Intentions from Pat Swan

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Personality and Decision Making

If you are a busy manager, you are probably well aware of the fact that it would be helpful to keep up with changing corporate trends and to stay abreast of best practices in leadership and management. Like many though, you may be "too busy" just keeping up with daily requirements to take the time for necessary reading and/or training opportunities. Life just keeps getting in the way.

Perhaps you are one of the many busy executives or team members who feel constantly under the gun. Your success depends primarily on productivity. If you make that happen, you have "succeeded". If not, you, or your team, have failed!

If any of the above is true, beware! You may be tempted to just keep doing what you have always done, what comes naturally, thus getting what you have always gotten. Results may be less than stellar. Consider doing something different!

Interestingly, the solution you choose may have more to do with your basic personality than with which strategy will be most effective for a particular situation. And, individuals under stress unconsciously tend to resort to past patterns, rather than considering new ones.

As you know from your exposure to the Peoplemap^TM System, different personality types have their own unique and very different ways of responding to life and solving problems. Each personality type has its own strengths, weaknesses and automatic responses. These traits also determine their daily decisions and their ultimate level of success. Your ability to understand varying perceptions and to gather options from all directions will help you make more effective decisions.

You, your employees, and/or teammates, can learn more about yourselves and others, and can develop more effective ways of communicating, solving everyday problems and reaching personal or professional goals. You can sharpen inborn strengths and learn methods to overcome weaknesses. Learn as much as you can about different personalities and varying communication patterns and apply your new insights.

Don't "just do" what you've always done, consider doing something different. Learn more about yourself and others. Put the skills you learn into practice. Be a manager or team member who inspires. It will definitely impact your life and your bottom line!

The personality trait or Achilles Heel that most interferes with my success is: ___________________________________________________

This trait impacts my work performance by: ______________________

This trait impacts my personal success by: _______________________

This trait particularly interferes with: _____________________________

When I overcome this Achilles heel I will be able to: _________________

This will improve my health and well being by: ____________________

This will improve my performance at work by: _____________________

The person most impacted by this change will be: _________________

The learned strength that will replace and help me overcome this Achilles heel is: _______________________________________________________

For the next seven days I will focus on developing this learned strength. Every day, I intend to practice one of the following:

1. ____________________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________________

4. ____________________________________________________________

5. ____________________________________________________________