When considering diversity, most traditionally think of differences, differences in ethnicity, gender and generation. But differences that run to the core of who we are can play a major role in how fire chiefs and firefighters communicate.

Diversity and sensitivity training provided to many public service employees outlines the idea of embracing individual differences. This concept is important. However, contained and often hidden deeply within the traditional ideology of diversity are the root differences of individual personality. In his book Organizational Behavior, Stephen Robbins writes “personality is the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others.”

There are three main determinates that create an individual's personality: heredity, environment and situation. Heredity refers to those factors that were determined at birth. Physical stature, gender, temperament and biological rhythms are all characteristics determined in full or in part by genetics. Recent research suggests that personality traits such as shyness, fear and distress also are inherited.

The second determinant is environment. This is the culture in which we were raised. Childhood conditioning, family norms, friends and social groups all play an important part in who we are personally. Culture establishes the norms, attitudes and values that are passed down from one generation to another. For example, evidence suggests that individuals who come from hard-working families tend to have a strong work ethic. During childhood, early value systems and ethical philosophies are borne from these culturally instilled beliefs. Many psychologists believe our personalities are ingrained from these early experiences and become the footing on which future values and beliefs are built. Environmental issues are related to culture influences in as much as they involve economic class, overall mental and physical health and accessibility to health care services, societal prejudices, mainstream ethical beliefs, and individual esteem.

The third determinate of personality is that of the situation involved in at the time. Situation heavily influences the environment and heredity determinates by providing a venue for personality. For example, in a job interview an individual's personality traits are likely to be much more subdued than if that same person was interacting with family or friends at a party. Putting these together, personalities set the tone for communication.

So is there an effective method to communicate to an entire group of individuals with differing personalities, such as firefighters? What vehicle of transmission will the communication use? In regard to the audience, what is a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior? All of these issues are what creates personality, thus should control how communication takes place. This is a very difficult task when dealing with two individuals let alone communicating to an entire staff.

One way to ease this difficulty is through framing. Framing an issue can profoundly affect how people will respond to communication. Much like a lawyer will frame an issue in court, this practice creates boundaries to be discussed to lessen the impact of personality influences. Within that frame, common ground and shared values should be brought to the forefront. Finding commonality in the values and beliefs that create an individual's personality will increase understanding and acceptance of the issues. In his book Winning them Over, a New Model for Managing in the Age of Persuasion, Jay Conger writes that an individual's personality also includes meeting basic needs of acceptance and esteem. Therefore, identifying shared goals and rewards will increase the probability of successful organizational communication. Celebrating the success of the organization together is a method of building organizational equity to be used for future changes.

There are a seemingly infinite number of personality theories and even more ways to evaluate or measure individual personality. One of the more popular concepts is the Jungian Theory. Carl Gustav Jung worked closely with Sigmund Freud in the early 1900s. The two broke apart soon after Jung developed a theory that did not completely coincide with Freud's theories. Jung's theory developed two function-attitudes of living in this world: being extroverted and being introverted. Some see the difference as being sociable or solitary, talkative or quiet.

But this is not what Jung originally intended. Extroversion is having focus on the outside concrete world and interacting with it. Introversion is focusing on the inner mental world and interacting with it. Jung also said there are four basic functions, two of them being perceiving functions and two being judgment functions. The perceiving functions are two basic ways of gathering data about a particular world (inside or out). The first way is through sensing, in that sensing experiences nothing but the object itself. The other way is through intuition which experiences patterns, and what is hidden beneath the surface of an experience.

The two judgment functions are thinking and feeling, however Jung did not mean for these terms to be taken literally, writes Linda Berens, an organizational consultant and author. Thinking, as a function, is a process, which makes a decision based on objective, impersonal criteria perhaps within their current environment. Feeling is a process, which makes a decision based on how it affects others or personal, subjective values, and concerning the influences instilled by an individual's culture.

In the early 20th century, Katherine Myers developed a classification of personality based on her observations, and only later discovered that it aligned with the more scientific theories of Jung. Myers' daughter, Isabel Myers Briggs, picked up her mother's ideas and tried to turn them into practical use. She created type indicators and spent most of the 1950s and 1960s validating them. However, it was not until 1975 that these indicators became an established tool in occupational psychology.

