That test has a lot of limitations, because various questions involved scenarios where none of the choices matched what I would do. However, this was my result:
You are more of a public introvert and private extrovert
Within your circle of family and friends, you are completely at ease and it’s often you who takes the lead to organise outings, dinners, vacations, etc. However, as soon as you are in a public or professional setting you become rather inhibited. You don’t feel in tune with what you would qualify as agitation, rivalry or vainglory and this can sometimes appear to others as a kind of hidden criticism or a lack of ambition. In fact, your pragmatic temperament helps you successfully manage problems as and when they arise. You aren’t the kind to calculate your every move and plan every inch of your life, and you find the sphere of family and friends to be much more gratifying to the professional sphere. You are more expressive in emotional, sensorial and human terms and at home your organisation skills and capacity to oil the family wheels work well and many of your family and friends appreciate your qualities and skills. At first glance, people find it hard to understand how you could be so comfortable organising your private life and then seem to lose the better part of your self-confidence when you’re in public. Maybe it’s a question of rhythm? If you feel comfortable in your domestic rhythm it’s perhaps because it works more on a short-term basis (day, week or more rarely a month). On the contrary, the rhythm of professional life seems less concrete and more distant as the professional agenda works more to quarterly or annual plans, that you have no control over. Is this the source of your lessened motivation? You can’t control all the cards so you have to adapt and, in fact, that doesn’t interest you at all? If this difference between work and home life doesn’t bother you, then carry on. However, if you feel frustrated by this imbalance, it could be useful to look into the deeper reasons (either on your own or with someone else) that keep you less focused on professional ambition. For instance, such reasons could be: a lack of thanks and recognition, a fear of not being up to the mark… It’s up to you to find out.
Here's my response:
"Ambition" means different things to different people. In the sense of drive, motivation, and an abhorrence of being idle, I am extremely ambitious. My days of mowing 6 acres with a little 19" Toro Whirlwind lawn mower are something that I look back on with MUCH fondness. That's why my present scoliosis, degenerative disc disease, onset of spinal stenosis, and need to apply for SSI are so damned frustrating. I don't want it ! But 'ambition' in the sense of aggressively steamrolling over everyone in your path to go as high as you can and then dictating down from the top? NEVER. If I had the opportunity to replace one of those types at the top, I would. But I would not take a dump at the top of the ladder and let it fall on anyone below. You can lead without being a ruthless bastard. You have to be careful that kindness is not mistaken for being weakness, but that's where sound judgment comes in. And that begins by genuinely placing the good of everyone ahead of your own personal desires and making that stick with yourself. No falling into the lures of power, fame, fortune, sex, heightened stimulation, nothing. No self-serving crap of any kind. EVER. You have an obligation to your people who are depending upon you. There are no unimportant subordinates. Either you are a conscientious person who has only the best of intentions for your people, or you are a self-important egotist. There is nothing in between. And it takes constant self-analysis to make certain that nothing self-serving filters in. A stranger is not going to sit you down on a couch and be able to go as thoroughly through your mind as you can. A 'trusted' inner circle of advisors can be helpful to point out things that you might be unaware of or too close to, but always keep that little bit of healthy wariness. You know your own mind; you are not inside any of theirs.
Inhibition? Lack of self-confidence? No. The one other thing that I would add is that even at the top of any organization, a leader has to acknowledge the fact that there will always be factors in play at times that are beyond anyone's control. In those instances all you can do is your best, with the best of intentions. When an ego is too determined to force something that simply can't be forced, it's a recipe for disaster. A calculated risk is one thing; blind bullheadedness is quite another.
. Although, it wasn't as dramatic as literally decking someone. The point is, I stood up to the bully and it worked.
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