What is the Oil and Gas Industry’s Personality Style?

Last week I attended a workshop on personality styles, which made me think…

The personality style questionnaire supposedly pigeon holes everybody into four categories: promoting, supporting, controlling and analyzing personality styles. Following the workshop my colleagues walked around with the profiling questionnaire, plotting virtually everybody, from our management and project team members to family members. Although I generally do not like generalizing, I have to admit that when I did not seem to fit in a box it did feel a little unsettling.

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Being an analyzer with controlling tendencies I didn’t feel in control and started wondering what the general personality style in the Oil and Gas industry would be…

This is how it works:

The personality styles questionnaire can help you understand how to see yourself and how others see you, recognize more clearly different interpersonal behavioral styles, learn how to respond and not react to other people, appreciate the importance of trust in a relationship, communicate positively and persuasively with others and generate more business through better relationships. Through a profiling questionnaire you can plot yourself (and others) in a graph, identifying your personality style.

The promoting style tends to get involved with people in active, rapidly moving situations. He generally likes exciting activities of an inspirational nature. Not given to detailed analysis, he can make easy generalizations without sufficient pause to gather information. I am wondering if this personality style would last in the Oil & Gas industry. Decisions can often not be taken lightly, sometimes even involving high risks to the workforce and facilities and often having a huge impact if a wrong decision is made. Although could the inspirational nature of the promoting style have him walk the talk and lead the way to a safer workplace?

The supporting style tends to be perceived as a casual and likeable person who tries to minimize interpersonal conflict. Though he is responsive to people, he generally lets others take the initiative in social situations. He finds it difficult to turn down a request because he wants to be helpful even if he must subordinate his interests to the interests of others. I am sure you and I both know some supporters in the industry.

The controlling style tends to be active, independent and ambitious, giving an appearance of self-confidence. He tends to take the initiative with other individuals and in groups. He enjoys running things, which he may do with a take-charge attitude. He usually makes decisions easily and sometimes rapidly, having about him a sense of urgency. I definitely met controllers in the industry, taking the lead when quick decisions are required. Decisions in the industry do not always lend itself for quick response, analysis often have to back-up and support the right decisions, hence more advanced technologies are implemented to facilitate quick and accurate decision making.

The analyzing style tends to take a problem-solving approach to situations, oriented more towards ideas and concepts than towards feelings. Would this be the ultimate personality style in the Oil & Gas industry? Or would this lead to a more reactive approach, looking for solutions when the problem already occurred?

Any thoughts on the ultimate personality style in the Oil & Gas industry? Let me know in the comment section.

By Sandra Hijnen

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