About The EA Campus
About The EA Campus

Understanding your personality and communication preferences

Understanding your Executive’s personality, behaviors, and communication preferences is crucial to building an effective relationship and partnership. But first, you also need to put in the work to understand your own personality, behaviors, and communication preferences! Understanding your personality and communication preferences is the first step to becoming a more strategic Assistant.

Being self-aware and understanding your personality and communication preferences is incredibly important for Assistants. This work has to start with you so that you know your own preferences and can align yourself with your Executive’s.

It’s time to take some personality tests! When you know your personality and communication preferences, you can better align with your Executive’s style.

1:1 Meeting Template for Executives and Assistants

The template you need to maximise the time spent with your Executive.

The 1:1 Meeting Template for Executives and Assistants gives you the steps to ensure that when you have a one-to-one meeting with your Executive, you get through all the work you need to cover and maximise your time together.

    Myers-Briggs

    Let’s start with Myers-Briggs—this was the first personality test I took with an Executive. The most successful partnerships stem from clarity around personality and communication preferences on both sides.

    This test is one of the most popular personality assessments and has been for quite some time now. It’s free, quick, and the results are easy to understand and interpret.

    The results are categorized into a series of letters that define your personality type on a sliding scale:

    • Extraversion (E) vs. Introversion (I)
    • Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N)
    • Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F)
    • Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P)

    Here is the link to take the Myers-Briggs personality test. Tools like the Myers-Briggs test give deep insight into your personality and communication preferences.

    The Four Tendencies

    The Four Tendencies test by Gretchen Rubin looks at how you respond to expectations. Self-reflection around your personality and communication preferences leads to stronger workplace relationships. Gretchen explains that there are two types of expectations, and we respond differently to each:

    • Inner expectations, such as self-created goals or resolutions
    • Outer expectations, like work deadlines

    Your “tendency” (either Upholder, Obliger, Rebel, or Questioner) is determined by how you respond to these expectations. Understanding your tendencies can help you make better decisions.

    Here is the link to take the Four Tendencies personality test. Assistants who can articulate their personality and communication preferences are more effective collaborators.

    The Big Five Personality Test

    What’s unique about this test is that it measures five broad dimensions of personality, rather than simply categorizing you as one type or another. You receive a percentage for each of the five factors:

    • Openness to experience
    • Conscientiousness
    • Extraversion
    • Agreeableness
    • Neuroticism

    Here is the link to take the Big Five personality test. Executive partnerships thrive when personality and communication preferences are discussed openly.

    Additional Tests

    Taking initiative to explore personality and communication preferences shows leadership and emotional intelligence. Here are a few more tests worth taking to learn more about yourself and your preferences:

    Take the tests and share your results with your Executive. Ask if they have taken any tests and can share their results with you. Knowing your Executive’s personality and communication preferences helps tailor your support for them. Knowing and understanding your personality, behavior, and communication preferences is key to creating an effective relationship with any of your Executives.

    It’s your responsibility to stay aware of what makes both you and your Executive unique. Taking the initiative to better understand yourself through personality tests will set a foundation for clear communication, especially with Executives!

    To ensure you have everything you need to succeed as an Assistant, check out our Strategic Business Partner Online Course.Taking initiative to explore personality and communication preferences shows leadership and emotional intelligence.

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    Nicky Christmas

    I'm Nicky, the Founder and CEO of The EA Campus. Let’s continue the conversation over in our communities.

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