Y is for Yesterday

Yesterday was a very good day for me.

It was the end of a week long training which was organized by my office. It was all about team building, understanding oneself and others. It was also about seeing the cup both half-full and half-empty at the same time and making effective decisions. Although it was a little stressful cos of the time we closed on some of the days, everyone had fun. What made the whole package fun was that everyone put his/her heart into it. The facilitators (White-British) who came in from the UK were open and honest and the participants (about 26 of us) were actively involved.

After some Q & A sessions, we received feedback on our personality tendencies. They are not supposed to be 100% rigid replicas of ourselves, but our tendencies in reality. See below for my personal feedback:

Quiet observer, idealistic, loyal. It is important to me that my outer life is congruent with my inner values. Curious, quick to see possibilities, often serve as catalyst to implement ideas. Adaptable, flexible and accepting unless a value is threatened. I want to understand people and ways of fulfilling human potential. Little concern for possessions or surroundings.

When i read this, i was honestly impressed. It cut through a lot of smokescreens i had built around myself. In fairness to the facilitators, I have read and done a lot of personality exercises, but this was quite good. I believe they got it from here

People who think they know me well assume i am an extrovert. Why? cos’ i ask a lot of questions. Reality is that I’m naturally a quiet person and after any conversation, it is likely that i know more about you than you know about me. However, when you get into my inner circle, then i begin to open up to you. Few people ever get to that circle.

LOL!

i picked on a lot of lessons that i wish to remember through the years. which i would enumerate some of them below:

1.) The person who talks the most is not necessarily the leader of the team.

2.) Never question anyone’s value system. If it doesn’t agree with yours, you may withdraw OR take other measures, but don’t question it to their faces. It is usually counter-productive.

3.) Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t mean you should resist it. It is very difficult for most people to think that they may be wrong.

4.) Know thyself and enjoy who you are. To thine own self, always be true.

5.) When working in a team, don’t be quick to dismiss other people’s ideas. Give everyone a fair chance, albeit always strike a balance with being time-consciousness and constructive.

Please consider this as a little take-away i brought back for you from the feast of knowledge that i participated in.

Have a beautiful week ahead!

Cheers