Appreciating Differences - Jack Falt - Ottawa area, Ontario, Canada

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Book Review by Jack Falt

Campbell, Scott, Quick Guide to the Four Temperaments for Peak Performance, Huntington Beach, CA: Telos Publications, 2003, ISBN 0-9712144-5-X, 44 pp.

In today’s employment market keeping oneself at peak performance is often a matter of survival. While this is not the only reason for striving for peak performance, it is high on the list. Even more important is finding work that you love, and that makes the task of attaining perk performance just a natural way of being. Scott Campbell has written an excellent book on the topic, using temperament as the key to bringing that about.

The author discusses the four main thrusts of peak performance: 1. self-leadership, self-awareness, and self-responsibility; 2. a vision of performance excellence; 3. work roles that fit the personality; and 4. finding a work culture that fits. These are explained in detail with several worksheets to help you make a self-evaluation.

Next, the booklet moves on to help you understand temperament and to discover what your temperament is. I liked the author’s analogy of an apple to represent the various levels of the personality: skin - behaviour, flesh - talents, core - values, and seeds - needs. The temperaments are described in a couple of pages for each one, using animal metaphors and looking at core needs, values and talents. There is enough information here in the booklet to help you determine your temperament. If you are still having difficulty finding a best fit, the author has a three-step process that I like very much: 1. eliminate the temperament most unlike you. Then look at the one you could give up if you had to. Now you are down to two. Then look at which temperament seems the most natural and which seems to be the one you learned. Likely it will be the temperament that feels the most natural. 2. Keep a journal to observe yourself to see which temperament you act most like. 3. Get fiends to give you feedback. If you follow all of these steps, you should be able to determine your best fit temperament.

The last section of the booklet shows you how to relate your temperament to your goal of peak performance. There are numerous worksheets you can use. The appendices include a list of general skills and talents, and a list of values to use with your worksheets.

It is interesting to observe how each author in this Quick Guide series has used a unique approach to the task of relating the topic to one’s temperament. Each has added to my understanding of temperament, and Scott Campbell has done it very well. This booklet is interesting to read and covers the whole topic. While it still is an advantage to have someone to coach you through the process, this booklet coves the topic so well that the booklet is one you could recommend and know with sufficient motivation the person could complete the process on his or her own.

The booklet is also one for counsellors or coaches to have on hand when that client comes in needing to look at peak performance. Here the process is all laid out for you. It also has some useful ideas on temperament that you can add to your basic temperament presentations to groups.

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