The Supervisor

Trading Strengths

• Strong Practical Skills – Supervisors are excellent managers of day-to-day tasks and routine maintenance, enjoying making sure that those who are close to them are well cared for.  In trading, Supervisors think well on their feet and are not afraid to act.  They like formulaic, structured analysis that allows them to follow a linear path to a decision.  

• Strong Sense of Duty – People with the Supervisor personality type have a strong sense of responsibility and strive to meet their obligations, though this may sometimes be more from a sense of social expectations than intrinsic drive.  In trading, Supervisors are self-starters and are happy to take action quickly.

• Very Loyal – Valuing stability and security very highly, Supervisors are eager to preserve the status quo, which makes them extremely loyal and trustworthy partners and employees. Supervisors are true pillars of any groups they belong to – whether it is their family or a community club, people with this personality type can always be relied upon.  This trait of loyalty coupled with their outgoing natures makes trading in a group the ideal fit for Supervisors.

• Sensitive and Warm – Helping to ensure stability, Supervisor personalities seek harmony and care deeply about other people’s feelings, being careful not to offend or hurt anybody. Supervisors are strong team players, and win-win situations are the stuff smiles are made of.  This sensitivity allows them to understand the markets on the psychological level, and to understand the feelings and motivations of the institutional decision-makers that move the markets.  This translates to a sometimes unexplainable intuition about market direction, tops and bottoms, and sector rotation.

• Good at Connecting with Others – These qualities come together to make Supervisors social, comfortable, and well-liked. Supervisor personalities have a strong need to “belong”, and have no problem with small talk or following social cues in order to help them take an active role in their communities.  The Supervisors’ energy and need for social connection again makes it ideal for them to trade in a group or networked environment.

Trading Weaknesses

• Worried about Their Social Status – These Strengths are related to a chief Weakness: Supervisors’ preoccupation with social status and influence, which affects many decisions they make, potentially limiting their creativity and open-mindedness.  This preoccupation with social status can lead them to ignore their psychological understanding of the markets in favor of the linear, structured side of their personalities.  This has the effect of them possibly passing on good trades because no one else agreed with them.

• Inflexible – Supervisors place a lot of importance on what is socially acceptable and can be very cautious, even critical of anything unconventional or outside the mainstream. People with this personality type may also sometimes push their own beliefs too hard in an effort to establish them as mainstream.  In trading, this inflexibility usually manifests itself in one of three ways: eternal optimism, ignoring data and facts that run counter to a trading thesis, or the refusal to take advice.  Compounding this issue is the fact that Supervisors are prone to refusing to admit failure or learn from errors.

• Reluctant to Innovate or Improvise – Just as they can be critical of others’ “unusual” behavior, Supervisors may also be unwilling to step out of their own comfort zones, usually for fear of being (or just appearing) different.  In trading, Supervisors usually attempt to trade from set-piece trading systems, much in the same way that an athlete on the field goes by a playbook.  This trait, coupled with their inflexibility often makes it difficult for Supervisors to adjust a position on the fly or hedge a portfolio on short notice.

• Vulnerable to Criticism – It can be especially challenging to change these tendencies because Supervisors are so conflict-averse. Supervisors personalities can become very defensive and hurt if someone, especially a person close to them, criticizes their habits, beliefs, or traditions.  This vulnerability to criticism can cause a normally decisive and action-oriented Supervisor to freeze or show hesitation when faced with trading decisions that are outside the norm.

• Often Too Needy – Supervisors need to hear and see a great deal of appreciation. If their efforts go unnoticed, people with the Supervisor personality type may start fishing for compliments, in an attempt to get reassurance of how much they are valued.  When coaching the Supervisor on trading performance, it is very difficult to have a balanced session where strengths are praised and areas for improvement are highlighted.  The need for attention and appreciation are fed by the praise, but the vulnerability to criticism recoils when mistakes are pointed out.  If messages of praise and improvement are intermixed, the neediness and vulnerability create turmoil in the Supervisor’s mind and the gists of either praise or improvement are lost.  The best course of action for the coach is to focus first on areas of improvement, recognizing the vulnerability to criticism will make that portion uncomfortable, and then finish the session by praising the trading activity that worked.

Conclusion

With their strong practical skills and initiative, those with the Supervisor personality can be taught to trade but they often require mentorship almost in the mold of the sports coach to fully succeed.  Their inclination to follow a “playbook,” coupled with their empathy to get a feel for the underlying motivations in the market makes them formidable traders, especially in a team environment.

An extreme aversion to the possibility of looking foolish often keeps them in sensible, mainstream trades, but they miss out on innovative or early-adopted trades.  You won’t find them trading the latest trend unless the trend has made the news and found acceptance in the trading community, but they will be steady, loyal, and dependable workhorses in those mainstream trades as the more avante garde traders swing and miss.