On getting to know me...

I'm attending a two day preconference workshop dedicated to getting a better understanding of the job I was originally hired to do. Since I'm also "acting" in the position that original position typically reports to, I'm already hearing a lot of conversations about why people in my position are so unreasonable.

And I've paid for this experience. Fantastic.

The day started with a fairly cool icebreaker (anything having to do with Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, I mean, Separation, is aces in my book), and we took yet another Myers-Briggs type personality assessment. Though I only hold partial faith in these assessments, I do find them fascinating. But, really, only because I'm way to self-interested than I'll ever admit to any of you. Oh wait. I just did.

Anyway, as with most of these assessments, there were certain aspects that were 100% right on, and others that were off the mark. Kind of like when my aunt did a tarot card reading for me and indicated I have a passion for law and justice. I'd just gotten out of a 5 1/2 year relationship with a law student. Of all the things I had passion for, they had nothing to do with anything related to a bar exam.

But I digress.

Whenever I take any of these, I read up on the primary characteristics but also the ones that came in a close second. A combination of the two tends to hit the mark. But in my "dominate profile pattern" I am described as the following:

"Objective and analytical, Investigators are dispassionate "anchors of reality".

Hmmm... I'm the girl who throws the occasional hissy fit on her boss because her boss is doing nothing but bending to the wishes of her own boss. I'm the girl who closes her office door to bawl because she's convinced everybody hates her, without any solid evidence either way.

"Investigators are not especially interested in pleasing people, and they prefer to work alone. They can be perceived as cold, blunt and tactless."

Hmmm... As much as I drive myself crazy for this trait, I care SO much about what other people think and wanting them to be happy. Granted, I do prefer to work alone, and I likely have become a bit more cold and blunt, but only out of necessity. Turns out the Bill Lumbergh/Michael Scott rules of discipline in management actually don't work.

Again, some of the stuff was really right on, but, as with everything out, it's the negatives that tend to stick out.

Still, I learned a lot today. In the past couple of months I've been trying to fully apply the knowledge that I'll never be happy in the workplace waiting for everyone to "be like me". Perhaps I need to make some personal adjustments for the greater good. Also, I need to realize I am an influencer and I could be much more proactive in making my office a more positive and supportive place for those who work around me. Because I'm the same age as, or even much younger than, many of the people I supervise, I've taken my role as a leader for granted, assuming leadership was not necessarily expected of me. I'm realizing nothing could be further from the truth, and I need to take more responsibility as a mentor and a guider than I have been. After all, I've been blessed, in all four of my professional experiences, to work with at least one person who has an absurd amount of faith in me, and who has taken a special interest in me. Ashley. Sara & Pat. Judy. Sharon. I'm incredibly lucky in that respect, and these people have a great deal to do with the success I have acheived. It's time to pay that back. Realizing that, alone, is worth the cost of admission this week.