“I’m singing on my way to work.” Peter wrote. “Thank you.” I forget exactly what Peter did when we started working together 5 years ago, something in the healthcare business sector in New Haven. He hated being trapped in a cubicle looking at spreadsheets all day. I gave Peter our career profiling tests and quickly saw a few issues:
(1) He was a Point 2 in the Enneagram System. The nickname for Point 2s is “the Giver”. Sitting behind a desk all day not helping anyone goes against a Point 2’s Core Motivation to derive satisfaction from helping others.
(2) He was an ESFP in the Myers Briggs system. The nickname for this type is “the Entertainer”. ESFPs like to tell stories and jokes and engage with others. They think out loud. They are fun. They don’t sit behind a desk.
When I suggested nursing to Peter, he did a double take. As a forty year old male, he was conditioned in the archaic gender view of nursing as a female profession and then said: “I can’t believe you said that as I always thought I would be a good nurse but never considered it because guys didn’t go into nursing.”
Now guys do. And 5 years ago, Peter began his nursing education. He loves his work.
(1) He was a Point 2 in the Enneagram System. The nickname for Point 2s is “the Giver”. Sitting behind a desk all day not helping anyone goes against a Point 2’s Core Motivation to derive satisfaction from helping others.
(2) He was an ESFP in the Myers Briggs system. The nickname for this type is “the Entertainer”. ESFPs like to tell stories and jokes and engage with others. They think out loud. They are fun. They don’t sit behind a desk.
When I suggested nursing to Peter, he did a double take. As a forty year old male, he was conditioned in the archaic gender view of nursing as a female profession and then said: “I can’t believe you said that as I always thought I would be a good nurse but never considered it because guys didn’t go into nursing.”
Now guys do. And 5 years ago, Peter began his nursing education. He loves his work.