When you are at your best...who are you? And at your worst....?

Answer these questions. There are no right or wrong answers:

1.  From the following list, pick three words or phrases that you believe best describe you:

2.  Now, using the same list of words, what three words or phrases do you think close colleagues would use if asked to describe your reputation?  


Are they the same words you chose in your first answer, or something different?  

3.  When you are feeling under pressure or others are giving you a hard time, which of the following are you most likely to do?

• remove yourself from the situation and re-group/give yourself time to think.
• work hard to maintain the relationship.
• meet the challenge head-on with a 'never-back-down' attitude.

4.  You have to complete a challenging task.  How would you know you had completed it to your own satisfaction?

• It gives you a sense of achievement and/or raises your range of power and influence as a result.
• It enhances your reputation and social standing with others.
• It makes you more secure and puts your future in your hands.
• It's the learning and growth that you have gained from doing the task.

We said at the beginning that there are no right or wrong answers.  And that's true.  But there are implications.  How you behave at work is how others describe your reputation.  And if you are the type of person that others describe as '...you see the real him/her when the pressure's on....' then what they really mean is that under stress your behaviour is different from what they normally see, patterned and predictable (often not in a good way!)

Does any of this matter?  Only if you are thinking about your next move, your career or how to become more influential in the job you are in.  You'll be relieved to hear that there is a much better, scientific and tried and tested method for learning about your reputation, your reactions to stress and what motivates you.  It's called the Hogan Leadership series(HPI HDS and MVPI).  We've been using it extensively with executives, directors and senior teams.  The Hogan reports, generate deep insight into how to perform at your best, and how to minimise the effects of your 'dark side'.  With teams it can provide valuable information on when and how the team will perform well as well as highlighting potential blind spots.


You can find out more about Hogan at:

http://www.hoganassessments.com/content/hogan-personality-inventory-hpi

If you are already convinced that you or your team would benefit from such insights, then please contact us at:

info@enthiostraining.co.uk