What Role Does Personality Development Play In One’s Career?

Personality development training is essential for one and all. And that I could see while delivering a Sales Training session last week.

The Sales session we were delivering for a group of Sales Executives and Managers was no ordinary session. It was what we call a ‘Sales Workout.’ We call it so because it’s a 4-day intensive corporate training workshop where you are taken through the various nuances of Sales. And yes, Personality Development training most definitely forms an important part of it. After all, its difficult to sell a product or service when people are not impressed by your personality!

So, during the course of the 4-days, we covered various personality development program topics. This included understanding the strengths and areas of development of our personalities, maintaining a positive attitude and handling negative emotions and keeping ourselves motivated, etc. These were the aspects that a salesperson would typically require working on when it came to their internal personality. And then there was personal hygiene and grooming, face to face etiquette, telephone and e-mail etiquette which covered the external personality.

To tell you the truth, we were rather surprised to see Managers attending this session. We would have thought that the Managers, with their years of experience, would prefer attending a session on how to manage their teams of Sales Executives. And were actually apprehensive of covering aspects of Personality Development training as it would most probably be something that they already know.

However, the feedback we received was quite contrary to our belief! The Managers actually benefitted from the various aspects of Personality Development training that we covered during the session and some were eager to even pass on their learning to their teams.

Some of them loved gaining insights on their own personality and how they could adapt themselves to smoothen the flow of communication with other personality types around them. Others, on the other hand, found the tools we shared with them on handling emotions and maintaining a positive attitude useful. Yet there were others who gained from the discussions on Grooming and Etiquette. We realised there was something there for everybody no matter what level they were at!

So, there you have it. Personality development training is for everyone. People at all levels and in all domains. Why? Because we all have a personality which can always be further groomed. And we are all forming impressions on others in various scenarios all the time, whether it’s in a Restaurant with a client or in an Interview for a coveted job! We are always being watched by others and can always do with creating a great impression on them

How does personality development help your personal life?

Personality Development Training

Most of the times, personality development trainings are only thought of for professional reasons. An enhanced personality can get me a good job, make me look better at work, improve my confidence at work and so on. But is personality development training limited only to your professional life?

Of course not! You carry the same personality in your personal and professional lives. You’re not two different people, right?

In fact, if you notice, the word personality itself carries the word ‘personal’ in it! That shows how personal it really is!

Your personality defines who you are and how you come across to the world. Not everyone is born with a great and impactful personality. But it’s definitely something that can be improved and enhanced.

Most of the times we mistake personality to be just how we look on the outside. Its beyond that. In fact, most of your personality cannot be seen directly. Its what lies within you. And its what’s on the inside that actually helps you look better on the outside. If you think about it, even your confidence comes from within.

A good personality development training helps you work on your personality both on the inside and the outside. And can help you become a better person overall.

I have been conducting corporate training sessions recently which have components of personality development training in them. It’s amazing to see how people emerge from such sessions more strong, confident and having the motivation to achieve their dreams. They feel empowered enough to be able to create a change in their beliefs and the way they see life. They also learn how to process their emotions instead of suppressing them, unleashing great power within them.

And you know where all of these soft skills really come in use? With family and friends. We are all taught how to manage ourselves at work. But there are very few trainings that actually throw insights on how to be a better mother, father, daughter, son, friend, relative, etc. And that’s something that we make it a point to cover in our personality development trainings.

Top 3 new age personality development skills for millennials

personality development skills training

Do you think millennials really require personality development training? They all seem to be well groomed and carry themselves well in the new age corporate attire. They are smart and confident and know exactly what they want in life. They have big dreams and have already paved out the path to reach them well before they leave college. Then why do you think we would still be talking about personality development training for them?

Well, the fact is that personality is made up of two aspects. The outer personality which is made up of how we look and behave. And the inner personality which is made up of our attitude, motivation, values, fears, complexes and other thoughts and emotions. And while the inner personality is typically the one that we tend to ignore while working on changing our personality, its actually the one that contributes to 90% of our personality.

Now let me give you my top three areas which every personality development training for millennials needs to focus on. By the way, I am a millennial myself. So, I’am writing this through my own experience as well as feedback from others.  

1.       1.Openness to others

Though we are in a generation where we expect the world to be open to new ideas and opinions, very often we ourselves struggle to be open to other people’s ideas. We all want a society that is open to diversity and in fact often land up quarrelling with our own parents on their old school thoughts. But how open are we to accept their opinions and ideologies. After all, it’s a two-way street where openness has to be at both ends. Isn’t it?

                                                 

Openness is difficult and can be elusive for many. But if you really want to improve in this aspect, attend a good personality development training and soft skill training. It will show you the mirror and help you get aware when you’re not. 

2.     2.  Being ourselves but considering others

Yes, in this new generation we want to be ourselves and not be judged by the society. But sometimes there needs to be consideration for others. For example, consider the situation on the roads today. More and more young drivers are rash and break traffic rules. While we need to enjoy our drive and get to our destination fast, we also need to ensure that we are not causing inconvenience or danger to others. A quick check to ensure we are being sensitive and not hurting other’s feelings or bothering someone else can really help.

