methods of modern marketing, these people begin to understand why they have had such a block against it. It's really just a case of it clashing with their value system. When they see they can now consciously adopt a new paradigm (the 7 Graces) to counter the aspects that are unpalatable to them (The 7 Deadly Sins), they can not only begin to do marketing in a new way that is congruent with their own values, but they can also create marketing that will give value to the world instead of harm it.

 

For the consumer, the book is equally valuable because it teaches us how to recognise the ways marketing influences our beliefs and spending habits, how it triggers our fears, and how it toys with our sense of identity. When it comes right down to it, we are all consumers, and the more informed we are, the more empowered we become. And the greater number of empowered consumers we have in the world, the more likely marketing will change for the better.

 

Mary McGuire: You extend your reach in this book well beyond marketing – why is it important to consider yourself and wider society, surely marketing is just about selling stuff? 

 

Lynn Serafinn: The more I've looked at marketing, Mary, the more I've seen it's not about selling "stuff" at all, but about "selling ideas".

 

In the book I give many detailed and varied examples of how this happens. For example, the cigarette industry has a long history of "selling" the idea that cigarettes are linked with our sexual identity. In the 1920s, when early feminist movements were rising in the US, cigarettes were marketed to women as something that symbolises their equality with men. Prior to that campaign, women, for the most part, didn't smoke cigarettes at all. In the post-war 1950s, when women were playing the role of housewife, cigarettes were marketed as a weight-loss aid to make them sexier. In the 1970s, when the next wave of feminism arose, cigarettes were again marketed as something that indicated women were "liberated". If you look at the statistics, the rise in cigarette use among women in these eras (and subsequent rise in lung cancer amongst women) paralleled these marketing campaigns precisely. Women weren't buying cigarettes—they were buying the idea of what the marketers were telling them these cigarettes represented. And this is just one of dozens of examples I give in the book, from fast food to children's toys to automobiles and beyond.

 

Marketing is in the business of created what I call "collapsed beliefs", which is when two totally disparate ideas become fused together as one. In the case of cigarettes, it's the fusion of "cigarettes equal liberation" or "cigarettes equal sexiness". And this is what consumers (and marketers!) need to understand. We are not buying "stuff" at all; we are buying the "idea" of the stuff. And because of this, marketing is extremely powerful, as it is really the practice of creating and selling ideas and beliefs.

 

Marketers already know this, even if they don't admit it or consciously understand it. My book is, among other things, a call to action to marketers to stop the reckless manipulation of public ideology, and simply get back to communicating clearly, directly and honestly. And it's also a call to action for business owners to look at the wider impact of not just their marketing, but also of their businesses on a whole.

 

Lastly, I want to mention that because marketing is the "selling of ideas", really I am not limiting the discussion simply to advertising. Within the idea of marketing, I equally include things like journalism, the nightly news and politics.

 

Mary McGuire: What do you see as the new marketing horizon in the next 5 – 10 years?

 

Lynn Serafinn: Well I would hope the 7 Graces (whether or not referred to directly) become the new paradigm, as I believe it covers a lot of ground. Of course, the answers cannot come from a single book, and I make it very clear in the book that it is a book of questions, not a manual of answers, and the only way answers will come is if we as one humanity will come together and start the dialogue for change.

 

I do think we will start to see signs of this shift within the next 5-10 years, but there is an awful lot of infrastructure needed to bring it fully to fruition, so I think we're realistically looking at another 20-30 years to see the full transition to the new paradigm. But the dialogue HAS to start now, because our current rate of consumption is, frankly, destroying:

 

• our societies - by making us dependent upon big business instead of local enterprise
• our economy - by making us dependent upon credit/debt
• our health - by consuming harmful products, unhealthy food and by living highly stressful lives
• our planet – by extracting AND disposing of resources at a rate far faster than our planet can replenish or recycle them

 

The paradigm of The 7 Graces of Marketing is an invitation to start a dialogue about taking a more holistic approach to marketing and business in general, where we not only practice social responsibility, but we also come back into step with the eco-system that is our planet. It is important to remember that we humans are not outside that system, and that every aspect of our culture—including our economy—is also a part of the eco-system of Planet Earth.

 

I do believe more and more people are starting to wake up to this fact, and that the shift back towards our own humanity has begun. My grandson is now 5 years old; my dream is that by the time he has children the world will be a very different, and much healthier and holistically balanced, place to live.

