Issue 20 - Fall 2008 Welcome to Coaching Concepts,
the quarterly newsletter brought
to
you by the consultants atConvergenceCoaching, LLC.
Wilson's
Writings
I don’t know about you, but the velocity of time, information, and opportunity just seems incredible to me these days. Can you believe we’re already entering the last quarter of 2008? With the change of seasons comes a serious “back to work” feeling, and we sense our clients working hard to get a few more proactive, Covey Quadrant II activities squeezed in before busy season comes again.
We’ve been having a lot of fun so far this year exploring the power of personality and its role in our ability to lead, manage, and motivate team members. Great leaders appeal to many different personality types and preferences and they “get over” the little irritants that personality quirks can create. Knowing this and doing it are two different things, which is why we have dedicated this issue of Coaching Concepts to the study of personality differences and their role in your organization.
In Leadership Lessons, we’ll explore the value of really understanding your personality type and that of your team members, and in Practice Perspectives we’ll discuss one tool, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and learn how it can enhance communication and build increased understanding and empathy of your team members’ work styles, approaches to decision making, and other team dynamics.
Don’t miss this issue’s New News, where you’ll learn about a number of new initiatives we’re launching including our corporate blog, Inspired Ideas (http://blog.convergencecoaching.com). We’ll post weekly musings on issues and ideas intended to inspire you to take action on whatever moves you. Please join us in this online dialogue by visiting and posting your thoughts, too!
Enjoy the autumn!
Jen
Leadership Lessons Managing Diverse Personalities on Your Team
With increasing diversity on your team, it’s important to understand the uniqueness of your team members and how to best utilize their strengths. In previous editions of Coaching Concepts, we have explored gender and generational differences. In this issue, we will focus on the personality differences of your team members. In this Leadership Lessons, we’ll explore the value of learning more about your personality type and those of your team, and in Practice Perspectives we’ll look at how one tool, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, can help your team enhance communication and build increased understanding and empathy of each other’s work styles and approaches to decision making and other team dynamics.
Gaining Empathy and Understanding in Your Team
Do you ever wonder why some people get under your skin and others don’t? Do you ever feel like people you work with are being obstinate, arrogant, or possess other irritating traits and you wish they’d just stop it? What if you found out that some of the things that bug you about others are not things they have control over or that there are things about you that grate on others, too, and they are just a function of personality?
When we begin to understand that our personality is something we can’t change, but rather something that we can be aware of and build an understanding of, and that others are not behaving a certain way to irritate us or push our buttons, then we can appeal to different personality types and perhaps listen with more patience and understanding. In addition, we can begin to understand the strengths of different personalities and deploy them effectively within our teams.
Understanding your personality type and those of your team members’ will help you:
Identify and leverage individual strengths
Address areas that are not natural preferences for team members so they can be aware of them in their interactions and approaches to work
Identify areas of similarities and differences so you can be informed when:
Communicating with each other
Developing processes
Deploying members of the team
Provide ongoing development for each team member individually
Using standardized tools for assessing inherent personality traits and characteristics, you can develop a mutual understanding of why each team member, including yourself, acts – and reacts – the way that they do. Understanding your personality type and innate preferences gives you insight about how you interact on a team. When you expand that to understand each of your team members’ personalities, you will enhance the ability for all team members to accept, acknowledge, and utilize the many different personality attributes available to you.
Once you can embrace the different personality types, acknowledging that there is a place for each personality type, we find that teams experience an increased level of interaction and more open sharing with each other. The “making each other wrong for all the irritating little things” starts to dissipate into understanding. In addition, you are able to identify the strengths of each team member and how to include them in decision-making where you may have excluded them or not asked for an opinion because you “already knew” it would conflict with yours or you would not appreciate the delivery of their input. Understanding personality differences allows your team to truly collaborate and creatively problem-solve.
Using Personality Assessment Tools
There are many personality assessment tools that can provide you insight into each team member’s personality type and preferences. Regardless of the personality assessment tool you choose, understanding each individual’s personality style, preferences, and approach to communication, conflict, and decision-making can help you build empathy on your team for each other’s style and not view others as “wrong” or frustrating people who have to be tolerated; they can be viewed as having unique gifts and approaches that can be capitalized upon.
