Daily Excerpt: Understanding the Seeker (Quinelle) - The Seeker at Work
Excerpt from Understanding the Seeker (Quinelle) -
The Seeker at Work
Many people end up in jobs and even
careers that are not well matched with their personality profile. Around the
turn of this century, some businesses typed themselves—what kinds of
characteristics they needed in their employees and their leaders—and set about
hiring employees in accordance with those characteristics. This practice is
waning as we enter the second decade of the 21st century. It could be that businesses have
found that matching company needs and personality traits is a much more complex
endeavor than originally thought, one that includes the needs of the business
in terms of kinds of products, the job and career choices for the future
employee, and the needs and personality types of co-workers and clients.*
Job and Career Choices
If a high school or college guidance
counselor were to suggest appropriate jobs for young Seekers, chances are the
suggestions would likely be in the fields of natural sciences, especially where
new discoveries can have a major impact on quality of life. Interdisciplinary
fields are also good choices for Seekers since they will be able to
cross-section distant fields of knowledge to create new sets of knowledge.
While commercial endeavors generally
do not attract Seekers, Seekers can do well in some kinds of commerce,
particularly those that require intuition and creativity. One example might be
in the area of programming and design. Another might be in the field of
publishing.
If a Seeker actually has a job,
especially something a bit mainstream, that might well warm the cockles of his
or her parents’ hearts. The mainstream job is not the one of choice for the
Seeker, however, and he or she, if trapped into the mainstream, usually
experiences difficulty finding happiness or self-esteem at work; they will look
elsewhere for those things.
The “Don Quixote” temperament is not
one to settle down in an accounting job or even, for that matter, something
more creative, such as advertising. The “Don Quixotes” of the world much prefer
to be off, tilting at their windmills—and whether or not they succeed at it,
the attempt and the possibility of making something move keeps them involved
and on the go. Indeed, their passions are aroused by the world of the possible,
of the future, of the “impossible dream.” A 9-to-5 job generally just does not
excite them in any way.
The kinds of things that Seekers who
are matched to their jobs or careers do take on for work can really raise
eyebrows, often because their friends do not know anyone else that works in
exactly that way. Seekers often find their friends quite puzzled by the choices
they make throughout their careers. They generally move from job to job, fixing
things and creating new things, and then moving on because the job has become
routine, the people trained, and the processes put in good working order. Time,
then, to move on to where they can find the next example of grand chaos.
At one point in the career of one
Seeker, she accepted a job as an international education consultant. Her
friends were flabbergasted when she left a high-paying, secure job for the insecurity
of not knowing where she would be working the next day, let alone the next
month or year, or even, sometimes, how to get there. Her friends just didn’t
“get it.” For a Seeker, though, it was an ideal job. She roamed a couple dozen
countries, learning about their educational issues (and often social and
political issues as well) and attempting to come up with creative solutions for
her clients, using knowledge, skills, and ideas that grew in quantity and
quality as she moved around on the world stage. There were many times when she
would wake up in the morning and briefly ask herself, “What country am I in?
What language will I be speaking today?” If a Seeker must work, then this is
the kind of job that would attract him or her.
A Seeker’s Co-Workers
A Seeker who does not work independently
must learn to work compatibly with co-workers, and they with the Seeker. This
is not always easy, given the nature of a Seeker.
Seekers definitely work best with
other Seekers. They bat ideas around as if they are standing on the field at a
ballpark, practicing for the next game. One non-Seeker, after a two-hour
brainstorm session that left the Seekers quite satisfied with the number of new
ideas and intersecting concepts they were able to generate, stated that she
felt like she had spent the last two hours inside a pinball machine.
Coworkers fail to understand Seekers
on many levels. They do not understand what drives Seekers, how they think, or
how they relate to others.
