Personality Matters Blog
Vanessa Bradford, The Myers-Briggs Company
MBTI Facts & Common Criticisms
You may have heard or read things about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) assessment that cause you to question its validity. Here, we’ll address some of the most common criticisms and misconceptions, and answer some common questions about the assessment.
By Sherrie Haynie, Director of US Professional Services
We’re All Innovators Pt II: Bringing the Vision to Fruition
In my last post we talked about how different types innovate in different ways, and are at their best during different phases (a la Damian Killen in Type and Innovation) of the innovation process. Those preferring NP tend to be better at the “discover” phase, and are great at generating ideas; Those preferring NJ excel in the “decide” phase, and apply their innovative skills to choosing the right direction and developing a strategy for making it happen; people who prefer ...
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We’re All Innovators...But We Do It According to Type
By Sherrie Haynie, Director of US Professional Services We’d all like to think of ourselves as ‘innovative’, wouldn’t we? At its core, being innovative involves somehow being able to come up with original ideas and apply them in ways that have some benefit, either for ourselves or for someone else. It’s certainly pertinent to your career and livelihood, but it just as equally at play in all aspects of live, whether it be redesigning your house, managing your money r...
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Help Our Research Team & Be First to Receive Study Results
Have you wondered if your Myers-Briggs personality type influences your well-being at work? Or does your type influence how you improve your well-being? To help answer these questions, we've put together an international research project investigating well-being at work and the MBTI assessment. And we're asking for your help. To participate in the survey, you need to 1) know your verified MBTI personality type, 2) be currently employed, and 3) have 15 minutes to spend answering a few...
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Leveraging Your Personality Type for Stress Management During the Job Interview Process
As I sit down to write this story on how the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) tool can help us deal with stress during the interview process, I can’t help but feel a bit stressed myself. I need to get ready for a workshop later this week. Each time I’ve attempted to sit down and prepare this morning, my brain has filled up with a litany of other things to which I need to attend. My plate is plenty full, and yet I keep adding more portions to it. Then, I realize that so much of h...
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For an Authentic, Effective Job Interview, You Must First Understand Your Own Personality Type (Part II)
In my previous blog, I discussed how you can leverage your preferences for either introversion or extraversion – preferences based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) – to present an authentic version of yourself during a job interview. Today, I’ll dive a little deeper and talk about how to leverage the other aspects of your personality type to improve your odds of getting a job that is an excellent fit for you. Before I begin, it’s important to remember the conc...
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For an Authentic, Effective Job Interview, You Must First Understand Your Own Personality Type
I remember my first job interview. It was a long time ago. I was very young and had yet to learn how to be true to myself. I was trying to get a job for the summer in between undergraduate and graduate school, and remember thinking to myself: “Answer how they [my interviewers] want you to answer, no matter what.” I got that job, and at first I was thrilled. Once I began to do the work, however, I hated it. I couldn’t wait for the summer to end! What could I have done better?...
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Confidence, Extraversion & Understanding – What Helps You The Most?
Written in collaboration with John Hackston, Head of Thought Leadership at OPP Politicians are known for their confidence, but sometimes this can get them into hot water (I’m sure that you can think of some recent examples). You can probably think of a time where you saw someone who seemed to use confidence to cover up a lack of ability. But confidence isn’t just important for politicians, as this article by Laura Barton points out. Women tend to be less confident in their abiliti...
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10 Books About the MBTI Tool and Type That You Should Read in 2018
Which books about the MBTI assessment and type have had the biggest impact on practitioners? We posted this question on the LinkedIn group of MBTI certified professionals a while ago to discover the titles that had most impressed and inspired practitioners or been a key support in their work with the MBTI assessment. Twenty books rose to the top of the piles. Here are the second set of ten (in no particular order - you can find the first ten in our April post) with comments from the individua...
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MBTI Step II Facets: Traditional or Original and the Holiday Season
The holidays are just around the corner. The music, decorations, food, smiles on people’s faces, and gifts (giving and receiving!), all make this season special. I love this time of year. Of course how people prefer to celebrate this season can differ quite a bit, and one way it differs depends on where they find themselves on the Traditional-Original MBTI® Step II™ facet. This facet is about the approach to traditions in the social context. People who have the preference for traditional tend th...
