Myers-Briggs: Why Your Personality Matters

Ever wonder why you just can’t get along with Bob in accounting? Or why you and Shelly from marketing work so well together? Or why you prefer the back room to the show room? Of course, it’s your personality. We are all naturally inclined one way or the other, and our personalities are a crucial part of how well we perform at work and engage with others.

Knowing your personality type can help you at every stage of your career, from choosing a field to choosing a firm, from figuring out how to get along with coworkers to leading a team.

Know yourself, and you will thrive.

If you know yourself and how you will react and interact with others, you will be able to make better choices when it comes to choosing the type of career or office environment in which you will thrive. The more you know yourself, the more successful you will be.

And there is no better way to know yourself than with a personality assessment like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the gold standard in the industry.

Are you an ENFP? An ISTJ?

Myers-Briggs is an assessment of your personality preferences. It’s not a cut-and-dried diagnosis. Rather, it is an interpretation of how you prefer to interact, receive information, make decisions, and engage with others and the world around you.

MBTI, the gold standard in personality tests.

There are four areas of inquiry, with a total of 16 distinctive personality types that can emerge. Again, these are preferences. We all share some of the same traits across the spectrum; what the MBTI does is gauge your overall preferences.

From the Myers-Briggs website, the four areas are:

1. Favorite world: Do you prefer to focus on the outer world (Extroversion, or E), or the inner world (Introversion, or I)? This is how you derive your energy—do you get it from the outer world (E) or by being alone (I)?

2. Information: Do you prefer to focus on the basic information you take in (Sensing, or S) or do you prefer to interpret and add meaning (Intuition, or N)?

3. Decisions: When making decisions, do you prefer to first look at logic and consistency (Thinking, or T) or first look at the people and special circumstances (Feeling, or F)?

4. Structure: In dealing with the outside world, do you prefer to get things decided and keep them structured (Judging, or J), or do you prefer to stay open to new information and options (Perceiving, or P)?

Based on how you answer a series of questions based on the above areas, your personality type might emerge as an ENFP, an INTJ, or any combination of the above.

Why It Matters

Again, knowing your personality type can profoundly influence how well you do in the world—personally, socially, and professionally. If you know you are an introvert, you might want to choose professions or office environments where people are encouraged to work independently. If you are an extrovert you might want to choose a field where engaging with others is paramount. The Myers-Briggs website says it best:

“Work environments influence how comfortable you are at your job. Someone with a preference for Introversion, for example, who is required to do a lot of detail work or think through a problem, may find it disruptive to be in an environment that is too loud or where a lot of interaction is required. When you know this about yourself, you can make arrangements to do your work in a more suitable location or at a time when there is less activity and interference.”

Knowing your personality preferences can be the difference between success and a lot of frustration.

Know Thyself!

MBTI can only be administered by certified professionals, and I encourage everyone who can to take an assessment. Ask your HR department if they offer it or find a consultant to administer it. Short of that, there are lots of personality tests and MBTI-type quizzes out there, which can give you a good sense of your personality preferences. Try these:

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp

http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/topic/mbti

http://www.personalitytype.com/career_quiz

Knowledge is power. Know yourself, and you can make better choices and interact with the world in the way that suits you best. It’s a smart career move. Good luck!

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For more information on Careerstone or to schedule an MBTI Assessment,
please visit our website: Careerstone Group

To watch my MBTI segment on ABC 7's Washington Business Report,
please visit: Careerstone Media-TV

How to build trust at work

Trust is an essential component of effective organizations. Trust in the workplace is directly linked to increased productivity, morale, and commitment. It’s essential for building and maintaining workplace relationships, and it's essential for collaboration and success.

Trust is critical to build the relationships we need to be successful, both professionally and personally. Work—like other aspects of our lives—is a social system. We don’t do everything ourselves. We need other people to succeed, and that’s where trust comes in. 

Every day, we trust other people to do what they are supposed to do, to hold up their end of the bargain, so to speak. We rely on the mail to get delivered, the office to get cleaned, the network to work properly, the paperwork to be filed on time, etc. Trust is all around us, every day, and yet we don’t really consider how important it is.

Trust is something that must be built.

Trust means relying on other people. It means having faith that people are going to do what they are supposed to do. Even though trust is all around us, every day, it isn’t something that just happens. Building trust takes time and effort, and it’s a two-way street. You want to become a trustworthy person, and you also want to be able to trust others.

Here are five steps to build and improve trust at work:

1. Think about your capacity to trust. How willing are you to trust others? Do you have to do everything yourself because you don’t trust anyone else? If you are not willing to trust others they will not be willing to trust you. So, start at a place of trust, and work from there.

I can't say it any better.

