When listening to it this morning, I thought about how we process information and express ourselves. Some people are very emotive people, some people seem to fancy themselves as Mr. Spock-like logicians, but there are a lot of people who have varying degrees of both characteristics--emotion/logic. I myself seem to be be strongly steeped with both, sometimes seemingly competing for my approval or expression. Everyone is different and you may see yourself as strongly emotive, strongly a logician or both. I guess it's all a matter of interpretation. In any case, each characteristic has its benefits and drawbacks and I believe in a good balance can work well together. So let's consider all this from what I see:
- Emotive People
- Logical People
Emotive People - Driven primarily by passions or emotions
- Benefits
- They can be some of the most sensitive or empathetic people.
- They can be some of the most driven people.
- If you passionately believe in a cause, you will be more inclined to push/live it.
- If you passionately believe in a cause, you will be less likely to give up when facing adversity.
- Drawbacks
- Their passions when unchecked can draw them down the wrong paths.
- Their passions when unchecked can keep them stuck in the wrong direction.
- Their energy when unfocused can be tiring, ineffective, and be used against them.
Logicians - Driven primarily the 'need' to be (or appear) logical
- Benefits
- They aren't weighed down by the "burden" of excess emotion.
- They can see beyond the overwrought emotions of issues/situations and see what is really important and what is overwrought.
- They can make cool and calculated decisions in times of crisis when more emotive types can melt under pressure.
- Drawbacks
- They can come across as very insensitive or lacking empathy. While leaders need to be logical and cool under pressure, they also need to be able to connect when people are suffering.
- Their decisions, while possibly for the best, can turn people off as they can seem to be heartless.
- By focusing too much on logic, they may not have developed the relationships and passion necessary to push through necessary changes.
A quick way to summarize emotive vs. logical is this. Emotive people will tend to have the emotional understanding and the passion needed to accomplish great things--large or small-- and motivate people, but the passion can sometimes can overwhelm and blind them to the best approach. Logicians will tend to have the intellectual insight to see beyond the emotional clutter and be cool under pressure, but they can miss the necessary human nature or human touch that can motivate people. For me, in an optimal mix, a person will have a strong emotive side which fuels their passions to accomplish great things, but also have a strong logician side to focus, utilize and guide their emotive side rather than suppress it.
Just as the world cannot operate on one personality type. We need creative type to think outside the box and invent, but we also need the orderly type to manage the chaos. And so it is with emotive vs. logicians. We need emotive people with the passion to push necessary social change, but we need logicians to help implement necessary change in the best way possible. I guess the takeaway is this, embrace the personality type that best reflects you (emotive vs. logician) and utilize it to your advantage, but be open to elements of or people who favor the other.
