Everyone loves the Sanguine. Sanguine personalities are the life of the party. They are all about having fun. The opposite of Perfect Melancholies, Popular Sanguines could care less about perfect; they just want to have a good time. When a Sanguine walks into the room, you can tell they’re there by their mouth. They’re always cracking jokes or telling a story (again!) to make people laugh. To them, everything’s a joke. They can sometimes appear to not be serious about life (or their job), but they really do add fun to the work environment.

Everyone loves a Popular Sanguine because they’re warm, fuzzy teddy bears. They are people-oriented rather than task-oriented, so they really don’t want to work alone; but rather with people. They tend to be extroverts and outspoken. Sangines are so people-oriented that they can be a little scatter-brained. They make appointments and then forget they made them. Or, they know its here someplace…

Sanguines make great up-front people in ministry because they win people over with their humor and relational conversation. Prominent Sanguines in our church are people like Pastor Adam, Nora McCann, and Guy Lepley.Because Sanguines tend to be fed emotionally by popularity, rejection hurts deeply to them. They need to be liked, valued and appreciated.

How do we deal with Sanguines? First, appreciate their value to the whole. When Pastor Ernie Kohlmyer (a classic Sanguine) retired, it left a huge hole in our ability to care for hurting people. Although others may be able to teach, Sanguines give people a sense that we care for them. Most Sanguines need someone to help them with organizational issues and to stay on task. Offer to help them with these issues and they’ll probably love you for it.

We each fit into one of these categories primarily, and have a strong secondary close behind it. We’ll discuss opposites attract tomorrow.

What have you learned about dealing with Popular Sanguines?

Tags: fun, personalities

The second of the four temperaments (personalities) is the Melancholy. Melancholies are perfectionists. They want to do it right the first time. They don’t make decisions until they have all the information. And, because they can’t get all the information, they never get around to making a final decision. Everyone hates shopping with a Melancholy! And they always have a stack of half-finished projects that aren’t quite perfect yet.

Melancholies tend to be moody because their emotional need is to do everything perfectly. But, in a fallen world, nothing comes out perfectly, so they beat up on themselves for failing and not being perfect. They also told that high standard for others, so they tend to become very critical of others.

Melancholies also are inward processors that tend to be introverts. Their mind is always going, analyzing everything around them. They are not only slow in their decisions, they are also slow in their communication because they say everything just right. Melancholies are hard to read; they tend to not show expression, and people don’t know if they like it or not.

While Phlegmatics are relationship oriented, Melancholies are task oriented. They like working alone and no one finds it fun working with a perfectionist. Melancholies are super-organized (not necessarily neat) and love to work with lists, charts, graphs and research. When given a behind-the-scenes task, they do it perfectly. Prominent Melancholies in our church would be people like Layna Houser and Chris Clear.

How do we work with a Melancholy? First, don’t give them tasks in front of people. They can do it well, but they prefer to work behind the scenes getting things organized and set up. Give them time to process and research and get it right. And, never point out their errors because it is an attack on their person, as they see themselves as perfect.

Both Peaceful Phlegmatics and Perfect Melancholies are introverts and tend to see all the possible problems coming up. Tomorrow we’ll discuss the other temperaments which tend to be extroverts and optimists. What have you learned about dealing with Perfect Melancholies?

Tags: perfect, personalities

Everyone fits into one or more of the four basic temperament (personality) groups. To understand the people you work and live with, you must understand how God has “wired” them. The first of these are called Phlegmatics, or people who are peace-oriented. These people tend to be introverts and process their thoughts inwardly. Peaceful Phlegmatics are great peace-makers and can see both sides of an issue, making them great negotiators. They would rather follow the rules than make the rules. They tend to be soft-spoken but very relational. They are loyal to the end, so to have others be loyal to them is crucial, and betrayal is devastating. They tend to be very sensitive to these issues.

Their greatest strength is that they are peace-makers and hate to fight. Their greatest weakness is that they hate to fight, and therefore avoid conflict to the point that they do not express their true feelings, and do not resolve any ongoing problem. Don’t get me wrong, when the pressure finally gets great enough, they do explode, and often do great damage when they do so!

Prominent Phlegmatics in our church would be people like Dorothy Lockwood, Dan Hurraw, and myself. You probably know some primary or secondary Phlegmatics, because there are more of them than the other three, which we’ll discuss tomorrow.

How do you talk to a Phlegmatic? Don’t press them. They process their thoughts inwardly and need time to think it through. The more you press them the more they stonewall because once they speak their thoughts, they are in stone. So they carefully choose their words and hold to them. Give them your side and ask them to get back with you in a day or so. Us Phlegmatics just take too long!

What have you learned about working with Peaceful Phlegmatics?

Tags: peace, personalities