Designers service with a smile wins the sanguine every time.

There is no right or wrong personality style
Over the years I have used my understanding of the personality styles to help me relate to others. There is no right or wrong personality. Most people have a mix of traits but usually have a dominant style. I should explain when I use the terms traits, style and types I mean the same thing. The different theories on personality use the different terms.

I would just like to mention I use this understanding of personalities as a guide. What I discuss here is a very simplified version of a very complex subject. People are a wonderful mix and have many individual traits making them unique. However one wise man I know said ‘Most of us are like the rest of us’. We do have some similarities.

Most people have a mix of traits but a dominant style

After my initial introduction to the subject of personality styles at the Non Manipulative Selling course I kept tripping over this subject. My husband’s company introduced the subject at manager’s meetings using different terms. It seemed like every year a new slant on the topic was revealed to me.

We my husband and I became involved with success motivation during this period. One of the most valuable things we did was to do the personality style workshops. Suddenly we understood some things about each other. Although I was most upset to find my most dominant traits were those of a sanguine. I keep telling him oh no I am a sanguine. All I could see was a sanguine could be flighty and lightweight. I didn’t want to be a lightweight. I wanted to be seen as wise and deep thinking. You may be happy to know I came to a place of acceptance and I am happy with being a fun loving Irish women.

What understanding of the styles did for us
My husband understood for the first time why I talked my thoughts and ideas out. I tend to think talk. He tends to think about things carefully and say little. I tend to be optimistic full of bright ideas which would nearly give my husband a heart attack. He tends to see all the pot holds toward any goal. We actually complement each other and understanding has brought appreciation of our strengths and weakness.

A person with a dominance of sanguine traits tends to be an extrovert (outgoing) and is usually an optimist. They like to talk, laugh a lot and love things to be fun. They enjoy being with people and they are often the life of the party. They are happy go lucky sort of people.

Some Sanguine Traits
• Fun loving
• Talkative
• Warm
• Friendly
• Like to laugh
• Persuasive
• Disorganised
• Forgetful
• Happy go lucky
• Life of party

There are a few clues to help you decide if a client is a sanguine. Firstly they smile a lot, wide smiles and bright eyes. They tend to use open body language, will be the first to reach out to shake hands and make eye contact. They can be charming and friendly.

They like relationships and encounters to be fun. They can be easily distracted. When working with sanguine people they like you to have a light, breezy and fun attitude. They can be disorganised and forgetful. So it pays to give them brief outlines to hold their attention and write things down so they can remember what was discussed.

Some keys to recognising sanguine at first glance
• Wide smile
• Open body language
• Bright eyes
• Will talk first
• Reach out for handshake first

When you have a client who has a sanguine type personality they like to talk, so let them talk. But you can still guide the conversation to find out what you need to know. They enjoy jokes and don’t like to be too serious. They dislike routine, dull tasks, details and criticism. They like to be the centre of attention they do not like to be ignored.

Working with someone with sanguine traits
• Let them talk
• Guide the conversation gently
• Smile
• Make eye contact
• Give outlines not details
• Use images

A few years ago I was doing some workshops on interior decorating and personality types. I had come to the conclusion different interior design styles would suit different personality types. I asked myself the question. If each of the four main personality types was a colour what colour would they be? I worked out what I thought. For example the sanguine would be yellow. Oh I also found a song for each personality type. The colours and the songs I sang also helped the participants of the workshops to remember the different groups of people and what they were like.

‘Colour is the place where our brains and the universe meet’ Paul Klee

Workshops on personalities and interior design

During the workshops I conducted some little experiments. I explained the theories of the personality traits and the participants undertook some questionnaires to work out the personality style they could be. Then I discussed the principles and elements of design. I followed this by discussing how to use the principles and elements.

What colour are you?
t the end of the workshop I did a quick quiz. The participants were asked the same question I asked myself. If each of the four personality types were a colour what colour would they be? I was amazed how many times there was agreement within the group.

Now I have studied research principles at university so I know my little theory can not been proved to be true. A lot of research would need to be carried out and the theory tested. Last year I did attend a workshop on colour were the speaker had a similar theory. But that’s another story for another time.


Some other names used for the sanguine personality
 

·         Expressive

·         Artisan

·         Sensing

·         Intuitive

·         Influencing

Next blog the Choleric will be on the line