We have created an overview of some of the most popular personality assessment tools for you to gain more information and to identify one that may be the best fit for your firm. Our review includes:
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
DISC
Kolbe Index
The Color Code
StrengthsFinder by Gallup
Predictive Index
Caliper
At ConvergenceCoaching, we have conducted personality assessments on our team using DISC, StrengthsFinder, and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Each provided their own unique personality insights to us, often confirming a lot that we knew about ourselves and each other but also providing new insights and education about our strengths, communication styles, and how we may react under stress or when making decisions. All of the various personality assessment tools offer an analysis and indication of your personality type, but some are geared for specific purposes, including:
Predicting success in certain areas or capabilities (Caliper, Predictive Index, and StrengthsFinder)
Enhancing communication and understanding (Myers Briggs, Color Code, and DISC)
Both predicting success and insights into communication and building empathy on teams (Kolbe and StrengthsFinder)
If you choose to explore your own personality or the personalities of your team members (always including yourself, too!), start by selecting the best personality assessment tool for your needs to gain insight into your team member’s personalities, communication styles, and strengths. You can then expand your use of it to guide you in decisions about hiring or promoting people within your firm, being careful to only use personality as one data point among many in your overall understanding of each individual.
Personalities are dynamic and complex with other factors contributing to people’s strengths, communication styles, and approaches to work and life, such as their ethnic and cultural background, age, gender, and other unique differences. Understanding personalities will give you one perspective of your team members to help you build high performance teams and maximize effectiveness.
For additional information on managing diverse teams, including team diversity training, conducting personality assessments, and more, e-mail Tamera Loerzel at tamera@convergencecoaching.com or call her at (952) 226-1780.
Practice Perspectives Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to Understand Your Team Members’ Personalities
Have you ever wondered why you act (or react) the way you do or why others act (or react) differently than you do? Many contributing factors affect our unique approach to life, work, and relationships, but one of the most powerful factors is our inherent personality. Understanding your personality and how it relates to others will enable you to build empathy in your teams and develop communications and processes that best fit the unique differences that exist. In this article, we will explore the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) tool as a means for you to gain insight about the information you can expect from conducting a personality assessment and some ideas about how to use it to enhance team communications and effectiveness.
Using MBTI to Understand the Personality Types of Your Team
The MBTI describes 16 personality types that categorize information about an individual’s personality preferences in four different areas, each of which represents a dichotomy of extremes. Each person on your team will have a “preference” within each of the four areas that best describes how they interact with and react to the world.
The four MBTI areas assessed include:
(1) How are you energized? This dichotomy identifies your preferences between Extroversion and Introversion. The Extrovert gains energy by interacting with other people and the outer world. The Introvert goes within and is energized through ideas, quiet time, and solitude, thinking through old patterns and symbols that fit the present situation.
(2) How do you take in information? This dichotomy identifies the extremes of Sensing and Intuition. The person who is Sensing pays attention to information gained from sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. The person who is using Intuition plays on hunches, guesses, relies on an inner knowing or sixth sense, and makes decisions based on associations, possibilities, and patterns.
(3) How do you make decisions? Here, we have the opposites of Thinking and Feeling. The Thinker uses available data that can be verified and makes decisions based on logic.The Feeler relies more on present emotions and seeks harmony between their internal feelings and external realities.
(4) How do you approach life? The dichotomies here are Judging and Perceiving. The individual who approaches life from a Judging perspective seeks a life with goals, structure, and predictability. The individual who is Perceiving is more spontaneous and seeks flexibility.
This graphic illustrates the four dichotomies that the MBTI defines and, when you take the assessment, will show where you fall in the spectrum between each:
The MBTI personality assessment tool asks a series of questions that determines your preferences in these four areas that are then used to identify your personality type. There are sixteen potential personality types made up of the possible combinations of these four dichotomies as demonstrated in the exhibit below:
Once you and your team members understand your own personality type, and the personality types of each other, you can then identify ways to work effectively together and embrace these differences.
For example, consider two members of your team, Joy who is an ISTJ (Introversion-Sensing-Thinking-Judging) and Mark who is an ENFP (Extraversion-iNtuition-Feeling-Perceiving). Mark and Joy are developing and teaching a presentation on the upcoming tax updates for clients. Joy’s preference is to study alone in isolation to prepare her materials, process her thoughts, and practice her speech. Because of her personality type, she is energized from introversion. Mark, on the other hand, is energized by extraversion and prefers active conversation and discussion of the material to develop it and prepare for the speech. Mark thrives on active engagement with other people, and, while Joy will collaborate with Mark, she needs time by herself to process her thoughts and reenergize. If Mark and Joy understand these innate personality differences, then they can develop a collaborative approach to their presentation that allows Joy to take a few hours alone and then they can meet and talk through the plans together. If either had tried doing it the other person's way first, they might end up feeling frustrated and stopped in their communication with each other. Understanding and allowing for the differences minimizes this frustration and conflict while utilizing the strong points of each person's style.
