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I love personality tests.
A manager has to be self aware. Tests are a super easy starting point for you to find your strengths, but as equally important, your weaknesses. See, I tell every manager/leader I train that you have to lead by example. This is really easy to do when talking about your super hero strengths, but when it comes your blind side, well, that’s a different story.
My top three reasons to love personality tests…
- You can get an insight into the how of you. I recommend taking Myers Briggs. This gem of a test tells you how you get your energy, how you intake information, how you make decisions, and how you perceive the world. That is a ton of information packed into one little test.
- Once you know how, you can begin to understand your shortcomings. Then, you can surround yourself with people who can mitigate your weaknesses. I always hated that part on reviews where I had to work on my weaknesses. Why work on your weaknesses when you can just hire others who have that strength?
- You can give these tests to your team! Oh the power of knowing what makes your team tick…if you know this, you can create a wickedly high performing team.
My two favorite tests are Myers Briggs (click here for a free edition) and Gallup StrengthFinders. They are inexpensive, but their information is invaluable.
Take the tests, learn something, have fun.
How do you get your team to also love taking the personality tests? How can we help others overcome the fear of being “judged” when they’re asked by a superior to take these tests?
Great question. You can do a few things. First, explain why you are using them. I always advise people to use the tests in conjunction with a team builder. That way everyone is included and it doesn’t look like you are simply taking the information and using it for personal information. Next, when you do share it with the team, make the result confidential and give the team the option to share what they are. That way, if they don’t want to share they don’t have to. Finally, you might want to ease the team into it by sharing your results, what your strengths are, but more importantly what makes you not perfect. You can then make a point that you use the team around you to mitigate your opportunities.