ISTJ. ENTP. ENFJ. ISTP. Sound familiar?
Perhaps you completed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®) assessment in years past – answered all the paired statements and came up with a type code that stated you were an ESTJ and perfectly armed for the director role you were assuming. Or perhaps it gave you one more “label” to arm yourself with to better understand your personality –and defend it.
But what exactly do all those letters mean and how do they apply to the 21st century? Specifically, how does the MBTI ® apply to workforce dynamics, managing change, teamwork and delivering great customer service?
The MBTI ® is the foundation of your personality – your code that shares your natural preferences and your areas for development. Think of your code as exactly that – a series of eight functions and energies that define how you prefer to gather information, how you prefer to make decisions and respond, how you prefer to gain energy and how you prefer to work in the world around you.
But, just because you have a natural preference or strength for one function, such as Brainstorming (Extroverted Intuition), does not prevent you from developing one of your least natural preferences to enhance your competencies, and your success at work. Sometimes there may be a clash between natural preferences and what is required of the person in the job.
For example, the job may require a person to engage the customer in a “loyalty” experience – creating a “memorable moment” that is cemented by a variety of factors hinged on approachability, warmth, empathy, connecting, and expressing understanding and compassion. Creating this type of experience calls on one of the eight mental functions, Extroverted Feeling, to make this happen. We all have a Type “Toolkit” with eight boxes of tools. Extroverted Feeling is all about harmony, creating relationships and being aware of others’ needs. We all have Extroverted Feeling in our Type toolkit. Only some people may have it in the #1 box in the tool kit, and it is easy to access at a moment’s notice. Others may have it in the #5, or lower box, and it may not be as easy to reach and call on when the situation arises. Because it is in the lower, least used box, it may be uncomfortable to use and may need developing through thoughtful exercises, demonstrations and activities.
Let’s go to the team.
Ever wonder why a team is just not “getting it?”
Example: A team of healthcare members is required to change to a new quality improvement approach. The new approach includes adjusting to change, leaving the “old, tried and true” way of doing business, and embracing a new, rapid cycle process for brainstorming ideas, implementing and testing results. All the cheerleading, motivation and threats in the world may not increase participation in the change if the majority of team members’ natural preferences for idea generation and brainstorming are in the least used, lower boxes of the Type “toolkit”. Structured training, development, coaching, mentoring, recognizing and rewarding idea generation and brainstorming must be included in the initiative to hardwire the use of these least used “tools” for the initiative to be successful.
Discovering and developing type functions is an opportunity for individuals, teams and leaders to enhance personal and work effectiveness, achieve business objectives and career success. Organizations such as Southwest Airlines have implemented the MBTI across and down the organizational strata to strengthen teams, improve communications and provide their leaders a better method of developing their people.
Ongoing Type development and application to decision making, managing conflict, and interpersonal communication, among other applications, can not only jumpstart individuals, teams and leaders through self-awareness, but also provide a foundation for self-management in an ever-changing world. How might your team be empowered and transformed with better understanding of themselves as individuals, and as integral team contributors?
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