When Stacy attended her large departments’ Colors seminar she was very quiet and shy and completed the assessment as a primary Blue. During the break, another lady told me that Stacy was in the washroom in tears. When she came out, she seemed OK and didn’t want to discuss it. I asked her if she could stay after the seminar or call me the next day. She did neither.
It was a couple of days later when she did send an e-mail. It became instantly clear what she had done. For years she had worked as a research lab technician. She left her position to take further university upgrading courses in her field. To be able to pay for her continued education she took a position as a receptionist in this large retail company. Her job was telephone answering and a ton of interaction with staff and customers.
To be blunt— she hated the job. A primary Green person in a very Blue position and job environment. When she did the assessment, she focused on the Blue column and ‘made’ herself value those adjectives and traits much higher than they really were in her life. She did the word-sort based on what she felt she ‘should’ be. Small wonder she wanted to hide in the washroom— she was spending the entire seminar with a group of people she couldn’t relate to. Across the room, she was seeing and hearing everything from the Green group that was totally like her.
Every person can be successful at any career. Your personality type doesn’t define or limit your career choices and your Colors scores don’t guarantee success (or trouble) in any position. Stacy had a temporary receptionist job. It’s not like she was taking a Masters Degree in receiptionisting! She was doing just fine as a Green. If you really hate paperwork and math, you probably don’t want a lifetime career as a chartered accountant either! Our behaviors are not our Colors. Every day we need to “speak the language” of another Color. Whether it’s with a client or our manager, our partner or as a parent. That’s the value of understanding Colors!