YOU’RE NOT ONLY A GOLD, you also have strong secondary characteristics of the Green personality. And you have tested as a Color Q Extrovert, which means you recharge your batteries by being with people, rather than being alone. Your Color group values efficiency, accuracy, predictability, tradition, and social responsibility. Affirming others is a strong inner drive. These core tendencies should ring true with you, since they’ve been researched worldwide for well over half a century. (If not, return to your Self-Assessment and follow the directions for re-evaluating yourself.) It’s important that you read the exact right profile, since you can significantly enhance your professional and personal relationships as well as your job search with the information that follows.
Ensuring welfare of those around you, whether family or colleagues, is the focus of your energy and has been since you were a child. You affirm others and put them at ease. People in your Color group have continuous curiosity about people and keen observational skills.
Testing new ideas makes you uncomfortable; you favor working with real things and sticking with what you’ve experienced. Since few details escape your notice, you may feel you’ve “seen it all.” Preferring the here-and-now, you shun change and minimize future thinking.
One of your best qualities is your highly developed work ethic. Commitments and obligations are undertaken with utmost seriousness. Your follow-through is unwavering; you easily mobilize others when help is needed. Strengths of your group include anticipating what needs to be done, getting involved in details, and organizing resources and procedures. Along the way you create harmony and stability, always aware of how you might serve both people and goals. You are a consummate volunteer or service career worker.
Straightforward yet diplomatically is how you prefer to communicate with others. The people who irritate you most are those who do not share your personal warmth and work ethic—the discourteous, the unreliable, and the unprepared.
Here’s how all these qualities combine in a real-life Gold/Green Extrovert.
case study one
Union Executive
Linda Chavez-Thompson grew up working the cotton fields of Texas. During the back-breaking days of those hot summer months, young Extroverted Linda dreamed of a sales job at Sears, “where I could dress up for work, be in air-conditioning, and work eight instead of ten hours a day.”
Today, still mindful of her roots, she has reached far beyond this dream. Her work as Executive Vice President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) helps thousands of field, factory, and retail laborers attain better working conditions. With a Gold’s single focus, she says, “I never really considered another career.” While her Green secondary supports her caring, human concern side, her Gold primary leads the way to organize real changes in the world.
She has been most energized by restructuring state federations and central labor councils of the AFL-CIO in six states. With typical Gold organizational skills, she recrafted internal structures and strengthened the work of each body. Her Gold ability to focus clearly on short- and long-term goals “helped build their organizations into more powerful voices on issues affecting working families.” The positive human impact this makes fulfills her Green side, while her Extroverted self enjoys the many people with whom she interacts.
“Getting the right things to the right people, in the right amounts, to the right place at the right time” is the crux of your talent. Outstanding logistical skills are the hallmark of Gold/Green Extroverts in leadership roles. Providing clear guidelines and instructions, you build productive teams on which all are kept well-informed.
You welcome responsibility as a tool for instituting sensible rules and procedures. You feel accountable for proper use of all resources and are vigilant to prevent their misuse.
You are suspicious of the agendas of those who question authority, believing they are slackers or troublemakers. You are loyal and expect loyalty in return. The personal attention you give your people gains you not only loyalty, but also goodwill.
You encourage your teammates to share viewpoints and ideas. But when goals have been set, you’re the one who provides clear and practical ideas to achieve them. Getting things accomplished on time and on budget is the only acceptable way. You keep the agreed agenda on track, keep progress records for everyone, get the needed resources, and respect rules and procedures.
While other team members may not realize what resource they need until they need it, you’ve already anticipated and supplied it. Your contribution to the team is immense. However, you may irritate others by talking too much. If nobody else has said anything for a while, solicit opinions. You also may hamper your efforts by sulking over disagreements you tend to take too personally.
Figure 23–1 Natural Work-Related Strengths
Philanthropist, Historical Documents Preservationist
On many hot days of an earlier era, two little girls played in the gardens of the Ibrahim palace, an architectural jewel set on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. One was a Hungarian who had escaped her native land several years before; the second was Princess Fazilé Ibrahim, member of the Egyptian royal family and great-granddaughter of the last Turkish sultan.
