Hello. My Name Is Chris And I Am An ENTJ….

myers-briggs.org

Many organizations use some form of psychological testing either in their employment selection process, leadership development or team building.  Over the years, I have participated in several different tests.  One I have taken multiple times is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.  The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions (Wikipedia).  The MBTI instrument reports some of our key preferences, tendencies and characteristics – but not all of them. 

 The Four Preference Scales are: 

1. Extraversion or Introversion
2. Sensing or INtuition
3. Thinking or Feeling
4. Judgment or Perception

There are a variety of MBTI forms.  They all include a series of 93 questions, in phrase and word pair format.  Each question, or item, relates to one of the four preferences.  The MBTI is a sorting mechanism for psychological preferences, not a measure of skills and abilities.   How the questions are answered in the assessment will determine where you fall within the four preference scales.  There are 16 different possible types from the preference scale.  The 16 different types are typically referred to by the abbreviation of the four letter which are highlighted above. 

Prior to the meeting, we are given the assessment.  A Myers-Briggs certified trainer  reviews the assessments then delivers the results to the group.  Assessing a group or team is valuable because you can see other team members MBTI type and gain insight on how to better work with each other.  Typically, the trainer has a grid at the front of the room with all 16 different types that looks like this: 

The trainer then writes the team members name under the appropriate type.  As the names were written on the grid, they all tended to be in the middle, with maybe a few on the top row.  Then there is me – Ms. ENTJ, all alone in right field.  I suddenly wanted to retake the test. 

So what does it mean?  We are given a sheet with our type and an overall assessment then how the type typically deals with communication, team culture, leadership, change, problem solving/conflict resolution and stress.  It is interesting to see where everyone on the team is located on the grid.  We then learn more about each other – how each type contributes, how they may irritate team members, how team members may irritate them, and how to maximize effectiveness.  Every type has something to offer.  There is not a good type or a bad type.  This is not only a fun team building exercise, but you learn a lot. 

Have you taken the Myers-Briggs test?  If so, I would love to hear in the comments what type you are.  

Please let there be more ENTJ’s out there…

@MikeVanDervort in an ENFP.  Here is a link to his post with the profile of an ENFP.  Thanks Mike.

Tagged as: Employee Engagement, HR General, Human Resources, Myers-Briggs