Repeat after me: I am competent, capable and open to learn

As a Creativity Professional I’ve been working with teams, people and entire organizations freeing thinking to create new futures for over 20 years. Many times the doors to collaboration open through understanding and appreciating personality styles.

Let’s face it. Sometimes people’s personal styles get in the way of productivity due to grudges, lack of patience, misunderstandings and the like.  When they discover that it’s a style thing and not intentional sabotage, all breathe a sigh of relief and get on with working better together, communicating more effectively. They leverage the differences instead of letting them get in the way.

Changes are coming, one’s you’ll make and one’s that will make you.  How you respond, create, and decide will influence  your future.

Learning from doing something new is on the rise. More people are  encouraged to take risks. Events are occurring that are shaping people’s lives, the iPad, the oil spill, the volcano in Iceland. Wouldn’t it be nice to know your natural ways of responding so you can choose your next step when another shift occurs and not react out of unconscious habit? Wouldn’t it be great to feel confident working with others who can do the same?

When a change occurs, if you use a personality instrument or not, it’s helpful to remember these three things.

• I am competent: at being who I am
• I am capable: I have skills and experiences that have brought me to today
• I am open to learn: I am willing to experiment with new methods and gather wisdom from others feedback and encouragement

Repeating this phrase will help you stay resilient in times of change and uncertainty:  I am competent, capable and open to learn.

When you use a personality instrument or theory, you’ll find out the ways in which you are competent and how you learn best from change. The following list uses the  MBTI® instrument theory framework to give you an example of the array of possibilities.

• If you tend to be quiet, you are competent at learning through reflection
• If you are a ‘talker’, you are competent at learning through conversation

• If you see things as they are, you are competent at learning through experience and observation
• If you are conceptual, you are competent at learning through putting theories and ideas together

• If you use objective analysis, you are competent at learning through understanding the logic
• If you focus on people’s needs and what’s most important, you are competent at learning through connecting with others you agree with

• If your attention is on order, you are competent at learning step-by-step
• If you like to see what emerges, you are competent at learning by jumping in anywhere and asking lots of questions

Different folks, different strokes.  Likely you do all the above with varying degrees of ease.

The pattern that works for you may not work as well for others. As a result, they may unknowingly undermine your processes, resulting in you questioning your value.  Don’t let them. I am competent, capable and open to learn.

People with styles different from yours will do their best to get you to make decisions just as they would, to see things their way and to learn how they like to learn. It’s your choice or not to pay attention to what they say.  Just know they work differently than you and there is a seed of wisdom in their suggestion. I am competent, capable and open to learn.

If it gets a little overwhelming working with others whose styles are different from your own, which it does at times, repeat.

I am competent, capable and open to learn.

MBTI, Myers-Briggs, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, are registered trademarks of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator Trust in the United States and other countries.

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