The mother-and-daughter team found Jung's types and functions so revealing of people's personalities that they developed a paper-and-pencil test. This test came to be called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and remains one of the most popular and most studied personality tests used today.

Based on the answers from about 125 questions, a person is placed in one of 16 types, with the understanding that some people may be somewhere between two or three types. The type says quite a bit about a person such as, likes and dislikes, likely career choices, compatibility with others, and so on. The MBTI has the unusual quality among other personality tests of not being too judgmental. George Boeree, a psychology professor at Shippensburg University wrote that none of the types is terribly negative, nor is any overly positive. Rather than assessing how crazy one is, the test simply opens up personality for exploration.

By having this knowledge, one could surmise that understanding the sender and receiver's personality could only benefit communication if only for the simple reason of awareness. This concept is more acceptable when communication is taking place between two people, but what if the communication is presented to an entire organization or station house? Is it plausible that an average organizational-wide type-indicator could be measured for the leaders to better communicate to a mass audience? If so, one could then hypothesize that an average type-indicator has the potential of finding common ground and shared language providing a basis for shared goals.

To assess the potential to measure overall organizational personality, I administered the Jung Typology Test to all sworn members of the City of Beloit (Wis.) Fire Department. Similar to the MBTI, the Jung test classifies all people using four criteria: extroversion-introversion; sensing-intuition; thinking-feeling; and judging-perceiving.

Extroversion-introversion defines an individual's source and direction of energy expression. The extrovert has a source and direction of energy expression mainly in the external world while the introvert has a source of energy mainly in the internal world. This personality trait is believed to be borne from both cultural and environment.

The second criterion defines the method of information perception by a person. Sensing means that a person believes mainly information he or she receives directly from the external world. Conversely, intuition means that a person believes mainly information he or she receives from the internal or imaginative world, again also borne from cultural and environmental influence.

The third criterion defines how the person processes information. The thinking trait means that a person makes a decision mainly through logic. Feeling means that, as a rule, he or she makes a decision based on emotion and the situation at hand.

The fourth criterion defines how a person implements the information he or she has processed. Judging means that a person organizes all of life's events and acts strictly according to plans as well as respective values and beliefs; a trait influenced by culture, environment, as well as situation. Perceiving means that the person is inclined to improvise and seek alternatives; this is also persuaded by culture, environment and situation. The strongest traits from each of the four criterion is grouped together to establish an overall personality indicator

The comparative analysis chart (see page 56) provides a further detailed view of overall personality in respect of rank, age, and gender, and includes the culmination of all ethnicities. The comparative analysis exposes an even deeper study of the differences in personality inherent within the fire department. Those in the chief officer rank tended to be introverted or extroverted (overall tie), intuitive, feeling, and judging. According to Jung's theory, they are inclined to be “sage (clever) or mystic idealists.” The groups between ages 18 and 25, 26 and 35, line officers (captains and lieutenants), and firefighters have the propensity of exhibiting the extroverted, sensing, thinking, and judging personality and “enforcing guardians.” In addition, those personnel between the ages of 36 and 53 scored as introverted, sensing, thinking, and judging or “reliant guardians.”

The City of Beloit Fire Department has an extroverted, sensing, thinking and judging personality or, according to Jung, “rational leaders.”

Communicating to this variety of personality traits can be difficult because both or all parties participating in the communication may or are most likely to have differing values and beliefs, not to mention, personality styles. Understanding and being aware of these differences is key to effective communication. Likewise, it is just as important when communicating to an organization comprised of a multitude of personalities. As the organization evolves with changes related to diversity and leadership, measuring personality becomes vital.

In his book Personality Traits and Workplace Culture, Pepperdine University Professor Mark Mallinger writes, “It is imperative that the leader compare their own personality with the culture of the organizational unit in which they work.” Being aware of and having the ability to communicate to an organization constructed of an array of personalities can be of great value to the fire executive and provide to the community a more respected and effective service.

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Timothy Curtis serves as the assistant fire chief for the City of Beloit, Wis. He holds an associate's degree in fire science, a bachelor's degree in management and communications, and a master's degree in executive fire service leadership. He graduated from the U.S. Fire Administration's Executive Fire Officer Program, and was awarded the Chief Fire Officer Designation from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International.