By John Langford, Leadership and Organisational Consultant, Expert in Sustainable
Leadership, Teams and Collaborative Development. Assoc. Partner at Facet5. Click here for John’s LinkedIn
Søren Kierkegaard, often considered the father of existentialism, challenged his
contemporaries with a radical understanding of the self. He insisted that true self-
understanding requires a double reflection: the ability not only to recognize oneself, but
also to understand that one sees oneself. This is not a passive process, but a dynamic and
often painful realization that requires the courage to look existence in the eye.
In Søren Kierkegaard’s time, it was strong and advanced thinking and its relevance has
not diminished, quite the opposite. Never has it been more important for humans to look
inward and find their strengths and risks in the demands of the times for being and
sustainability.
It can be difficult to arrive at this true self-understanding on their own. This is where
coaches and therapists come into the picture. Today, we can also measure personality
traits and thereby establish a perspective from a third position.
Kierkegaard’s Double Reflection
In ‘The Sickness Unto Death” (1849), Kierkegaard described how humans can live in an inauthentic state, where they either flee from themselves or mistakenly perceive
themselves as a given quantity. He argued that the individual must undergo a process of
self-knowledge, where they not only identify themselves, but also see themselves seeing –
a recognition of their own consciousness and the mechanisms that govern their self-perception.
This process is closely linked to the concept of despair, which arises when the individual
either refuses to be themselves or mistakenly tries to construct a self that is not authentic.
Double reflection thus becomes a necessary tool to overcome this despair and move
towards a more authentic being.
It is precisely this double reflection that has always caused people difficulty in life as
humans. Often we only feel a sense of the effect of our behaviour and the inner suffering it can cause. Even if we feel this effect, we can spend a long life following the same pattern.
To break this pattern, we need an outside perspective that helps us to “see ourselves see”.
Facet5 and Self-Awareness
Facet5 is a modern personality profile that structures human personality into five factors:
- “Emotions” – how one handles emotional challenges.
- “Will” – the degree of determination and independence.
- “Energy” – the level of social interaction and activity dynamics.
- “Control” – the need for structure and order.
- “Relationship” – approach to cooperation and relationships.
By using Facet5 as a reflexive tool, the individual can gain an objectified understanding of
his or her personality. But for this knowledge not to remain a superficial description, it
requires a form of double reflection in Kierkegaard’s sense: One must not only understand
one’s profile, but also understand how one understands it.
Facet5 as a Tool for Double Reflection
Facet5 provides a structured insight into one’s personality, but without deeper reflection
this insight can remain static. To apply the model existentially in Kierkegaard’s spirit, the
individual must:
- See one’s Facet5 profile as a possibility, not a determinism – The self is not locked into
a profile, but must actively relate to it. - Understand how one’s perception of the profile affects one’s self-understanding – How
do one react to the results, and what does this reaction reveal about one’s authentic self? - Use the profile as a mirror to reveal despair – Are there aspects of the profile that one
resists or refuses to accept?
In this perspective, one can almost imagine how overjoyed Søren Kierkegaard would be
about Facet5 as a source of endless self-reflection and development.
Why choose a Big Five profile over a type profile?
A significant advantage of using a Big Five profile as Facet5 over a type profile is that the
Big Five model operates with a continuum rather than fixed categories. Type profiles can
have a tendency to lock individuals into specific labels that do not necessarily reflect the
full complexity of their personality. The Big Five model allows for a more nuanced
understanding of individual differences and the dynamic nature of personality, which is in
line with Kierkegaard’s idea that the self is not a static entity, but a process in constant
development.
In this way, the path to being and sustainability is made concrete and accessible, and we
are able to see ourselves see.
Conclusion
Kierkegaard’s idea of ”seeing oneself seeing” is a powerful tool for achieving deep self-
insight, and Facet5 can act as a modern catalyst for this reflection. By combining
existentialist thinking with personality profiling, the individual can achieve a more genuine self-understanding – an understanding that is not just a static realisation, but a dynamic
process of self-relation and existential growth.
