Have you ever wondered why it’s hard to communicate with certain people in your life? You know that annoying feeling when the office social butterfly messes around and goes on and on about pointless things without actually getting anything done? Or my personal favorite, that offended feeling when your coworker doesn’t put any exclamations points in her emails to you and you just assume she hates you. It might be because you are different colors – and no, I don’t mean the color of your skin or hair or eyes.

I’m talking about your personality color.

Our office recently took the Color Code Personality Assessment – I’m sure some of you are already rolling your eyes when I say ‘personality assessment’, but hear me out.

If you’ve ever taken a personality test before, it was probably either way off or freakishly accurate. I hate to break it to you, but that has to do with how honestly you answered the questions. The great thing about the Color Code test specifically is that it forces you to think back to your childhood. That means you have to answer the questions according to how you thought and acted back then, before society taught you how to be. I’m sure a lot of you out there have had some defining events happen in your life, which you attribute to who you are today. While that may be the case, there is still a very large part of your personality, at your core, that is who you truly are. 

First off, let me explain the structure of the Color Code test. It is a series of 45 questions (I know that sounds like a lot but I promise, it’s not) broken up into two parts –> Strengths/Limitations and Situations. The first part covering strengths and limitations is designed to discover your natural strengths and weaknesses *as a child*. Secondly, the situational questions target your behavior and actions or reactions during certain situations *as a child*. 

When you combine these two parts, you uncover what you are motivated by. Why you do the things you do, and why you communicate the way you do. This is where your color comes in. There are four colors; Red, Blue, White and Yellow. Let’s take a deeper look at each of these.

Color Code Breakdown

RED – they are motivated by power and find joy in getting from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible. A few common traits of a Red include proactive, assertive and responsible.

BLUE – they are motivated by intimacy and strive to connect and create quality relationships. Blue’s are typically approachable, social and loyal.

WHITE – they are motivated by peace and take clear direction well. Oftentimes, White’s are found to be very empathetic, independent and non-conforming.

YELLOW – they are motivated by fun and can help boost an organization’s culture and vibe. Yellow’s are usually energetic, good at brainstorming and like to help out.

Now, I’m sure there are specific people that come to mind as you read through those descriptions – and that’s good! But, it’s also important to figure out what YOUR color is. After all, the common denominator in all of your work and personal relationships is…..YOU. We, as humans, are complex creatures. So naturally, we are made up of more than one color – you will have a primary color (that you can see with the FREE version of this assessment) and then secondary colors which you can unlock by paying to see your full profile. Everyone loves free stuff, and you certainly get a lot of value even with the free version. 

What Am I?

I am a blue – through and through. I thrive on meeting and connecting with people, and I am self-admittedly a people-pleaser (but am working on finding a better balance there). That’s the beauty in this though, it opens up your mind to do some self-reflection and find ways to better balance yourself out because, let’s be honest, we are all lopsided in one way or another. 

I’m going to challenge you to take the Color Code test (or a different one if you prefer), because self-awareness is the first step. From there, our TCS office facilitated an open group conversation about it. We made it ‘common language’ so as to improve understanding of each other and overall communication. It is also great to see the diversity in your own families or workspaces – I think it’s safe to assume that nothing would work well if we were all one color or all thought the exact same way. Take a look at our office color wheel — there’s beauty in diversity.

What’s your color?

All the best,
Bonny