Your Personality at Work

As with all Idealists, the search for your inner self is at the center of your life. For you the development of your personality has an especially important significance. Here your integrity and authenticity are very important; hypocrisy, lies, pretensions and façades are unacceptable to you. Of all types, Idealists cannot reconcile themselves with the idea of bending within the framework of their profession or to do something they cannot personally fully support. Therefore it is essentially important to reconcile the choice of your profession with your high moral demands of yourself and others, and your personal philosophy of life as well as your moral concepts. Professions relating to any humanitarian objectives are a good choice for Idealists.

Human beings - and your relationship with them - play an important role for you; that is also the reason that your personality type is more and more found in social professions. You tend to attribute a deeper significance or a special meaning to each encounter. Much more than other personality types your perception focuses on people rather than on things. While you pursue your objectives, you don't ignore the needs of others and try very hard not to hurt them.

Generally this intensive interest in others creates an expert in human nature who is able to size others up and with an excellent sense especially for their strength and positive sides. This is a quality that is going to benefit you in your professional life, as well and that you should use. Occasionally you run the risk to idealize others and too enthusiastically get involved with new contacts. In the beginning you invest a lot of time and emotion in somebody and later are very disappointed when that person does not meet your high expectations. That may hurt you but does not necessarily cause you to be a little more careful the next time. After all, exuberance and idealism are in your blood and make you attractive to the people around you: who does not want to bask in the company of someone who puts him on a pedestal? Just be careful that you don't appear too emotional and sentimental where it is not appropriate - Thinker types e. g. may interpret that as weakness or incompetence.

Another distinguishing strength of your type is your special gift for language and communication; either with the written word - many authors, journalists or playwrights are Idealists! - or in directly communicating with others. You are just as good at convincing, electrifying, and exciting others. You are also good at mediating for two opposing parties and motivating your colleagues and subordinates. Being a shining example yourself by making sacrifices for an important cause is the issue on one hand, and on the other natural charisma that simply causes the spark to ignite. When you are in top form there is no other choice but to follow your lead.

At work, harmony and unison are more important to you than career and advancement. You are ambitious in one way only: when it is all about setting yourself apart from the masses as an individual and a personality, and in accordance with the values that give your life special meaning. Money and status play an ancillary role for you. A neighborhood of many deployed elbows and aggressive competitive motivations is not your optimal environment.

Take care to look for a working field where the hierarchies are level, the organization is rather democratic, and the potential for employee participation is high. Otherwise, you are putting yourself in harm's way if you have to defer your opinions and yourself just to keep the peace. Also once again, examine your career plans regarding the achievement of leading positions and don't be misled by incorrect or unfamiliar expectations. Although you are excellent in praising and encouraging others it is not really your thing to criticize or to demand something they have difficulties to deliver. Therefore, give it a lot of thought whether you want to burden yourself with issues of personnel responsibilities.

Commercial or strong routines shaped by professional environments do not support your strengths particularly well because you are the intuitive type. Activities dealing with dry facts, the same workflow day in and day out and the need to continually deal with details - all of that is painful for you. You are much better at looking for meaning in the whole, to discover future opportunities and to initiate positive changes. Here you prefer to depend on your intuition. It is frequently an excellent counselor - only it sometimes happens that you are subject to your personal preferences and dislikes and neglect to sufficiently consider important facts.

One of your greatest aptitudes is to get close to your colleagues at work and to establish genuine relationships. You inspire trust and enable them to open up. That naturally predestines you primarily for professions with social and spiritual components. Occasionally losing the necessary distance and thus the sense of your responsibility, and consequently getting too close emotionally becomes the down side. It is going to hurt the result if that leads to a total inability to act by taking things too much to heart and losing your objectivity. Your enthusiasm and commitment could result in total self-abandonment and in the worst case, burn out. Just remember, you are no good to anybody if you become totally useless at some point.

Recognition in your professional life is very important to you - less in the form of material remuneration but rather in the form of a certain appreciation of what you do for others. You want to be valued as someone who contributes to a major part of an important project. Regular feedback about you and your achievements is of vital importance and should be almost automatically given to you. It is not necessary that this appreciation must originate by a superior or even be publicized in any form even though you personally like that very much. It is sufficient for you that some-one gives you the feeling that you helped him/her to achieve his/her potential and to get his/her life under control or to find his/her own way. You are prepared to make major sacrifices for that. A handshake or glance into a previously depressed and now beaming face is already a sufficient “thank you," and serves to encourage you - and you should be receiving those because otherwise you would quickly become unhappy and dissatisfied. Then you lose the feeling of uniqueness and value you need so desperately for yourself.

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