What Is Your Disposition?

After much thought  I developed what I call a "Disposition Spectrum." This spectrum spans five dispositions, or personal outlooks, on everyday life, and comes from my own observations and study into leadership attributes. Explore what disposition you are and the read to the end...

Naive - A naive person is gullible, overly optimistic, often silly, and often not taken seriously. Very limited leadership ability. Given to emotion. Often a "touchy-feely" person. Seems to enjoy life a lot and doesn't suffer from ulcers or other "worry illnesses." May seem out of touch, but people do enjoy being around them. Able to take direction well. Spontaneous. Pleasers.

Trusting - A trusting person sees the best in everyone and believes everyone has pure motives. Optimistic. Has a fair bit of emotion to them and can be very passionate about issues. Enjoys life and hates rejection (this part of them limits their leadership ability if left undeveloped). Generally free from "worry illnesses" like ulcers, bitterness, revenge. Can be a good leader but can also be taken advantage of. Needs other persons in their lives to balance them out. Spontaneous. Willing to take input from counselors and advisors. Enjoys serving others and seeing others succeed. Relates to positive motivation much more so than negative motivation.

Balanced - Understand the world for what it is. Not overly optimistic but enjoys life. Less driven by emotion of all dispositions. Can pull the trigger on matters fast - which can be both good and bad. Makes the best natural leaders. Often sought out by other people for their counsel. Ready to learn. Can be ready to run without bringing others along. Small tolerance for foolishness. Could have also been titled "Savvy."

Suspicious - Been through some trauma and has lived unhealthy and unbalance lifestyles. Fully aware of the darker side of human nature. Not quick to take input from others, but can if they work at it. Able to see past wrong motives in others, but can read into events or comments things that aren't there if they're not careful. Tend to not be long-term leaders, more apt to push people away rather than gather them. Gossip. Faultfinder. Unsubmissive. Defensive. Needs to allow others to assist them as being suspicious by nature comes at a price (health, relationships, career potential). Makes a very poor supervisor. Measured and reserved (the opposite of spontaneous). Usually relates to negative motivation ("you can't do that" makes them want to do it).

Paranoid - The worst, and needs professional counseling if left unchecked. Needs an inner circle more than anyone else. The worst leaders, they see the worst in everything and feel others want to do them ill or harm. Suffers from ulcers, aches. Apt to be bitter, negative, contentious. Sees everything from their perspective and few things from the "other side." Unthankful. Disrespectful. Stiff-necked. Hardhearted. Loner. People don't want to be around them. Often work in "task" roles where they can be alone in their own world. Think way too much on themselves.

What Is Your Disposition? Whatever you are, you would benefit from being around healthy people, healthy families, normal, well-adjusted, productive and prospering people. You would benefit from having an Inner Circle of friends and advisors who can recognize and cover for your blind sides. It's never pleasant receiving correction, but it's the only way to overcome each of our limitations. Whereas anyone may see something in all dispositions in themselves, the indicator is the preponderance of a particular disposition in your life, and that's what you want to work on.

Use these descriptions in dealing with others - it may save you some grief if you understand how others think. You can also put people where they're strongest and where their attributes provide the most value to the organization. Just my opinion... Comments welcome!