Teamwork: Know, Share, and Leverage the Power of Personality

Have you ever wondered why someone did, decide, or say something you won’t have? Personality has a tremendous influence on how we take in data, process it, draw conclusions and interact with our world. When you understand the power of personality, you will have greater insights into how you and others think, decide, and do.

I encourage everyone to explore their natural tendencies through the Myers-Briggs Personality Assessment and find out which personality type best describes him or her. There are 16 primary types that explain why people tend to think and behave the way they do.

ESFP: Enthusiastic Improviser

ISFJ: Practical Helper

ESTP: Energetic Problem-solver

INFJ: Insightful Visionary

ENTP: Enterprising Explorer

ISTJ: Responsible Realist

ESFJ: Supporter Contributor

ISFP: Versatile Supporter

ENFJ: Compassionate Facilitator

INTP: Objective Analyst

ENFP: Imaginative Motivator

INTJ: Conceptual Planner

ESTJ: Efficient Organizer

INFP: Thoughtful Idealist

ENTJ: Decisive Strategist

ISTP: Logical Pragmatist

Regardless of your personality preferences, you have a choice to act in ways you believe will help you succeed in any relationship and environment. Yet, without stress or external influences, we all have a natural way of expressing ourselves.

No personality type is better or worse, because they all bring value to solving problems and growing a business. If each team member understands who they are and others on their team, they can intentionally leverage the power of personality to win. If you want to bring the power of Myers-Briggs to your office, let’s discuss a workshop that can unleash the power of personality among your teams.

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About the Author: Sandra Dillon is a professional coach with an extensive background in leadership and business consulting. She administers DISC® and Myers-Briggs/MBTI® testing, designs and facilitates workshops, and coaches both individuals and teams. She has a passion to help people be the best versions of themselves. You can learn more about Sandra by reaching out to her at coach.sandra.dillon@gmail.com or by visiting her website at www.shinecrossings.com

Shine Spotlight on Inner Vision: Breaking Art Out of Prison

Shine Spotlight gives small businesses owners the opportunity to share their passion and find others who may want to connect, contribute, or partner with their mission or business

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Inner Vision with Marcus Hill

 

 

Why Inner Vision?

Do you have a passion for art, a heart for prison ministry, or a desire to develop community through the power of art? Marcus Hill is looking for like-minded business co-partners and promoters, who share his vision to give talented prison or post-released artists a constructive outlet for their passionate art creations in the free world.

The bigger mission is to provide resources and services to incarcerated people, giving them a path to successful re-integration into society. The first step in this multi-faceted mission is to launch an electronic portfolio of artists’ creations as a means of marketing their talent. High quality art reproductions will be offered in a broad range of formats such as posters, canvas, prints, T-shirts, mouse pads, and coffee mugs.

What is Inner Vision?

Think of Inner Vision as a social enterprise which connects the artist with the art lover. By creating a business outlet for current and formerly incarcerated artists, they can earn a living, pay income taxes, take care of their families, and choose to stay away from crime in order to survive. Income security is a critical factor to ensure the formerly incarcerated connect with their families and integrate into community. Inner Vision also requires a portion of the sales be donated to a charity of the artist’s choice, so they too can learn the joy and power of giving back.

 

Inner Vision serves as the operational bridge connecting artists with art lovers. The business (1) solicits the art, (2) markets it, (3) sells it, (4) applies art to various formats, and (5) distributes the funds as per the contractual obligations. Taking a fair fee to cover operational costs and profit, Inner Vision gives hope to art that would not normally be shared in the world.  Marcus also has a larger vision to serve others under the Inner Vision business umbrella, and this is his first step.

What Does Inner Vision Need?

Marcus has the vision, prison relationships, and business plan. He’s looking for a partner who can help provide organizational structure, software knowledge/ expertise, website development, and a shared passion for the vision. The intent is to scale this on a part-time basis. Marcus has connections willing to provide loans for defined start-up capital.

In Marcus’s own words: “I’m looking to connect with talented people and organizations who are willing to step out and join me in this mission to create positive change through the medium of art.”

If this vision or business concept tugs at your heart, sounds intriguing, or you’re willing to lend your skill set, I encourage you to have a conversation with Marcus. Perhaps you want to know more, so you can spread the word on social media or purchase an art piece when the business launches. Social enterprises, those businesses dedicated to making reasonable profits while maximizing social impact, are gaining in popularity, and you can be part of making the world a better place in some small way. Reach out to Marcus for a conversation at hillmarcusg@gmail.com or 713.818.4413.

