personal growth – M Graham Knox

May 1, 2019July 3, 2019 Mark G. Knox Productivity

Know thyself: a survey of personality assessments, Part 2

2019-04-22-22-55-10 I’m continuing my survey of personality assessments. If you haven’t read Part 1 or a little of my story, you might want to do that first. Otherwise, here are the next two.

DISC (or DiSC, in some brandings)

DISC (stands for Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness) has been around a long time, and you can find some simple, free tests online. Some are better than others and reveal more shadings and nuances. I test out as a “High C,” which corresponds pretty well with the “Strategic Thinking” themes of the Clifton.

DISC can be very helpful in understanding and valuing yourself and others. It was a DISC-like assessment that saved my career all those years ago. Very valuable in accepting your unique qualities and contributions.

There is a DISC-like assessment called The Flag Page, from the “Laugh Your Way” marriage conference people. It’s fun (as you would expect) and identifies what “country” you are from and what your top 5 motivations are. The categories mirror the DISC, but the findings give you some shadings that don’t always show up in a DISC, like identifying “soft” and “hard” qualities.

Summary: simple (in a good way), available free in some places, gives you the vocabulary to give expression to your value.

Fascination Advantage

One of the more unique and interesting assessments I’ve encountered is Fascination Advantage, the creation of Sally Hogshead, a former successful ad writer, who has turned her research into the “science of fascination.” In a word, it helps you identify your highest value in communicating yourself and your personal brand. The system is fully explained in her book, How the World Sees You (@$18), which contains a code that you can use to take her assessment.

The test uses 7 “Advantages” in a unique way: rather than simply identifying your top 2, the appraisal combines your primary and secondary advantages into one of 49 “Archetypes” (see illustration). Thus, my TRUST combined with my POWER advantages synthesize into “The GRAVITAS,” and identify my top 3 adjectives of “dignified, stable, and hardworking.” My “Dormant” advantage (“PASSION”), the one that is the most exhausting for me, is also identified as the least likely to impress others.

Your personalized report prompts you to go on to create an “Anthem” for yourself, which is a 2-word phrase (adjective/noun) that can identify the value you bring to the table. You can use your Anthem on business materials, resumes, website, etc. An example for my archetype might be “Deliberate Certainty.”

Ms. Hogshead sprinkles her writing with some pithy thoughts that are pure gold if you are an assessment advocate like me. “If you don’t know your own value don’t expect anyone else to.” “To become successful, don’t change who you are. Become more of who you are.” And my personal favorite: “The world is not changed by people who sort of care.”

Her website has a ton of resources available, such as videos giving you more insight into your Advantages and Archetype. There’s also an avenue for you to explore the Archetypes within your team dynamics.

Summary: unique synthesis of character traits into Archetypes, plentiful resources for further study. Especially helpful if you are building a personal brand.

Coming next: The Motivators Assessment and the Enneagram

I teach a course which utilizes the DiSC personality assessment. It’s called “Solving the People Puzzle” and is available in faith-based and non-faith-based formats. Please contact me if you are interested in this for your group or organization.

April 23, 2019July 3, 2019 Mark G. Knox Productivity

Know Thyself: a survey of personality assessments, Part 1

In my last blog post, I told my story of how a personality assessment saved my career. If you haven’t read it, please do. I’ve learned that I work and lead best when I’m being myself rather than trying to be someone else. Over the years, I’ve taken a number of different assessments, and each one has told me a little more about myself. Here’s a quick survey of some of them, along with some thoughts about the effectiveness of each.

Clifton Strengths (StrengthsFinder)

We use this test extensively with our leaders and other key people at the Chick-fil-A where I work. This appraisal is backed by the power Gallup, Inc., the famous survey people. They are able to synthesize the findings of 20+ million people who’ve taken the test. If you take the simple test ($20), you’ll identify your “Top 5” strengths (out of a possible 34 themes). This is helpful, but the real insight comes when you pay extra ($40 on sale) to reveal your entire list of 34. Note: it’s worth it.

My top 5 strengths are Strategic, Responsibility, Learner, Input, and Relator. Further insight comes from the supplemental book, Strengths Based Leadership, by identifying the 4 Strengths Domains (also available within the app). I’ve learned that I am at my best in the Strategic Thinking domain, and I really need to collaborate with someone strong in the Influencer domain, where I struggle.

Summary: especially helpful when you get the full report, supportive website, extensive documentation. Get the e-book, Expanding Your Strengths.

StandOut

StandOut is the creation of Marcus Buckingham, who was connected with the Clifton Strengths assessment before launching out on his own. StandOut identifies and ranks 9 Strength Roles and classifies you with the top 2 (though you know your rank of all 9). The cost of the test is the price of the book or e-book (@$16-$19). The roles aren’t sliced as thin as the themes of the Clifton.

My assessment revealed that I am an Equalizer/Creator. The descriptions in the companion book and report are among the most insightful of any assessment. Interestingly enough, two of my colleagues tested the same, yet we are very different on other appraisals, especially the DISC. All this goes to show that no one rating can tell the whole story about who you are.

Summary: great advice and application to many venues (leadership, sales, management, client service). Lots of great take-aways. The “How to Describe Yourself in Interviews” sections are worth the price if you’re looking for a career move.

