What Type of Worker Are You?

What if you could determine your personal approach to work before the next deadline, staff meeting, or conflict? What if you could recognize your personal tendencies, and have your specific strengths at the ready? I’m not talking about the set of skills that you list on your resume. I’m talking about your intangible skill set, what makes you you, which will enable you to do your best, and let the rest of it go.

            I’m skeptical that any questionnaire can define a person. The world’s population is 7.59 billion (2020), and I figure there’s close to that many different working styles. But I’m intrigued by the idea that a personality can be measured, for the purpose of self-knowledge and improvement. Also, I can’t deny that throughout my career I’ve encountered the following five worker-types among many different co-workers:

            Do you see one on that list that you feel may describe you? Not so fast. Read each of the following descriptions, and then make your judgement. Your personal style may rest between two and share aspects of both. Also, you’ll likely see aspects of yourself reflected in each of the five types — we’re all more alike than we know. However, one type should contain your most prevalent traits.

            Is there a best worker type? I don’t blame you for wondering about that. My answer is two-fold: there are certain work environments in which one style’s strengths are an easy fit. But I believe that each style has significant strengths and can be adapted for success in any work environment. For instance, an Achiever may be well suited for a sales environment with quotas, competitive goals, and little oversight. But an Achiever can also be effective as the director of a non-profit, if given clear goals and compelling personal incentives.

            I don’t think that you can change your working style, and that’s not what this is about. How you approach your work reflects the core of who you are. But it is possible to perform your work from a more in-tune and self-aware place. In addition, the highest level of organizational and personal success occurs when each of the five types works together with the others in harmony.

            Here are descriptions of the five worker types, and after each I include where you can read about my experiences with them in Lessons from a Quirky Career Path, the e-book:

The Achiever

As an Achiever, when someone asks you what you like about your job, you’re likely to say, “the money”. For you, this doesn’t stem from greed; though you like how making good money enables you to buy high-quality items, provide for others, or travel abroad. Would you do what you’re doing now for free? No. However, your immediate answer hides a deeper truth. You want to know that you gave your profession your all and won status and power. You want to experience both self-respect and the admiration of your peers. It’s a fleeting feeling that occurs when you step back and admire, usually at a project’s end, what you have accomplished. Then, it’s time to move on to the next project.

            You never feel like you are “away from your desk”. You’ll take business calls on weekends and at any time of day. The ideal workday for you is one in which your co-workers don’t ask you too many questions, and leave you to do your work. You like your co-workers, but you wish that they were more self-sufficient or, even better, more adept at anticipating what needs to be done and taking care of it on their own.

            You couldn’t care less about office politics, except for one aspect: Office gossip and conflict are signs that goals aren’t being met. As a result, you keep your co-workers at arm’s length and share little about your personal life. That said, you recognize that face-to-face interactions are the best way to grow business relationships and move your agenda forward. As a result, you often leave your office door open.

            Your aspirations include more responsibility, grander job-titles, and rising financial success. If you had more free time, you’d start your own company. Retirement doesn’t appeal to you; you’ll probably work until your last day on Earth.

            You believe in the importance of giving back, but in your view the best way to give back is to mentor someone who is interested in your kind of career path. Mentoring, or sharing your hard-earned professional skill set, is something that you enjoy doing. You believe that the world would be a better place if more people worked as hard as you, and with as much determination and focus.

            You are aware that you could improve in a few key areas. You could communicate more with your co-workers, and you could pay more attention to details. You could learn how to better mitigate stress. You could plan more frequent restorative times away from work. You tell yourself that you will work on improving in these areas, as soon as you find the time. In truth, you would rather not take the time for self-improvement. You are confident that you have 99% of everything already figured out.

            People I have worked with who fit the Achiever style: the Senior VP of Sales & Marketing from “5 Modern Lessons from an Old-School Secretary”; and Janelle from “Advice to My Past Self on How to Deal with Conflict at Work”.

The Undercover Agent

The ideal workday for you begins with making it to your own office without anyone noticing. You like and respect your co-workers, but idle talk sets you on edge. On an ideal day, you rarely leave your desk. You make one trip to the bathroom and one to get lunch. On a typical day, if a co-worker catches you and asks about what you did over the past weekend, you keep your answer short. Polite professionalism, at all times, is best.

            The first time that a boss offered you a managerial role, you almost declined. Managers, from what you observed, weren’t any happier than those they managed. In fact, their “underlings” were their biggest source of stress. However, it was illogical to decline a promotion for that reason alone, and so you accepted the offer. Alas, your experiences confirmed your suspicions. Management, it turned out, involved little more than showing fellow employees how to avoid adverse outcomes on behalf of the company while not being seen as a jerk.

