An interesting question and one that I asked the assistants that are connected with me on social media, or that I’ve worked with when team-building, or met at a conference I have spoken at. The question I posed was as follows: In one word, what is the top attribute required by an assistant?
The responses were numerous and varied and a pattern emerged, which from a behavioural perspective was fascinating. The replies to my question are shown below, the larger the word, the more times the word was returned.
The top four attributes, with almost an equal number of responses, together with their descriptions were:
FORWARD-THINKING
Favouring innovation and development; progressive.
ORGANISED
Arranged in a systematic way.
FLEXIBLE
Willing to change or try out different things
PATIENCE
The capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious
The significance of the colours
You will notice that I have added colours to the different words above. The reason being is that they align themselves with behavioural attributes of different psychological preferences that we all have, but in different orders and different degrees. This what makes us all behaviourally unique.
Below are some other adjectives that describe the four dominant behavioural styles. Fiery Red is Extraverted Thinking, Sunshine Yellow is Extraverted Feeling, Earth Green is Introverted Feeling and Cool Blue is Introverted Thinking.
When I work with individuals and teams, each person completes a 15-minute online evaluator from which their unique behavioural profile is produced. It is a highly-regarded and accurate personal development tool and great for understanding more about yourself but also your colleagues, especially those who are different to you.
Here are some extracts from the different behavioural styles.
Earth Green Decision Making
Preferring a harmonious outcome, Rachel will go to great lengths to ensure the preservation of relationships.
Cool Blue Ideal Environment
Lorna likes time to prepare for meetings or discussions. She prefers information to be shared in writing so she can review it. She appreciates others who recognise her eye for detail.
Sunshine Yellow Communication
When communicating with Christine, use lots of words and gestures. Be enthusiastic and positive. Don’t overload her with facts, details and paperwork.
Fiery Red Strengths
Sinead readily accepts authority, she is bold and energetic with a keen sense of priorities.
As you will note from the above, how we communicate, make decisions, our strengths and ideal work environment are different, based on who we are behaviourally.
Conclusion
So, turning back to the attributes submitted, Forward-thinking, Organised, Flexible & Patience, it is recognition that an assistant needs to be adaptable in their behavioural style and approach to their role, in order to achieve success and build positive relationships with those that they support.
What’s your preferred style and how do you use it?
I’d love to hear from you in terms of what your preferred colour behavioural style is and how you use it to best effect. Additionally, what do you do to overcome the styles that may be a little more challenging for you?
And if you are thinking what is my preference, well, I lead with Sunshine Yellow, supported by Earth Green, Cool Blue and least, Fiery Red.
If you’ve enjoyed and found this article of interest, Nick regularly publishes articles specific to the Assistant Community via is blog site www.yoursbehaviourally.com
If you want to find out more about how Nick helps individuals and teams to achieve even greater success, via workshops and speaking at conferences, please visit www.ngagementworks.com