LEADING YOU
UNDERSTAND
YOURSELF AND
OTHERS!
By Caroline Nyamwaya Mwazi
F
ind out your Personality and
Improve Relationships with
Yourself and Others
Andrea strode into the office and
made a beeline for Michael’s desk.
How is the Acer’s Tree report coming
along?”, she demanded.
“It’s going great”, Michael
answered, wondering for the
umpteenth time why Andrea
directly jumps to discussing work
without first saying hello.
While Andrea’s work is excellent, she
has received feedback that she needs
to be ‘softer’ with people. She loves
being in charge and getting things
done and wishes her team was more
like her. She feels that Michael needs
to focus more, rather than ‘wasting
time’ with colleagues, discussing non-
work related things.
Michael is actually quite dependable
and often meets his deadlines,
especially when given ample time
to complete tasks. He finds Andrea
hard, pushy and, quite frankly,
sometimes a little tiresome, though
he would never tell her, since he likes
getting along with everybody.
What Is Personality?
Personality has been defined as the
combination of characteristics or
qualities that form an individual’s
distinctive character. According to
‘‘ Personality has been defined as the
combination of characteristics or qualities
that form an individual’s distinctive character.
According to reference.com, temperament is a
set of innate or inborn traits that organize one’s
approach to the world, while personality is what
rises to the surface as a result of temperament;
what is seen and experienced.’’
28 MAL 17/17 ISSUE
reference.com, temperament is a
set of innate or inborn traits that
organize one’s approach to the world,
while personality is what rises to the
surface as a result of temperament;
what is seen and experienced.
We often describe ourselves and
others in different ways such as
‘introvert’, ‘extrovert’, ‘bubbly’,
“warm’, ‘cold’ and ‘pushy’. Our
temperament is in place from
conception, inherited from our
parents and grandparents. This is why
some infants readily smile and gurgle,
others are serious and calm, gravely
pondering things, while yet others
yell and demand attention, calling the
shots from the minute they are born!
While we have our natural, in-
born temperament, we also have an
adaptive personality – the personality
shaped by our environment. For
example an extrovert who spends
a lot of time with introverts may
adopt some introvert behaviors, while
remaining an extrovert. Introverts
may find themselves becoming more
expressive and social because of being
surrounded by extroverts. They will
however naturally prefer their own
company.