            You considered adopting a more authoritative or inspirational persona, but that’s just not you. You have no desire to lead by intimidation or idealism. You’re too compassionate, albeit in a shy way, and practical. You see your co-workers as individuals first, with home lives and other priorities, and employees second. You’re a fan of flexible working hours, as long as the employee honors the privilege. Integrity is a trait you look for in others and nurture in yourself.

            Your dissatisfaction with being a manager, in general, doesn’t stem from a lack of self-confidence. You’re secure in your intelligence and you take pride in your level-headed approach to challenges. The problem is, though you possess valuable knowledge, you can’t share it without appearing uncertain. Each time you want to speak up, you wonder: Should you share everything you know or should you hold back? How should you share what you know so that it makes sense, and offers value?

            You’ve never had to worry about keeping a job — your supervisors have always been sad to see you go. Throughout your career, your decision to leave a job hinged on whether you became bored or if your boss lost your respect. The quality of leadership within an organization is a top factor for you in deciding whether or not you should apply for, or leave, a job.

            Though your career has been good to this point, and you have little to complain about, you feel that your career would be even better if, at the outset, you had made more career-minded social connections. Based on what you’ve observed, more opportunities surface for those who are well liked and socially skilled, than those who rely on their performance alone. Also, a relatable leader is a successful one. But, even if you could go back in time, you know that your past self wouldn’t listen to your reasoning. Your past self would be just as resistant to social interactions then as you are now. Stubbornness, and polite professionalism, your past self would argue, would always be best.

            People I have worked with who fit the Undercover Agent style: Amy from “The Real Reason Why Your Co-worker is Stealing Your Lunch”.

The Driver

People are unreliable, both in general and in their jobs, and it often falls to you to pick up the slack. As a result, you are sometimes seen as short-tempered and highly-strung, but that is not entirely your fault. If your co-workers would just do their jobs the way they should, you wouldn’t have to get involved and make corrections. You often wonder why people can’t prioritize like you can, or see clearly what is important.

            You imagined that you would be successful, and you worked hard to get where you are. Management has always been your destiny, though the road hasn’t been an easy one. You are keenly aware of your responsibilities and how easy it is to miss a critical detail in your job. You often wonder how you keep as many details in your head as you do.

            Accountability is your strength — a trait that is in overall decline, in your opinion. That said, you consider yourself a compassionate person; you recognize that “life happens,” and that your co-workers need flexibility in their schedules when family issues arise. However, there is a limit to your compassion as you hold everyone to your own high standards for reliable and accountable job performance. To you, a co-worker’s level of accountability in their job is a measure of their personal integrity.

            If you had a magic wand, you would make everyone understand that shallow commitment to their job (whatever that job may be) is unacceptable. The world would be a far better place if everyone performed their jobs to the best of their abilities, honored their professional commitments, and spent more time addressing the details of their work. Success has little to do with the number of promotions someone may achieve. To you, if someone consistently produces high-quality work, then success will follow.

            Fairness is another ideal that is important to you, whether it be at work or in the world. You consider fairness in most of your decisions, especially in your decisions as a leader. Also, outside of work, you support charities which promote equity. The fact that others do not see how inequitable treatment diminishes the world often keeps you up at night.

            Though you would never admit it, you sometimes regret your harshness with others. Sometimes, you’re able to bite your tongue and take a breath before responding to an issue which triggers your reflexive anger and frustration. On good days, this is easy. On bad days, people give you a wide berth.

            When you retire, you hope that the quality of your work and the dedicated example that you set will endure. People should care deeply about how others perceive their working habits and performance, and everyone should set their work apart from other aspects of their lives. You hope that you embody this premise, and that in the future others will follow your lead.

            People I have worked with who fit the Driver style: Diana from “Effective Tactics for Dealing with Your Type-A Boss”.

The Counselor

You are the one your co-workers approach when they need help, and you wouldn’t have it any other way. One of the worst things that you can imagine is a work world without mentors. Where would you be today without the career-mentors in your own life? You are in their debt, and you intend to pay it forward. But more than that, when you recognize the opportunity to counsel a co-worker, something within you feels fulfilled.

            There is a downside to your efforts, however. On days that your helpful interactions are numerous, you don’t get as much work done as you should. As a result, you must stay late or take your work home. Your deadline-driven anxiety often spirals into self-doubt, and in your saddest moments, you wonder if you should focus less on being helpful and more on your own job security and advancement. But you can’t imagine refusing your co-workers’ requests for help, or not being seen by your co-workers as a valuable resource.

