If you’re a cognitive person, your highest core values are knowledge and wisdom. You love designing programs and processes, you love collecting knowledge, and you are, no doubt, remarkably intelligent. The only problem? You tend to spend a lot of time in your head, and have less patience for the more expressive types. There are so many benefits to your gifts — you innovate ideas, you solve problems, perfect processes, and seek excellence — however, if you are this person you may bump up against others who are more intuitive or creative than you are. You don’t always value their input, because there isn’t always a lot of hard evidence to support their points of view.
IF THIS IS YOU: Instead of judging the more feeling-based personalities too quickly, try and open your mind to possibilities that are completely new and different to you. When you start discussions with those intuitive and creative types, you’ll be surprised at what ideas and innovation their thinking can develop, especially when combined with your knowledge. Don’t get stuck thinking your way is the only way; enjoy the banter that can be found when you tap into the opposite way of thinking. Those friendships can inspire the best volley of ideas you’ll ever find.
IF THIS IS YOUR LOVED ONE: Always remember to respect their ability to really think things through. Your respect helps them listen back to you, and your curiosity about their process of thinking may bring you both to the best solution. If you aren’t being heard, don’t be afraid to kindly ask them to have an open mind. Remind them of times in the past when your teamwork was effective, and keep using that keyword: be open-minded. Gently remind them not to be rigid in their thinking, but stay respectful of the skills they have to offer. Ask for what you need; you need and deserve to be heard, too, but those asks will go a lot farther if they’re spoken with respect.
If you’re not sure where you stand on the scale, take ten minutes to take our free assessment: The Core Values Index.
