A few weeks ago, I came across a Harvard Business Review article from back in 2018 related to Perfectionism. And it changed the way I think about it. So, I did a lot more research and reading on the topic and I wanted to share it with you. Because it really opened my eyes. Not only to the realities of perfectionism and the fact that it’s not only a growing problem – no big surprise in the age of social media, right? – but that it can show up in more ways that you probably realize. I know it was news to me.

So, in this episode I’m going to walk you through the three types of Perfectionism – I know…who knew there were three? – the impact each type has on the person (and maybe others) and, what to do about it. 

I thought this would be a great episode even if you *don’t* feel like you’ve got Perfectionist tendencies.  Because once you learn a little more about it, I think you might recognize some of these behaviors in those around you. People you love. Maybe people you lead. And so, I wanted to share this information and give you some tips and insights that might help.

So, let’s dive in.

Let’s start with what for me was the big news. And that is that Perfectionism is not a one size fits all thing. 

To be honest, I’ve never thought a lot about Perfectionism probably because I didn’t consider it to be a big issue for me. I thought Perfectionists were just people with a super high bar who were never satisfied with themselves and always criticizing themselves. So, while I’ve had friends and colleagues who I might put in this bucket, I never considered myself anywhere close to that. I mean, I have high standards and sometimes I have a little voice inside – my Inner Critic – that whispers that something I’m trying to do isn’t good enough, but I considered it a minor annoyance. It certainly hasn’t stopped me from doing anything I wanted to do, though I realize that at times my minor little perfectionist qualities did occasionally cause me to Procrastinate. But to be honest, I always thought of Perfectionists as being far more exacting. Some shade of grey just shy of well, being Perfect. And so, I never identified with it.

But as I dove into the article on Perfectionism, it was a real revelation for me. 

Turns out, two Canadian psychologists – Paul Hewitt and Gordon Flett – have led a decades-long research study (that went from the late 80’s to like 2016). And they used the insights from this study to create something called the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale. 

And the scale they developed reveals that there’s a range of Perfectionism. It’s categorized into three types based on where the Perfectionist lens is placed, which I’ll explain more in a minute. 

The three types are:

·         Self-Oriented Perfectionism

·         Other-Oriented Perfectionism

·         Socially Prescribed Perfectionism

For more on each and what you can do about it, give the episode a listen.

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