Come See a Test that Told Me Everything About Myself

I’m not a big fan of psychometric testing. They always seem to ask too many questions about too many details and you never quite know what, or how, to answer. But I recently did a test as part of Metro Worship Academy’s Interpersonal Relationships Module and I was blown away by the results. It was as if the someone was exercising the gift of knowledge about me – accurately!

The FIRO-B test measures your interpersonal needs in three areas:

1. Inclusion: the need to form new relationships and to associate with others;
2. Control: which is about decision making, influence and authority; and
3. Affection: the need to form emotional ties and the extent of closeness with people.

The test measures your expressed need (ie the extent you initiate the behaviour) and your wanted needs (the extent to which you want or will accept that behaviour from others) in relation to each of the three areas of need.

Here are my results!

Overall Interpersonal Needs

• “Your involvement with others is sometimes a source of satisfaction, but it depends on the people and the context”
• “You work most effectively alone, or with others when the objectives are focused”
• “You probably enjoy work that involves concentration on data or ideas and occasional discussions with or presentation to others”
• You probably consider yourself more introverted than extroverted.”

Total Expressed vs Total Wanted Behaviours

• “You prefer to wait and see what others will do before taking action. In some situations you may feel inhibited from doing or expressing what you want. You value reliability in others because it helps you predict how they will behave and therefore how you should act.”

Total Needs

• “In a new situation you are likely to focus on understanding the order and structure of the organisation or of the situation. You will want to know who is in charge, how decisions are made, rules and policies, and the priorities of the various tasks. Once you are comfortable in the Control area, you may then concentrate on satisfying or expressing your needs for Inclusion and Affection.”

Patterns of Need Fulfillment for Inclusion

• “You prefer working with a small group of people”
• “You find recognition less important than accomplishment”
• “You need time alone to do your best work”

Patterns of Need Fulfillment for Control

• “You may accept direction from those in authority”
• “You may not be interested in gaining influence.”
• “You are a loyal and cooperative member of the organisation”
• “You like to perform your work according to standard operating procedures”
• “You may be frustrated by inconsistencies”
• “You may feel the need to check your decisions with others”

Patterns of Need Fulfillment for Affection

• “You may have difficulty saying no to requests to take on more work.”
• “You may avoid conflicts yourself but be willing to help others resolve theirs.”
• “You may attempt to gain closeness with others by managing undesirable projects.”

Leadership

You will strive to be leader who:

• “integrates divergent interests”
• “shares decisions”
• “uses democratic decision-making processes”
• “is able to build a sense of ownership”
• “wants to have a noticeable impact, to leave your mark”
• “likes to be viewed as a popular leader”
• “is gratified by public recognition”

Yup, all of the above describes me to a tee. I’m just wondering how answering 20 short questions gave the marker such remarkable insight into my inner psyche.

What really set me free about the test however was what Michael Battersby taught the class about how to apply the FIRO-B results. Too often, we often see certain personality traits as weaknesses that need to be built on and improved. But Michael taught us that in fact, the results are simply descriptions of our needs – they are part of the way we were created and we shouldn’t feel bad about them. Rather, they help us understand why certain things give us a sense of satisfaction or dissatisfaction and how to modify our environment and expectations.  But it doesn’t mean that we are less of a person because we are wired a particular way!

In a worship team context, there are usually different personalities and temperaments. Some of them can be quite extreme. It’s what you get for hanging with artistic people. So I want to encourage you to get to know your team. Understand what makes them tick and what ticks them off. And let’s see if we can accommodate each other’s expectations. But also let others know what our expectations are, like my need for control and structure! You’ll make a better team!

So what sort of leader are you anyway? Feel free to share!