Everyone’s heard of MBTI (Myers-Briggs) or Enneagram, and maybe even their love language. While not all apply to work—through learning your team’s love language can help you quickly learn how to make them feel validated and appreciated—they still help you define and understand what helps you work best. Though less well-known, Sally Hogshead’s personality test on “How to Fascinate” reveals the opposite. Instead of showcasing ways to better understand yourself, this personality test reveals what about you intrigues other people.
This can help in many ways, as it can quickly teach you how to market yourself based on your primary and secondary advantage types. Between these two advantages, there are 49 archetypes in total, but don’t let that overwhelm you. Credit.com has broken down how to look at these different personality types from a high level to help you achieve success at work.
For example, if you’re someone who intrigues people with mystique, people find you interesting because you are often thoughtful and take time to think before you speak. Your listening skills are what build influence, making you a great fit to be a doctor, CTO, or even an author like J.K. Rowling! By contrast, if you intrigue people with power, people are often drawn to you because of your confidence and conviction, making you a great fit to be a coach or attorney.
While this may seem like a skill that can only be used when you’re trying to “sell yourself” for a job interview, it really comes in handy for your day-to-day work as well. If someone asks you about your opinion on something, think about how you fascinate people.
For instance, if passion is your primary advantage, you can convince a coworker to pursue your idea or even your boss by advocating for what excites you most. If you’re someone whose advantage is trust, then lean into discussing tried and true methods that you know work to help convince people. Or, if you intrigue people with mystique, there’s nothing more interesting than taking time to answer a question by pausing and thinking before speaking. It’ll immediately convince the person you’re speaking to that you’ve been taking the time to internalize what they’re asking and give them the best answer possible!
Of course, before you learn the best way to approach any situation at work, you also want to make sure you know which skill is primary and secondary. The primary skill is what you lead with, so this may feel like the most distinct part of your personality when you first learn about how you fascinate. The secondary advantage you have might be more subtle, so you may be surprised at first by your quiz results, but take time to think about how you approach meeting new people, selling yourself in an interview, or what you value in yourself and this may point to your secondary advantage.
Though it is helpful to know which is primary and secondary, knowing how they work in tandem can be the most revealing. For instance, if your primary trait is innovation, but your secondary trait is mystique, your two main languages of communication are creativity and listening. This makes you the “provocateur” archetype, meaning you value cutting-edge thinking and creativity, but also tend to intrigue with understatement and subtle styles. Use this to your advantage in the workplace by tweaking small details in a project that take something in a new direction to surprise your manager and peers. Use alone time to get extra creative, and be wary of too much group time as this can distract you from what you’re seeking to achieve, often draining you of creativity because you’re influenced by groupthink.
While this is one example, it shows a great way you can learn about yourself to influence people in the workplace for a positive impact!
About the author: Emma Walsh is a content creator and creative writer. She obsesses over personality type quizzes like MBTI and enneagram (she’s an INFJ and type 1, respectively). In her spare time, she likes to write fiction and cook delicious recipes.