2. Have competency trust in others. If you want to increase trust in the workplace you have to increase your trust in the competence of others. That means that you cannot micromanage people. You have to let them do their work. You have to trust their ability. If you are a manager, you have to trust that you have given clear directions. Let people do their work without micromanaging them.

3. Engage in contractual trust. This means do what you say you are going to do. You have to hold up your end of the bargain. When you say you will do something, treat it like a contract, and do what you say.

By the same token, don’t set yourself up for failure; you have to be honest and manage other people’s expectations. Don’t just give a blanket “yes,” for example. Be sure you know what they expect and then make sure you tell them when and how you will deliver. Manage their expectations, otherwise you won’t build trust.

If you are micromanaging, you aren't trusting.

4. Trust through communication. In order to build trust you have to be a good communicator. You have to be willing to share information, tell the truth, admit mistakes, speak with good purpose about others, and not betray confidences. There is no room for gossip when you are trying to build trust. Trustworthy people do not gossip. Speak to good purpose. Build trust through effective, honest communication.

5. Save room for repairs. It is inevitable that a trust will be breached. We are all human, after all. When you breach someone's trust you probably won't even know it. If someone has betrayed your trust, you have to tell them, and then give them a chance to repair it. And if you have betrayed someone else’s trust, ask how you can repair it and work hard to do so.

Trust is essential for success. If you don’t trust others, and they don’t trust you, you won’t be successful in the workplace, or any place. But trust can be built through honesty, open communication, managing the expectations of others, and doing what you say you will. Good luck!

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Watch my News Channel 8 “Let’s Talk Live” segment on building trust in the workplace: http://www.wjla.com/blogs/lets-talk-live/2014/04/building-trust-in-the-workplace-21450.html#ixzz2yJwr8zye

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For more information on Careerstone Group, please visit our website:

http://www.careerstonegroup.com

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To watch or listen to other media appearances, please visit our media page:

http://www.careerstonegroup.com/media.html

Building Trust in the Workplace, from Let's Talk Live | WJLA.com

Here is my latest segment on News Channel 8's "Let's Talk Live." This week, I spoke to reporter Kellye Lynn about the critical component of trust in the workplace and how to build and maintain it: 

Building trust in the workplace - Let's Talk Live | WJLA.com

7 Tips to Spring Clean Your Professional Persona

I hope it’s safe to say that spring is finally here (and I hope I didn't just jinx it). For many people, that means spring cleaning—dusting off the cobwebs, airing out the house, tossing out old clothes. This is also a perfect time to spring clean your professional life, and it follows the same trajectory of dusting things off and cleaning things up.

Spring clean your professional life, too!

Here are seven tips to help you spring clean your professional persona:

1. Update your resume. Even if you aren't looking for a job, it’s a good idea to have a current resume handy. So get it out and look it over: what’s changed? What needs updating? Anything to add, remove, or change, like references, phone numbers, or e-mail addresses? How about affiliations and volunteer work? Give your resume a good once over. Send it to a friend for an edit.

2. Edit/update your Linked In profile. Even if you use Linked In a lot, it’s a good idea to take a few minutes to actually read your profile: what needs updating? What needs to be added? How is your headshot? Read it as if for the first time.

3. Ditto for your Facebook page. Any posts or pictures that you want to add or take down? Maybe take this opportunity to finally adjust your settings so you get fewer notifications in your in-box. Do you really need all those close friend notifications? Take the time to make it work for you.

4. Look at your Twitter feed. Same thing here. How is your profile? Your picture? How are your tweets? Check your settings. Are your tweets linked to your Facebook page and vice versa? Do you want them to be? Anyone you want to stop following?

What do your professional clothes say?

5. Clean your closet. Put away the winter things and get out your spring and summer clothes. Try everything on. What needs to go to Goodwill and what stays? If things don't fit, is it worth altering them? Look at your wardrobe. Does it say, “I am a valued professional”? Or does it say, “I need help”? Clothes are important, so take the time to look at your wardrobe with a critical eye. Are your clothes helping you or hurting you?

Does your office look like this?

6. Organize your office. Whether you work in an office or at home, you need a clean, well-organized workspace. Take a look at your desk. What can you do to de-clutter and streamline it? What can you file away or get rid of? Take a look at your office. Is it well organized? Is it a comfortable place to work?

Or like this?

7. Clean out/organize computer files. De-clutter your computer desktop and files as well. Can you streamline your desktop and dock? What do you really need to keep there? Can you use an external storage system or put files in the cloud? Can you find what you need easily?

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Spring is a great time to get organized. Set aside a chunk of time to spring clean your professional persona, and you’ll be re-energized for the rest of the year. Better yet, do it every season!

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To learn more about Careerstone Group, please visit:

http://www.careerstonegroup.com

To listen to Mary’s radio shows or watch her TV appearances, please visit: http://www.careerstonegroup.com/media.html