Who Do You Think You Are?

Recently, I was asked to review the four work styles, as defined by the American Association of Advertising Agencies, and classify myself into the thinking, feeling, sensing or intuiting category. This activity was familiar to me, in that I recalled exploring these characteristics in college to establish an idea of how I would be as a professional in the future. I also grew up very close to PR, so it shouldn't surprise you that Dock and I have discussed these work styles numerous times.

The difference this time is that I have a few years under my belt. I have gained experience with different types of agencies, surroundings, clients and colleagues. That being said, it was very easy to put my finger on exactly which work style I fit under.

Before I elaborate - take a minute to review each of the four work styles:

Thinking as a primary work style:

Positives:
• Fact-oriented
• Interested in background
• Systematic
• Logical

Negatives:
• Can't think “outside the box”
• Not flexible
• Insensitive/stubborn
• Slow

Behavioral Focus – Organizing; problem solver

Value Orientation – Quality; Being "right"

Time View – Linear (past, present, future)

Office Style – Neat

Feeling as a primary style:

Positives:
• They love people
• Informal
• Spontaneous
• Empathetic

Negatives:
• Just jump into tasks
• "Wishy washy"
• Not detail-oriented
• Too sensitive

Behavioral Focus – Expressive

Value Orientation – Family; Friendship; Loyalty; Need appreciation; Good at networking

Time View – Lives in the past

Office Styles – The holder of office culture; Probably have snacks, live plants and pictures on desk

Sensing as a primary style:

Positives:
• Action-oriented
• Results-minded (Quick results)
• Decisive
• Verbally direct

Negatives:
• Abrupt/aggressive
• Get caught up in the moment
• Impatient
• Competitive

Behavioral Focus – Fast movers; "make things happen"

Value Orientation – Personal achievement; high control of situations; hard to delegate tasks

Time View – Lives in the present

Office Style – Multitasker; Has multiple windows open on computer at once

Intuiting as a primary style:

Positives:
• Loves ideas
• Creative
• Original
• Idealistic

Negatives:
• Dislikes closure
• Not logical
• Don't care for others
• Not goal-orientated

Behavioral Focus – Imagining; Speculating; "In the heads, not in the hands"

Value Orientation – New

Time View – Future thinking

Office Styles - Messy


While I think it's safe to assume there are characteristics of each style that fit into parts of everyone as a professional, if you know me, you know my primary style falls almost flawlessly into Feeling.

Prior to starting a career, I would have deemed myself otherwise, and I do believe that should I re-evaluate after another couple of years, things will most likely change. For now, this was a fun activity that gave me great insight into not only myself as a professional, but also allowed me to understand more about the people I am in contact with on a daily basis.

What is your work style?