Sooner or later, almost everyone who takes a personality assessment takes a dive down the personality rabbit hole to figure out what the “best” personality is. Which one makes the best leader? Which one is the most successful in life? Which one is the smartest? Which one is the most creative? People will even try to adjust their answers in a personality test so they can come out with the “best” result. It makes sense why this comes up; we spend a lot of our lives comparing things. We compare restaurants, shoes, sports teams, phones, and vacation destinations. When we learn about personality differences, it’s tempting to start comparing personality types too.
The thing is, personality was never meant to be a competition. One of the mistakes I see people making who are new to personality is when they confuse different for better. Some people are great at organizing projects, some are brilliant at generating ideas, some build strong relationships, and some shine in fast-changing situations. Assigning a number or value to those strengths and deciding which ones matter most misses the point of personality entirely because strengths don’t exist in a vacuum.
The qualities that make someone absolutely amazing in one situation may not be the same qualities that help in another. Someone who likes creating structure and keeping things on track is so valuable when managing a complex project; someone else who adapts fast and thinks on their feet are at the top of their game when plans suddenly change. Someone who asks thoughtful questions can help a team avoid big mistakes, and another who naturally focuses on people and relationships builds trust and cooperation.
The million-dollar question is: who is contributing the most? Well, it depends on the situation. How do you assign a value to effort? Is it by time, how difficult something is, or something else entirely? No two people will do the same thing the same way. Ranking personality just doesn’t work. The question assumes that one set of preferences is universally better than another, but every personality brings something useful to the table in one way or another.
The same is true for qualities that people associate with success. Leadership, creativity, problem-solving, communication, and innovation are not owned by any one personality type. These are all very personal, and everyone will have their own definition of success. Success isn’t always the biggest thing with the greatest number in the end; the process itself can be a big part of success.
A deeply creative person might invent a new product, but another might find a better process, and yet another might see possibilities others have overlooked; and don’t forget those that create stronger connections between people. These are all types of creativity in their own right.
Leadership works the same way. Some leaders inspire through vision, others lead through consistency, expertise, service, or action. There is no single personality blueprint for effective leadership. The people who make the biggest difference in the world don’t all think alike; they bring different strengths, challenge each other’s assumptions, and fill gaps that others leave behind. Successful workplaces, communities, families, and organizations benefit from having people who think differently.
If you’re still asking which personality type is the “best,” you’re asking the wrong question. The question you should be asking is: “what does each personality bring to the table?” Personality isn’t a competition! There is no competition with an awards ceremony to crown one personality as the winner. The real value of understanding personality isn’t discovering that yours is somehow better than everyone else’s; it’s recognizing your own strengths, appreciating the strengths of others, and understanding that different people contribute in different ways. If personality teaches us anything, it’s that the world doesn’t need more people who all think alike. It needs people who think differently and know how to work together.
Brad Whitehorn – BA, CCDP is a lifelong Introvert, and the Associate Director at CLSR Inc. He was thrown into the career development field headfirst after completing a Communications degree in 2005, and hasn’t looked back! Since then, Brad has worked on the development, implementation and certification for various career and personality assessments (including Personality Dimensions®), making sure that Career Development Practitioners and HR Professionals get the right tools to do their best work. Brad is also on the board of directors for the Career Professionals of Canada, and an advisory committee member with the Career Development Professionals of Ontario.
