This past weekend, my wife told me that I was a Type A Personality. She didn’t mean it to be offensive by any means, but nonetheless, the statement threw me for a loop, because I had always considered myself as the opposite of a Type A (Type B).

Quite a while ago, I read the book “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.” It was the book about the Enron corporation and the people who were behind that whole train wreck. That book had always shaped my view of a Type A Personality. My perception of Type A people was that they were extremely driven, highly motivated, ruthless people who would stop at nothing to reach their goal. Sacrificing ethics, morals, and knocking people over to get what they wanted.

You can imagine my surprise when my wife told me that she thought I was one of those people. I didn’t take it personally, but it certainly piqued my interest. My first reaction was to brush the statement off and had her look up the traits of a Type A personality on Wikipedia. Surely after reading the Wikipedia definition of a Type A my wife would come to her senses and realize she was wrong … wrong!

She did and we went through the list of things that makes a person a type a personality: ambitious, aggressive, controlling, business-like, highly competitive, impatient, pre-occupied with his or her status, time-concious, and tightly-wound.

Again, I shrugged off the accusation even after going through the list. I did, however, make a mental note to do some self-reflection later on. After some thought, I’ve come the conclusion that I am somewhat Type A. Although, I think, as with most things in life, I tend to be in the middle of the two personalities. I would probably ultimately classify myself as a Type AB personality with more emphasis towards the Type B.

The really surprising thing to me is that i never considered myself to be a Type A personality at all. I’m still not sold on the fact that anyone views me that way at all. I can’t say as all the attributes of a Type A fit me, but I certainly do have a lot of the traits. ambitious, a bit controlling, highly competitive, impatient, time-concious.