Definitely, they do not understand
the disconnect between the need for a job and the need to follow a dream. For
many non-Seekers, the job and the dream are the same. For Seekers, the job is
just something you do so that you can finance your dream. Seekers always have
dreams, and they never seem to stop chasing them, regardless of their
circumstances in life. They are driven to windmills, fantasy, creation, and
radical new theories.
If a Seeker finds kindred souls
among his or her coworkers, whether they be Seekers or those who are attracted
to the zeal and inspiration of Seekers, then the job takes on another
dimension. Suddenly, the sky is the limit, and many amazing new products have
come from the interaction of Seekers, who dream, and more grounded types, who
implement.
Due to their uniqueness and
perceived radical thinking, which is rarely understood by others, they often
work alone. Can you imagine, for example, being a co-worker with some of the
following individuals considered to be Seekers: Benjamin Franklin, Socrates,
Leonardo da Vinci, David Hume, Catherine the Great, and Niccolo Machiavelli?
Just think, however, how exciting it might have been to work with them!
Something to Think About
Section A. For Seekers
Think about how comfortable you are
at work, and, if you are not comfortable, try to pinpoint the source of
discomfort. Perhaps it is your job itself (are you in the right one?), your colleagues,
or your supervisor(s). Look at each of these possibilities separately.
Your Job. As a Seeker, you know that you need freedom to explore new ideas,
to be creative, to invent new things, and to work in a “logical” environment
where you do not have to always worry about other people’s emotions. Do you
have such a job? If yes, then look elsewhere for your source of discomfort. If
yes-and-no, talk to your supervisor about how you might contribute in a more
creative way. If no, then it may be time to look for something else. There is
nothing more difficult than holding a job that is contradictory to your
personality type. Generally, you will not have the natural skills for such a
job, although you can learn them. More importantly, the pleasure in the job
will have to come from something other than the job itself—and that can get old
fast. (Note: If you are, indeed, thinking about a new job and want to take
personality traits into account, there are some books that can help you, e.g., How
to Stay Alive When Your Job Is Killing You by Kingman and Wise, People
Types and Tiger Stripes by Gordon, and Type Talk at Work by Kroeger
& Thuesen.)
Your Colleagues. As a Seeker, you have four traits—three explicit and one
implicit—that can conflict with the traits of your co-workers. Sometimes, those
conflicts can turn into complementary strengths; other times, they reinforce
the weaknesses of each person in conflict. Take a look, then, at each trait and
measure it against the traits of your colleagues to the extent that you can
determine them. More often than not, you will know your colleagues’ traits
because these are things that they cannot hide.
So, looking at Intuition, how many
of your colleagues are Intuiters, like you? Most? You should be happy
associating with them, and you probably are always zinging ideas at and off
each other, which should add to your happiness factor. Some? Ally with them if
that is possible and avoid getting into conflicts with those who depend more
upon fact and stat; those traits can irritate you significantly. Are all your
colleagues married to seeing the world as a collection of facts or a mound of
data? Time for new colleagues! Talk to your boss about being assigned to a
different team, another office mate or even a different division. (Do your
research first, though, and find out the personality types of those with whom
you might be working if you make such a change. You would not want to jump from
the frying pan into the fire.)
How about Thinking? Are you prone to
being oblivious to the emotional needs of your colleagues? This is a big
mistake when it comes to working in a team. It is in the meeting of each
other’s emotional needs that teams are built, not only in the completion of
specific tasks.
Then there is your Extroversion.
Your Intuitive Thinking nature is not quietly moving you along your own path.
No, as an extrovert, you want everyone else to come along with you, but not
everyone is an Intuitive Thinker. How are you going to bring all those others
along with you? Or, do you need to? Are there options for you, at times, to go
along with them and learn from them? Are there other opportunities for
brainstorming, sharing, and negotiating? If all else fails, is it worth it for
you to go it alone or to find other colleagues in other divisions or even other
jobs to work with outside your office on those projects—typically, those
dreams—that have taken over your waking and sleeping moments?