            Diligence, and the ability to create and master a best practice, are your strengths. That said, you suspect that your approach to work may be too rigid. Unlike your co-workers, you have a difficult time adjusting when something unexpected happens. You also have a hard time dealing with disappointment. You naturally give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and when someone disappoints you, either personally or professionally, it takes a long time for you to recover.

            If you had the power to make the working world better, you would insist that everyone slow down and take the time to learn from each other. You would remind everyone that we are all imperfect, and that most mistakes have value if we’re willing to learn from them. In addition, you would say that if managers wanted to lessen the impact and number of mistakes that their employees made, they should develop their teaching and coaching skills. A strictly authoritative approach to management, in your opinion, leads to a negative work environment and high employee turnover. 

            Sometimes you worry that, when helping someone, you tend to overshare your personal experiences. Your professionalism has always been more on the personal side of the spectrum. You can’t help it — to you, the personal directly affects the professional. It would drive you crazy to try and keep the two separate. Plus, the best managers that you know are admirable in their personal lives first, as positive role models for their family and friends.

            You hope that someday you will look back on your career and see years of worthwhile effort that helped you to grow and develop as a person. You hope your co-workers will remember you with affection and admiration, and you hope to inspire others to follow in your footsteps. Mentoring, though it presents its own challenges, is worth the time and effort. Our experiences are our greatest resource and contribution, and especially in a work world that shows no sign of slowing down.

            People I have worked with who fit the Counselor style: Lynette from “Advice to My Past Self on How to Deal with Conflict at Work”; and Brenda from “Common Barriers to Communication at Work and How to Avoid Them”.

The Comedian

In your experience, being liked is more important than being good at your job. Therefore, you always have a half-smile on your face and a joke at the ready. If you had a motto it would be: “Life’s too short to be taken seriously.” You bet that if you keep your co-workers laughing, you’ll keep your job almost no matter what.

            Highly successful people, while admirable, deal with high amounts of stress. That’s too high a price to pay, in your opinion. Also, super-achievers don’t appear happier than everyone else. You would rather have a good time, and smile more often at work, than spend 52 weeks a year in need of a vacation. Plus, you can’t pretend, like most everyone else, that success prevents misfortune or any other life changes that happen to everyone at some point. It’s better to live every day as though it were Friday.

            Your unseriousness masks a deeper truth, however. You’re not completely comfortable with responsibility. You perform better when you work at your own pace and choose your own tasks, as opposed to being told what to do and when to do it. But this independence is rare in the working world, and so you survive by spreading your own brand of comedy as a kind of sly rebellion.

            You wouldn’t change anything about work, or any of your co-workers. When the pressure is on, and stress levels rise, that is your favorite performance arena. You love nothing more at work than to break the tension with a well-placed joke or sarcastic comment. If you could change anything about the working world at large, you would establish casual Friday attire as appropriate for every day of the week.

            You don’t expect your co-workers to remember you in the future, and why should they? You never intended to make a lasting impression. But, from a daily standpoint, you hope that your co-workers are happy to see you and feel good when they are around you. When you feel like you alleviate their stress a little, you feel like you accomplish something big.

            The best boss that you ever had was someone who’d been at work long enough to realize that the hands-off approach worked just as well as any other. This manager inspired you with their relaxed attitude and confidence in your inherent abilities. You’ve never imagined yourself in a manager’s role, but if it ever happened, the leading-from-behind approach is the one that you would embrace. You would also bring doughnuts to share every Monday, and sometimes on Tuesdays.

            Work will continue to be work, no matter what the future brings. Even if robots augment workers in most jobs and make working easier, you’re sure that everyone will still stress out about their job performance. People like to be anxious about their work too much, in your opinion, to give it up. That’s fine with you. You’ll train your robot sidekick to help you provide comedic relief.

How Self-Knowing Can Get You Going

I take comfort in the idea that workplace personalities can, in some part, be measured and understood. Also, it’s enlightening to think that the reason why you just can’t seem to get along with one particular co-worker, is not your fault or theirs, but can be explained by the differences in each of your own personal tendencies. Being aware of that fact gives us the space we need to pause and reconsider our immediate (and often resistant) responses when interacting with our co-workers. In addition, when you seek first to understand your co-workers, you will gain wisdom and provide a sense of unity among your team.

Looking for more insight? There’s much more to discover inside Lessons from a Quirky Career Path, the e-book, COMING SOON!

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