In another example, Bill, an ESTP (Extraversion-Sensing-Thinking-Perceiving), and Sarah, an ESFJ (Extraversion-Sensing-Feeling-Judging), have interviewed George for an opening in their firm's audit department. Bill takes a very logical approach to making decisions and feels that George has too little prior experience in actually doing audits to be a fit. Sarah uses her feeling preference in her evaluation of the employee candidate and considers how George would fit with the rest of the team. She is interested in his ability to share, teach, and willingness to learn. She convinces Bill to agree to hire him. Bill agrees with the caveat that a clear time line regarding George's performance and measures of success for his audit work are defined up front during the orientation period. Understanding that Bill makes decisions based on his thinking preference and Sarah makes decisions based on her feeling preference allows them to leverage these strengths in the decision-making process to hire George and ensure that both ends of the spectrum between thinking and feeling are considered and honored. Benefits of Conducting Personality Assessments
When you conduct a personality assessment, you gain a deeper understanding of yourself and are more self-aware, and you also enhance your understanding and empathy for others. The MBTI is one tool that can help you accomplish this. Learning the underlying makeup, thoughts, and preferences of your own and others’ behaviors is critical to enhancing the interpersonal relationships of your team. Choosing new ways to interact and being open to others’ approaches becomes a very powerful option. Knowledge creates tolerance, acceptance, and can even give rise to genuine appreciation.
Understanding and appreciating differences also encourages team members to reach out to each other to utilize different talents that they don’t possess. Team members may choose to improve on areas where they have untapped strengths, such as volunteering for tasks that they have avoided in the past. With shared team knowledge, they can also ask for and get support for developing neglected or underdeveloped areas of their personalities. As individuals value their own gifts more, they have a greater sense of personal commitment to their work, which can enhance job satisfaction, retention, and productivity.
For additional information about the Myers-Briggs assessment tool or the benefits of conducting personality assessments in your organization, e-mail Sylvia Lane at Sylvia@convergencecoaching.com or call her at (949) 443-3915.
News News Service Spotlight: Distance Learning – Training Any Time, Anywhere
We know how hard it is to get away from the office, and the high cost of travel these days makes investing in CPE expensive. At ConvergenceCoaching, we recognize the need for our clients to have access to high-quality, difference-making soft skills CPE without having to travel. That’s why we’re developing an online distance learning program that will enable you, and members of your team at virtually all levels, to take high-quality courses any time from anywhere.
Our pilot program will be underway soon, and we’re shooting for a launch of a few courses yet this year.Our first courses, which are based on real life experiences within CPA and IT firms, are perfect for busy season soft skills training, as a retention strategy, and for firms who want to train everyone on the same courses, in the same way, over time. New people can easily “catch up” on what others have learned at their convenience - after hours, from home if they choose, and at their own pace.
Watch for more news about our distance learning program. For more information, contact Lisa Spear at lisa@convergencecoaching.com or (615) 292-9321.
Inspired Ideas Blog!
We’ve launched a new blog called “Inspired Ideas” where we will regularly share new ideas and resources, explore issues, and generate discussion on topics relating to the CPA and IT professions - and even life in general. Blogging is all about community and sharing, so we welcome your participation!
Attention BDO Seidman Alliance Members: Partner Leadership Training
BDO Seidman Alliance firm partners and owners should not miss this opportunity for leadership and management skills development! ConvergenceCoaching is facilitating a two-day training event on Strategies for Motivating and Managing Diverse Teams on December 2 and 3 in Chicago, IL.
In this course, we will explore:
Differentiating your firm in the recruiting process and finding sources for successful hires
Developing a culture of accountability with clear role definition
Generational differences – and similarities – and how people of different ages, raised in different eras, are often motivated differently
Gender differences and ways to bring out the best in both genders and avoid stereotypical traps
Personality differences, beginning with an understanding of your own personality preferences using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and then learning about your personality type and the types of others
Methods for motivating and leveraging the talents of your diverse team
We look forward to seeing you and your partners at this excellent opportunity for continued leadership development! If you are a member of the BDO Seidman Alliance, click on the link below to register for this session by November 18: www.regonline.com/FutureLeadersPartner2.