Question to consider: Have you taken either of these assessments, and how have they helped you?

Coming next: DISC, Fascination Advantage, The Motivators Assessment, and the Enneagram

April 1, 2019July 3, 2019 Mark G. Knox Leadership

What this blog is about

I loved my time in college. Even now, my wife says that if I could get paid to go to school, I’d be all over it. And she’s right; I’m a naturally curious learner. To some degree, all of us are; some people feed that desire more than others, while others suppress it or let it atrophy, or only learn new things when required by the job.

Psychologists differentiate between a static mindset and a growth mindset. More and more, we’re recognizing the necessity of continuous improvement in our learning. Cecelia Meis writes,

“A growing body of research shows that neurologically, growth mindsets stabilize existing neural pathways and even construct new ones, allowing connections between information and response to happen faster and more reliably.” (Success Magazine, Spring 2019, p. 23)

So, it behooves us to develop and nurture our minds whether it’s actually necessary for our jobs or not.

This brings us to the purpose of this blog. As I think and grow and learn, I want to share some of that to benefit others. To that end, the theme of this blog is “supporting life-long learners.” To do that, I plan to target my writing around four main topics that I hope will be helpful:

PRODUCTIVITY – organization, goal-setting, personal assessment such as DiSC or CliftonStrengths
LEADERSHIP – including educational effectiveness through classroom management
CHRISTIAN THOUGHT – theology, philosophy, biblical literacy, cultural observation and critique
CHURCH LIFE – especially in the areas of preaching and worship

…all from a biblically-informed world-view.

So I invite you to join me in this journey. Let’s set up shop here and discuss the world as we see it. Meis goes on to say, “Remember that learning new things isn’t always about getting a raise or earning a promotion. Learning in all forms is inherently beneficial.” (Ibid, p. 24) Let’s discover the joys of life-time learning and how we can help one another on the way. Please follow me; I hope to post 3 times per week. Share this with your friends, and by all means, please join the conversation and comment. I’ll do my best to reply.

Question to discuss: What subject (topic, skill) do you most like to learn about just for the fun of it, and why?

March 15, 2018 Mark G. Knox Personal Development, Uncategorized

Clearing clutter

by The Organization Man

I’ve been on a crusa SAMSUNG de to reduce the amount of physical clutter in my life. Like most people, I’ve managed to collect quite a bit of stuff over the years. Couple that with a major career change some five years ago, and I’ve found myself to have saved many things that I no longer use or need.

Six years ago, I was a teacher. As such, I collected quite a bit of tools, books, and supplies befitting my trade. Then, I was no longer a teacher. After all this time, I’m probably not going back to it. So much of my Perfectly Good Stuff (TM) is sitting here taking up space and benefitting no one.

As I’ve gone through this process, I’ve managed to compile some thoughts and observations that you might find enlightening.

There’s a difference between clutter and organization.

You would not find my basement storage area on a typical episode of “American Pickers;” it’s too neat. My stuff is neatly stored in plastic bins and boxes, neatly tucked away on metal shelving of just the right spacing and height. So it’s organized.

But that doesn’t mean it’s not clutter. Clutter could be defined as any resource that you no longer use and is a drain on other resources. It takes up space. It might represent potential value if you sold it, which would allow you to access other resources if you choose to. If you have to do anything to maintain your clutter, it takes up time.

My organization was a smokescreen to my real problem. I was hoarding. And there’s a good reason for that.

Getting rid of Perfectly Good Stuff (TM) is psychologically hard.

I’ve taken the Strengthsfinder 2.0 assessment. One of my top 5 strengths is “Input.” This makes me a collector…of ideas, facts, quotations, and even physical objects. All of which I tend to view as having value. So keeping all these possessions quite simply arose from this very real strength in my psyche that sees all things, whether material or immaterial, as potentially useful.

I found myself viscerally torn as I began to choose to part with various pieces of Perfectly Good Stuff (TM). “I could use this!” I found myself saying. I recalled other times when I’d tossed something, only to find that I needed it later. Didn’t want that to happen again.

I had to change my way of thinking. Perfectly Good Stuff (TM) became simply…stuff.

Perhaps the fact that I tended to think of Perfectly Good Stuff (TM) in a “trademark” sort of way led me into this hoarding, protectionist mode. I had to change my way of thinking. Perfectly Good Stuff (TM) became simply…stuff. Stuff I no longer used or needed. A friend said it well: it’s not worth the time or energy to keep it.

As I began to part with my stuff, I found…

It becomes self-rewarding to de-clutter. And easier.

The more I chose to part with clutter, the easier it became. And I began to see the rewards for doing so. Every additional bin that was emptied, every load taken to the dump or to Goodwill, every piece given and received joyfully by someone else who could use it, every “one-man’s-junk-is-another-man’s-treasure” item sold on eBay…each of those occurrences was a feel-good pat on the back for someone who previously felt very conflicted to part with his possessions.

And so, it became easier. Items that were earlier off-limits were now on the chopping block. “What else?” has become the battle cry. “Please stop giving us stuff!” has become the plea of my extended family. Where once there was a certain anxiety, there is now peace and joy.

And to the person who bought a 12-year old empty Xbox 360 box from me for $25 (that’s right, just an empty carton!), my bank account thanks you.