(the names used are not their real names).
James has been an IT expert and key
support for all other functions in his
Organization. He loves his quiet time and
interacts very little with people. During his
breaks he prefers to sit quietly in a corner
and eats his meal curiously watching the
animated conversations of his colleagues
(who are mostly from the sales and
marketing departments).
James is dependable and many of his
colleagues find him easy to talk to as he
doesn’t interrupt them as they speak. He
still keeps in touch with his school friends,
though he maintains a small closely knit
circle of friends. The end of year party is
his worst nightmare as he prefers to just
keep away and be at home. He has a calm
disposition and is not moved by crisis or
pressure although he loves to take time
before he makes any decisions and this
drives some of the colleagues mad.
Margaret works in the Finance department.
She is a perfectionist who lays so much
emphasis on details and analysis before
making any decision. She has a well-
kept office desk and files everything
meticulously. She has a problem dealing
with disorderly colleagues who keep
bringing her last minute requests using
unformatted documents.
She loves her quiet time and spends time
reading a lot particularly literature and
philosophy. She loves the arts and attends
orchestra concerts during her free time.
58 MAL27/18 ISSUE
Peter works in the Sales Department. He
loves a good laugh and is always in high
spirits. There is never a dull moment when
you are around him. He leads his team
with a lot of energy and inspiring morning
pep talks filled with famous quotes from
Dale Carnegie. in different measures. The question is
which one is your most natural preferred
way of behaving? Our temperament and
character are key in helping us discover
our potential and to position ourselves
in careers that complement our natural
strengths and bring the best out of us.
He is involved in everything and never
says no to any requests to assist in diverse
projects in the company. He is an excellent
communicator who loves travelling and
meeting new people. He never sits still
at his desk and is constantly engaging
everyone, including the guards and
receptionist. For the sake of this article I will refer to
the four employees on the basis of their
primary colors (they also have the other
colors in their personality). James is a
GREEN or what we call a Phlegmatic,
Margaret is a BLUE or a Melancholy,
Peter is a YELLOW or a Sanguine
and Susan is a RED or Choleric. These
colors represent their preferred behaviors
which can be conditioned by a different
environment.
Susan is known for her tough demeanor.
She loves to argue and engage in lengthy
debates where she does not easily give in.
She has been the CEO for the Organization
for the last five years and turned around
its profitability through her hands-on,
focused and firm leadership style. She is
a high performer and is constantly seeing
opportunities for innovation.
She struggles with slower colleagues who
take time to make decisions or come
around to what they want to say. Her
patience is tested when she has to allow
others to give their contributions to the
issue at hand. She is a bottom line person
who gets tired by too much information
and finds herself cutting people short and
finishing sentences for them.
All these four colors described above form
a part of all us. We have each of these traits
Greens bring peace and harmony to the
workplace. They make great team players
and their natural observation traits help
them see what the others don’t. Blues are
great with seeing the small details that
cannot be overlooked as well as analyzing
decisions exhaustively. Yellows are people
centered and bring optimism and fun to
work. Reds are focused and keep things
in line providing strategic direction in
Organizations.
No one color is better than the other!
Each has its strengths and weaknesses.
It’s the combination of the 4 that gives
us a complete picture of your natural
dispositions. Remember the scenario of
an invite to a party where you don’t know
anyone? Which color corresponds to the