We all get a little temperamental at times don’t we? Most people don’t realize, however, that when we become temperamental we revert to our true nature or temperament. According to Robert Hogan (the personality guru) up to 50% of our personality is genetic and laid down at birth and we call this our “temperament”. It is the foundation on which the house of our personality is built and is manifested in well defined behavioral tendencies and mood states.
Temperament is usually divided into four main types first used by the ancient Greeks, Sanguine (fun lovers), Choleric (doers), Melancholic (idealists), and Phlegmatic (rationals). In an easy to remember system developed by Greg Hicks, the four temperaments can be portrayed as four animals:
The Fox:
* Fun-loving, optimistic, realistic, and focused on the here and now
* Pride themselves on being unconventional, bold, and spontaneous
* Make playful mates, creative parents, and troubleshooting leaders
* Excitable, trust their impulses, want to make a splash, seek stimulation, prize freedom, and dream of mastering action skills
The Beaver:
* Dutiful “doers”, cautious, humble, and focused on credentials and traditions
* Pride themselves on being dependable, helpful, and hard-working
* Make loyal mates, responsible parents, and stabilizing leaders
* Are concerned citizens who trust authority, join groups, seek security, prize gratitude, and dream of meting out justice
The Dolphin:
* Enthusiastic, idealistic, they trust their intuition, yearn for romance, seek their true self, prize meaningful relationships, and dream of attaining wisdom
* Pride themselves on being loving, kindhearted, and authentic
* Tend to be giving, trusting, spiritual, and they are focused on personal journeys and human potentials
* Make intense mates, nurturing parents, and inspirational leaders
The Owl:
* Tend to be rational, pragmatic, skeptical, self-contained, and focused on problem-solving and systems analysis
* Pride themselves on being ingenious, independent, and strong willed
* Make reasonable mates, individualizing parents, and strategic leaders
* Are even-tempered, they trust logic, yearn for achievement, seek knowledge, prize technology, and dream of understanding how the world works
Learning about temperament helps us understand the “glories” and “pitfalls” of our natural leadership style. This in turn will help us learn how to become more effective at leading others with different temperaments.