Diversity and Personality at Work

Diversity and Personality at Work

Leonidas H. Brooks

MGT 312

September 27, 2017

Dr. John Hamilton

Diversity and Personality at Work

Individuality usually begin with one’s personality. There are two basic types, A and B. A, the competitive, headstrong, usually aggressive type is the one usually dominated by athletes, CEO’s, movie stars, etc. are the ones usually like to stay in the spotlight, with the Alpha mentality. They tend to almost always be extroverts. Now on the other hand, you have the B personality group. This group are the laid back, behind the scenes, go with the flow group, and at times tend to have the introvert type of mentality.

If I was to choose, I would definitely be considered a type B. I am a very laid-back go with the flow type character with the introvert type mentality (except when it comes to the opposite sex). Although everyone tends to possess traits from both types, most tend to lean more towards one more than the other. I am not a fan of conflict, and definitely not the most competitive type.

In the workforce, you would never have all the same personalities working together. Therefore, it’s important for organizations to know what is necessary to manage all types to ensure success. Apparently, there are five vital steps to successfully manage diversity in the workplace. Emphasize communication, view employees as individuals, encourage employees to work in diverse groups, base decisions on objective criteria, and finally always having an open mind (Kilbourne, 2010). Out of all these, I would have to say communication is by far the most important aspect of this, simply because everything starts and end with effective communication.

Some of the advantages of working with different personalities is the fact you get to view things from a wide range of views. You may have doing things a certain way your entire life, but working with diverse individuals with different personalities can show you better and possibly easier ways to do things. But, some of the negative things are almost disagreements. Type A tends to try to take charge, sometimes without thinking it through or regards for others. They tend to be more stubborn, and won’t be open to suggestions or ideas. Their competitive drive tends to disregard the best way to complete things correctly because of their drive to win. Type B may not want to get out of his or her comfort zone, which can cause undue conflict. They may exude laziness to a type A, when it could be nothing more than not being used to doing things a certain way.