 

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I hope you enjoyed this interview with Lynn Serafinn and that you’ll check out her book The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell at http://the7gracesofmarketing.com/book-launch/pages/pre-launch.html

 

Here's why:

 

 

 

The 7 Graces of Marketing Telesummit

A FREE 7-Part Online Happening!

December 6th-9th, 2011

Register at http://the7gracesofmarketing.com/free-telesummit

 

When you visit the page at the link above and request a "launch reminder", you will automatically receive a FREE pass to Lynn's 7-Part online happening “The 7 Graces of Marketing Telesummit” with an illustrious panel of 24 bestselling authors and world-renowned speakers and media experts on society, business and marketing coming together to discuss how we can bring ethics and values back our business and marketing practices, and restore balance to our health, our economy and our natural environment.

 

Here's the spectacular list of guests speakers for the event:

Dr. Joe Vitale * Greg S. Reid * Dr. Eric Pearl * Dan Hollings * Pamela Slim * Liz Goodgold * Allison Maslan * Suzanne Falter*Barnes * Tad Hargrave * Misa Hopkins * Richard S. Gallagher * Ward Vandorpe * Barbara Altemus * Andrea Conway * Renee Baribeau * Renee Duran * Michael Drew * Chris Arnold * Jeffrey Van Dyk * Tanya Paluso * Kate Osborne * Shelagh Jones * Paula Tarrant * Lynn Serafinn

 

You can listen to the telesummit online in the comfort of your own home, and even ask questions during the broadcast.

 

If you are reading this after Dec 9th, 2011 you can still access the playback for a limited time when you register at http://the7gracesofmarketing.com/free-telesummit

 

To claim your FREE pass to the 7 Graces of Marketing Telesummit

and read about the free gifts, go to:

http://the7gracesofmarketing.com/book-launch/pages/pre-launch.html

 

Thanks for reading! As usual, please feel free to share your comments and thoughts below.

 

AND… be sure to follow Lynn tomorrow when the next stop on the Virtual Blog Tour is Gregory "Coach" Fernander, who will be interviewing Lynn on the subject of responsibility in marketing & in life. To visit that "stop" on the tour, go to http://coachatgregory.blogspot.com   

Corporate & Functions # 3 – Role Clarity – Who should be doing what?

In this mini-series we are looking at the role and value that functions can play in supporting large global corporations.  The second of our five areas is role clarity within Functions. 

Although there is a logical and clear argument for the need for functions, in practice the 'what & how' of functional contribution to business success can be blurred.  This confusion can be a symptom of unclear strategy or the lack of clarification at key points during the organisation’s growth and diversification. 

The frustration that is felt by the businesses when there is this confusion is palpable.  In their need for quick, responsive and appropriate services they can sometimes resort to extreme measures including the creation of ‘shadow’ functions within their segment. In one global financial services provider this had become a common way of overcoming corporate obstacles, leading to a plethora of IT and finance systems within the group.

The coordination between functions when they implement cross-functional or group-wide processes can also lead to breakdowns in communication.   Businesses can be overwhelmed by the latest imperative from Finance Function, whilst in the middle of a major IT implementation.  The deadlines compete or over-ride one and other, leaving the businesses overwrought and under-resourced.  A global credit risk insurer were implementing a mult-strand major strategy overhaul and  soon ran into the ground with their implementation efforts.  It became clear that the reason for this was that there were simply too many corporate centres making requests of the business units, leading to high levels of tension and communication breakdown.

One tool that can help clarify roles is called the RACI.  It records who is Responsible for doing a task; who is ultimately Accountable for getting it done; who needs to be Consulted before a decision is made; and who needs to be Informed that something is changing.  It’s a simple yet very effective tool to bring about clarity.  

 

 

In our next instalment we will look at Achieving Operational Excellence.  If you have experiences you wish to share, please comment here or contact us at feedback@agents2change.com

Can Empathy be taught?

One of the issues that we frequently see in our work is a breakdown in communication between leaders and their staff.  The reasons for this are many, but often a key one is the lack of empathy between the leader and his team.  But can Empathy be coached or taught?

