Personality Dimensions® – Meet the Master Trainers

Over the years I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with some really incredible people. One of those truly remarkable people is someone I’d like to introduce you to: Michael Tudor, Personality Dimensions® Level III Master Trainer. Michael, by virtue of his incredibly enthusiastic and joyful way of seeing and communicating with the world, not to mention his high level of energy, is highly memorable. The team here at CLSR always look forward to hearing from him and sharing the photos of his training programs, etc., amongst ourselves. Michael’s contributions to the development of many aspects of Personality Dimensions® are too many to mention. He is another of the key people who I call upon to run ideas past or to assist with developing new materials. And, as Michael always says, “You can’t make this stuff up!” Here, in his own words, is Michael. ~Denise

Michael Tudor

“1) Question posed by Inquiring Green participant during my workshop:

She has just discovered that her husband is an Authentic Blue

Q: ‘Michael I have been with my husband for 25 years. He makes my lunch every day and each time he inserts a love note.’ She pauses. ‘How can I get him to stop?’

2) Comment by Resourceful Orange participant after PD workshop.

‘I went home and told my Organized Gold fiancée that I am spontaneous and needed my moments to be impulsive and to go with the flow. She went to her calendar and inserted that information on the dates when I could have those moments.’

 YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP!!!

This is one of the reasons why I have enjoyed presenting Personality Dimensions® workshops since its inception in 2003. Given the subject matter on temperament and the various shadings within each colour one can never predict the “ah ha” moments. But when they happen they are often hilarious and always revealing

It was in 1992 that the head of Co-op at my High School in Scarborough had experienced a True Colors presentation and invited me to take the Level 1 certification. Only armed at that time with a colourless approach to how I operated or behaved in life, the presentation solidified that as an Organized Gold I had other folks in my corner. My training was to enable me to present this tool to co-op students in two high schools in Scarborough– my own,  L’Amoreaux Collegiate Institute and Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute.

In 1996, under the skillful direction of Kathleen Goldstrom (Resourceful Orange), I gained my level II credential. Shortly thereafter I completed my Masters Degree at the University of Toronto with the topic “Empowering Students-at-Risk Using the True Colors philosophy.”

When CLSR embarked on research to support Temperament Theory and then used their findings to make it more reflective of our Canadian culture I was very pleased to be both proof reader and act as an editor at large. The results of all of the research, development and design became what is now known as Personality Dimensions® and as a then Level II Trainer I bridged around 300 participants from other temperament models to Personality Dimensions®.

During my 20 year tenure as an instructor in the Initial Teacher Education Program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto, I incorporated Personality Dimensions throughout the course. Using this tool, Teacher Candidates were able to articulate their strengths and limitations and to expand their teaching repertoire.

Without fail, the course evaluations for my course mentioned Personality Dimensions® as the highlight of their program.

Whether I am presenting to high school students or to faculty members of various universities or to the corporate world the results are the same. Audiences leave with a tremendous sense of satisfaction. I, in turn, leave with a wow feeling-EVERY TIME.

During the last few years, in concert with my husband, Larry Konyu, we have been running 3 day Level I and II certification programs. Calling upon the repertoire we have gained from conducting thousands of workshops, the certification programs are filled with up to date anecdotes and facilitation does and cautions. Not a minute is wasted.

It gives me great pleasure to mention that I have certified the following esteemed PD colleagues to get their level II. Among others- Kate Jones, Anne Bulstrode, Susan Geary, Helen Bailey, Parag Grewal, Drew Fockler and Marie Logan.

Our Level I trainees often tell us that they are sad to see the program end. It doesn’t get much better than that.

My fourth colour preference is Inquiring Green. It wasn’t until I began conducting Personality Dimensions® workshops that I discovered that my father’s preferred colour preference was Inquiring Green. That was my “ah ha” moment. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1989, five years before I acquired this knowledge. If I had known more about his temperament when I was growing up it would have enhanced our relationship. To this end, I consider Personality Dimensions® as a gift to give to my audiences.

Finally, here is an anecdote about how all four colours react to the Personality Dimensions® assessment part of the workshop — specifically the card sort. Stress can come in four different colours.

• Authentic Blue participant. ‘I feel I am part of everyone’s life so I would rather give everyone a score of 4. But Michael said I must score 1-4. That means someone has to come in last. This makes me uncomfortable.’
• Inquiring Green participant: ‘I can’t possibly do this in such a short period. Is there a book with additional reading?’
• Resourceful Orange participant: ‘I know what I am already. I can’t believe all of this paperwork. If I had known….’
• Organized Gold participant: ‘Michael, thank you for the four cards and the participant pack envelope. Very neat. I can score 1-4 no problem. By the way, if the world were all like us we would be a lot better off.'”

 

Degrees: M.Ed in Special Education and Instruction; Honours B.A. (Psychology)

Certifications/Qualifications: MBTI facilitator; Tribes Trainer; Personality Dimensions Master Facilitator/Trainer.

Contributions to Personality Dimensions include:

Co-author: Differentiated Instruction: Personality Dimensions and Learning Styles (with husband Larry Konyu)

DVD: The Lighter Side of Talking in Colour.

Michael has also authored the book: Practical Classroom Strategies For Every Teacher.

Michael can be reached at michaeltudor@rogers.com or through his website at www.kondor.ca.

Personality Dimensions® – Core, Developed, and Contextual Self

Image © Linda Berens

Every once in a while someone will ask if it’s possible to identify the colour preference of  children, or if their preference carries through to adulthood. We haven’t done specific research on this but it is accepted temperament theory that children are clear in their colour preference and that it develops as they mature – the Core Self becomes the Developed Self and Contextual Self (thanks to Linda Berens for these terrific identifiers). Well, I can’t speak for other people but I’d like to tell you a couple of stories from my own childhood that illustrate my first colour preference has certainly remained consistent.

 

I am the oldest child in my family. My Dad had a sliver grey ‘58 Pontiac sedan that he kept in top running condition. And I spent hours leaning over the side of the hood watching what he was doing and driving him crazy with questions about how everything worked. My kindergarten teacher even remarked to my parents at one time that she thought I could build the car myself. To this day I am still fascinated by how things work.

When I was 7 years old my Dad took my cousin and I to see the circus. That was a huge treat at the time (remember, that was over 55 years ago; circuses were a very big deal). I was fascinated by the whole thing –- the performances, the music, the animals – and all the special lighting effects and how the trapezes and draperies, etc., were raised and lowered. The next evening during dinner my Mother and Father were talking about the show and I was so surprised to hear my Dad say, “I don’t think Denise saw any of the show, she was so busy looking up, watching whatever was going on in the rafters.” I was stunned. Of course I had seen the show! But I’d also enjoyed figuring out how all the other things were working – eventually estimating, by the timing of the lights or the change in backdrop or draperies when something else was going to happen (it’s actually still quite clear in my mind). Fascinating stuff to a 7 year old, or, at least, a 7 year old Inquiring Green. My parents must have wondered what made me tick from time to time.

Now it’s your turn. I’d love to hear your stories about you as a child. Do you see yourself as representing your first colour preference/temperament as a child? I hope you will share some of  your “colourful” stories.

 

Onward and upward from the back office … Denise

Denise Hughes is the Director and owner of Career/LifeSkills Resources Inc. and general editor of Personality Dimensions® materials and products. She just noticed the calendar and realized it is just past the 42nd anniversary of her introduction to career and type and temperament materials. Those experiences and the expertise she gained through her years with the Guidance Centre, University of Toronto, and now with CLSR, continue to shape the direction that both Career/LifeSkills Resources and Personality Dimensions® take.