Are you considering finding out more about yourself? Do you have a few questions about Insights Discovery and Growth Mindset? Read on…

Why spend time on your personal development?

Have you ever found yourself saying ‘I don’t have time’ or ‘other things are more important’?

In this fast-paced world where new perspectives, ideas and ways of doing things, learning is even more critical.  Learning is ‘important’ and not ‘urgent’ and those who live their lives thinking that being ‘busy is a measure of their effectiveness’ are sadly misguided.  They will be the ones who hit burnout quicker, end up doing things the same way as they never pause prior to leaping in and then, when life has passed them by, will find they’re behind on the latest learning/thinking because they didn’t pause for learning, growth, planning or reflection.

What is a Growth Mindset? I go to training courses when I have to!

Those with a Growth Mindset seek learning opportunities in absolutely everything – noticing a useful video on LinkedIn, recognising an opportunity to learn more about themselves through completing a personality profile, spotting an eLearning course which they can undertake in their own time, listening to an inspirational podcast whilst walking the dog, working through a book on Audible on a long car journey, taking the opportunity to research new ideas emerging within your field of expertise or reading a trade blog/magazine to keep up with the latest trends.

What makes the difference between good employees and great employees?

In respect of learning, those who invest in their Continuous Professional/Personal Development (CPD) can evidence a desire for learning, improvement, self-motivation, innovation, a desire to be challenged and an appetite for change, particularly when they come back inspired from a learning activity and make immediate changes.

Conversely, would you like to work with the opposite mindset?  Someone who believes ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’, ‘we’ve always done it like that’ or ‘that will never work’!

Why develop my self-awareness?

Can’t other people just take me as I am?

Unfortunately, this is the way we can fall out with people, miss out on the variety of different perspectives we all have and quite simply, go around disrespecting others and ignoring the possibilities of diverse thinking.  Developing our self-awareness will provide us with a clearer understanding of ourselves so we can then learn new skills to adapt and connect more effectively with everyone we work or socialise with.  Working with people just like yourself provides a very limiting view on challenges, you think you’re focusing on a great solution until someone very different to you, raises a question or challenge and without proper consideration, you dismiss it and move on.  That challenge could have prompted innovation, new ways of doing things or just a different view, which when combined with another different view, could have radically improved things for everyone.

Why find out more about who I am?  I did a personality profile years ago and I’m sure I haven’t changed!

As we go through life, we grow, evolve and adapt.  Life events, changes in personal circumstances and different jobs shape the way we do things.  By having an Insights Discovery profile, you’ll find out more about your strengths and weaknesses, possible blind spots and areas for development.  Wouldn’t you like to know about these things in order to maximise your strengths and develop your weaknesses?

What can Insights Discovery tell me that I don’t already know?

I don’t want to be categorised or put into a box either!

Insights Discovery is different to some profiling tools where people come away with labels, believing they can or can’t do certain things.  Insights Discovery utilises a four colour model – Cool Blue (cautious, questioning, precise, formal), Earth Green (caring, sharing, patient, relaxed), Fiery Red (competitive, demanding, determined, purposeful) and Sunshine Yellow (sociable, energetic, dynamic, persuasive).  It recognises everyone’s blend of all four of these colour preferences and without putting you into a box, recognises our ability within these four preferences, to flex between them.  Whilst firstly knowing what our higher/lower preferences are, gives us the ability to know what we may need to work on more consciously.

How will having an Insights Discovery profile enable me to connect better with others?

By understanding your own preferences and those of others, you can gain valuable insights into how to communicate, work, and interact more effectively with others. For example, those with high Fiery Red may need to learn to listen more carefully to others and to be more collaborative in their approach, while people with high Sunshine Yellow may need to learn to focus more on details and to communicate more clearly and concisely.  Without a profile, we’ll likely go into conversations missing out on the knowledge of how to adapt our communication style.

How else can I use an Insights Discovery profile other than just for myself?

Insights Discovery can also be used to improve team dynamics and organisational culture. By understanding the different personality types and preferences within a team or organisation, leaders and team members can create a more inclusive and collaborative culture, and can tailor communication and work styles to better meet the needs of different individuals.  Insights Discovery provides a language through which we can have difficult conversations more easily – using the colour preferences to identify behaviours which we would like more or less of.

If you like to know more about all of the above – or just a little – why not try our eLearning?