Episode 17: Understanding Your Personality Through Insights®
Leverage Who You Are
When you REALLY understand your unique personality characteristics - you can be conscious about how you show up.
Enjoy!
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(The notes below are only a brief summary of what is discussed in the podcast. Be sure to listen to get all of the goodness! If you would like a full transcription of the episode, please send an email request to: angie@angie-robinson.com. We’d be happy to provide that!)
I believe that everything is grounded in self-awareness - as you may have picked up on in my podcast episodes and my offerings. It is really where all of the magic lies.
Self-awareness casts a wide and broad spectrum of components. For me – where it starts is understanding self. That understanding will likely NEVER come to an end. I don’t think any of us can ever check the box on it.
But being constantly open and intentional – self-awareness becomes a practice and more than just a “who you are”.
How often do you get curious about yourself?
There are many definitions of self-awareness available. I define self-awareness as the conscious knowing of your own character, feelings, motivators, detractors, strengths, opportunities, and beliefs. It is understanding how those elements inform your thoughts and decisions while also observing and recognizing how others perceive and experience you. It allows us to own, manage, change and honor who we are.
In this episode, I’m sharing one of my favorite tools to help your own understanding of yourself, which is Insights® Discovery.
What is Insights®?
Insights® is a leadership and personal development organization whose work is based on self-awareness being the foundation to better relationships, better business and better results. I strongly believe this to be true - which is why I am such a big fan of all Insights® has to offer!
With the Insights® model, tools and programs, you take an honest look at your personal style and dig into important questions, such as ‘What kind of a leader / team member / partner am I now, and how can I be better?’. You also look hard at how you react to change and why some relationships are more challenging than others. When you see yourself clearly, you can begin to develop action plans for improvement. The Insights® model truly fosters transformative experiences through self-awareness.
The Insights Discovery® system is built on the language of color. Four colors are used to describe distinct personality preferences. It has a very simple language that is easy to remember and to share with others.
The colors are described as Fiery Red, Sunshine Yellow, Earth Green and Cool Blue. Here are a few high-level characteristics of each color energy:
Fiery Red is usually focused on results and shows up with a strong and purposeful determination.
Sunshine Yellow radiates enthusiasm and encourages participation.
Earth Green energy often seeks harmony and meaningful relationships.
Cool Blue has a desire to know and understand the world with accurate and complete information.
The four color energies are made up of:
The way we gain energy/recharge our energy
How we make decisions
How we take in and process information
We all have our own unique mix of the four colors, with one color energy being more dominant than the others. It is the combination of the colors that determines our personal style, how we react to situations and how we behave at work.
Insights has several workshops and programs for individuals, teams and entire organizations – focusing on 1:1 coaching, team effectiveness, leadership development, employee engagement, change management and sales effectiveness. And although it is often geared toward organizations, the learnings from Insights can be applied to all areas of life.
The Insights® Discovery Profile as a Tool
The Insights Discovery personal profile is 20+ pages of goodness describing how we prefer to think and act. The key areas it outlines includes personal strengths and weaknesses, the value we bring to teams and relationships, our personal values and preferred communication do’s and don’ts. This information can be used in so many ways and far into the future. As an Insights Licensed Practitioner, I’ve walked through this profile will a lot of people – and they are consistently blown away by how accurate it reflects who they are! It’s an amazing tool to guide the journey from curiosity to connection.
What you learn from increased self-awareness helps to build better relationships, create better connections and to work more productively.
How Insights Cultivates Connection to Self
The more curious you get – the more connection that is available to you. When you understand how you make sense of the world around you, how you make decisions and how you reenergize - you approach your day-to-day activities from a more authentic place. You can also really appreciate things about yourself instead of judging and comparing yourself to others. You will start to value your communication style or why you like your workspace to be a certain way or why spreadsheets are (or are not) your love language!
And you will be more aware of when your preferences and style actually work against you. When we overuse our strengths – it can actually have a negative effect on our actions or how we are perceived by others. Knowing this allows you to calmly and easily adapt and manage those characteristics about yourself.
My Insights® Story
I was first introduced to Insights somewhere around 2008 when I was the Director of Human Resources at a mid-sized organization. The corporate office teams experienced the Insights Discovery workshop as a team building event. I remember first learning about the color energies and my own preferences - it was mind-blowingly amazing! Things just started to make sense. Receiving my personal profile for the first time was a real game-changer. How on earth someone could get into my head and articulate who I am in this report!?
I had several more experiences with Insights before I became a Licensed Practitioner in 2015. Each time I facilitate a workshop or debrief a profile, not only do I witness the way it impacts others, I learn more about myself. Each event - such as promotions, new jobs at new companies and starting my own business - the awareness of my style and preferences evolves and deepens. And it is always grounding. I have been able to see the strengths of my color energy mix as my superpower instead of something to apologize for. I have also become acutely aware of how those strengths can sometimes be perceived by others when overused or in stressful situations, allowing me to manage myself better. And when I choose not to manage myself differently – at least I better understand why the outcome is what it is.
I easily recognize when I need to increase the use of a certain color energy. For example – when it’s time to power through a project or make a decision, I know it’s time to tap into my Fiery Red! I am constantly self-coaching using the color energies.
Self-awareness is ever evolving. Each situation – big or small, work or otherwise – adds to our experience and reshapes or reaffirms our beliefs and behaviors. Intentionally understanding yourself gives you clarity while navigating through life. It’s not about changing who we fundamentally are. It’s about being aware of how we show up so we can honor, leverage and adapt when it makes sense.
What do you think?
What is your level of self-awareness?
Do you have any favorite tools or practices to keep self-awareness top of mind?
What ah-ha’s have you experienced?
Relevant Links
To learn more about Insights®, click here
10 Impactful Coaching Questions
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