In the country western song, “Mama’s Don’t Let Your Babies Grow to Be Cowboys,” there is this line about the cowboy: “He ain’t wrong, he’s just different.”
I try to keep this in mind as I work with people with different personality styles.
Earlier in my career, people with different personalities used to drive me a bit crazy. Since then I have taken various leadership styles assessments and even teach about them now. For example, we used the DiSC assessment at LeaderShape as we do in the University of Maryland Executive MBA program (a mini version of the DiSC assessment can be found at this link).
Here are some of the important takeaways about the very different personality styles we have:
*These styles are natural to us all. People are not trying to drive you crazy on purpose. It is just the way they are.
*In order to be effective, a team needs all styles working together effectively.
*You can shift your style somewhat when the situation calls for it. You are not hard-wired to always behave the same way.
*Finally, no matter how different you are from others – you can appreciate them and build bridges to work more effectively with them.
We all work with people who have different personality styles! They are not wrong. In fact, you need them. We are all different. And that is a good thing!
