Personalities on the Job

Source: AICPA CPA Insider

The following includes excerpts, reproduced with permission, from an article by Jennifer Wilson.

Does your personality, or the way that you were created, let you off the hook for some things that are traditionally expected in your job?

To help you decide, let's explore four ideas related to people, personality and performance:

1. Personality is only one element that makes each person on your team unique. It is important to understand each person's history, preferences and motivators to really understand what drives their behavior and performance.
2. We need people with diverse personalities, backgrounds, skills and abilities on our team and should strive to match each person's position to their strengths, including personality strengths.
3. All people should be given the opportunity to modify their behavior to meet the norms of your firm's culture and the expectations of their positions.
4. There should be expected results from every position on a team. If a person on your team is not meeting them and you've given them the opportunity to improve, without success, your choices are to:
   • Accept their limitations and modify your expectations,
   • Find another role for them in your firm that is better suited to their skills, abilities, interests and behaviors or
   • Consider helping them to pursue a career outside of your firm.

So, my answer to my question is “No.” Your personality preferences and other character traits don't let you off the hook for meeting the expectations of your position.

Ideal teams have people with different personality attributes so that some will lead and others will follow, some will sell and others will deliver, and some will take risks while others express caution. Great leaders strive for diversity without sacrificing their team's commitment to deliver results.

For the complete article, read “Does My Personality Let Me Off the Hook on Performance?”

From AICPA CPA Insider, June 27, 2011, www.CPA2biz.com.