Blog - Personality At Work

The Enneagram, a funky, 9-pointed geometric structure, has been all the talk in personality testing and career coaching over the past decade. The nine distinct points are conjoined with the deeper facets of the psyche (i.e. the unconscious) to pinpoint core motivations, fixations, virtues, fears, desires and temptations. If that sounds a bit woolly, then we’re here to add some clarity to the process for you.  

So you were hired for your dream job (or so you thought). Only now, you’ve realized that it’s not what you expected it to be. Maybe you were a bit idealistic about the industry and thought the work would be more meaningful than it actually is. Or maybe the working environment doesn’t play to your strengths—you prefer independent work when everything’s based around teams, or there are just too many rules to follow. Now you feel let down and restless, and you’re wondering whether your expectations were just too high. 

You're probably well aware that your income depends on how much education and experience you have. You may have thought about how much more you might earn by moving to a hotter labor market or changing industries. But there's a big piece of your earning power you may be overlooking—your personality type. Those traits you were born with can impact your earnings more than you may expect.

If the final letter of your Myers-Briggs personality type is a J, you are a Judger. You’re a planner, scheduler, and list maker. Your opposite is the Perceiver. They tend to make decisions as they go, and might change their plans at the last minute.

As a Judger, last minute changes can be a real challenge to your balance. They’re also unavoidable. When they happen at work, you’re expected to roll with it and remain productive. That requires some coping skills. Fortunately, there are some strategies to help you handle these situations.