The essence of personality analysis is a comparison of the client's core personality and the personality that has developed in a particular context. A persona (ancient Greek mask) is an outwardly visible version of one’s own personality, adapted to the requirements of the human environment. A person has only one personality, but he cannot always express it in all areas of life due to certain norms and expectations. Certain personality traits often have to be hidden, especially in a professional context. Instead, to be successful at work, one must demonstrate more of other characteristics that may not be a good fit for the individual. If this adaptation pressure becomes too strong and the discrepancy between the core personality and the personality becomes too great, then it leads to cognitive dissonance and stress. By comparing the core personality and the coaching personality, a better understanding of the causes of stress and dissatisfaction can be achieved. This is exactly what happens in personality analysis in coaching. Areas of Application In addition to analyzing the causes of dissatisfaction, stress and other negative emotions in a predetermined area of ​​life (for example, work, relationships or family), personality analysis is very suitable for career counseling because the personality matches present or future work can be solved. This coaching tool is also used in leadership development. Here, for example, it may be reflected in whether a manager appears authentic in a leadership context or has acquired a personal personality because he or she actually feels rather alien in the leadership role. Personality analysis can also be used outside of a business environment. In life coaching, one can develop enormous potential for personal development when looking at individuals, for example, from the area of ​​relationships (Can I really be myself in my relationships?) or family (Should I be myself in my relationships?) pretend to my parents, since I don't share their ideas of morality and virtue?). Consequences: A very large gap between the core personality and the personality can have long-term negative consequences for the person in question. Identifying such gaps is one of the central goals of personality analysis. Identifying such gaps is usually of great added value to clients, as they are often unaware of the connections between their developed personalities and the resulting consequences (dissonance, stress, dissatisfaction). Realizing that you are working in a work environment that does not fit your personality, or fits it only to a limited extent, is a moment that is as enlightening as it is profound and can lead to a wide variety of paths in coaching. In addition, processing the information received - for example, in the sense of making a decision (for example: should I change jobs?) - can be a useful part of personality analysis. Case Study Svetlana, 40 years old (name and age changed), has been working for a year in the human resources department of a large companies. Before that, she worked for almost five years in a medium-sized company, where she felt very comfortable. The HR staff knew each other very well and established friendly relations with each other. It was with a heavy heart that Svetlana moved to a larger company because she had few opportunities for professional development at her old company. Svetlana quickly noticed that her new employer, in her words, “had a different wind blowing” than her previous company. For example, she noticed that at her new company, showing emotion was considered a weakness, that she was expected to come to every meeting fully prepared, and that her coworkers tended to reveal very little about themselves. All this behavior does not fit Svetlana's personality, but she nevertheless adapted because it was very important for her to successfully start a new job. However, over time, Svetlana noticed that at work she was constantlytense, feeling stressed and generally unhappy, without knowing exactly why. When these negative emotions began to affect Svetlana's overall satisfaction with life, she decided to make an appointment with a trainer. The coach she consulted suggested that Svetlana conduct a personality analysis. This showed that inconsistencies between Svetlana's personality and the behavior she exhibited at work over time led to cognitive dissonance, stress and, as a result, decreased enjoyment of life. Therefore, Svetlana decided to look for an alternative job, paying more attention to the corporate culture that has developed in the company. Persona - a variation of our personality To better understand what persona analysis is, it is first of all important to answer the question of what a persona is and to what extent it differs from personality. If we can show only a certain part of our personality without filtering over a long period of time, for example in the workplace, we develop what is called a persona. It hides our essence of personality, like a mask. Although we exhibit less of some character traits, we consciously emphasize others. A persona is a variation of our basic personality. K.G. Jung describes personality as a compromise "between the individual and society regarding who one appears to be." Particularly if clients report feelings of discomfort or stress in repeated situations, this may indicate that the person consciously or subconsciously experiences a feeling of needing to pretend. In the example described, it is quite possible that a change of job and a new corporate culture unsettled Svetlana. She seemed to have the feeling that she wasn't quite comfortable in her new company. Perhaps she felt much more strongly than before that she had to play a role and that she could not be herself. Alternatively, of course, it may be that the behavioral norms and expectations in the new workplace are actually less consistent with their