Better personality for better performance (4 Key Points)

Source : Joshy Thomas

Personality and performance are closely related. Wrong type of personality will cause undesirable tension and worries in families, organisations, and societies. It is the root cause of all tensions, strikes and unrest. It leads to turnovers and job dissatisfactions.

The only way to improve our performance is by improving our personalities.

What is personality?

Personality is the study of the unique traits of an individual. The word ‘personality’ comes from the Latin word ‘persona’ meaning ‘mask’. Thus personality came to be associated with a person's outward appearance. But today we know that personality doesn't mean external appearances alone. It is rather a dynamically organized totality of personal traits, which distinguish one individual from another. It is the total picture of the person, consisting of his inner and outer being.

Personality consists of the four dimensions of a person: physical, social, mental and spiritual. If you want to develop your personality you need to develop these four areas of your life. Our performance and success depends on how well we develop and integrate these four aspects of our personality.

1. Physical dimension

The physical dimension plays an important role in the development of one's personality. A good, healthy physique can enhance one's personality and self-esteem. It includes your health, strength and withstanding capacity and not your physical structure, colour and beauty.

It also concerns how you present yourself to others: your dress code, lifestyle, behaviour, etc. The better dressed you are the more sure you are to attract people to you. People have become conscious of their physique today and they frequent gyms and go for exercises to keep themselves fit and healthy. We communicate our personality by the way we walk, stand, sit, talk, look and act. All that we do communicates the level of our personality.

Learning to keep oneself fit and healthy and to present oneself in a decent and socially acceptable manner is an art a person needs to learn in order to develop a better personality.

2. Social dimension

It refers mainly to one's ability to relate to others. Human beings are social beings. We can't live as islands. We need to relate and communicate with others if we want to improve our performance and become better human beings. We need to learn the art of creating lasting and effective relationships in today's world of use and throw away culture.

We need to develop our communication skills and plant in ourselves the seeds of social values like equality, justice, fairness etc. A person who loves and cares for the others has a great personality. You will never be forgotten for your humanitarian services.

If you dislike others they too will dislike you. Construct good relationships with those around you and they will stand by you when you least expect. You need to become more an extrovert who is sociable, talkative, assertive and supportive. Give joy to everyone; smile always and more so when things go wrong.

3. Mental dimension

It refers to the intellectual capacity of a person. A person who is intuitive, intelligent, clever and creative is always wanted in a society. They are admired by others for their discoveries, innovations and excellent minds. Use your common sense, brain and imagination to become more creative and innovative. People admire you if you are intelligent and smart. Take risks and challenges and be willing to walk the road less travelled. People admire such tough people with character and commitment.

A person with high goals has a better personality. He aims high and people will hold him in high esteem even if he doesn't reach his dream. Have high goals but be filled with humility.

It also means that we need to have a positive mental attitude. Think positive about yourself and about others. Treat everyone with utmost respect and esteem. See something good in everybody and in everything. Also create a positive atmosphere around you. People then will love your company and will admire your personality.

4. Spiritual dimension

It refers to how you uphold values and principles of life and how you relate with the divine person. It is a great power that all of us have within us, which guides our conscience and behaviour. It expresses itself in our moral values and sense of duty, responsibility and accountability. It gives us the power for self-confidence, leadership, initiatives, willpower and self-discipline.

It makes us authentic and genuine when we are alone and in the company of others. Our spiritual dimension gets reflected in our sincerity, honesty, truthfulness, kindness and gentleness. A deep union with the divine person and selfless love for humanity enhances our personality.

Control your emotions if you want to be a hero. If you want to be admired by others you must learn to control your fear, anxiety, hatred, anger, jealousy, suspicion and pessimism etc. Express instead plenty of positive emotions like love, kindness, hope, loyalty, trust and optimism etc.

We need to have good personalities to attract, enthuse, influence, motivate and lead the others and us and to reach the optimum performance level. Our success depends more on our personality and very little on our knowledge and resources. It is said that a person with a magnanimous personality can brighten the room he enters. He can sooth, calm and thrill the people.

Success and performance will come to us when we develop in us pleasing, attractive and winning personalities. We need to improve our personalities first to improve our performance.