We would say it depends.  It depends on the level of emotional intelligence that the person already has and the ability to recognise their own learning needs   Empathy is the ability to consider and appreciate the emotional needs of others.  To be able to appreciate the needs of others, one has to be aware of one’s own needs.  The large majority of the population have this skills and can become very good at empathy with some coaching and development.

There is a small minority however, who do not have this skills.  Either because they lack the ability to become self aware, or they have little interest or concern for others.  We see some of these trait in, for example, the narcissist.

If you are looking to develop your empathy skills further some tips include:

• After conversations with colleagues, write down the content of the discussion and also make some notes of what emotions you saw from the person.
• Observe colleagues in conversation – for example around the water cooler, and see if you can detect the emotions that are being conveyed.  This works really well if they are out of earshot.
• Watch programs with the sound turned off for a short while and see if you can detect the essence of the conversation from the characters body language and facial expressions.
• Seek out emotional as well as technical reactions from colleagues at work.
• Address inconsistencies in actions and deeds.  For example if someone appears to be saying one thing  (I’m alright) and doing another (looking anxious) give them some feedback on what you see (their anxiety) and see if there is anything that can be done to address this.

By connecting in a more emotional congruent way with your colleagues, you will find that the communication becomes easier and more real. 

We’d love to hear your experiences, so post your comments here or email us on feedback@agents2change.com

Are you unconsciously incompetent or consciously competent?

Have you ever wondered why it is easy to train some people in some skills and others remain stubbornly resistant to new ideas?  The reason for this might be down to the process of learning that is applied and how well it allows the person to see their own shortcomings vis-à-vis a new skills or approach. 

Over 70 years ago Abraham Maslow coined a model called the four stages of learning and it remains the cornerstone of learning theory to this day.  It comes from the premise that our awareness of our own abilities comes from both our conscious and our unconscious mind. 

 

 
A good example of how this works would be the process of learning to drive a car.  In the initial stages that we are thinking about driving, we watch our parents and others drive cars and think of how easy it looks.  In this stage of Unconscious Incompetence, we see the task as an easy process of a few pedals and a gear stick.  We believe it to be easy because we observe it as an effortless process in others. 

Then we take the plunge and start driving lessons and suddenly we are thrown into Conscious Incompetence.  We start to realise that there is more to this than just a few gears and pedals and that we have to keep a huge amount of information in our heads to control this vehicle. 

As our confidence builds and we master the skills required we move into Conscious Competence.  We can move those gears and pedals at the right time and are able to control the many other variables that help us to drive our vehicle safely.

The final stage is the very one we were observing as the novice.  In this stage you have reached Unconscious Competence.  You no longer have to think of the actions required to drive the car, but can do so effortlessly with little conscious thought of what is required. 

This is a useful model for any learning & development program to explain the difference stages that need to be considered in learning.  Like many models its simplicity belies the depth of theory and understanding that it portrays.  For example the transition between conscious incompetence and conscious competence requires a lot of review and reflection on behalf of the learner.

The best teachers tend to be those who can hold their learning in the conscious competence level.  It is only when we understand and can break down the tasks of our learning that we can explain that to others. 

Similarly, getting someone to recognise that they may have a learning need requires their unconscious incompetence to be highlighted by showing the gap between what they think they know and what they can apply.  Quizzes or practical assessments are examples of how this can be done.

Have you got examples of how this model has helped you to shape your organisation’s development.  Do you have comments about the learning process.  Post your comments here or email us on feedback@agents2change.com

Agents2Change works with clients to achieve breakthrough results through system, process and people development interventions.

Founder recognised by Europe’s leading People Development Body

Mary McGuire has been awarded Chartered Fellow status at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (Chartered FCIPD).  The CIPD is Europe's largest HR development professional body, a globally recognised brand with over 135,000 members.

 

Achieving Chartered Fellow status means that Mary is recognised for her expertise in the area of Organisational Development & Performance  gained over 10 years working at the most senior levels within international corporations.

 

“I am delighted with the achievement.  A lot of the work that we do at Agents2change is about the learning and growth challenges for organisations and senior leaders.  It is therefore important that we apply the same rigorous standards of Continuous Personal Development to our own skills and understanding.  The CIPD upgrade was a very involved process, but achieving this status provides reassurance to our clients that we have the knowledge and expertise that they would expect from global professionals”.

 

If you want to hear more about how Agents2change can help your organisation visit us at www.agents2change.com, or email us at feedback@agents2change.com.