personality structure than they were previously. In any case, developing and maintaining a personality that differs in many ways from the core personality requires enormous cognitive energy. Moreover, it causes stress and potentially leads to dissatisfaction or even mental illness in the long term. However, it is important to understand that personality itself is not the problem. We all adapt our behavior to different contexts and develop personalities over time. In principle, this is the main prerequisite for successful action. This only becomes problematic when the difference between our personality and persona becomes so great that cognitive dissonance arises, which has long-term negative consequences for our psyche. In Svetlana's example, this was exactly the case. She spent most of her day in an office environment in which she did not feel comfortable and felt a lot of pressure to adapt. Step-by-step process of personality analysis In a guided process, the coach and client find out in which areas the worker the image corresponds to the real personality, and in some it does not. For example, a question might be: Where can you be yourself at work and where do you need to adapt? The process of such a personality analysis (see figure) in a professional context might look like this: 1st step: The first step requires information about the basic personality (e.g. character traits, motives, skills). These questions can either be asked by a coach and documented together, or determined empirically using a scientifically validated personality test. 2nd step: The personality is then collected using interviewing techniques and methods that identify patterns of behavior in the chosen area of ​​life. 3rd Step: Next, a gap analysis is carried out. Survey methods are used to identify areas in which clients can reliably express their personality in a professional context (job fit). They also need to identify areas where they cannot do this.do and are therefore forced to adapt (job mismatch). Option: Based on the latest information from Mismatches (step 3), the personality can then be inferred and described as a kind of "alternate personality". Under this procedure, step 3 will immediately follow step 1, and the identity will be obtained in the last step, rather than being requested independently, as would otherwise be the case with step 2. Various analyzes are possible on this basis. It should be emphasized that the gap between the core personality and the work personality does not necessarily lead to seeking a job change. Further developments are possible, including those that involve narrowing the gap while remaining within the current work environment. Reflection should include appropriate options to avoid hasty action. This aspect can be seen in the following examples:• How far is the persona from the core personality?• How can a greater match between the core personality and the personality (at the current job) be achieved?• Is the persona really necessary or is it, for example, a product of one's own ideas and the expectations of others? • Does personality have a negative impact on well-being? Examples of questions to use as part of a personality analysis that...... affect the core personality:• Who/how are you when you are completely yourself?• What defines you? What characterizes you as a person?• What makes you different from most other people you know?• What personality traits do you have that are stronger than others?• What are you particularly good at and what are you better at than others?• What motivates you, what motives accompany you throughout your life?... the character (example of an official) concerns:• Who/how are you at work?• What behavior do you particularly demonstrate at work?• How do you cope with criticism, pressure, stress, conflicts and provocations at work? work?• How would you describe your work style?• How do you relate to your colleagues?• How do you work in work groups and teams?... used for gap analysis:• Based on your descriptions, what are the differences between your personality and way of working?• What characteristics characterize both profiles described? Which ones can only be found on one page? For example, a flipchart or a moderation board are suitable for visualizing the requested information when working with cards. It is important that the visualization tools have enough space to capture all the information coming from clients. requirements As is clear from the example questions, personality can be asked pragmatically or recognized through a (good) personality test. It is useful to study scientifically based models of personality psychology that result in a personality profile. Generic models are not suitable for personality analysis because, in addition to the fact that they often lack empirical quality, they condense the personality into a single point and therefore do not provide a basis for differentiated personality analysis. Personal notes Personality analysis as part of coaching allows the coach and his colleague to develop the personality together in a controlled process and better understand the reasons why the personality was trained. Since such coaching touches the client's personality very deeply, it can be seen as a huge opportunity for sustainable personal development. technical consultations A very good basis for personality analysis is the results of a valid and differentiated personality test, with the help of which the core personality can be presented in a structured form. Based on this, one can very well visualize a person’s deviations. Of course, individual elements of the core personality can also be worked through piecemeal in analytic discussion and recorded using a flipchart or whiteboard. However, this requires significantly more time than using the results of a comprehensive personality profile. The personality test used could, for example, be.