“Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is one of the most popular and respected personality type tools in the world. It is a personality type tool which is based on research by the renowned psychologist Carl Jung. The tool, helps people easily understand why differences arise at home and in the workplace. It is an easy to understand framework which helps to build relationships and teams”

One of the principles of Jung’s model, “Psychological Types” developed in 1921, was each person has an innate urge to grow. Part of our growing process is to learn how we individually operate, develop the parts of us that we need to learn more about, and learn about the people around us.

As a leader, manager or HR Professional, one of your foundational strengths is the depth of your own self-awareness and awareness of how other’s tick. You know the key to motivating people is being completely open and transparent and being able to be yourself, which in turn allows your team to follow suit.

Understanding difference is a real people skill. Differences occur through cultural, physical and psychological factors. Mix this up with differing beliefs and temperaments, and no wonder managing and understanding people can be challenging.

In the UK, we have travelled some distance in identifying equality and cultural issues; the Equality Act 2010 takes that thinking even further. Some organisations are still learning how to get to grips with difference, and some excel. But I’m sure you will agree it is fair to say we always have room to improve.

When it comes to understanding psychological differences, we still have some way to go, but understanding such difference is important from a leadership or management perspective. Not only is it important; it is relatively simple to grasp.

If you’ve experienced MBTI, you may have found learning about your own psychological type a key starting point for self-development. Once you have an understanding of what makes you really tick, then your whole world will look different. Not only will it lead to greater self-acceptance, but it will also help you accept and value the differences of others.

Many leaders,managers and HR professionals are familiar with and use Myers Briggs extensively so I will skip going into more detail. If you haven’t come across the tool before, you can find out more about Myers Briggs on the link.

If you haven’t used Myers Briggs or you don’t feel you’ve fully realised the benefits from using the tool, here are 21 compelling reasons why you might want to look again.

Learning and understanding how each other tick can help to:

Avoid and resolve conflicts

Play to an individual’s strengths

Identify gaps in the team

Discover how your team style works best with customers

Enable self-understanding and so reduce stress

Help you learn to relax

Aid career development

Assist communication strategies

Provide managers with the understanding to give effective feedback

Inform personal development plan

Work together more effectively

Relate to each other with greater understanding

Encourage true psychological diversity

Support people through life transitions

Inform your own and others decision making

Develop thinking skills

Develop emotional intelligence

Identify and develop strengths and weaknesses

Develop leaders, managers, teams and HR expertise

Encourage team members to understand and appreciate different strengths

Improve and change culture.

There are some circumstances where it can be dangerous to use Myers Briggs such as recruitment selection, judging performance or by making assumptions because of type indicators. The 8 elements of Myers Briggscan be used interchangeably, and people can be just as accomplished using their non-preferred type

If you have used personality type as part of your leadership, management, team development, or HR strategy; I’d love to know how you got on and what you got out of your experience……or not!

If you’d like to know more about Myers Briggs and how it can help you, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me at [email protected]

Christina is the owner of People Discovery, an Inspirational Leadership, Management and Engagement consultancy based in the UK. Visit People Discovery to find out more about Leadership Development. Christina’s second published book “Getting to Grips with Stress in the Workplace for Inspirational Leaders and Managers” is also available on her website as a free download

by Christina Lattimer

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