Personality Matters Blog

Posted 24 October 2017 by
Global Marketing

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...

Posted 10 October 2017 by
Global Marketing

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...

Posted 26 September 2017 by
Global Marketing

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...

Posted 12 September 2017 by
Global Marketing

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...

Posted 29 August 2017 by
Global Marketing

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 ...

Posted 14 August 2017 by
Global Marketing

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...

Posted 02 August 2017 by
Global Marketing

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...

Posted 19 July 2017 by
Global Marketing

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” ...

Posted 05 July 2017 by
Global Marketing

MBTI Step II Questioning Facet: In-Preference and Out-of-Preference

If you missed the first blog in this series, check out the overview here. Or you can watch this video that covers all 20 MBTI Step II facets. As I mentioned previously, we're going to cover the Thinking-Feeling facets first starting with Questioning and Accommodating. This facet in particular deals with how a person responds to differences in a point of view. Questioning in-preference can come off as a bit harsh at times. I tell a story in my MBTI® Certification Program about a participant w...

Posted 15 December 2016 by
Global Marketing

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. ...

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