Understanding You, Me and Them: What Hippocrates Forgot to Tell You

Greg Efta

This program is designed to take the "ouch" out of personality theory. What began as a simple concept, "Humours of the blood", has become a labyrinth of terms, conditions, theories and complexities. It is easier to wade through the Uniform Tax Code than it is to understand today's personality theories. Understanding humans isn't really that complex, if you look at the basics. This program, based on those simple understandings Hippocrates identified 2,500 years ago, will focus on the four common factors which make up human personality and help the participant understand why people do the things they do. From this simple understanding, individuals can begin to structure their work environment for greater productivity, reduce or eliminate the probabilities of conflict and stress, and even develop better selection criteria for important jobs, promotions and placements.

Objectives:

• Develop an understanding of those "personality traits" which are likely to create harmony and those likely to create conflict.
• Identify each individual's unique personality characteristics and examine the unique characteristics of others.
• Incorporate concepts of personality theory into the workplace to understand motivation, stress, conflict and communication.

Outline:

1. Introduction
2. Overview of the History of Personality Theory
1. Hippocrates four "humours"
2. Today's myriad of tests and concepts
3. The Life Situations Response Survey
1. Identifying your own unique style
2. Understanding those like you
3. Understanding those opposite of you
4. Making sense of the workplace
1. How each personality style 'formats' their world
2. How each personality style handles stress, conflict, communication, decision making, etc.
3. Developing a motivational environment for each individual, based on their unique personality style
5. Questions/Conclusion

This presentation is appropriate for all levels of staff and management, but will address specific things a manager, supervisor or leader can do to enhance the work environment for each employee, and understand the needs and motivations of all employees, including themselves. This will result in better selection for positions based on the personality needs of the specific tasks involved, the development of the proper motivational environment for maximized productivity, as well as an environment that reduces stress, conflict and communication gaps.