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MBTI® Users Conference—Networking and the Step II™ Receiving Facet Challenge

The conference is in full swing. Walking from session to session, I’ve come across people I have worked with in past trainings over the years. I always worry at these events that someone will come up to me and call out my name, but I won’t remember theirs. I work with so many people each year, it is hard to commit everyone’s name to memory. Just yesterday, as I waited in the hotel lobby for my room to be ready, I noticed someone looking at me. Her face was very familiar, but I wasn’t sure why. She kept glancing over. I was so focused on when the person at the hotel registration desk would call me up to check in. As the person glancing at me walked out of the hotel lobby, she turned, smiled and said, “Hi, Michael.” Ahhh! I felt so bad that I wasn’t more focused. I made sure to walk up to her the next day and apologize. She was very nice about it. Thank goodness.

These conferences provide lots of time for networking. Some people thrive in these environments. I tend not to. My strategy: show up a little late to make sure that someone I know will already be there. Then, once I arrive, ask if I can help with anything. This gives me something to do besides just standing there pretending that the plant next to me is the most interesting plant I have ever seen. Fortunately, there was a photo station at our first networking event. I walked around and just picked people to take pictures with. This gave me something to do and also was a great way to remember the event.

The networking vibe is often perceived differently by people who report Initiating versus Receiving on the MBTI^® Step II^TM assessment. I report Receiving, which is in-preference for me because I prefer Introversion, and I find it fits me to a tee. Here are the descriptors from the MBTI^® Step II^TM Report for in-preference Receiving:

• Consider social obligations unimportant and leave them to others. Prefer in-depth discussion about important issues; hate small talk.
• May be seen by others as quiet and shy.
• Believe it is intrusive to set people up socially and don’t want others to do it for you.
• When making telephone calls, prefer to be alone, when receiving calls, see them as unwelcome interruptions.

Want to read more about the Users Conference? Check out my previous blogs in this series:

• MBTI^® Users Conference—Type, Interpersonal Needs, and Stress: A FIRO-B^® and MBTI^® Workplace Culture Connection
• MBTI^® Users Conference—“Culture Matters” Panel: Macro and Micro Perspectives
• MBTI^® Users Conference—Networking and the Step II™ Receiving Facet Challenge
• MBTI^® Users Conference—Creating a Culture of Clarity / It’s Not Meant to Be Predictive
• MBTI^® Users Conference—Creating a Culture of Clarity / It Is Reliable
• MBTI^® Users Conference—Creating a Culture of Clarity / It Doesn’t Just Flatter You
• MBTI^® Users Conference—Creating a Culture of Clarity / Where’s the Research?
• MBTI^® Users Conference—Creating a Culture of Clarity / Clinical Psychology Criticism
• MBTI^® Users Conference—Creating a Culture of Clarity / Ambiverts?
• MBTI^® Users Conference—Creating a Culture of Clarity / Type Dynamics
• MBTI^® Users Conference—Creating a Culture of Clarity / Proper Type Language
• MBTI^® Users Conference—Creating a Culture of Clarity
• MBTI^® Users Conference—Communication Breakthroughs: The Genesis for Better Understanding of Others
• MBTI^® Users Conference—From Diversity to Inclusion to Engagement
• MBTI^® Users Conference—The Art of Culture Hacking
• MBTI^® Users Conference—A Step II™ Day
• MBTI^® Users Conference—Culture Matters
• MBTI^® Users Conference—What I'm Thankful For