Guest Blog Tania Fowler
One of the workshops I just love to give is one on Temperaments and Interaction Styles. This is fascinating stuff forged over 25 centuries of study going back as far as Hippocrates in 450 B.C. Zing forward to 2013 and people still really enjoy learning about the Myers Briggs based 4 types of temperaments and where they think they fit into the model. I thought it might be fun for me to give you the boiler plate on each temperament and some key information to help you decide where you might fit. Also, if you are interested, you can take an online assessment that will help indicate your temperament preferences. (That comes with a charge of $10.00 – send me an email and I will get you set up with the online assessment.)
In my next 4 blog entries I will give you the run-down on the 4 different temperament types. But here is the skinny on what temperament learning involves. Each person is born with an innate temperament and each temperament comes with a core ‘need’ that people are born seeking. We spend our lives searching to fulfill that core need and most of us are unaware of what that is. When people learn about temperaments and where they fit, they are often amazed to discover how their life choices have lined up with that very core need. This is really interesting stuff. That core need radiates innate core values around getting the needs met. People of each temperament have talents around their own particular intelligence and behaviors observable to others that help them to meet those needs as well. But people are also a product of their environments and can adapt readily to different contextual environments or within a family that may run counter to their core temperament or in favor of it. All of those things impact how you show up at any given moment. When people are living a life counter to the core needs of their best fit temperament they can experience a lot of stress and not understand necessarily why it’s happening on a big meta-level. (Remember in a previous blog post I talked about discovering your values and how you can experience stress when a value is being stepped on - well same thing here. Temperaments have core values and if they aren't being met you feel stress.) The temperament info is so valuable in helping one see how they operate in the world and it can be gratifying and affirming to see your behavior fit into a framework that existed before you ever knew about it. The temperament descriptions are so rich with information that when people learn about them there is often a tremendous burst of energy in having some tangible information to wrap their heads around with regard to their choices and actions in their lives. Plus, there is much variation in how people live out their lives within the temperament structure since there are billions of people in the world fitting into 4 temperaments. And, there is no good or bad temperament – they all come with strengths and challenges. It is so much fun to learn about why you are who you are and why others are the way they are – people really enjoy this learning.
The best way to discern your temperament is to think about your ‘best-fit’ temperament as though it were your most comfortable pair of shoes. If I were to say to you “we are going for a long walk, pick out the shoes most comfortable for that activity”, your ‘best-fit’ temperament should be like those shoes – super comfortable. You have plenty of other shoes in your closet but you can only wear them for so long before your feet start hurting. You will recognize yourself in all of the temperament descriptions to some degree but one of them fits better than the rest. Think of them as a layer cake with the top layer being the one most visible and preferred. In the workshops, participants get to investigate and figure that out – the assessment can either confirm their thoughts or throw a wrench into what they think - so I then have them work with people who know them and can help them sort to the best fit temperament. Participants learn a lot about themselves and each other and then how to take the information and help them interact better with each other at work and on their teams. This is also super useful information for partners and people with families in better understanding each other and that, is always a good pursuit. Stay tuned because starting tomorrow I will dive into the first temperament!
Tania Fowler is the CEO and Founder of Interplay Coaching, based in Sacramento California
In my next 4 blog entries I will give you the run-down on the 4 different temperament types. But here is the skinny on what temperament learning involves. Each person is born with an innate temperament and each temperament comes with a core ‘need’ that people are born seeking. We spend our lives searching to fulfill that core need and most of us are unaware of what that is. When people learn about temperaments and where they fit, they are often amazed to discover how their life choices have lined up with that very core need. This is really interesting stuff. That core need radiates innate core values around getting the needs met. People of each temperament have talents around their own particular intelligence and behaviors observable to others that help them to meet those needs as well. But people are also a product of their environments and can adapt readily to different contextual environments or within a family that may run counter to their core temperament or in favor of it. All of those things impact how you show up at any given moment. When people are living a life counter to the core needs of their best fit temperament they can experience a lot of stress and not understand necessarily why it’s happening on a big meta-level. (Remember in a previous blog post I talked about discovering your values and how you can experience stress when a value is being stepped on - well same thing here. Temperaments have core values and if they aren't being met you feel stress.) The temperament info is so valuable in helping one see how they operate in the world and it can be gratifying and affirming to see your behavior fit into a framework that existed before you ever knew about it. The temperament descriptions are so rich with information that when people learn about them there is often a tremendous burst of energy in having some tangible information to wrap their heads around with regard to their choices and actions in their lives. Plus, there is much variation in how people live out their lives within the temperament structure since there are billions of people in the world fitting into 4 temperaments. And, there is no good or bad temperament – they all come with strengths and challenges. It is so much fun to learn about why you are who you are and why others are the way they are – people really enjoy this learning.
The best way to discern your temperament is to think about your ‘best-fit’ temperament as though it were your most comfortable pair of shoes. If I were to say to you “we are going for a long walk, pick out the shoes most comfortable for that activity”, your ‘best-fit’ temperament should be like those shoes – super comfortable. You have plenty of other shoes in your closet but you can only wear them for so long before your feet start hurting. You will recognize yourself in all of the temperament descriptions to some degree but one of them fits better than the rest. Think of them as a layer cake with the top layer being the one most visible and preferred. In the workshops, participants get to investigate and figure that out – the assessment can either confirm their thoughts or throw a wrench into what they think - so I then have them work with people who know them and can help them sort to the best fit temperament. Participants learn a lot about themselves and each other and then how to take the information and help them interact better with each other at work and on their teams. This is also super useful information for partners and people with families in better understanding each other and that, is always a good pursuit. Stay tuned because starting tomorrow I will dive into the first temperament!
Tania Fowler is the CEO and Founder of Interplay Coaching, based in Sacramento California
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