After I led a
recent group training based on the Peoplemap Communication System, a
participant expressed his appreciation.
This was the second time he had taken the profile. He went on to say, “The last time I took
this, and my supervisor held it against me.”
When I asked for clarification, he explained that the last time he had
completed the Peoplemap in a group setting that included his supervisor and
another person on the staff. In
subsequent conversations, the supervisor evidently used the results as a “club”
to point out that my friend was deficit in certain areas, was too often blinded
by his strengths or natural tendencies, and was unable to change his actions or
behaviors.
This is not
the first time that I have heard someone say that their results on a profile
have been turned against them. I have
also heard of people who used their results on a personality profile to excuse
their behavior with the comment, “That’s just the way I am.” Both approaches illustrate a failure to
understand how such information should be handled.
When I
administer the Peoplemap, I make it a point to state that it is grounded in the
Positive Psychology movement. The basic
idea of Positive Psychology is to
help healthy, normal human beings discover and affirm their natural traits and
abilities and to maximize them in such a way to make life more fulfilling. This
approach recognizes that when people know more about themselves, they can learn
to function more effectively as a person and as part of a team. Mike Lillibridge has verified the validity
and reliability of the Peoplemap instrument, but he states that if someone
doesn’t agree with the outcome, he or she should feel free to try on some other
personality types that seem more appropriate.
Personality profiles
like Peoplemap, DiSC, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and others are meant to be
descriptive and not prescriptive. They
enable the individual to understand himself or herself better and to take
responsibility for their behavior as a result of what they have learned. Rather
than limiting one’s options such understanding expands them. The tool in itself is less important than the
debriefing and the applications of one’s insights.
The more we know
about ourselves, our interactions with others, and the way that others perceive
us, the healthier and happier we will be.
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