3.      3. Behaviour and focus

We live in a technologically advanced world. We all carry smartphones and smartwatches. No one can deny the influence they have had on us. While they have made life easier, they have also led us to move around in society with literally no clue who is sitting next to us or who has passed by! We no more smile, shake hands, offer seats or talk to each other. Everyone is engrossed in their respective phones. And that’s the precise reason why we no longer feel heard and our suffering from huge complexes. We need to realise what technology is doing and break out of its grip. Come back to being human and corporate training help to fully present in every instance that life presents to us.

So, these are my top 3 skills which are extremely basic, but I see missing in millennials today. And hence, I feel personality development training is definitely an option for them.

Know how your organisational culture affects productivity

Every organisation has its own culture. And this culture is very well reflected in the way its people work and interact with each other within the organisation as well as outside the organisation. Some Organisational culture workshops aim at understanding the pulse of the current culture of the organisation and looking at what can be done to enhance the same. Others, on the other hand, may be simply a sharing of the culture the top management wants its people to follow.

An organisation’s culture is mainly driven by its top management. It’s basically a top-down approach. The way the top management of the organisation operates and treats its people, gets pretty much replicated by the rest of the organisation. Hence, the top management forms a major stakeholder in every organisational culture workshop.

The culture of an organisation is very important. It is what gives rise to a particular environment in the organisation, which in turn directly affects their productivity.

Culture is based on the vision, mission and values that the organisation lives by. These truly drive the organisation and run like blood through its veins. They tell people how the organisation wants them to behave and in what direction they need to head to be successful. It therefore fosters the communication within the organisation and also the way people are treated. And we all know how engagement and productivity changes when we feel valued in our organisations!

Hence, an organisation’s culture is not something that can be taken lightly. And if it’s not something you have been giving too much importance to, it’s time to think again. First find out what the current organisational culture is. You can do it through a survey that all your employees fill or through an organisational culture workshop which has activities that help you sense the same. Then bring your top management team together and ask them to brainstorm and come to a conclusion as to what they would want it to be.  Now you can run organisation wide organisational culture workshops which actually tell employees how the culture needs to be. To make it easy for them this can be shown in the form of observable behaviours that they can display. And can be done very effectively through various games and activities which simulate the work environment and tell people how they need to behave in various situations.  Thus organisational culture workshops can set the context very well and aid the top management in building a culture where their people are prospering and taking the organisation to a new level.

Organisational culture workshops are not as common as other workshops like Communication Skills, Managerial Skills, Personality Development, etc. However, they are crucial. They require the leaders of the organisation to have very high awareness levels and an acceptance that the current culture may not be the best and may need a change. After all, only when the leaders are open to change, can change be driven through the rest of the organisation. And it’s the leaders who need to walk that change. And organisational culture workshops can aid largely in that.

Be a high ticket closer with right sales training program

Sales Training is an absolute necessity for every sales professional. And it can make a huge difference to the service that they deliver to their customers. I got a live example of it last week during a sales call, and I thought I’d tell you about it today.

So I went on a doctor visit for a client from the healthcare industry last week. And believe me it made me all the more certain of why sales training is so important!

I was accompanying a sales executive who was trying to explain to the doctor why his products were good and why the doctor should recommend them to his patients. By the way, I must say the executive was wonderful when it came to his knowledge on the products. He knew each and every product along with all its specifications like material, size, price etc. and frankly I was really impressed with his technical knowledge. However, even after so many years of selling the same products, there was a very apparent gap. A gap that only the right coaching by his Manager or Sales training could fulfil.

While the executive was top notch when it came to hard skills, he had a lot to learn on the soft skills front. Basics like building rapport, talking to the client with confidence, etc. were completely missing. I realised that it was partly because of the personality type of the executive, him being an introvert. And also the fact that I was observing him, which made him conscious. But when I asked his Manager about the same, I came to know that that’s a feedback his Manager had been giving him since quite some time now. But one that had failed to reap any benefit.

Once the sales executive got a little more comfortable with me, I also asked him whether he enjoyed his job. He said he did and also said he did not face any challenges while doing so!

And that brings me to one of the important things that sales training does. It creates awareness.

Many executives are not aware of how they come across to a client when they are selling. They have no clue that they may come across as being low on confidence through their facial expressions and body language, even if they know their product like the back of their hand. Sales training sessions act as a mirror for participants and make them aware of the areas, verbal and non-verbal, that they need to work on.

Typically, building rapport and being friendly with a client comes very easily to a person who naturally has that kind of a personality. However, it may be difficult for executives of other personalities. Sales training makes people aware of the differences in personality development that exist. They discuss the positives and areas of development of each personality, along with how you can go beyond the limitations that these pose.  In fact, apart from exploring facets of your own personality, they also throw light on the different personalities that customers may have and how you can adapt to these to build rapport easily. So a sales executive with an introvert personality can also get to know how to crack a very extrovert personality!

These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what is covered in sales training. There’s a lot more than just awareness that gets covered in the same. Will discuss those in some later articles. For now you can start with these. These itself will take you from closing small accounts to much bigger one’s while creating relationships with customers for life!