Personality Power

Personality Power, Discover Your Unique Profile – And Unlock Your Potential for Breakthrough Success, by Shoya Zichy with Ann Bidou, Amacom 2013

A month-long and far-ranging LinkedIn discussion on Likeability – nobody wants to willingly work with people they don’t like - proves the importance of personality and behavior management, but can we really modify our own unique profile? And the bigger question rising is how to understand Millennials and Everybody Else, and how can we convert this picture into money?

Zichy believes the answer to these questions lies in each individual worker.  And she has the system to prove it – a method that helps people identify and define their unique strengths, apply them in their current job – no matter what it is, get happiness as a result, and when it isn’t, reboot and redefine to find the next one.  Zichy calls her system Color Q, and it’s basically a way to categorize personality types, accompanied by the author’s recommendations for reaching that particular type.  It’s all color-coded!

To illustrate the color-coding, Zichy offers succinct personality profiles and analyses of public figures.  Diane Sawyer and Dr. Oz, for example, are Greens, which she believes represent 17% of the population.   “Greens are creative, empathic and humanistic.  They need an environment that is idea-oriented and egalitarian and that provides the chance to impact the lives of others.  They have an unusual ability to influence and draw the best out of others… excel in verbal and written communications…. Enthusiastic spokespersons…. Unique, charismatic…”   Greens can do great good for your organization with their personality power and reach, but headed in the wrong direction, they can also, unfortunately, be destroyers.

Zichy’s recommendation for working with a Green includes picking a harmonious environment for meetings, personalize the conversation – ask about family, hobbies, pets, and expect nonsequential conversations, eventually returning to the main point.  The Green Conflict Style advises caution – once you cross a Green by ignoring their people values or engaging in political backbiting, it’s the cold shoulder and quiet non-cooperation. 

Reds, however, which make up 27% of the population, are action-oriented spontaneous, and focused on “now.”  They excel at crisis-management and they love their freedom.  When work is not fun and filled with surprises, they get bored, and boredom is a Red’s enemy.  Donald Trump is a Red, as is the late Edward Koch, beloved former New York City mayor.  Zichy says Reds are physically restless and need independence – they hate feeling trapped.  To best communicate with a Red, Zichy recommends few meetings, but if there must be a meeting, fill it with action verbs such as attack, challenge, expedite and the word heard too frequently in manufacturing war rooms, enjoy.  If your world collapses, find a Red – fast!

Readers will love the Chapter 2 Self-Assessment Test – despite previous experience with Meyers Briggs and Personalysis, there were surprises there!  The reader will find especially useful Chapter 25, Adjusting to the Workplace Styles of Others, Chapter 26 Approach to Innovation Primary Styles, and Chapter 28 Generation Conflict or Personality Conflict.