Simply the BEST Personality Test

These two simple questions will reveal your BEST personality style:

How fast do you like to make decisions? Put your answer on the horizontal axis on the BEST graph above.

When working on a project are you more focused on achieving the results or on meeting the needs of the people involved?  Put your answer on the vertical axis. 

As described in the video below and in this post, these questions describe you as one of these four dominant personality styles: Boss, Engager, Supporter or Technical. Being your BEST however is not the point. As I argued in a recent post, whatever the results they should never be used for screening candidates. Nonetheless, your answers are revealing, and when the BEST test is used properly (and all of the Jung-based variants, i.e., DISC, PI, MBTI, etc.) it will you help become a better person and hire better people.

Let’s get started. It's all described in the video below. (YouTube version). You can also download a PDF of the BEST graphic to follow along. (Note, the last words in each BEST category are what could happen under stress. This is the negative side of each type when taken to an extreme. In the video this concept is fully described.)

The video summarizes five ideas you can use based on your dominant style to better understand yourself and those whom you hire, specifically:

1. When interviewing, you can increase your objectivity by taking on the traits of your least dominant style – this is your diagonal opposite. This step alone will reduce your potential hiring mistakes by 50-75%.
2. As healthy people mature they take on the traits of their less dominant styles. In the grid it’s a movement towards the center or coaching position. You can track this using the Performance-based Interview. Candidates who demonstrate this movement are those you want to hire. 
3. Unhealthy people move away from the center of the grid intensifying the negative aspects of their dominant style. Recognizing this in yourself can help you prevent unnecessary conflict. They are also the candidates you don't want to hire. They will wind up being cultural misfits. 
4. The four styles represent preferences not competencies. That’s why they should not be used for screening purposes.
5. By asking the most significant accomplishment question you can discover a person's competency for each style. The video describes how to do this.

You’ll find some other surprises in the video, but most important you’ll discover what it takes to become a better person, a better manager and a better interviewer. That’s a lot of insight from two simple questions. All it takes is for you to be your BEST!

Lou Adler