Recently I watched a video from Dr. Gary Smalley and Dr. John Trent that describes our human personality types. They base these personalities around animal characteristics. We each have one of these as a our dominant personality type and another one as our non dominant personality type. Since watching the video I often find myself saying “that person is sure behaving like a beaver”. So, what are these personality types:

Lion (Choleric/Dominance)
Strengths– Visionary, practical, productive, strong-willed, independent, decisive, leader
Weaknesses– Cold, domineering, unemotional self-sufficient, unforgiving, sarcastic, cruel

Otter (Sanguine/Influence)
Strengths– Outgoing, responsive, warm, friendly, talkative, enthusiastic, compassionate
Weaknesses– Undisciplined, unproductive, exaggerates, egocentric, unstable

Golden Retriever (Phlegmatic/Steadiness)
Strengths– Calm, easy-going, dependable, quiet, objective, diplomatic, humorous
Weaknesses– Selfish, stingy, procrastinator, unmotivated, indecisive, fearful, worrier

Beaver (Melancholy/Compliance)
Strengths– Analytical, self-disciplined, industrious, organized, aesthetic, sacrificing
Weaknesses– Moody, self-centered, touchy, negative, unsociable, critical, revengeful

Take a moment to think about your personality type.
Which one do you think describes you the most?

Why is this information valuable:
I find that when I get upset with someone for behaving a certain way (rude for example), I tell myself that they are behaving that way because that is their personality type (Lion).They may not even be aware of what they are doing, they are just reacting based on their personality type. Many people just react. They do not stop to think before they react. They react based on what feels right for their personality type.

So, knowing that these different personality types exist, can help you deal effectively with many different people. This knowledge allows you to not take someone else’s behavior personally because you know they are just reacting based on their personality type
and it has nothing to do with you!