ILTA>ON Recap: Emotional Intelligence and Communication Styles #ILTAsOnIt #WeAreILTA

This was a great presentation highlighting the importance of understanding your own personality as well as the personalities of those with whom you interact in the workplace.  This knowledge is especially helpful during these trying times as we are all dealing with an incredible amount of stress this year.  Even for those who handle stress well, it is imperative that we know how to pick up  on the mood of a room, care about the emotions of other  people, and learn to actually HEAR what people are trying to say to us.

According to speaker Mike Monar, a sender of a message attempts to convey one thing but the receiver may hear something completely different due to a variety of reasons.  He suggested learning more about our own personalities, and then focusing on how our communication methods may be received by individuals based on their personality types.  Creating a daily practice to increase empathy and mindfulness can help you learn to have more effective communications and to become a better listener.

Here is a link to take the DISC Personality Test online for free:  https://www.123test.com/disc-personality-test/

I took the test myself, and here are the results

 

Looks like I need to be aware that I have a strong sense of motivation meaning I am unlikely to back down easily. This means I could be too aggressive when working with or negotiating with more compliant types who may simply agree with me to avoid what they may perceive as my aggressive behavior.  ( I guess this is why I have always found myself in sales and not working in compliance!)

According to the speaker, working on our understanding of these issues is how we can come to operate with a higher level of emotional intelligence.  Once we are able to internalize this knowledge, we will have the tools to communicate better with all types of personalities and ultimately achieve a better outcome.  One key takeaway here is that evidence suggests that mixing personality styles within groups will strengthen work task effectiveness causing a diverse team to produce better results than a like-minded team.

In summary, learning how to work effectively     with various personally types will result in better work product as well as stronger relationships with colleagues.

David A. Netzer

President

Legal Tech Talent Network