This test draws on Jung's personality and psychological types theory as well as Keirsey's work in temperament theory. The personality theme descriptions will help you understand how you communicate and how your “Most Like Me” theme and secondary theme work together.

Read through the following traits and check those that you feel strongly describe you. Assign one point to each trait and total your scores in each of the following four categories. Note your strongest theme (or themes) on the chart on page 178. Then select four traits under each theme and record those in the space provided on your chart.

Of course, your personality isn't the only determining factor when choosing your most suitable career. Like the Interests Test in Chapter 4, this test won't measure your skills or aptitude for a particular career or assess your intelligence or values. But taken together, your personality, interests, values, and a host of other factors will help you zero in on your ideal work situation. Just like those birds of a feather whose interests bring them together, people of similar personality types get along, too. With the help of this test, you'll find your flock.

Organizer Personality Profile

“Work before play” is the Organizer's motto. Organizers strongly believe in being responsible. They contribute to relationships by offering clear, practical suggestions to getting things accomplished. As might be expected, they have excellent organizational skills, often enjoy solving immediate problems, and want to see bottom-line results. They are detail-oriented. They arrive on time and follow a plan. Organizers need to feel that their contributions to the enterprise are appreciated. They can get frustrated with others who don't pull their own weight. They value follow-through, dependability, punctuality, and loyalty.

Organizers are faithful, organized, stable, and prepared. They need structure. They perform best when the issues and tasks at hand are clearly defined, there are rules and directions to follow, and the goals are clear. Abstract ideas and concepts are secondary until the foundation of the project is plainly presented. They feel others should share in the responsibilities. Organizers are stressed out by disorganization, unfairness, and dishonesty, as well as instability in their home, finances, or relationships.

Organizers tend to be orderly and factual. They mentally organize information in a logical fashion and present information sequentially. They tend to talk about what has worked before and will support perspectives that are financially and logically sound. They appreciate communicating with individuals who have a straightforward, direct approach. Organizers like communication to be accurate and succinct and will get frustrated by discussions that float off track or wander into irrelevant topics. In such situations they may disengage, attempt to get things back on track, or correct the speaker. This can have the effect of breaking down the flow of communication, so the Organizer may need to reduce this tendency in the workplace.

Liberator Personality Profile

Liberators enjoy a fast-paced, dynamic work environment. They use keen observational skills and quick reactions to provide practical solutions to problems. They thrive on fun, intensity, and excitement. Liberators prefer an unstructured or spontaneous approach to project management or program development. They are often mechanically inclined and rarely read the directions before they fix something. Adaptive, they enjoy situations that change frequently. In fact, they are very good in a crisis and can be relied upon for a decisive, effective response. They prefer to be physically mobile and seek jobs that require movement. For them, meetings and long presentations can be boring. They avoid jobs full of routine and structure, preferring work they can perform independently.

Liberators encourage freedom of expression in the work environment. They spice life up by offering unplanned, dynamic approaches to daily work. They can be entertaining and engaging. They prefer hands-on, short-term training and enjoy applying what they have learned on the job.

The Liberator's communication style is direct, practical, and down-to-earth. They often use humor to lighten things up, but in serious business meetings or formal presentations, this tendency can backfire. Over time, Liberators learn how far they can push the limits without harming their credibility. Liberators enjoy a free-flowing exchange that is not restricted by time constraints or arbitrary limits. They appreciate novel approaches to subjects they perceive as boring or routine. For example, a workshop instructor who uses games, creative brainstorming, or media examples will win the Liberator's approval. On the other hand, a dull monotone speaker may lose the Liberator's interest. Variety and novelty are keys to a successful interchange with a Liberator.

Facilitator Personality Profile

Facilitators value a cooperative, democratic, team-oriented approach. They have excellent communication skills and are good at getting input from others. Facilitators are concerned with the feelings of others. They are usually open to new ideas and willing to extend deadlines or change the structure to allow for innovation. They are resourceful, imaginative problem solvers. They need to have the big picture in mind before making changes to an existing structure. Facilitators are visionary and creative, as well as flexible and open to change. They operate best with regular feedback. Facilitators are committed to harmony, integrity, ethical behavior, open communication, honesty, authenticity, cooperation, bringing out the best in others, and helping others.

Facilitators care deeply about relationships and other people. They perform best in an open, interactive, cooperative atmosphere, and they tend to turn off when conflicts arise. When they get behind something they believe in, Facilitators can be powerful motivators.

Facilitators tend to be personal and interactive. They appreciate open, honest communication. Insincerity, sarcasm, or verbal attacks will shut down the flow of communication and may cause the Facilitator to withdraw or become distant. They respond well to active listeners and individuals who provide meaningful feedback. The key for the Facilitator is being understood. They can tolerate differences of opinion as long as their own perspective is heard and considered. In fact, Facilitators have a natural flair for coaching and mediation. They can sense what a person is trying to say even when the individual isn't very clear. They can take criticism to heart, losing their objectivity. This is something they may strive to change about themselves as they mature throughout their careers.

Innovator Personality Profile

For an Innovator, the front end of the project is always the best part. Innovators enjoy developing new ideas, mastering concepts, and challenging accepted ways of thinking. Innovators are independent and curious. They enjoy working with individuals who are intellectually stimulating and high achieving. As leaders, they enjoy developing the capabilities of others. Innovators can often be perfectionists and hard drivers. They have natural visionary capabilities and like to focus on the long-term impacts of their decisions. They can get bored with routine and overly detailed tasks. They prefer working on projects that have high levels of responsibility and complexity associated with them. They value logical, rational, well-researched perspectives.

Innovators are committed to competence, learning, demonstrating self-control, and clarity of purpose. They have strong convictions and are natural nonconformists. Innovators require freedom and variety and will avoid predictable assignments.

Innovators appreciate intelligent conversations and are good at keeping the conversation lively. They prefer logic to emotion and enjoy considering a variety of perspectives. Often their goal is to learn why things work the way they do or why a particular approach was taken. They generally welcome new information and may ask many questions to explore the full breadth of a subject. The Innovator is quick to move communication to problem-solving. They enjoy applying their keen analytical skills to focusing on the best options. They respect an objective, thorough exchange that drills down to the root cause of an issue, which can intimidate or overwhelm others or appear to be an interrogation rather than an exchange. The Innovator learns to pace his or her questioning and will balance curiosity with good listening skills over time.