LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Singapore - When a new manager inherits an existing team, the first thing the leader should do is understand each individual's personality to reduce any teething problems.

Joey Yap, the founder of the Mastery Academy of Chinese metaphysics, says it is a challenging process to change someone, especially if the manager has business objectives to fulfil. While firing unsuitable team members is a quick-fire solution, good managers should learn to win staff over first.

The consultant, who specialises in Feng Shui and Chinese astrology services, says, "If you want to influence anyone, you must first know their motivations are or why they behave a certain way."

Once the manager understands the reasons behind their employees' behaviour, he or she can use the information to obtain the responses they need from their team. "That's how you work better with people," Yap says.

More importantly though, managing a diverse group of employees requires someone who can understand what makes people tick and work on those areas.

"A team leader has to be an 'uplifter' because no one would like to work for someone who gives others a hard time," Yap says.

"If you are a leader who uplift others, people will want to follow you because they feel good being around you."

However, time-starved managers have said they are too busy to motivate their teams due to their increased workload in the thriving economy. Yap says that mindset will lead to their downfall if they harbour ambitions of scaling the career ladder.

Yap adds that it can be a vicious cycle because these managers will remain stuck at where they are without a capable team to ease their workload.

"Their lives will become worse," Yap says, adding that managers will only benefit from having a strong team.

"You have to invest in people because they will be the group to help you advance in your career," he says. "You are actually doing it for yourself when you are motivating others."

According to Yap, managers can easily uncover a person's personality and basic motivations by assessing their Bazi profile, which is similar to a psychometric assessment, in less than two minutes.

However, there is a slight difference even both types of profiles help sort an individual's behavioural traits and personality type. While psychometric questionnaires such as Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) require a candidate to answer around 100 questions with multiple choices, Bazi profiling does not require active participation from candidates.

Hiring managers only need to fill in the candidates' date of birth (time of birth is optional) into the calculation chart to obtain a full profile.

Research found that between 39% and 76% of those tested by MBTI would fall into different personality categories upon retesting a few years later. Interpretation of results may also cause "confirmation bias".

According to Yap, a BaZi assessment has a higher accuracy level as a candidate will not be able to cheat the system which is conducted via a computer programme.

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