During my college resident assistant orientation, we went through multiple leadership and staff building exercises. One assessment that stood out most was the True Colors™ assessment.
True Colors™ * is a personality test developed by Don Lowry in 1978. Originally created to categorize four basic learning styles to identify the strengths and challenges of these core personality types, True Colors™ helps us to understand different personality temperaments.
The concept behind True Colors™ is we aren’t put into the box of one, with the understanding that our personality traits are fluid and can adjust based on our environment or circumstances. True Colors is a way to understand the how our behaviors and motivations relate to our own to increase camaraderie, improve communication, and limit potential conflict.
This was particularly useful when I started working with my fellow RAs. When we took True Colors, we were excited to see that we each embodied one of the four personality types: Orange, Gold, Green, or Blue. After a while, we would refer to each other by color only, and when conflict arose or when we came together for meetings and to plan activities for our residents, we were able to understand why someone made a particular decision as well as how to work together.
True Colors™ can be used by college residential staff, supervisors, teachers, and more. I would venture to say that it’s particularly useful for school social workers, counselors, teachers, and anyone else that works with younger people as it can help you tailor your lesson plans and weekly counseling sessions based on the color of the young people you’re working with.
One thing worth mentioning: While you may dominate in a particular color, there’s no better or worse color. Each color is design to compliment the others, and you can flow in and out of your dominant color throughout your lifetime. Before reading on, I highly recommend you take the assessment. Here’s the official link to purchase True Colors™ for your staff or students. It includes the assessment as well as a detailed report of your colors by ranking and cover different areas where your color can come into play such as an work environment, school, childhood, time management, and how others may perceive you. Here’s a sample report. (And no, I’m not affiliated with True Colors™.)
If you want to take the exam without purchasing, check out this assessment based on True Colors developed by Lone Star College, or the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill’s version created by the university’s Department of Campus Recreation.
Once you take the assessment, come back and read more about the colors:
Gold : Gold represents organization, structure, and discipline. Considered the most responsible, Golds like being on time, are dependable, like to fulfill their obligations, and don’t take kindly to disorganized people or situations, lack of planning, and thinking before speaking or doing. Other positive traits to describe Golds include faithful, obedient, practical, orderly, stable, helpful, systematic, and efficient. Any traits of concern? Well, Golds can sometimes be perceived as bossy, put work before play and family, are obsessive and judgmental, and lack the ability to plan on the fly.
Orange : Orange represents excitement, action, motivation. Considered the life of the party, Oranges desire liveliness, adventure, and desire for freedom, and are easy to identify compared to the other colors. Oranges don’t do well with rules, deadlines, extensive paperwork, and too much structure.Other positive traits to describe Oranges include ambition, playfulness, charismatic, and the ability to make decisions on the client. Traits to watch out for include impulsivity, thinking before speaking, and the lack of ability for detailed planning. Pretty much the opposite of Golds.
Green : Green represents logic, thinking, and problem solving. Considered visionaries, Greens are motivated by anything that allows for the use of logic. Greens are more drawn to math and science and business. Like Oranges, Greens aren’t fans of routine, but unlike Oranges, Greens don’t care much for small talk, incompetence, having to attend too many social functions, and being forced to argue without logic or reason. Other positive traits include self-sufficiency, accurate, persistence, and intellect. Traits that may make Greens look unappealing include being very wordy, being too independent, and going away from the fold.
Blue : Blue represents calm, sensitivity, and tranquility. Considered the nurturers, Blues love to help out in any way they can, value friendships, and will go the extra mile for others. Blues don’t like lying, being rejected, violence, and sarcasm, much to Green’s chagrin. Other positive traits include inspirational, spiritual, peace maker, romantic, and loyals. Other traits you’ll pick up on include Blues’ ability to be passive, suppress problems, being overly emotional, and they can sometimes overdo it with the generosity.
As you discover more about your color, you’ll also start to see those traits more in yourself and you may be able to spot the traits from the other colors in your friends, students, classmates, and co-workers. Encourage them to take True Colors™ and see where they fall.
(And bonus points if you can guess which color I am. Hint: While I dominate in one color, I’ve become a blending of two colors in the time since I originally took the assessment. Ok. That wasn’t much of a hint.)
*I am not affiliated with True Colors International
