Many of you have taken the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) at some point in your life. Maybe a decade or so ago in grad school, or in one of your first jobs?
This summer I completed an intense certification program in New York City to become an MBTI Certified Practitioner. My purpose in attending was to bring another valuable coaching resource to my clients – both 1-1 and teams. I have watched my clients get a lot of value from working with StrengthsFinder, so I was eager to add another assessment tool to the toolbox.
I discovered that my type is ENFJ, which I believe is right on target and aligned with my work as a Professional Development Coach. I received very detailed reports, and here is the gist: “People with ENFJ are highly attuned to others, using empathy to quickly understand emotional needs, motivations, and concerns. Their focus is on supporting people and encouraging their growth”. It is estimated that ENFJ’s are only 3% of the population, and I was thrilled to find out that Oprah and I are both in the ENFJ club!
MBTI results go very deep and really speak to your innate personality preference – how you are wired. According to the theory behind the instrument, “When you understand your type preferences, you can approach your own work in a manner that best suits your style, including how you manage your time, problem solving, best approaches to decision making, and dealing with stress. Knowledge of type can help you deal with the culture of the place you work, the development of new skills, understanding your participation on teams, and coping with change in the workplace.”
Here were my big takeaways:
- My results gave me confirmation of why I love my work so much, and an explanation of why my earlier career in Commercial Lending never felt like a great fit.
- I now have a deeper sense of my strengths and the type of environments in which I thrive.
- I also understand exactly what an ENFJ brings to a team – where my key value is and what roles I should play. This explained why I so enjoyed my role on the WRT Women’s Retreat team.
- I now know why I misunderstand some people whose type is very different than mine. I am now able to reframe the disparity as differences, not problems, as there is no “best” type.
- Knowing myself better gives me a clearer sense of where I should be directing my professional efforts for the future.
Overall, this has ben an incredibly valuable experience, and I can’t wait to introduce the MBTI to my clients. The first step of course is to deeply understand your type. But after that point, it is all about real-life application, which is so important in order to get the maximum ROI on the time and money spent.
So, what’s your MBTI type? How have you applied it? Please get in touch to inquire about MBTI Assessment & Debrief Packages.