Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children, is a renowned linguistics professor who starts to forget words. When she receives a devastating diagnosis, Alice and her family find their bonds tested.
Caring, serious, driven by deeply held values, wants to change things for the better, perceptive, insightful, independent, up for the cause, ‘big picture,’ creative, idealistic, planning, follow through.
Not their forte
Difficult to know, complex, values-driven so needs to believe in a project or organisation, emotional but rarely show their emotions, intense, sensitive can get offended, can ignore ‘irrelevant’ facts.
Practical problem solver, spontaneous, action oriented, no need to plan, loves a crisis and challenge, unfazed by pressure, great store of facts and knowledge, robust, immerse themselves, cool head.
Not their forte
Planning, steady state, chitchat, terse, economic communication when they’re in the zone, often don’t understand their impact big-picture thinking, anything woolly or emotional, difficult to read, blunt.
Caring, the ‘glue’ for the team, great at reading situations, genuinely tunes into people, quiet, introspective but at the heart of what’s going on, laid back, flexible, patient, kindly, creative, artistic.
Not their forte
Dislike conflict or fast-paced environments with no time to reflect, don’t like to upset people so may passively agree, difficult to know, behind the scenes, not a planner or organised, lives for the moment.
Shy so not the centre of attention, complex and difficult to know, can want to maintain harmony at all costs, need meaning in tasks, not detailed or a planner, looks forward rather then ‘here and now.’
Built to manage, create a plan, marshal the troops and drive for closure, brings clarity and order, strong work ethic, determined, detailed, factual, process-driven, traditional, brings discipline.
Not their forte
New initiatives, they prefer the ‘tried and tested,’ ‘let’s just see’ would irritate them, they need a plan, clear communicator but can be very blunt, competitive, need to control, not creative or ideas driven.