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MBTI Step II Facets: Practical–Conceptual & the Importance of Ideas
While delivering a training program recently, I was getting excited about the “miracle” of the theory behind personality type. I felt like I was in my wheelhouse expounding on the power of type and the implications of these ideas. As explained in the MBTI® Step II™ Manual, “[Conceptual people (like me)] are not content…just to make inferences. Inferences give birth to ideas, and ideas are what excite them” (p. 30). I was brought back to reality when a pa...
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Navigating the Labyrinth of Stress: Interpersonal Needs and Personality Preferences
This article was originally written for Training Magazine and appeared on their website October 4th, 2017. To read the article on the original website, click here. In managing stress, the big first step is recognizing how you tend to act under stress. Once you recognize what it looks like for you—and consequently for those you work with—you’re empowered to manage it. Stress isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when it’s sustained, it can be debilitating. It affects our ability to regulate our...
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MBTI Step II Facets: Realistic–Imaginative
A colleague came into my office one day and asked me, “Why would someone send another person flowers?” I was a bit surprised by the question. She continued, “They seem like such a waste. I mean, they are really expensive and they are going to die.” I thought about it for a minute, not sure at first how to respond. I love to send and receive flowers, so I tried to explain that the cost and short life span of such a gift are not the point. Clearly not getting my message across very well, I deci...
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MBTI Type, Age, and Occupation Play a Significant Role in Workplace Happiness [Whitepaper]
New research lead by the CPP Asia Pacific office in Australia reveals personality type plays a role in workplace well-being. The study—Well-being and MBTI® Personality Type in the Workplace—investigates how differences in well-being are influenced by personality type, gender, age, geography, occupation, and activities. “Research shows that higher well-being of workers adds to a company’s bottom line,” said Martin Boult, Sr. Director of Professional Services and International Training at CPP A...
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The Importance of the Order of the Sensing–Intuition Facets
When interpreting MBTI® Step II™ facet results, practitioners sometimes forget about the significance of the order of the facets. When it comes to paying attention to things, Sensing–Intuition (taking in information) people start by using a Concrete, Midzone, or Abstract approach first. They then go down the list of the remaining facets, in order: Realistic-Imaginative, Practical-Conceptual, Experiential-Theoretical, and Traditional-Original. (If you want a great team exercise i...
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MBTI Step II Facets: Tough–Tender
A couple of months ago, a participant in a training program told me she thinks of his Tough behavior in terms of removing a small bandage. She said Tough behavior is like removing that bandage in one quick pull. For her, pulling the bandage off slowly only prolongs the pain. This firm approach can be effective as long as it doesn’t cross over the line and become stern. Tender behavior certainly does not intentionally prolong pain. Instead, people who report Tender believe that a kinder an...
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MBTI Step II Facets: Critical–Accepting
Be prepared for some push-back from clients who report Thinking in-preference Critical on the MBTI® Step II™ assessment. The bullet-point descriptors on the MBTI® Step II™ Interpretive Report can be more direct (some say harsh) for this result than for any other. I’ve had a client get a bit argumentative about the descriptor “are argumentative.” And a participant in an MBTI® Certification Program this week sprinted across the room to the Accepting side ...
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MBTI Step II Thinking-Feeling Facets: The Importance of Facet Order
If you want to start this series from the beginning, take a look at the first few blogs here, here and here. When interpreting MBTI® Step II™ Interpretive Report results, practitioners tend to forget about the importance of the order of the facets (see MBTI® Step II™ Manual, pp. 22–23). We know that the first T–F facet, Logical–Empathetic, is the starting point for decision making, with the remaining facets (Reasonable–Compassionate, Questioning&n...
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Team Building with the MBTI Step II Thinking-Feeling Facets
There is just so much depth with the Thinking–Feeling facets that many people only begin to explore. During the MBTI® Certification Program, I take participants through several decision-making stages—T–F facet by T–F facet. A participant asked me this week how I keep things from getting out of hand when I go through this process with working teams. She realized that it can be a powerful experience for teams and things can get a bit heated. While I don’t feel esp...
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MBTI Step II Facets: Can We Be Too Accommodating?
If you missed it, you can see the first blog post in this series here and the post on the other side of this facet, Questioning, here. I often ask people who report Accommodating on the MBTI® Step II™ Interpretive Report if they are too accommodating. Usually, the reply is a straightforward and accommodating “yes!” Accommodating people tend to pick their battles when faced with differences of opinion. As a result, they are sometimes seen as “wishy-washy” ...