Then, on what is still known today as “Black Saturday,” political turmoil struck. Thousands of religious fundamentalists, communists, and radical students began gathering in the streets. Within twenty-four hours, many of the symbols that had given Cairo its glamour had been burned down. Guests were thrown out of their windows at the Shepherd Hotel. We could see the mobs pulling people out of their cars and stoning them to death. It is a memory that will remain forever, for this is the author’s story as well.
The two families fled rapidly—one going to the United States and the other settling in France. It would be thirty years before we would meet again.
Today Princess Fazilé Ibrahim is President of The Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt Fund, affiliated with the London-based Royal Asiatic Society. The organization is dedicated to encouraging the development of Ottoman studies internationally by publishing Ottoman documents and manuscripts of historical importance from the classical period up to 1839. A true Extrovert, she is an active, hands-on executive, traveling to elevate awareness of her Fund’s mission and encourage submission of manuscripts. “I was clear about the fact that I intended to involve myself in all the proceedings in order to reach the precise goal of my foundation,” she said. Her focus and determination are very much Gold/Green characteristics.
Making scholars familiar with the work of the Fund is a not a quick process, but Princess Fazilé continues the quest to find important Ottoman-era documents that will underpin historical research. “The Fund is small, not well-known for the present, and nothing compels people to come to us,” she says. “We have to smile and encourage … and be patient.” She has traveled to Turkey to meet with historians at two major universities and has visited the Centre of Istanbul Archives.
When manuscripts of great historical importance do come to her notice, “then it is a blessed moment for me, when I no longer question the validity of my project,” she says. She finds these discoveries most energizing. Golds have a reverence for history and its preservation.
The Princess defines success as “doing something I care for and that some other people care for, too.” When pushed about her strengths, she reluctantly says, “Maybe I am very stubborn; the fact is that I never got anything I wanted without giving a fierce fight.” She claims she is not a businesswoman, but these Gold/Green Extroverted characteristics serve her well.
A stable, organized institution with a predictable future is where Gold/Green Extroverts feel most at home. When a job offer is made, leverage as much as you can from the list in Figure 23–2 on page 222.
The WORST type of work culture for a Gold/Green Extrovert is impersonal and highly competitive. Constant change makes you feel that your great administrative and organizational strengths are valueless. You need rules, stability, and positive personal interactions in order to feel comfortable at work.
When Extroverted Gold/Greens work in nonideal corporate cultures, productivity is stunted and career achievements become an uphill climb.
Even a great job can be frustrating under the wrong boss; a mediocre job under a wonderful boss is pretty hard to leave. Gold/Greens get along especially well with other Golds. But bosses of other Color types who possess the characteristics in Figure 23–3 on page 223 also can be good mentors.
Figure 23–2 The Ideal Gold/Green Extrovert Work Environment
Figure 23–3 The Gold/Green Extrovert’s Ideal Boss
Gold/Green Extroverts like Princess Fazilé Ibrahim and Linda Chavez cluster in fields that provide professional respect, require high levels of competence, and contribute in a meaningful way to society (especially in well-known institutions). You need predictability and stability to be at your best. Upon reaching a high level of responsibility, you assemble a competent and loyal staff.
Please note that not all the following careers will appeal to you, but recognize that each, in some way, draws on the strengths of your style and appeals to a significant number of your Color group. This is not a comprehensive list, but it will show underlying patterns of preference. If unlisted careers offer similar patterns, your chances of success increase. Copy in parentheses highlights the Color style characteristics that create success.
In addition, two codes indicate those jobs that are currently predicted to have an above-average salary and growth potential. This information is based on the continuously revised data provided by the U.S. Department of Labor and Bureau of Labor Statistics available on the O*NET website, http://online.onetcenter.org/.
Bold indicates that the career is considered to be among the top 100 best-paying jobs based on the average or median salary paid to individuals with five years of experience. Excluded are jobs where salary statistics are not available, such as “business owner,” or not indicative, such as “actor.”
Italics identifies the jobs that are predicted to benefit from an above-average growth rate over the next several years.
Bold and italics indicates jobs that will benefit from both higher pay and high growth potential.
