The biggest asset any company has today is its people. Since all companies are in business to make a profit, it makes good business sense to invest in your people. The greatest lack in the workplace today is good interpersonal skills, leading to less productivity, in turn leading to lower profits. The Gartner Research group did a survey a number of years ago and found that "The greatest need for technology professionals today is interpersonal skills." That hasn't changed. In fact, all people need good interpersonal skills regardless of field, and those skills are needed in all areas of life.

When people understand and connect with one another, they help each other get the job done. These individuals work as a cohesive team, and they go the extra mile. They care about other people and about the company. No matter which area of diversity, be it cultural, ethnic or gender diversity, there are fewer problems if you first understand and connect with one another on a personal level.

Many companies provide a great workspace, great compensation and many benefits. However, if the employees routinely have to work with someone they do not understand and cannot effectively communicate with, many of those employees will be looking for another job, either actively or passively, despite the benefits of the current position. People will be out sick more and, in some cases, may actively sabotage another person's job performance.

How can employers help their people better understand and communicate with those around them? One possibility is to help them learn the common language of "Personality". The language of "Personality" is more than 2000 years old and is still valid today. Carl Jung, the father of modern psychology, refined this language in the 20th century and modern day psychologists have tied this language to colors. The use of color with these personality characteristics makes them easy to learn, remember and use every day.

The language of colorful personalities, in brief:

• Someone with a lot of Red energy wants you to "Be BRIGHT, Be BRIEF, Be GONE." This is Jung's Extraverted Thinking person, one who focuses on the task and wants to get the job done. He or she is very impatient with the details. To adapt and connect with this person, give him bottom line solutions in bullet point format.
• Someone with a lot of Yellow energy wants to be "INVOLVED" in everything. This person is Jung's Extraverted Feeling person. He or she is very social, involved in everything going on around him or her, and has a tendency to flit from project to project without finishing either of them. To connect with this person, help her to use her creativity and ideas, and then let her do the presentation in front of the group.
• Someone with a lot of Green energy cares that everyone is "HAPPY". This is Jung's Introverted Feeling person, one who really cares about people and their happiness and wants validation in the decision making process. To connect with this individual, make sure everyone has been taken into consideration before the final decision to do something is made.
• Someone with a lot of Blue energy wants lots of "DETAILS". This is Jung's Introverted Thinking person, someone who needs facts and details and time to reflect on them. To connect with him or her, be sure you are correct and have all the facts and details to back up what you say, and then give him or her time to analyze.

Of course, no one has only one color energy. We each have preferences, but everyone has all four color energies in different measures. Depending on circumstances, tasks, or stress, we will use different color energies at different times. Understanding comes with being able to speak the common language of all colors and learning to adapt and connect as they change. It's easier to communicate effectively when you can recognize when someone is in a color energy that is not as comfortable for him or her because of stress or the role he or she is currently playing.

Wilson Learning recently did a case study with sales people from a pharmaceutical company and found that those who had personality advantage type training increased their sales by more than 50%. A Harvard University study found that for every dismissal based on failure to perform, there are two dismissals due to personality and communication problems. With the high costs of employee turnover, it's no surprise companies are turning to personality and behavioral assessments to help evaluate job candidates, build teams and resolve workplace conflict. As Joel Allinson, Sales Manager for XO Communications, states, "Personality matters a great deal in any field when you talk about sales positions; people buy from people."

If you use the understanding of Personality Color Energies to adapt and connect in all aspects of your life, you will be more successful and life will be less frustrating for both you and the people you interact with.

What is your point of view? Please post your thoughts on the discussion board.

Recent Posts:

Warning: main(/web/sites/www.witi.com/htdocs/users/discussion_board/conf_global.php) [function.main]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /system/web/lib/applications/discussion_board/htdocs/users/discussion_board/ssi.php on line 79