Understanding Your Personality: Why It Matters
In this episode, our host Porschia dives into the importance of understanding your personality, focusing on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment and its impact on both personal and professional life. Understanding your personality can transform the way you lead, communicate, and make decisions, improving your overall effectiveness in the workplace.
Porschia explores how your unique traits shape your interactions, leadership style, and ability to collaborate. With practical insights on how knowing your MBTI type can enhance self-awareness, communication, teamwork, leadership, and career development, this episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to optimize their potential.
Tune in to learn how understanding your personality can unlock your strengths and help you thrive in your professional journey!
What You’ll Learn:
- How understanding your personality can improve your communication and leadership skills.
- Why knowing your MBTI type can help you make better decisions and connect with others more effectively.
- Practical tips for applying personality insights to enhance team dynamics.
- How understanding your personality can guide your career choices and professional growth.
- The benefits of using personality assessments for personal and professional development.
Resources:
- Episode Transcript
Speaker: [00:00:00] Today, we are talking about personality 101, understanding your MBTI personality. We’re diving into a fascinating topic that impacts every aspect of our professional and personal lives, personality. Specifically, we’ll be exploring the Myers Briggs Type Indicator or MBTI assessment, and how understanding your personality can enhance your career through leadership, communication, and [00:01:00] decision making skills.
Let’s start with the basics. What is personality? In simple terms, personality refers to the unique set of characteristics, traits, and behaviors that define how an individual interacts with the world around them. It’s shaped by a combination of genetic factors, life experiences, and environmental influences.
Essentially, personality is what makes each of us unique and dictates how we interact with the world around us. Understanding personality is crucial for executives and professionals because it influences how we lead, how we communicate, how we handle stress, and how we make decisions. By gaining insights into our personality, we can leverage our strengths, address our weaknesses, and ultimately become more effective leaders and team members.
One of the most widely used [00:02:00] tools for understanding personality is the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI. Developed by Katherine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabelle Briggs Myers, the MBTI is based on Carl Jung’s theory of psychological types. The MBTI is one of my favorite personality assessments, so I will admit that I am biased.
I am an MBTI master practitioner, so that basically means I’m an MBTI nerd. The MBTI categorizes individuals into 16 distinct personality types based on their preferences in four key areas. Let’s break down these four areas.
Number one, extroversion E versus introversion I. This dimension focuses on where you get your energy from. Extroverts are energized by interacting with [00:03:00] others and external activities. While introverts recharge through solitude and internal reflection. Number two, sensing S versus intuition N. This dimension looks at how you gather information.
People with a preference for sensing tend to focus on concrete, factual information and details. Whereas people with a preference for intuition tend to look at patterns, possibilities, and the big picture. Number three, thinking versus feeling. So T versus F. This dimension examines how you make decisions.
Those with a preference for thinking tend to prioritize logic and objective analysis, while those with a preference for feeling tend to base decisions on values and the impact on others. And number four, judging, J, versus perceiving, P. [00:04:00] This dimension reflects your approach to the outside world. Those with a preference for judging tend to prefer structure, organization, and planning, while those with a preference for perceiving tend to be more flexible, adaptable, and open to new information.
When you take the MBTI assessment, you’ll receive a four letter type that represents your preferences in each of these areas, resulting in one of the 16 personality types. For example, you might be an ENTJ, an ISFP, or any other combination.
It’s important to note that the MBTI is not about labeling or limiting yourself, but about understanding your unique preferences and how you can leverage them for personal and professional success. Sometimes people tell me that they had an experience where they thought the MBTI wasn’t [00:05:00] explained thoroughly to them, or that their type result seemed like they had been put in a box.
If you’ve had that experience, I want to say, I’m sorry. I think that’s part of the value in working with a certified practitioner of an assessment. There’s actually a lot more to the MBTI assessment than just the four letters associated with your type. There are actually subscales that are associated with each letter or preference selection.
So there can actually be a lot of variance between people. Now, I don’t want to get too technical in this episode, but there are also what they call type dynamics, which are special ways that the preferences interact with each other in terms of types. So if you. [00:06:00] If you think or have been told that the MBTI is just this really basic four letter typing system, just know that’s not true.
If anyone is a nerd and wants to dig deeper into the MBTI, you can definitely let me know.
How can understanding your MBTI type be helpful in a professional context? I’m going to discuss five ways understanding your personality can be beneficial in your career. Number one, enhanced self awareness, knowing your MBTI type can give you a deeper understanding of your natural tendencies, strengths, and areas for growth.
This self awareness is the first step towards personal and professional development. Number two, improved communication. Different personality types have different communication styles. By understanding your own type and the types of those people who you work with, you can tailor your [00:07:00] communication to be more effective and reduce misunderstandings.
If you’d like to know more about communication, you might want to check out episode 26 of the Career 101 podcast on how to be a better communicator.
Number three, better team dynamics. Teams are made up of diverse personalities. Recognizing and valuing these differences can lead to more harmonious and productive collaborations. For instance, understanding that an introverted team member might need more time to process information can help you create an environment where everyone can contribute their best.
[00:08:00] If you want to know more about teamwork, you might be interested in episode five of the podcast, where we talk about what does it mean to be a team player. Number four. Effective leadership. Your MBTI type can offer insights into your own leadership style. For example, if you have a preference for thinking, you might excel in making logical, objective decisions.
However, being aware that you might overlook the emotional impact on your team can help you strive for a more balanced approach. Those of you who have listened to this podcast for a while know that I love talking [00:09:00] about leadership. We have a leadership series and a leadership development series in the podcast.
I’d recommend starting with episode 46 on designing your leadership development plan. And number five, career development. Understanding your personality can also guide your career choices. Certain personality types may thrive in specific roles or industries. For example, an ESTP might excel in dynamic fast-paced environments.
While an INFJ might find fulfillment in roles that involve helping others and making a difference, after you have a good understanding of your personality, I’d recommend checking out episode 53 of the podcast where we talk about how to develop a career plan. And then episode 54, where we discussed designing your career development [00:10:00] plan.
So to illustrate these points, let’s consider a practical example. Imagine you’re an executive leading a diverse team. You’re an ENTJ, Extroverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Judging. Your natural strengths might include strategic thinking, decisiveness, and a strong drive to achieve goals. However, your team includes an ISFP, introverted, sensing, feeling, and perceiving.
They can bring a different perspective, paying close attention to details and valuing harmony and creativity. By understanding your own and your team members MBTI types, you can adapt your leadership style to leverage their strengths. You might give the ISFP team member more space to work independently and appreciate their contributions to team cohesion and innovation.[00:11:00]
This tailored approach can enhance team morale and productivity.
In conclusion, the MBTI is a powerful tool for personal and professional growth. By understanding your personality type and the types of those around you, you can improve your communication, enhance team dynamics, and become a more effective leader. If you’re interested in taking the MBTI assessment, feel free to reach out to us on our website at www.
fly highcoaching. com. For many reasons, I recommend that you take the real version of the assessment and not a free version you find online. A lot of the free versions online based on the MBTI are assuming different things about the assessment and trying to adapt their questions into a free format.
These assessments [00:12:00] that are free do not have the same amount of reliability and validity that the real MBTI assessment has. So the information and your results is not as accurate. I hope you found this discussion on personality and the Myers Briggs type indicator, insightful and valuable. This is the start of a personality series on the podcast.
We’re going to be diving into different aspects of personality and different types of personality assessments. Until next time, stay curious and keep pushing the boundaries of your potential. [00:13:00]
