Women’s Leadership Program Explores Personality and Teamwork

By: Mandi Giles, Senior Project Engineer, Construction

Beck’s Women in Leadership Development Program hosted another great event this month with a focus on personality types — how we can best recognize our personality type and that of others and best work with one another. Lori Randall, a Miss United States pageant contestant, turned keynote speaker and trainer, led the training by giving her popular take on Hippocrates’ Four Temperaments or, what she likes to call, “What Shoe Are You?”

Science tells us that we are born with a basic temperament that remains the same throughout our life. Lori introduced us to the four basic temperaments in terms of shoes:

• The attention seeking, zany fun-loving clown shoe
• The cautious, orderly business shoe
• The commanding, gutsy combat shoe
• The laid back, slower paced house shoe

Lori showed the group how clown shoes parade through life, are the life of the party, and love to tell stories. To best work with them, we need to be their audience, allow them additional time to complete tasks, provide them with ample positive reinforcement, and don’t demand absolute perfection from them. She taught us how business shoes file through life, enjoy schedule and routine, and are normally the creative geniuses of the group. To best work with them, we should allow them time to ponder information we give them, use careful words when offering feedback and give them deadlines.

She taught us how combat shoes charge through life, work extremely quickly, problem solve and are tenacious. To best work with them, she suggested that we pick our battles, toughen up, get to the point quickly in conversations and ask their opinion. Finally, she introduced us to the house shoe and taught us how they flow through life, have a sweet demeanor, are easy to get along with, never strike up controversy and are very level headed. To best work with them, we need to ask them their opinion on the side and not in large groups, avoid embarrassing them in front of others and not push them too hard.

What Lori left the group with was that leadership is about influencing others. In order to do that, we must learn to adapt to the different personalities of those we lead, leverage their strengths and manage their weaknesses for the benefit of the team. No two shoes or personality types work better together than any others so we must each bring our strengths to the table, be aware of our weaknesses, and recognize that just because someone else does something differently that doesn’t make them wrong.

The Women in Leadership Development Program will continue through 2016 with monthly events designed to inspire, connect and educate women across the company.