1. A journey to the dark side An exploration of the shadow side of personality

2. Structure of the talk Personality & behaviour Shadow side
3 broad categories of shadow side behaviour
Explore 11 shadow side characteristics
Implications

3. What determines behaviour?
Cultural norms
Individual differences
Strong vs weak situations

4. Shadow side Dysfunctional behaviours Emerge when polite façade slips
Risk factors in personality
At extreme, de-rail careers

6. A fundamental distinction
Everyone has a personality
Look at all scores in a profile
Not everyone has a shadow side
15% have no shadow side characteristics
Not all shadows are equal in size
Look only at high scores in a profile
43% have 1 or 2 high scores
1% have 8 high scores

7. Individual differences
Whether someone has a shadow side and how deep it is
What’s in the shadow
How likely it is to be revealed

8. 3 broad patterns of behaviour
Move towards others
Move away from others
Move against others

9. 11 shadow side characteristics
Based on clinical personality disorders
Applied to a non-clinical population
Not a clinical diagnostic
Each characteristic has a positive aspect that can be over-played

10. Exploring the characteristics
5 minutes per characteristic
Outline positive aspects
In small groups, discuss what that would look like taken too far – 2 minutes
Share in group
Related personality disorder

11. Moving towards - Diligent
At best – conscientious, hard working, orderly, good with detail
At worst?
Perfectionist, can’t accept ‘good enough’
Nit-picking, critical
Difficulty delegating
Related personality disorder – obsessive compulsive

12. Moving towards - Dutiful
At best – loyal, agreeable, easy to get on with
At worst?
Conflict avoidant, desperate for approval
Indecisive
Overly compliant, reluctant to speak up
Related personality disorder – dependent

13. Moving away – Excitable
At best – enthusiastic, optimistic, enter into new projects and relationships with gusto
At worst?
Easily disappointed, discouraged and upset
Unrealistic, get disillusioned and drop people and projects
Express emotion inappropriately
Related personality disorder – borderline

14. Moving away – Shrewd
At best – shrewd, not easily fooled, good negotiator
At worst?
Mistrustful without good reason
Alert for signs of perceived mistreatment
May retaliate, may hold grudges
Related personality disorder – paranoid

15. Moving away – Careful
At best – careful, evaluate risk, take sensible action
At worst?
Over-cautious, risk averse
Strong fear of criticism or embarrassment
Become defensive and conservative under pressure, may freeze
Related personality disorder – avoidant

16. Moving away – Independent
At best – self-sufficient, independent, logical
At worst?
Indifferent to feedback or to others’ moods
Aloof, unfeeling, uncaring
Withdraw and become uncommunicative under pressure
Related personality disorder – schizoid

17. Moving away – Leisurely
At best – focused, not easily distracted, agreeable
At worst?
Agree to things but don’t do them
Work to own pace and standards, feel put upon when asked to work faster or differently.
Stubborn – ‘In my own sweet time’
Related personality disorder – passive aggressive

18. Moving against – Bold
At best – Confident, prepared to tackle big challenges, make a strong first impression
At worst?
Arrogant, over-estimate talents
Ignore mistakes, don’t take advice
Strong sense of entitlement, intimidating
Related personality disorder – narcissitic

19. Moving against – Mischievous
At best – Charming, persuasive, take risks, excitement-seeking
At worst?
More spin than substance
Manipulative, may bend the truth to get results
Impulsive, may not evaluate the consequences of their decisions
Related personality disorder – psychopathic

20. Moving against – Colourful
At best – Charismatic, entertaining, expressive, make a great first impression
At worst?
See others an audience, expect others to be interested in them
Not good listeners
May make a drama out of a crisis
Related personality disorder – histrionic

21. Moving against – Imaginative
At best – Creative, full of ideas, prepared to be unconventional
At worst?
Too many ideas, weird ideas
Eccentric behaviour, no recognition that behaving inappropriately
May be dismissive of ‘boring’ colleagues
Related personality disorder – schizotypal

22. Some implications for selection
People are not always what they seem
‘Moving against’ types often perform well in interview
Always look at shadow in conjunction with ‘bright side’ personality
Two people with the same shadow may not display it in same way
Look out for odd combinations of characteristics

23. Some implications for development
Beware over doing ‘strengths-based’ development – you can have too much of a good thing
You can’t control what you don’t acknowledge exists – bring it into the light