Personality types, are you head or heart?
One of the principal divisions between personality types is that between people who are thinking and people who are feeling. In other words, head and heart.
For most of us there are some people we connect with easily and some who are more of a challenge. There are many reasons for that, and one of them is the impact of our natural personality type. You may have come across the Jungian Type Inventory. It is often used in organisations to help people understand how they work, what connects with them and how they might manage relationships. There are thousands of models and tests available, and many are underpinned by Jungian theory with head or heart as a key component.
Are you thinking or feeling?
We all use both. Understanding your own natural preference, and learning to pick up on what someone else's might be, can be transformational. How we approach decision making is strongly determined by whether our personality type leans towards thinking or feeling. That shapes how we decide at work and how we get on with colleagues. Understanding how other people reach decisions helps us value their perspective and connect with them far more effectively. It is rather helpful outside work too.
Thinking
- Takes a logic based approach, weighing evidence, facts and scenarios before reaching a decision.
- Once the decision is made, it is made.
- Often task oriented at work, keeping interactions brief and business like.
- At the extremes may look cold or unsympathetic to more feeling types.
- Language tends to be fact based, reasoned, calm and concise.
Feeling
- Reaches a decision by considering the impact on people first, their own emotions and the feelings of others.
- Thinks about the group and how a decision will land with them.
- Places a high value on human wellbeing and uses tact and diplomacy to achieve goals.
- Decisions are sometimes less final and open to revision as situations develop.
- Language includes emotive words, and the energy can rise to match the feeling being described.
An oversimplification?
Of course very few people are purely a thinker or purely a feeler, but most of us lean one way. Think of it like the preference for using your right or left hand. You can write with your other hand, but the result will be far less accomplished. It is the same with communication and decision making. We can consciously try the opposite approach and it may feel unnatural at first, yet if the intention is valid and positive it can create breakthrough moments. With practice the learned behaviour becomes easier and you begin to flex your style with skill while remaining entirely yourself.
Understanding how colleagues reach decisions helps you value different insights and build far stronger relationships.
Understanding yourself and others
Understanding your own preference, and being able to recognise other people's, gives you a high level of self awareness and leads to greater emotional intelligence. It helps you see how best to interact with your team to get results. It can make working life better for everyone.
About the author
Helen Fraser
Helen has spent more than two decades coaching and training leaders, managers and teams across the United Kingdom. Her work is practical, confidential and entirely focused on the person in front of her, whether that is a new manager finding their feet or a senior leader navigating something difficult.
Sessions run face to face at your offices or an offsite venue, and online for teams spread across locations.
