MARCH 5 • TRUE LEADERSHIP • EPISODE 65
C For Cautious Personality 
One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless. Proverbs 14:16
If your Primary Personality Trait is Cautious, you are cautious, competent, careful and calculating, cognitive, critical thinking, compliance wanting, conscientious, correct, conformist, consistent. And because of all this you can seem cold in both appearance and approach toward others. Cs are typically the true introvert. Don’t forget people!
You are the thinkers. The majority of you who went to school graduated with some kind of honors. You are perfectionists, which can slow down your progress (though increase the quality!). Realize that some things are good enough and don’t engineer everything to death.
You stay on track long after others have given up. You are not pushy and you don’t have to be the leader like the D’s and I’s do—that’s part of your reserved nature. You have little time for fooling around and you can see things in your mind unfold step-by-step. You love to be correct and hate to be wrong. Not because you think you’re better than others, you just enjoy being right—because—well, it’s right.
You like to keep things under your control because it ensures accuracy. You’re the ones who have been correcting my grammar as you have been reading this. You know what it means to do your homework and you naturally have to prove (fact-check)things yourself.
All this can make you seem cold and calculated, but that’s not your intention. You’re naturally curious and concerned about most things. You ask a boatload of questions which, to the other non-C personalities, can get tiring. I’s and D’s take it personally when you question them—they think you don’t trust them (which, deep down, you probably don’t) and it causes problems. Of course, I’s have a tendency to not be careful with facts and the truth—they just want to get the story out—and that makes a difficult problem for a C personality.
C’s are doctors, lawyers, pilots, songwriters. You take the time (focus) to achieve the results that you want. That doesn’t mean that the other personalities are bad at these things, it just comes more naturally for C’s because they can focus and stay on target more easily. Although you don’t like to lead, you will lead and, in fact, you will make good Level 5 Leaders—the pinnacle of leadership—IF—and only IF—you remember it’s about people first.
One of your main difficulties being Reserved Oriented, is that it’s difficult to be in front of a group of people. So you need to raise your I and D personality (Outgoing traits) by learning to connect properly and to raise your people skills well. Doing the homework reduces your fears.
25-30% of the population is a Cautious personality.
[NOTE: Dominants—the second largest part of the population is a C—your counterpart in Task orientation. Recognize that this group is your friend and they will help you succeed. You both work hard. Listen to them well and balance their concern of risk with your own lack of concern with risk. They are usually right on most subjects because they have done their homework and typically they are very, very smart. They focus. If their secondary trait is Supportive, consider putting them in charge of running the organization while you concentrate on the bigger picture and futures.
That’s it! Much love and blessings, see you tomorrow!
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