How about the Irrational side of
you? That implicit trait does not mean that you are crazy. It does mean that
you do not put reason, deadline, and regulations in first place. You put
options, possibilities, and the breaking of rules (for legitimate and
dream-oriented reasons) in first place. See the conflict? How much of this is
present in your current work place? In a previous work place that you hated? In
a previous workplace that you loved? Does your current work place need some
“massaging” in order to be comfortable for you? Can you do it? Should you do
it? Would it be better to move on to a more compatible work place?
Your Supervisor(s). If you have a
supervisor who is a different personality type, you will need to work harder to
meet his or her expectations. With some personality types, this is easier than
with others. Determine which aspects of your supervisor’s personality type
conflicts the strongest with yours, and work, for starters, on achieving
compatibility. It is possible to work happily for someone of a different
personality type if you are wise to the situation and wise about how you
approach your tasks. For example, supervisors who are Sensers often think that
the Seeker is “flaky” (their description of a dreamer). In fact, there are many
people with non-Seeker personality types who consider being a “dreamer” a
negative, not a positive, trait. If you have a supervisor like this, what can
you do to improve your reputation while not losing your dreams? Can you provide
more statistical analysis? At least just a little? Can you ask for a format for
reports that he or she likes and then follow it carefully, no matter how
boring? Is making these adjustments something that you are willing to do, or
should you look for other work, i.e. another supervisor whose socion is more
compatible with yours? What are your realistic choices, given your life
situation—and is “realistic” at all important to you at this time in your life?
(Many Seekers never cave in to the demands of realism at any time in their
lives, often to their own detriment when it comes to a comfortable living
style—but that, too, is often not important to them.)
Section B. The Seeker at Your Work
Place
As Your Colleague. Do you have a
colleague who is a Seeker? Does he or she seem flaky to you? Before you make
that judgment, think about the importance of idealism and altruism in making a
society healthy and moving a society forward. Consider that perhaps what you
don’t understand (and label “flakiness”) is a way of thinking that is so deeply
embedded in idealism that others find difficulty in relating it to the reality
of the lives they are living and the work they are doing. Look deeply, and see
if you can find some value, if only future value, in what your Seeker colleague
is advocating. Can you support him or her in areas related to improving the
work place and lead him or her to a more practical application of their dreams?
As Your Supervisor. Do you feel
lost because you do not understand what your Seeker boss wants from you? That
is not surprising. Seekers take large leaps in logic and assume that others are
following their futuristic, counterintuitive thinking. They assume, as well,
that others are willing to take risks, especially for altruistic purposes, and
will fill in the details for them, because details are one thing that Seekers
do not do well, mainly because they are more of an annoyance than a reality to
them. So, how can you fulfill your supervisor’s expectations without giving up
your own needs? Can you help him or her start to implement his or her grand
ideas on a smaller, more manageable scale that is more comfortable for you and
other colleagues?
As Your Supervisee. Do you have a
Seeker as an employee? Does he or she take flights of fancy (your perception)
from the job at times? Does he or she seem bored with the job? How can you
reach such an employee? It is certainly not going to be through discipline and
regulation. Seekers are generally their own worst critics, and your criticism
is likely not all that meaningful to them. They also often reject any
discipline as meaningless if they do not believe it was warranted. They may
calmly accept the discipline, but it is not for the reason you think. It is
because it has no value and no meaning to them; therefore, it is unimportant.
If you want to reach a Seeker supervisee, then you will need to inspire the
Seeker. How can you do that? Find out where the Seeker’s interests lie, and
learn some supervisory motivational techniques. The latter will help you with
all your employees.
*Socionics considers psychological
types ceteris paribus (i.e. as though all other conditions were equal or
negligible), which we know, in reality, is not the case. Therefore, the
descriptions, explanations, and discussions above and throughout this book may,
in individual readers’ cases, not ring true because there are other
complicating factors for a given situation that lie outside the realm of
psychological type or even psychology, be that financial, environmental,
biological, chemical, social, legal, or some other external factor.
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