Two months ago, I authored a column about my ongoing experience as a member of Leadership Clark County’s Class of 2012. You may recall it was written shortly after my first full class session, which focused on the history of Fort Vancouver. Since that time, I’ve learned even more – not just about our local community, but about myself. To explain how this happened, I’d like to focus on Leadership Clark County’s class retreat, which took place shortly after my previous op-ed, at the Hood River Inn.
In the days leading up to the retreat, each LCC student took an online test called the Birkman Method. For those unfamiliar with the Birkman, it’s sort of like a personality test – though I assure you, this isn’t your grandmother’s Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
The Birkman creates a multi-dimensional portrait (very thorough) based on that online exam, highlighting each person’s usual behaviors, stress behaviors, underlying needs and motivations.
At the retreat, each class member received a personalized report packet – and let me tell you, it’s amazing how accurate the results turned out to be.
Without giving too much away, I can share a few of my own results:
Within each chapter of the Birkman, a person lands in one of four possible colors: Red, green, yellow or blue. And according to my results, when it comes to my personality I’m a blue person. No, this doesn’t mean I’m depressed. Nor does it mean I slap buckets like drums in Las Vegas. Blue, in this particular chapter of the test, according to Birkman Certified Facilitator Marsha Fraser, meant that I am an “ideas person.” In other words, I’m your man when it comes to thinking outside of the box, or coming up with a new direction or concept. What I’m not so great at is the actual “doing it” part. And that’s where the other colors come in.
Those falling in the red category (you know who you are) are the doers and the builders. Given a task, these folks will get it done, no questions asked. But they need a blue person to supply those great ideas.
However, it’s not just a two color world. Yellow personalities are the ones who keep us organized, making lists and getting things in order. Lastly, the ever-important greens are our motivators; the people in our community that keep movements going, helping to light a fire under us.
Additional chapters of the Birkman Method followed, some of which told me I excel when it comes to seeing issues from multiple sides, as well as the ability to remain objective. As a journalist, you should all feel good about that.
So how do I use all of this new found personality information? That’s where our Leadership Clark County “team projects” come into play, which I’ll talk more about in my next column.
With blues, reds, greens and yellows all paired up and working together toward a common goal, nothing could go wrong… right?
