Why Do I Have Several Types?

It's common to identify yourself as more than one type. Some reasons include:

• You chose statements related to look-alike types
  
  Several types are "look-alikes." They may seem to behave or feel similarly, but what motivates their actions or feelings are different. For example, Type 3-Achievers and Type 8-Asserters are often action-oriented, take-charge types of people. If you are a Type 8, you may have agreed with the statement "getting things done is more important than doing something perfectly." However, the 8-Asserter is motivated to get things done to demonstrate leadership, whereas the 3-Achiever is motivated to get things done to project a successful image. The distinctions between motivations can take time to tease apart, so it's common to choose look-alike types as you're beginning.



• You learned the skills and talents needed to succeed in your environment
  
  While you do have primary and secondary strengths types, you are also multi-faceted and multi-talented. You use all nine sets of strengths in work and play, and might frequently lean on the strengths of a third or fourth type in order to get things done at work. You also may be influenced by the values of your culture and environment, which can lead you to strengthen talents valued by your environment, while failing to make full use of your innate strengths. So you may have selected statements tied to strengths you've had to work to develop to get along in your environment, along with those that come naturally to you.



• You don't fit neatly into one box
  
  Part of what makes Your Type Advantage such a powerful tool for understanding what makes you indispensible is it helps you identify your unique strengths, while taking into account that you are a complex human being. Because it is a tool for helping you understand your unique strengths, it does not fit you into a single box that could describe many other people just as well. Instead, it is a system for homing in on the complex of strengths that make you unique. This process of homing in can take some time.

How do I narrow down my type?

You do possess two key Strengths Types that stand out above the rest. To narrow down what these are, start by reading the nine Type Summary Reports. As you're reading through them, pay attention to which ones sound the most like you.

Once you've identified the two or three type summaries that resonate most with you, select that type's full report. The full reports provide detailed guidance to help you understand that type, and to better decide if it really resonates with you. Links to the full reports are at the end of each type summary.