The
Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator (MBTI) is the most famous test that can
access your personality type by just answering 15-20 questions. Although the
test can give everyone an understanding of his or her own personality, it can miscalculate
your actual personality. In other words, the test is not 100% accurate to
accessing and understanding your actual personality but it does give you an
idea of who you are based on the answered questions. MBIT relates to the
person’s personal preference for how people interact in the world. The results
of the MBTI test can determine your preference of: your favorite world,
information, decision-making style, and your form of structure.
In the
aspect of your favorite world, the test takes a look at if you prefer to focus
on the outer world or on your own inner world, which determines if you have an
extrovert or introvert personality. Under information, the test seeks to
understand on whether you would rather focus on basic information or interpret
and add meaning to the information in front of you, which determines if you
sense or use your intuition to seek out patterns and possibilities. In the
decision-making aspect, the test seeks to understand if you prefer to use logic/reasoning
and consistency or if you would rather look at the people and the special
circumstances encountered to make the decision, which determines if you make
choices based on rational thought process or use your emotions and feelings to
make a decision. Lastly, in the structure part of the test it determines if you
prefer to get things done decidedly or if you rather stay open to new
information and options, which determines if you judge or perceive information.
The
results of my personality test are: Introvert (67%), Sensing (38%), Thinking
(12%), and Judging (11%) or ISTJ for short. Reflecting on the results of this
type of personality test, I would have to agree with the results of the test.
As an introvert I do prefer to stay in and when I go to social gatherings I’m
more of the quiet person in the group who rarely interacts with complete
strangers. In my development of leadership capacity this affects me because I
need to be able to be outgoing with employees. Meaning, I need to be able to
stand up and interact with others in order to explore other unforeseen
possibilities, have better innovation instead of basing all my decisions on the
side of caution. This will affect me as a leader in an organization because it
can cause me to react to situations instead of proactively seeking ways to
improve, make decisions, and so on. This will also affect me because as an
introvert I do not have the courage, ability, or capability to go up to others
to interact, gain information, form teams, and seek help when needed.
As a
person sensing information, I do use my five senses to pay more attention to
the information rather than wait and see patterns and possibilities that the
new information may bring. As a leader this does have its benefits such as
making quick, careful decisions on a time sensitive task, and for managing employees
and customers. According to Myers-Briggs, I “pay more attention to the physical
reality of things by being concern with what is actual, present, current, and
real; I like to see the practical use of things, I remember the details
important to me, and experience speaks to me louder when making decisions” (The
Myers & Briggs…, n.d.). In other words, I care more about the now than I
care about the future and I let my hands-on experience guide my
decision-making. Unfortunately, this does hinder my leadership ability: to see
the big picture at times to care about the future; my way of working through a
problem, of not allowing new information to affect my decision by not exploring
new ways, and overall my ability to innovate and be creative.
As a
“Thinking” personality type, I tend to base my decisions on the basic
information received by finding the basic truth or principle that is applied.
In other words, I think more of the pros and cons of my decisions by using
reasoning and logic to guide my decision-making process and by not letting
emotions or personal desires influence my decision. Unfortunately, this can
hinder my leadership skills as I can be seen as task-oriented instead of
goal-oriented; seen as uncaring or indifferent in certain situation; and it
affects my ability to openly communicate with other individuals. Lastly, being
a “Judging” personality type does mean that I prefer to made decisions
decidedly. In other words, I make the final decision without further input of
additional new information when it comes to making decisions in the workplace.
In the contrary, in my personal life I am open to new information, feedback,
and remain flexible to change my mind as the information comes in. This is very
true of me and can also affect the way I lead others in the workplace because I
close myself to the possibility of new information affecting my decisions and I
may be seen as inflexible. One good thing about this is that I would rather
work than play but it does become a problem in the long run as it can cause
exhaustion and eventually job dissatisfaction. It also affects the way I can
adapt to new information, events, and situations because I like to be organized
and decisive.
Overall,
the information above helps me understand which areas I need to work on to be a
better and effective leader. By using the results of the personality type test,
I can work on balancing more all the traits needed to be an effective leader.
These include being more of an extrovert leader, using my intuition more to
make decisions, letting my feelings guide certain parts of my leadership style,
and perceiving or being opened to new information as to help me adapt better in
the workplace. Being aware of this information will help become more self-aware
of my leadership style, on who I am, who I can become, and how I can make the
changes necessary to meet and be my ideal self. This also helps me understand
how I am viewed by others and whether or not the view of myself reflects the actions
I take and who I want to be as a leader. Reflecting on this, I can firmly say
that I am not satisfied as the view of myself does not reflect how others view
and it shows that I have more work to do to become the best person and leader I
can be.
Reference:
The Myers & Briggs
Foundation - Sensing or Intuition. (n.d.). Retrieved December 13, 2014, from http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/sensing-or-intuition.htm
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