Senior Lecturer at the Department of Accounting at UJ
Carl Jung, the founder of analytical psychology, once said: ‘Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes’, and ‘Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.’
Wadzanai Mabuto CA(SA) Senior Lecturer at the Department of Accounting at UJ
Carl Jung, the founder of analytical psychology, once said: ‘Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes’, and ‘Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.’
Most of my life I thought myself to be different. It was only when I started taking time to do introspection on who I am and make a conscious effort to develop myself that I became aware of my strengths and weaknesses. Once I became secure in who I am, I was able to fully embrace others and find ways to create synergistic magic with those that are different from me.
I will use an example to illustrate my journey of discovery. My colleague and I recently embarked on writing an academic article together. We have two very different personalities – like North and South, polar opposites. Below is a description of how we made it work despite our differences.
Idea generation
I am an extrovert: I generate ideas from being around people. She is an introvert that generates ideas through reflection and being alone. We wrote this article during the nationwide lockdown, and I struggled to gain momentum while she revelled in this as she had time alone to come up with ideas. The magic happened when I allowed her time alone and she allowed me my 40-minute daily telephone conversations to think things through.
Processing of information and decision-making
I have an ability to see the big picture; she is detail oriented and needs to know the exact steps required to get to the supposed big picture. Literature reviews frustrate the living daylights out of me − I just want to get to the conclusion, because I already know the intended outcome. She, on the other hand, enjoys exploring literature and refuses to conclude until she has read all 2 749 508 articles! In finding equilibrium in harnessing our strengths, I provided the structure and breadth of the article and she provided the depth of insight. I learned from her how to be patient to deepen my knowledge and she learned from me how and when to stop digging and move on to the next task.
As part of a work exercise at the beginning of the year, my colleague and I took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality test. I turned out to be a ‘Commander’ and she is an ‘Adventurer’. If I had never gone through the painful yet liberating process of mastering myself and understanding my colleague, I would have passed on the great opportunity of working with this amazing colleague of mine. Different, together, we completed the article.
Personal development tips
- Take an online personality test such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test.
- Write down the strengths that are highlighted in your results. Sometimes these qualities that you have always known about yourself have been masked because you thought they were weaknesses.
- Strategise how you can use your strengths to develop your weaknesses. The focus must always be on your strengths, for in liberating your strengths your weaknesses fade away.
- Surround yourself with people that are different from you and learn to see their strengths. Their strengths are usually your weaknesses. This will help you understand others and will encourage you to work together effectively.
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