My own ethical and moral values, beliefs, attitudes and personal integrity and assessment of my effect on my own and others’ behaviour in the leadership mentoring or executive coaching relationship – critically reviewed.

Within the Myers-Briggs psychometric analysis I fit the personality type is Introvert, Sensing, Feeling, Judging (ISFJ). The fact that this is not a common personality type in the Service is perhaps an indicator of the amount of learned behaviour I have accumulated in my 19 years as a manager For example I am often perceived as an extrovert because others perceive me as confident and able to speak in public forums, express my opinions etc. In truth I find such activity exhausting and my energies are very much driven from within – at times when I can be reflective and free from large numbers of people. I like working with people but I do not often feel energised as a result of it and prefer to spend time out of work either alone or with those closest to me.

In my first role as a manager grade I was required to deliver presentations top various audiences including 2 international conferences, where my presentation was simultaneously interpreted into several other languages. Initially such events caused real physical distress in the moments leading up to them, such as weakness/shaking in leg muscles and an inability to breathe properly when I began to speak. It was only through perseverance and the realisation that no-one else noticed, that I was gradually able to mitigate the physical symptoms I experienced at these events.

Over the years my preference for introversion has often meant avoiding work related social situations without properly understanding why I did not relish such events as other colleagues did. It was only revealed to me in a FIRO B psychometric on a leadership course in 2000. This was a liberating moment for me as it made me