Ian Plummer of Color Code gave a fascinating lesson on personality/core motives using the colors Red, White, Blue, and Yellow as indicators.  The theory is that every person is born with a certain core value and life’s experiences, upbringing, etc. influence how we act and react.  Knowing what our “color” is can help us understand ourselves and knowing the color of people you associate with can guide us to a better relationship because we will know what that person needs and wants.

Here is a very very brief summary of the colors and what they represent:

RED  — These are the powerful bulldozers.  Hillary Clinton is a definite Red.  Very motivated, driven, in charge, confident.  They bring great gifts of vision and leadership and generally are responsible, decisive, logical, proactive and assertive. 
 On the negative side, they might tend to be selfish, insensitive, impatient and argumentative.
BLUE  — These are the heavy weight do-gooders, love to serve, give, help, and care for people.  Oprah Winfrey is a prime example.   Intimacy drives these people.  They are generally loyal, intuitive, sincere, and thoughtful.
  On the negative side, they tend to be self righteous, overly sensitive, perfectionists and have unrealistic expectations.

WHITE  — These are the peacekeepers, my favorite kind of people.  The Dalai Lama is definitely a white, and so is Uncle (thank goodness).   They have the ability to stay calm and balanced even in the midst of conflict, are generally kind, adaptable, and good listeners.  On the negative side, they can be indecisive, silently stubborn, unexpressive, and detached.
YELLOW  — These are the fun lovers.   They bring great gifts of enthusiasm and optimism and are generally happy, charismatic, logical, spontaneous, and life of the party.   The negatives of this group is that they can be uncommitted, disorganized, afraid to face facts, impulsive, and unfocused.

Fascinating stuff.  Some hints to working with others if you can find out their “color” are:

Reds:  make sure you did your homework before approaching them (if it is your boss), just give the bottom line, summarize.

Blues:  give them all the information and then give them deadlines.  Keep following up with them.

Whites:  don’t overload them, lead them, show them the end game.

Yellows:  be upbeat, they work best with people they like.  Keep them informed, give positive strokes.

The website to go to for the test is colorcode.com.  You can take the free test, and you will receive your dominant color results.  At anytime before or after, you can pay for the test and get a detailed report with your percentages of color, as well as a customized 20+ page report going into more detail and links to some exercises to better understanding and self improvement.  While Ian was describing the different traits, needs, and limitations of each color, I was so sure I was Red and Yellow – because I had the worst traits of both.

However, after taking the test and upgrading because of a coupon he gave at a discount, I turned out to be 36% Blue, 23% White, 21% Yellow, and 20% Red.  It was a nice surprise to be more like Oprah than Hillary, though I admire both.

You can check out the website and take either a free test, or one that you get a personal report and score of your colors.  Ian even puts on workshops on color coding to help people understand our underlying “color” as well as the underlying color of people that are close to us, and how to use that knowledge to build better relationships.

This is far better than going to psychics that seem to be able to “read” your present and future, IMO.  It was a fun exercise, as is the Briggs Myers/Jung test (free!) that I have consistently scored as an INTP for the last 40 (yikes!) years.