Employment of Profiling Instruments

Posted by Elijah Lim on May 18, 2010 · 3 Comments 

Profiling Instruments – A First Step towards Effectiveness in People and Organizations

It seems to me that the use of profiling instruments is becoming more and more common amongst individuals, companies, educational institutions, etc. Indeed, they provide very handy “snapshots” of people which are very insightful and sometimes rather startling in terms of what they can uncover about any particular person.

When using profiling instruments, we need to check that the instrument being employed has acceptable reliability, meaning that the readings of what is being measured are consistent, and validity, meaning that the instrument actually measures what it was designed to measure. Most profiling instruments on the market fit those criteria, so it is really up to an individual’s or manager’s preference.

Effectiveness in People

Behavioural Styles. For a start, it is useful for people to know what their own behavioural styles are, and what that means vis-à-vis other people’s styles, whether similar to their own styles or otherwise. Knowing one’s own behavioural style in relation to the behavioural styles of others helps smoothen the interactions between people, regardless of the type of relationship existing between the two persons. In fact, it is possible for one person to get a pretty good idea of another person’s behavioural style just by observing that person for a short while. Good relations can be cultivated even between total strangers when at least one person discerns what the other person’s basic behavioural style is and applies the Platinum Rule of “Do unto others what THEY would like you to do unto THEM”.

Character Development. Now that we are able to cultivate and establish harmonious relations with others, what next? A very important aspect of our lives, frequently neglected, is that of our own character development. Many people seem to think that character development is something that is done only for pre-schoolers and Primary school children. Nothing could be further from the truth, and we have seen, perhaps even felt, the effects of character deficiencies in the media far too often. The goal of character development, simply put, is to live a life of noble thoughts, formulating noble plans and giving expression to those noble thoughts and plans in noble words and deeds.

Leadership Development. Leadership development is very closely linked to character development as well as being able to exercise discretion with regard to our own preferred behavioural styles vis-à-vis others. Developing our leadership attributes increases our effectiveness in motivating others to better themselves in all spheres of life. Both character and leadership are more “caught” than “taught”, although the “taught” portion is also important in helping people to grow in both areas of life.

Effectiveness in Organizations

Dr Bruce Tuckman opined that all organizations undergo four stages in their development – Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. A very good explanation of the Tuckman model can be found on the BNET website here.

My take is that behavioural profiling is very suitable for the Forming, Storming and Norming phases of the team development process, while character and leadership development serve the Norming and Performing stages very well. There are overlaps, of course, as application of behavioural principles, character and leadership attributes all find expression at all stages of the model.

Profiling instruments are very useful as first steps in getting to know people and organizations. It should be remembered that they are snapshots and should be used as such when getting to know people in order to bring out the best in them. This will then maximize people power for effective and enduring organizations.

We welcome comments, questions and feedback in general. Please feel free to do so. Thanks for reading!

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