Note there are successful people of all Color styles in all occupations. In nonideal jobs you can still shine by creating your own niche.
compensation and benefits manager ♦ convention planner ♦ customer service manager ♦ human resources manager/specialist ♦ insurance underwriter/agent ♦ land developer ♦ labor relations specialist ♦ lobbyist ♦ marketing executive [radio, television] ♦ office manager ♦ private banker ♦ performing arts administrator ♦ public relations specialist ♦ real estate agent/manager ♦ salesperson [tangible products] ♦ service sales representatives (human interaction, organizational skills, straightforward and diplomatic communication, service career orientation).
athletic coach ♦ principal ♦ teacher [preschool, elementary, home economics, special education] (meaningful contribution to society, respect for rules, professional respect, service career orientation).
biomedical technologist ♦ chiropractor ♦ dental hygienist ♦ dentist ♦ dietitian ♦ exercise physiologist ♦ hospice nurse ♦ hospital administrator ♦ nurse/nursing instructor ♦ optometrist ♦ pediatrician ♦ pharmacist ♦ pharmaceutical sales rep ♦ primary care/family physician/physician assistant ♦ public health educator ♦ speech pathologist ♦ radiologic technologist ♦ therapists of all types [occupational, physical, radiation, respiratory, speech] ♦ veterinarian/vet assistant (high levels of competence, professional respect, service career orientation, observant of details, curious about people, put people at ease, ensuring welfare of others).
advocacy leader ♦ childcare center director ♦ community welfare worker ♦ counselor [career, child welfare, employee assistance, family, substance abuse] ♦ fundraiser ♦ religious leader [clergy, rabbi, religious educator] ♦ social worker (service career orientation, human interaction, affirming of others, help stabilize others, professional respect, contribute meaningfully to society, respect for tradition).
hotel/restaurant owner ♦ innkeeper ♦ lawyer [limited interest in but include children, consumer affairs, domestic and healthcare] ♦ retail owner/manager (service career orientation, interaction with people, diplomatic, observant of details, ensuring welfare of others).
caterer ♦ cosmetologist ♦ court reporter ♦ fashion designer ♦ flight attendant ♦ fundraiser ♦ hairdresser ♦ interior designer ♦ landscape designer ♦ museum conservator ♦ paralegal ♦ personal trainer/exercise instructor ♦ travel agent (service career orientation, eye for detail, interaction with people, affirming of others, keen aesthetic sense).
case study three
When a Career Isn’t Working
Gold/Green Extrovert Dawson Perkins got his nice, practical MBA under pressure from his parents and promptly settled in to work at a leading investment bank in his city. He was pleased with life until the realities of the job settled in. The number crunching was endless, and client negotiations were tense to the point of exhaustion after typical 70-hour work weeks. Because he was really good interacting with clients (typical of a Gold/Green Extrovert), his boss frequently sent him on business trips to pitch ideas to prospective clients. After months on the road and one too many pre-closing allnighters, his marriage was in serious trouble.
Typical of Gold/Greens, Dawson liked the money, prestige, and solid future he had at the firm. But he was desperately unhappy and burned out. The long hours of financial analysis and projecting the futures of client companies did not feed his Gold/Green need to work on tangible products with immediate results.
Gold/Green Extroverts can do quite well in private banking where the focus is on high-level client relationship-building. Otherwise, the financial world often does not afford the concrete and practical projects Gold/Greens prefer.
Dawson was offered a job with a client firm that sold home healthcare products. This allowed him to sell real, tangible products, have frequent daily interactions with others, and minimize the number-crunching and future-thinking he disliked. The move saved his marriage, and he is now overseeing a national sales staff.
Gold/Green Extroverts have a unique set of potential work-related blind spots. Some you have, others you don’t. No one has them all. Tone down a blind spot by focusing on it, then choose more productive actions and make them habits. (Suggestions for doing so are in parentheses below.) You:
♦ Get too involved with details, ignore the big picture. (Find a willing Blue and lunch with that person twice a month. Occasionally emulate his or her long-term strategic thinking so it’s a tool when you need it, but it will never feel natural.)
♦ Need significant praise and appreciation and get dispirited when there is none. (Not all Colors verbalize appreciation. It’s there, but not evident. Either ask, “How am I doing?” or give yourself a pep talk. You know how you’re doing, and you’re usually doing very well.)
