Let’s Chat: Personality types

By Linda Tooth on December 20, 2023.

I recently started a new job that is very in tune with teamwork and what it takes to successfully work with people from various backgrounds and personality types.

One of the first things I had to complete was a personality test known as DISC. Many questions were asked and your responses generated a Workplace Profile that was then going to be sent to you.

My DISC Overview told me that I am a Di. The D in DISC stands for dominance. This means I am direct, firm, strong-willed, forceful and results-oriented. The I stands for influence. This means a portion of my personality is outgoing, enthusiastic, optimistic, high-spirited and lively.

I was not shocked by this and I am sure some of you are not either. The organization I work for then took a day for all of us to get together in a safe place and share what personality types we have.

Conversations then took place on how we can best work together to provide the best service and kindness possible.

Many organizations should take part in the DISC personality test. This test will help identify an individual’s strengths and weaknesses and help organizations implement high-performance teams.

The reason I bring this up is I recently attended a town council meeting in Redcliff. I have lived there for the past 17 years and consider it my home. I grew up in Medicine Hat, did my schooling, worked (still do), shopped (still do) and have spent (still do) almost every day in Medicine Hat.

It is almost like I have two homes and can speak to living and working in both. So, I was shocked when I walked into the public portion of the meeting and was greeted with, “What are you doing here” and “You’re not on the agenda.”

I told them I was not on the agenda but if they wanted me to speak, I could certainly do that. According to the Alberta government website ‘Public participation in municipal government’, everyone has a right to be present at council meetings or council committee meetings conducted in public.

I went to the meeting for a few reasons. The most important reason was I do not well know who is on town council and I wanted to get a feeling for the people we as a town elected.

Perhaps DISC testing should take place within the town. It is a great tool to use in identifying self-awareness, communication, conflict resolution, teamwork, leadership and customer service.

I will not allow my first experience to deter me from attending more meetings. People are talking about what is going on within my town and I want to make sure we are represented fairly and living our best life in the Greenhouse Capital of the Prairies.

Linda Tooth is a communications instructor at Medicine Hat College

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