Do What You Are

Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type

by Paul D. Tieger, Barbara Barron, Kelly Tieger

4.4(1,032 ratings)

11 min read

Brief overview

This book is a practical guide to understanding how your personality type can point you toward more fulfilling work. It details a framework for identifying core preferences and shows how they shape thinking, communication, and motivation. By recognizing your strengths and blind spots, you can better align your career path with your authentic self.

Introduction

Personality type is a surprisingly powerful lens, helping people make sense of their work preferences, communication styles, and career goals. When you understand your type, you can more effectively choose tasks and settings that feel right, instead of forcing yourself into roles that drain you.

The core idea is that each person has distinct natural inclinations—certain ways they gather information, make decisions, and interact with the world. By respecting these natural patterns, you are better able to find work that matches your strengths, ultimately leading to higher satisfaction.

Throughout these pages, you will learn about four temperament categories, sixteen personality types, and how elements like Sensing, Intuition, Thinking, and Feeling operate in daily life. The goal is to help you spot which modes of thinking fuel your ambitions and which ones may hold you back.

Knowing yourself at a fundamental level is the starting point for all meaningful career decisions.

The Power of Personality Type

We often sense that certain tasks fire us up, while others leave us cold, without fully understanding why. Personality type provides a structured way of explaining these preferences. Different types focus on different specifics, whether that’s hands-on tasks, big-picture ideas, personal connections, or data analysis.

By looking at four key preference pairs (Extraversion vs. Introversion, Sensing vs. Intuition, Thinking vs. Feeling, and Judging vs. Perceiving), you can see how behaviors fit together to form a coherent whole. For instance, some people are energized by active teamwork, while others need quiet, independent time to be at their best.

Changing careers or finding greater fulfillment in your current job often starts with realizing you are not meant to replicate someone else’s approach. Instead, it’s about leveraging your natural strengths—whether that’s conceptualizing frameworks, empathizing with people, or methodically tracking details—and minimizing situations that highlight your vulnerabilities.

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What is Do What You Are about?

In "Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type," authors Paul D. Tieger, Barbara Barron, and Kelly Tieger offer a transformative exploration of personality types and their profound impact on our career choices. Leveraging the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), an established framework used worldwide, the book sheds light on how understanding your personality type can lead to a more fulfilling work life. By tapping into your intrinsic traits, you uncover not only what motivates and energizes you but also how you can sidestep potential career pitfalls.

This book serves as a roadmap to aligning professional pursuits with core personality traits, enhancing both career satisfaction and overall life quality. By acknowledging and capitalizing on individual strengths while recognizing common blind spots, readers can devise career strategies that are both successful and personally rewarding. "Do What You Are" emphasizes that knowledge of self is the cornerstone of professional happiness and productivity. By aligning one's career path with inherent passions and abilities, it transforms work from a daily grind into a realm of enthusiasm and growth.

Review of Do What You Are

"Do What You Are" stands out as a meticulously insightful guide that appeals to anyone looking to harmonize their career with their personal identity. One of its key strengths lies in how it breaks down the nuances of the 16 personality types, offering readers valuable insights into their own core preferences, strengths, and potential pitfalls. This makes it possible for anyone—regardless of career stage—to apply these insights practically in real-world settings.

Paul D. Tieger, Barbara Barron, and Kelly Tieger have struck a perfect balance between thoroughness and accessibility, making the book's concepts easy to understand and apply. Their engaging writing style that mixes professional insights with relatable examples ensures that readers from any walk of life discover actionable takeaways that resonate personally. The book's practical approach empowers readers to make informed decisions that enhance their career satisfaction and self-discovery journey.

I highly recommend "Do What You Are" to those hoping to reconcile personal traits with career goals, as it goes beyond typical job-seeking advice. The clear, evidence-based guidance and self-assessment tools provided make it a valuable resource for sustainable career happiness and performance. For anyone striving to find their true calling or improve their existing career circumstances, this book is an invaluable companion.

Who should read Do What You Are?

Recent graduates who are uncertain about their career paths or feel unsure of where their unique strengths can be best utilized.
Mid-career professionals who have experienced burnout or dissatisfaction and are looking to realign their careers with personal values.
Career counselors and coaches who aim to provide deep insights and practical tools to help clients discover aligned career paths.
Managers and HR professionals interested in understanding team dynamics better for improved work relationships and productivity.
Individuals considering a career transition or shift later in life, seeking to find renewed passion and satisfaction in their work.

About the author

Paul D. Tieger, Barbara Barron, and Kelly Tieger are the authors of "Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type". Paul D. Tieger is an internationally recognized expert on Personality Type and has written five breakthrough books on the subject. He has been training professionals in the use of Personality Type for over 32 years and has helped over one million people find career satisfaction and success. Barbara Barron is also an expert in Personality Type and has co-authored several books with Paul D. Tieger, while Kelly Tieger has contributed research to the fourth edition of the book and has been exposed to Personality Type her whole life.