“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” spoken by Atticus Finch, in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee.
How do you “truly” climb into another’s skin and walk around? It is a hard thing to do, well. For that person may be a different kind of person from you, from a different time, and from a different place.
My avocation since I was a child was as a Viking bystander. My vocation lately has been as a Viking reader of books and people.
One can try to “climb into another’s skin” through watching a movie or play, or reading a book. This is something we can do as humans. We can visit different lands and different tribes – the modern words for “lands” and “tribes” is countries and cultures. We can also visit some different “ages” – through movies and living in cultures that are different than your “culture” – although there are limitations and there is a possibility to not really get the “gestalt” of that age and place. Are you just a tourist or just an anthropologist?
Please Understand Me. Mostly, we don’t understand “truly” – the Temperament, the Tribe, the Age that is not like us.
But we can try.
Here are some autobiographies of the various Temperaments, many from a different time and different place. Climb into the person’s skin, and walk around in it – at least for awhile.
Rationals [Strategic]
Engineers [Reactive Rationals]
Ben Franklin (Inventor) [Expressive Engineer]
Mark Twain (Inventor) [Expressive Engineer]
Paul Allen (Inventor) [Expressive Engineer]
Charles Darwin (Architect) [Attentive Engineer]
Linus Torvalds (Architect) [Attentive Engineer]
Coordinators [Proactive Rationals]
Margaret Thatcher (Fieldmarshal) [Expressive Coordinator]
Ulysses S. Grant (Mastermind) [Attentive Coordinator]
Peter Drucker (Mastermind) [Attentive Coordinator]
Idealists [Diplomatic]
Mentors [Proactive Idealists]
Jane Goodall (Counselor) [Attentive Mentor]
Mohandas Gandhi (Counselor) [Attentive Mentor]
Jane Fonda (Teacher) [Expressive Mentor]
Advocates [Reactive Idealists]
Albert Schweitzer (Healer) [Attentive Advocate]
Karen Armstrong (Healer) [Attentive Advocate]
Joan Baez (Champion) [Expressive Advocate]
Artisans [Tactical]
Operators [Proactive Artisans]
Katherine Hepburn (Crafter) [Attentive Operator]
Lance Armstrong (Crafter) [Attentive Operator]
Donald Trump (Promoter) [Expressive Operator]
Theodore Roosevelt (Promoter) [Expressive Operator]
Entertainers [Reactive Artisans]
Neil Simon (Composer) [Attentive Entertainer]
Jim Cramer (Performer) [Expressive Entertainer]
Bill Clinton (Performer) [Expressive Entertainer]
Guardians [Logistical]
Conservators [Reactive Guardians]
Barbara Walters (Provider) [Expressive Conservator]
Sam Walton (Provider) [Expressive Conservator]
George H. W. Bush (Protector) [Attentive Conservator]
Administrators [Proactive Guardians]
Lilly Ledbetter (Inspector) [Attentive Administrator]
Andrea Mitchell (Inspector) [Attentive Administrator]
Mike Wallace (Supervisor) [Expressive Administrator]
Judith Sheindlin (Supervisor) [Expressive Administrator]
Sonia Sotomayor (Supervisor) [Expressive Administrator]