PERSONALITY TYPES

Mollie Burdick
August 7, 2012
HC 305 Health Care Human Resource Management
Herzing University Online

I am not sure which category I fit in, I seem to fall into a few different ones, like controllers, conservators, pragmatists, and rational. I am not sure that anyone can fit into one category; personalities move from one extreme to the nest depending on the problem. I have a tendency to be head strong in knowing what I want done and how I want it done. I my line of work in construction there is not a whole lot of room for discussion on how to change things. Becoming the CEO if a construction at the age of 22 and being a girl was the hardest thing I even had to overcome. If it had not been for the upbringing by my father and his teaching that if I wanted something enough I could have it, I just had to learn how to expect it and expect it with diplomacy and respect. The first day on the job, I walked in the board room and 7 men sitting there that had worked for my father for years I stood front of them with my father sitting behind me and explained that I was taking over the company, and they would be working for me now. They started complaining about my age and the point I was a girl, and I did not know what I was doing. I explained everything would perform the same as long as they gave me the same respect as they gave my father. I expected them do their jobs to the fullest. They all asked my dad if they had to, before he could answer I explained to them that in front of them were two envelops one was a new contract, and the other was their servants pay for one year, it was their chose not my fathers. Four men took their wages and walked out; the other stayed and worked for me for the rest of their time with the company till they retired. This is one time that my strong willed personality came into force; I did not want someone working for me that was not going to give me 110% because I was a girl, I needed men that wanted to do their job no matter what. Now the part about when my behavior did not have a favorable outcome. Believe me, being bull headed, as my father called me, and having a big mouth to match, will find trouble. Sometimes it did not matter, because it was for a good cause, but most of the time it was not. State laws dictate what we are able to do when we offer the plans they either pass code or they do not. My private secretary had been with the company when my father started it. As a matter of fact, there have been times she kept me straight on policies and state laws that I was not aware had changed. Well, it was this time that I got into a lot of trouble because of being so head strong and I was not going to listen to anyone else, I was right no matter what. We had a meeting of the board of commissioners on a new subdivision that was to go in where another group had bid on putting a strip mall. Well, in order for either of them to build they had to remove a historical site. This site went back before the Civil War, and there was a Civil War Cemetery attached to it. I thought this was a no brainier, and it was stupid we were all there; no one was going to allow a Civil War Cemetery to be removed, wrong. Before I knew it, they were arguing about whose bids were higher, well” big mouth” here stood up, without asking permission, and started asking what about the desecration on the cemetery. Needless to say, money talks, so I started biding on this piece of land. When it was all over the land went for over a quarter million dollars, in the 1980 that was a lot, it still is, but back then it was unthought-of. I almost gave my father a heart, but we won the bid. My father donated the property to the Preservation of Civil War Sites, and I quit my job as CEO of the company. I found out that money was more powerful that moral integrity; I saw how fast I came to blows with another human being over right and wrong I left the company and started my own, that way I was the only one responsible. In a medical setting, it would be difficult for me to choose a staff. I know what I would expect, and I am not sure that too many people would be able to work under me. I think that hiring someone from each of the categories would have it benefits in an office setting. The only one I think I would create a conflict with would be the controllers, I have no problem with someone that is goal driven, but when someone focuses on control it can have its issues. They can let that power go to their heads and overlook the importance of their job. I have seen this happen in originations, someone wanting to stay on top, but forgetting that along with that level there are responsibilities. I think best persons to have in an office, and I would like to see as an office manager, would be the conservators. These are people that want to succeed in the company and will work to the best of their abilities to do so. These are people that have a firm foot hold on the laws rules of the company and will keep things running properly. I also think I would have rational people on my staff. A rational employee would be an excellent chose they are the ones that have to be told once and the jobs completed. Feeders are nice to have around because they seem to support calmness in the office. They do get there work done, but they want to play the caregiver or the shoulder to cry. Doers are the only one that I am not sure I would hire too many of, granted they can get things done in a crisis, but I do not what to have to hold someone’s hand to keep them focused on their job. I want people that will work as a team in my option hiring a controller or a conservator might be too many “I’s” in the word team, and we all know there is no “I” in team. I also would not deal well with Intuitive people either. I do not mind someone asking questions, questions are important, but they need to focus on one job at a time. In a busy medical office, I would think that there could be a lot of different things happening at once. One day when I was in the doctor’s office, there was a woman going into labor in one area and a child in another room with both of her arms broken screaming at the top of her lungs in pain. The doctors and nurses running around trying to take care of everyone while the office manager is screaming at someone up front to call the ambulance. I think that other than the doctors and nurses the rest of the office staff needs to know how to do each other post just in case. This day was a nightmare. I understand that not everyone in an office environment is going to fit together like a glove, but when they have to work together they can become a family of sorts. This is where they watch each other’s back and work in harmony. I know in one class I had we talked about greed, well greed does not just involve money, it can involve status, and I will not work with people that have their own agendas. I have found that we all take a different path in life, and this is what makes us who we are. I can just imagine how miserable life would be if we were all alike. I like to sit down and have a conversation with someone about something I know nothing about, I love to learn, and I love when people ask questions. When I worked for my father, every Monday after lunch, we held a question and answer session with the office staff, Wednesday’s with the field workers in order to understand their input on how things were working and where we might change things. Changing things were better for the office staff, but there were times that I had to change the way things ran on the job sites for safety reasons. In order to have a healthy company, there has to be communication between everyone, from the secretaries to the supervisors, and as my father called them “a good old Bull!!!! Sessions” When everyone left they felt as though they had contributed something to the company, and a lot of time they did.