♦ Don’t handle competitive situations well. (When you cannot turn the tide to cooperation, or calm things down, step back and disengage. Refuse to play the game. Most of the time, this is the only way to defuse the pressure.)
♦ Tend to stick to what has worked in the past. (There are many paths to the same place. All have their strengths and advantages. Yes, your way is the right way … one of many. Ignore your discomfort once or twice a year and examine the advantages of another way.)
♦ Do not naturally see new possibilities. (If your experience isn’t addressing a new situation well, you get discouraged and hopeless, sometimes giving up. Get help—talk to someone, preferably a Blue or Red, to see beyond the now. Resist insisting on procedures just for their comfort value.)
♦ Make up your mind too quickly. (Even if you receive new information, it’s difficult for you to reverse a position. Often in life you have felt stuck with a position not in your best interest in order to get something done. Throw a cog in the machine when you feel the need [ESPECIALLY if you have doubts about a marriage or having a child!]. Believe it or not, it will be good for everyone.)
Gold/Green Extroverts are better than most Colors at drumming up informational interviews and getting referrals to job leads. Your strengths and blind spots below apply equally to both informational and formal interviews.
With some interviewers, particularly Golds and Greens, you will feel a comfortable rapport. But with those of other Colors, you need to prepare and rehearse responses outside your comfort zone. Many human resource people are Greens; make a study of how to communicate effectively with this Color group before your first interviews.
Your natural strengths easily allow you to:
♦ Have a clear action plan for your search and proceed in an orderly fashion.
♦ Have measurable, realistic, and well-defined goals and meet them.
♦ Be patient with job application rules and procedures.
♦ Have a wide network of friends and colleagues upon which to draw for job leads.
♦ Adequately research a company before the interview.
♦ Follow through on details of job search, like writing appropriate thank-you notes.
♦ Create time lines, daily status reports, and budgets that reduce stress on both you and the family.
In order to tone down your blind spots, you need to:
♦ Balance networking and research.
♦ Be willing to consider less obvious career opportunities and ways to get interviews.
♦ Resist getting depressed and gloomy about turndowns; they’re not personal rejections.
♦ Plan a “think-through session”; reflect for a day or two about long-term implications of a job for both you and your family before deciding.
With an interviewer whose Color is close to your own, you will feel immediate rapport. However, if your interviewer seems to have a significantly different style, use the suggestions in parentheses. Mercilessly exploit these natural abilities of yours, and get more job offers!
In following your natural style, you:
♦ Have an accurate and well-presented resume. (Accurate may not mean intriguing. Write descriptions that invite the interviewer to delve deeper; ask a willing Green for assistance.)
♦ Focus on the present. (Especially if interviewing for a senior level position, you will need to prepare a position on future planning. Take a Blue colleague to lunch and run a few ideas by him or her before an interview. At least read public statements about company direction.)
♦ Come across as stable, hard working, warm, and with solid past accomplishments. (Good foot in the door, but not enough. Awareness of bottom-line considerations is just as important. Adjust some of your language to address cost management if applicable.)
♦ Demonstrate enthusiasm for the job. (This becomes a negative if you gush.” Keep sentences short, body language under control, hand gestures below neck.)
♦ May not think outside the box. (Your orderly mind knows what your next career step should be, but tends to close off other potentials. You prefer established fields, but there are always those you haven’t considered that may allow you to move higher and faster than your planned career path.)
Take a break now to socialize. Later, read the Chapter 15, Greens Overall, first, then carefully read Chapter 4, A Tour of the Prism Company, to learn about the strengths of other Colors. In certain key areas, you need their strengths. You can put them to work for you if you know where to look and how to ask. If you invest time reading Chapter 25, Adjusting to the Styles of Other Colors, you’ll learn how to recognize the Colors who can best assist you. This will make you more effective and productive.
If you are actively engaging in a job search, jot notes in the Roadmap in Chapter 28. Recording your strengths and strategies is a concrete and results-oriented way to navigate through the discouraging parts of a job search. It also will help capture what you learn on informational interviews and remember who to thank when you land your new job.
