There is more to feng shui than simply moving furniture around; feng shui relates to energy, and this extends to people as well! There is the unseen presence of energy in different personalities that can make-or-break the team in your business.
In feng shui, each of the earth’s properties is related to a personality type. Therefore, each person relates to a tangible item: wood, fire, earth, metal or water. These elements are naturally arranged to help and support each other, similar to how they work in nature.
It is easy to see the parallels in nature: water makes trees grow, wood feeds the fire, ash turns to earth then, compresses to form metals… that move water; and the cycle continues. It’s the same with people.
The extroverts are primarily wood-people and fire-people. They are both energetic, personal and hard working so they make great sales people, event organizers, actors and politicians.
Wood-people are enthusiastic and can run with any idea. They gather people to help and are great at delegating. Fire-people feed off these ideas; they need to be in the limelight and are passionate fighters for their cause.
The introverts are metal-people and water people. These groups work well at a slower pace. Metal-people are notorious for enforcing policy and procedures at their workplace.
They are meticulous at their jobs and make great employees in banking or accounting, health and safety, draftsmen or in the IT industry. Metal-people can be quite creative and make dedicated team players.
Water-people are also quiet, but more pontifical in their approach. They have no need for social outlets or feedback from anyone as they are quite confident in their own skin. They look at the big picture and try to sort out ’cause and effect’ as well as the impact on the future.
Often, two personality types (introvert and extravert for example) don’t see eye to eye. Not unusual, as each one has the potential to bury another, i.e.: water can put out fire, fire can melt metal, metal can chop wood, etc.
There is one group however, that is well-grounded, nurturing, organized and even tempered; the not-so-insignificant earth-people. Earth people are the facilitators of the cycle. They do what they can to support a cause, they are empathetic, and can listen to reasonable arguments on both sides.
They make fabulous human resource persons, health care workers, executive assistants and great moms. Without earth people to balance the cycle in a group, there could be a division of the ranks.
When looking for a business partner or building your team, you need to look for skills and attributes from a number of elements.
Best friends from college don’t necessarily make the best roommates or even business partners. Nor does it make sense to hire a sales team without thinking of the big picture; who will do the accounting and customer service?
Keep these traits in mind when hiring for your team:
- Wood-people make great sales persons. They are energetic, have great ideas and make great connections. They can be flexible dealing with people and negotiations.
- Fire-people make great spoke-persons for a cause. They are passionate, have drive, and can attract attention. Fire-people can be exhausting to work with, so keep them busy.
- Earth-people are a calming voice in a stressful environment. They are empathetic to others, take care of small details and treat others in a respectful way. They make great listeners and great arbitrators to settle differences with fairness and respect.
- Metal-people can be the back bone of an organization. It takes self discipline to balance the accounts, sort out cash flow and keep devices and apps current and operational.
- Water-people can be the most unstable. They often sound off, yet come up with great ideas on how to improve things or run things better. They thrive on cerebral puzzles and make great visionaries when in the right place. Forecasting the future growth of a company takes time and visualization; and, they don’t want to do the work themselves.
If you look around your work place, I’m sure you can identify some of the character traits listed above. You may realize that some of your ‘best people’ are already in their ‘best positions’; others perhaps not!
The reality is that we need all types of skills to excel in all types of tasks.
All these personality types can support each other in the cycle of elements.
We need all of these skills within the elements to form a well-balanced cycle. If you work within a large business, you may have the benefit of having several people in each of these areas and can focus on their strengths.
As an entrepreneur, you may not have the luxury of hiring a team to do all the tedious tasks that you don’t like to do. But, these tasks need to be done. A well rounded person will have skills in all of these traits, some stronger than others.
If you have any weaknesses in any of these areas: hire some help, take a course or delegate these tasks to a professional.
Having a well-balanced team is the key to a well-balanced business!
All the best,
Kathryn
About the Author, Kathryn Wilking
Kathryn of Kathryn Wilking Designs is a Professional Member of the International Feng Shui Guild, and Author, Teacher and Feng Shui Consultant and is available for innovative talks for workshops and Lunch 'n Learn programs.
Sign up to receive a FREE copy of her "Bucket or Chuck-it" PDF report as well as monthly tips on creating a healthy and happy environment at www.kathrynwilking.com
