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!

~~~

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

Hate your job? How to change careers

You hate your job. You hate your field. You hate your career. Maybe you’ve been furloughed and it’s given you a new perspective.

Hate your job? Don't quit just yet.

Whatever the case, there is a right way and wrong way to go about changing careers. Here are the top questions to consider and some practical advice to get your started on changing careers:

Question 1: You're in a funk and hate your job. What’s the first thing you should do?


The first thing to do is not quit! Stay where you are if you can. We will come back to this later, but don't quit until you have a plan.


The second thing to do is a thorough personal and professional assessment. You have to determine if you hate your job because you truly hate your profession, or if you hate your life or your lifestyle. Maybe you love what you do but just not where you do it. Maybe you just don't like a particular co-worker or aspect of the job. Maybe things at home are bad and it carries over to your work.


The most important thing is to determine that it's really and truly your career, job, or field you hate and want to change, and not something personal that is creeping into your professional life. So, do some soul searching. Make a list. What's going on? Be honest.
 


Question 2: You do a critical assessment and determine that yes, you hate your career. Then what?


If you've been absolutely honest with yourself, performed a rigorous assessment of your current situation, and determined that it is your career, then the next thing to do is another critical assessment of your professional likes and dislikes and figuring out what you should do professionally.


This is a good time to consider professional career coaching or counseling or a workplace-oriented test like Myers-Briggs. Either will help you assess your likes and dislikes, and what you are best suited for, professionally speaking.

What job are you best suited for?

If you don't want to go a professional route, ask yourself some questions: What energized you at the office? What enervated you? What projects or assignments did you love working on? What specifically did you enjoy about those projects? Do you like to write? Do you like to sell? Are you an introvert or an extrovert? The key is to really determine what it is you love to do and are well suited for.

Question 3: You take Myers-Briggs or determined what you love or hate and what you should be doing. What next?

Once you have determined what you really love, what really interests you, and what you are well suited for, make a list of those careers and research them. Research the field, what the issues are, what the state of that industry is, what the salaries ranges are.

Find out everything you can about your preferred field, and find some local companies and talk to people in that field. Find out how they got started and how to get in the door. Can you do an internship there? Can you find a mentor in the field? 

Question 4: Will I have to go back to school or start at the bottom?

That depends on the job. Some may require special degrees or certification, but you may already have skills that can be leveraged and transferred to your new field. You may already have what it takes. That's why research and networking is so important. You probably already know people in that field. Talk to them. If you do have to go back to school, start slowly; you may change your mind once you get going.

Question 5: What about my current job? Should I quit?

No. You want to get your feet wet before taking the plunge, so start slowly. There are several other issues to consider:

First, if your new career choice requires a new degree, you will have to decide if you can do it while still working.

Second, you may be able to work in your new field concurrent to your current job. Consider an evening or weekend internship or a part-time or temp job. 

Third, you may find that you can use your current job to catapult you into a new career. For example, let’s say there is a new skill you need for a new career, and it is one you can learn in your current job. You should stay put, but be careful—your current employer may not like you working there if they know you are getting ready to leave. You should take advantage of educational opportunities where you work, but don’t be duplicitous. Your boss may not like it if he knows you are using him to go elsewhere.

Question 6: Speaking of my current job, can I use my connections there? Can I use them as a reference?

You should definitely leverage your professional and social networks to find the career you like. Networking is one of the best ways to find a different job.

Networking is always key.

You can land informational interviews, internships, and mentors through your network, so work it. It’s also possible that you can find a more suitable career within your organization, so in-house networking is key. But be careful: You may not want to tip your hand that you are looking elsewhere for a job.

Question 7: How do I change careers within my organization? Should I tell my boss or supervisor I want to work in a different branch?

Maybe. Whether to tell your boss depends on your relationship. Your boss may not like the fact that you are looking elsewhere, but a smart company wants to keep good employees. Your boss may be the type who wants to help people move along.

Your boss will probably find out about you looking around, so it is prudent to let them in on it first so you can control the spin. Lay the groundwork that will mark you as an asset: volunteer for projects, extra assignments, mentoring, etc.

Finally, determine how things like this are done in your organization. What is the protocol? If its perfectly acceptable, tell your boss and meet with HR. FInd out what is available. Find a mentor. Maybe your boss will even help you along.

 Question 8: What else should I consider?

In addition to brushing up on your job hunting and networking skills, you will need to:

• Update your resume.
• Clean up your e-life.
• Get up-to-speed on the state of the industry you are linterested in.
• Update and practice your interview skills.

There is lots of advice out there on the Web, including personality tests and other assessments. The Wall Street Journal has a good guide, as do many other publications. Do some soul searching, do some homework, make a plan of action, and move forward. Good luck!

~

To watch Mary on TV or listen to her radio shows, please visit
Careerstone's Media Page. 

For more information, please visit Careerstone Group's web site.

Get real and get ahead: Five steps to professional authenticity

Believe it or not, authenticity is one of the cornerstones of success. Being authentic means being honest and genuine, which in turn engenders trust and accountability. People respond to people who feel “real” to them. Nobody likes a phony, and people get nervous and mistrustful when they can’t “read” a person. If people read you as authentic, they will trust you, value you, and look to you for leadership and guidance.

Authenticity is about how you conduct yourself, how you treat others, and the way you work and fit in to your corporate culture. It’s not about being nicey-nice or insincere; it’s about being real. Authenticity entails an emotional equation of:

Confidence + Self-awareness + Transparency + Consistency = Authenticity

In other words, authenticity is about establishing and showing an honest and consistent alignment between your personality, your words, and your actions. Much like other personal and professional skills, authenticity can be developed. Here are five ways to develop your authenticity:

1. Be honest. This does not mean you can be rude or disrespectful. You can be honest and still be respectful, diplomatic, and professional. The key is to express yourself well and use kind, constructive, and inclusive language. Here is where verbal skills like using “and” instead of “but” come into play; anytime you use “but” you risk alienating and making people feel defensive. Try to use inclusive, constructive words instead of negative ones. This isn’t being false; it’s framing the discussion in a forward-thinking way.

2. Engage other people. In order to be authentic, you have to care about more than just yourself, so it is important to engage other people. Look people in the eye when you speak to them. Ask questions. Practice reflective listening. Really listen to what they tell you. Resist the temptation to talk about yourself.

3. Treat everyone with respect. Treating other people well is the surest sign of someone who is confident, collected, and genuine. Be gracious, polite, and respectful to everyone, from the janitor to the vice president, from the secretaries to the barristas, from your co-workers to the garage attendants.

4. Test yourself. Becoming more aware of your self, how you operate in the world, how you behave, and how you impact people is the key to using your authentic self in business. A good way to learn about yourself is to take a personality test like the Meyers-Briggs. That test and others like it are an excellent tool for self-awareness, as long as you get the proper training around the assessment. Make sure a professional is able to go over the results with you so you can understand and use the information properly.

5. Look at others. Studying traits of successful but authentic business people is also a good way to understand what being real looks like. For example, here are three very different authentic leaders: Richard Branson, Warren Buffett, and Donald Trump. They each approach life and work very differently, yet you can tell that they are all passionate about what they do. They are consistent in their words, deeds, and ambitions. They are not apologetic about who they are and they integrate their personal qualities into their work life, personal life, and leadership.

Being authentic means you are honest and real. It means you are trusted and counted on. And it can mean all the difference in your success at work and in business.