For more information about these events or if you would like to discuss tailored web-based or in-firm training for your firm or association, please contact Krista Remer at Krista@convergencecoaching.com or (402) 891-6393.
Upcoming Speaking Events!
The ConvergenceCoaching team will attend and speak at several events over the next several months, including:
October 23 AICPA PCPS
Medium Firm Networking Meeting
San Antonio, TX www.aicpa.org/pcps Presentation:
> Motivating and Managing Your People
October 23 BDO Seidman, LLP
Regional Meeting
Miami, FL www.bdo.com Presentation:
> Managing Interpersonal Relationships for Maximum Results
October 31 – November 1 Alliott Group
2008 Worldwide Conference
Athens, Greece www.alliottgroup.net Presentation:
> Harness the Power of Positive Thinking and Manage Stress Positively
> Practicing in Concert – Gaining Partner and Firm Alignment
November 17 Association for Accounting Administration
Colorado Chapter Meeting
Denver, CO www.cpaadmin.org Presentation:
> Motivating and Managing Your Diverse Team
November 17-21 BDO Seidman, LLP
Annual Leadership Conference
Scottsdale, AZ www.bdo.com
November 18 Georgia Society of CPAs
2008 Firm Management Practice Conference
Greensboro, GA www.gscpa.org Presentation:
> Accountable Leadership
> Marketing to Win the Right Business
November 18 North Carolina Association of CPAs
69th Annual Symposium
Greensboro, NC www.ncacpa.org Presentation:
> New Partner Sources for Your Firm
> Managing Generational Differences in Your Practice
December 2-3 BDO Seidman, LLP
Future Leaders Training for Partners
Chicago, IL www.bdo.com Presentation:
> Strategies for Managing and Motivating Diverse Teams
December 7-9 Information Technology Alliance
ITA Fall Collaborative
Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ www.italliance.com
We hope to see you at these events and others in the future. Plan your calendars and register today! Let us know if you will be attending any of the venues where we will be speaking. We'd love to catch up with you!
For our catalog with a complete listing of topics we offer for speaking, teaching, and custom in-firm programs and future updates to our speaking calendar, please visit www.convergencecoaching.com/speakingevents.htm.
Upcoming Web Seminars
The ConvergenceCoaching team offers a complimentary web seminar series designed to help you develop “soft” skills in a variety of areas, including leadership, marketing, sales, and human resources. We are also able to provide continuing professional education (CPE) credit for a small administration fee of $39.
Please watch your e-mail inbox for invitations and plan to join us for our upcoming 75-minute web seminars, which will be held at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the following dates:
October 16 – Secrets to Niche Practice Success
December 2 – Developing a Culture of Leadership & Accountability in Your Firm
January 20 – Harness the Power of Positive Thinking
Client Corner
Take KAF’s 1040 Workflow Survey!
Workflow, business process improvement, and standardization have become hot topics of conversation in the CPA profession.To assist firms in analyzing their 1040 business process, public accounting firm KAF Financial Group is launching their second annual 1040 Workflow Survey and would like to invite individuals involved in the 1040 process to participate.
All participants will receive the results of the survey so they can learn ways to improve their efficiency, increase productivity, and compare their workflow with the other nationwide participants.
The survey should take less than 25 minutes to complete and can be found by clicking here. Please complete the survey by October 22, 2008 to receive the results!
AICPA’s Succession Survey Results
The AICPA has released the results of their 2008 Succession Survey, which is intended to provide information to practitioners about how firms are handling the issue of succession planning. This report provides conclusions and recommendations regarding the regular and ongoing need for succession planning and will enable you to evaluate your efforts against those of your peers.
The ConvergenceCoaching team welcomes our new clients to the Convergence circle of friends! Warmest welcome to:
AGN-International based in Aurora, CO CPA-USA Network based in Dayton, OH Johnson Lambert & Co. LLP of Raleigh, NC Rotenberg & Co. LLP of Rochester, NY Seim Johnson, LLP of Omaha, NE
We are excited that you have taken the ConvergenceCoaching leap of faith and look forward to making a difference for you and introducing you to our network of clients and friends!
Spread the Word!
If you know someone who would benefit from receiving their own copy of our Coaching Concepts
e-newsletters along with invitations to our web seminars and other events, e-mail their information to us at info@convergencecoaching.com.
