PERSONAL QUALITIES & CAREER

Dr. Stephen Brady

Director, Mental Health Counseling & Behavioral Medicine (MHCBM)

Boston University School of Medicine (www.bumc.bu.edu/mhbm)

sbrady@bu.edu

INTRODUCTIONS AND QUESTIONS

What personality characteristics are associated with career success ?

Which of these characteristics do you possess?

High and Low?

Warmth

Reasoning

Emotional Stability

Dominance

Liveliness

Rule-Consciousness

Social Boldness

Sensitivity

Vigilance

Abstractedness

Private

Apprehension

Openness to change

Self-Reliance

Perfectionism

Tension

THE SIXTEEN PERSONALITY FACTOR QUESTIONNAIRE (16PF)

PERSONALITY FACTORS AND CAREER

Global Factors which Impact Career Extraversion/IntroversionHigh Anxiety/Low AnxietyTough-Mindedness/Receptive Independence/DependenceSelf-Control/Impulsiveness

How would you describe yourself or peers on some of these dimensions?

INTERPRETING YOUR RESULTS OF THE 16PF

• What high and low scores mean for the Global Factors

• Example: Results of the Instructor and a Basic Scientist

• Implications for Career • Small Group Breakout

CASE EXAMPLE

• Self Described “Basic Science Nerd”

• Throughout graduate school referred to as “Brilliant if quirky” and “Mr. Future Nobel Prize Winner”

• High on Introversion, Anxiety and Self Control

• Low on Independence and tough mindedness

• Just wants to be “left alone to do interesting experiments”

• Tends to get lost in details and procrastinates unless deadlines

• Failed as an academic but surprisingly thrives in industry

• Why might this be the case?

• It may be just as important to be aware of your challenges as well as strengths in order to be successful

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND CAREER

Being aware of emotions

Identifying your own emotions

Identifying Others emotions

Managing your own emotions

Managing others emotions

Using emotions to problem solve

Expressing emotions adaptively

What is easy and hard for you? (SB and RJL)

CHARACTERISTICS WHICH PROMOTE CAREER SUCCESS

Cognitive complexity Cognitive flexibilitySocial intelligenceEmotional intelligenceAdaptabilityOpennessTolerance for ambiguityWe would add Self-Reflection (Zacarro, 2007)

CAREER ACTIVITY: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY

How did you become who you are?

What does your family and others want you to do?

How familiar are family/others with your career?

Who has been the most influential person in your life regarding career?

Trace the development of your likes and interests relevant to career.

What are your most troublesome problems related to your career interests?

What is your prediction regarding your career?

Make a Plan A and Plan B

A MODEL OF LEADER ATTRIBUTES AND LEADER PERFORMANCE

CognitiveAbilities

Personality MotivesValues

Distal Attributes

Special Appraisal

Skills

ProblemSolvingSkills

Expertise/Tacit

Knowledge

Proximal Attributes

Career Processes

7 HABITS- COVEY

Be ProactiveBegin with

the End in Mind

Put First Things First

Think Win-Win

Seek First to Understand and Then Be Understood

SynergizeSharpen the

Saw