Art provided by Pete Salazar, Stephen Armstrong, and Charles Hahn

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About the Author: Sandra Dillon is a professional coach with an extensive background in leadership and business consulting. She designs and facilitates workshops and coaches individuals and teams. She has a passion to help people be the best versions of themselves. You can engage Sandra as your coach by reaching out to her at coach.sandra.dillon@gmail.com or visiting her website at www.shinecrossings.com

 

Healthy Marriages Make for Good Business

There’s an old saying: if momma’s not happy, nobody’s happy. If you applied this concept in the workplace, you might say if a spouse isn’t happy, their boss and colleagues may not be happy. Would you agree? If you’re married or ever been in a serious relationship, think about how productive you were the day after a fight or disagreement? Have you ever suffered from chronic marriage fatigue and realized how it sapped your energy at work? Now think about the times when your marriage or relationships were on cloud nine. I bet you did some of your best work: fast, efficient, and high quality. You probably even got more praise and positive feedback from your boss and colleagues.

Productivity Stats

Marital and relationship problems divide employees’ attention, because it’s hard to focus on work when your marriage isn’t well (Patrick, 2019). Bowcott (2015) found that 9% of employees left their job because of a divorce or separation, and 15% of survey respondents said separation and divorce negatively impacted productivity. On the other hand, studies show that increased happiness on the job translates into upwards of 20% higher productivity (Addady, 2015), and strong marriages do just that—contribute to employees’ happiness.

The Missing Piece: Social Wellness Program

Employers commonly provide for their employees’ well-being by offering them health insurance, so they can get the treatment they need and get back to work quickly. Companies also encourage employees to take advantage of preventative health initiatives, and some even offer free or discounted gym memberships as part of promoting wellness. Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) are more common for those employees who need support for a personal crisis. Why do companies offer these services? Because it makes good business sense. Get employees the help they need, so they can be more productive.

Perhaps it’s been you or someone you know who’s been physically present in the office but mentally checked out or at best distracted. What’s got the employee mentally consumed? Troubles with a partner relationship? If companies are financially motivated to help employees be more productive, what’s missing from the equation? I propose a social wellness program (SWP). Companies could improve their bottom line by offering their employees coaching services to strengthen specific areas of life. A SWP could act like an EAP plan, where employees get a maximum number of coaching sessions per year.

“It’s just good business for a company to offer marriage or relationship coaching for its employees.” — Sandra Dillon

The Case for Coaching

Happier marriages mean more productive employees. How do I support this claim? By the research and my own client stories. As a business coach, I’ve worked with a number of clients on work-related performance goals, which later led into marriage coaching with the coachee and his or her spouse. Having coached these couples on marriage visioning, missioning, personality and gender preferences, financial stewardship, love/respect, communication, and conflict resolution, I’ve seen firsthand how a stronger and happier marriage has translated into higher job performance and career development.

Let’s be clear—coaching isn’t counseling. Counseling is covered by your health insurance or EAP. Coaching on the other hand allows people to help themselves and their marriages.

Next Steps

If you have the responsibility and accountability to help your employees, will you offer marriage coaching to your team? If you’re a small business owner, will you pay for a few marriage coaching sessions, so your employees can be more productive? It’s just makes good business sense!

If you’re an individual who doesn’t have employee access to coaching, will you find a coach who can help you strengthen your marriage? Ultimately, we are all 100% responsible for 50% of any relationship, and the responsibility to do better resides within each one of us.

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References

Addady, M. (2015). Study: Being happy at work really makes you more productive. Retrieved from https://fortune.com/2015/10/29/happy-productivity-work/

Bowcott, O. (2014). Relationship breakdowns have negative impact on business. productivity. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/nov/26/relationship-breakdowns-business-productivity-employees-divorce-separation

Patrick, M. (2019). Top problems that affect employee productivity. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/top-problems-affect-employee-productivity-17947.html

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About the Author: Sandra Dillon is a professional coach with an extensive background in leadership, business consulting, and marriage coaching. She administers DISC® and Myers-Briggs/MBTI® testing, designs and facilitates workshops, and coaches both individuals and teams. She has a passion to help people be the best versions of themselves. You can learn more about Sandra or engage her as your coach by reaching out to her at coach.sandra.dillon@gmail.com or by visiting www.shinecrossings.com