20,000 Leagues of Personality, Part 1

The pressure is certainly pushing down on us, unrelenting with its menacing tides and the seemingly perpetual flotsam of inflation and the housing crisis. To help ourselves and our team avoid the perils of a proverbial Pequod, we must do more than endure through to the distant horizon. We cannot hope to seize our white whale by telling ourselves to endure a little more, or to push a little farther.

There are limits unique to ourselves and to our individual team members. As explored in this study published by the NIH, being aware of the tolerances of certain personality types is how we can discern when a crew member--or we ourselves--might be at risk of being tossed overboard. Through this awareness of varied strengths and blind spots of personality types, we can identify when and perhaps even how to reach a needed lifebuoy.

Discussed here by Ivan Robertson, Emeritus Professor of Organizational Psychology at the University of Manchester, individual characteristics dictate how we navigate our unique Bermuda Triangles of stress. Colleagues that are relationship-driven might have a tightknit crew of their own, with emergency lifeboats ready. They may have developed adaptive skills necessary to maneuver from painful endurance to empowering resilience.

As captain of this ship, we might need to instead turn our telescope to those colleagues who are more inward-focused, or even conflict-avoidant. Those who mean to stubbornly power through struggle, determined to reach the presumed halcyon shores on the other side, may be at greater risk of sinking.

Seek safe harbor with SurePeople’s Prism® to reel in a better understanding of personality and how the shape of one's personality can change under pressure. Give ourselves the chance to break through the forbidding fog and glimpse the beckoning lighthouse beyond.

“Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands: one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”
- Audrey Hepburn