After taking the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator
(MBTI) it was concluded that I am an ENFJ, which stands for extraverted,
intuitive, feeling and judging. I feel that this test accurately measured my personality.
The test was created in order to gain a better understanding of the different
psychological types and use this information to recognize random acts of
behavior are not as random as once thought, as there are multiple variations of
personality types. An extrovert is someone who likes to think out loud and
actively engaged in a lot of activities with others. An intuitive person pays a lot of attention
to impressions or meaning and patterns of behaviors. They tend to think of
future plans and remember experiences by how they felt not the details involved
in how it happened. Feeling involves reflecting on multiple points of view in
order to come to the best decision usually keeping the harmony. Values and
taking care of others is important to feelers. Judging is not like making judgments,
but instead it involves making decisions that can be changed easily. Life under
control is a preferred state of judgers. (Personality test)
Following the test populated a result page that read a
description of the type of person an ENFJ is. Some of the results included
ENFJs see the big picture, can juggle an amazing number of responsibilities or
projects simultaneously, have charisma in which others are drawn to and support
their ideas, conclusions are drawn from feelings, have a tremendous power to
manipulate others with their interpersonal skills, but don’t mean to manipulate,
are benevolent pedagogues of humanity, know and appreciate people, will neglect
themselves for the needs of others, are at risk of being hurt or abused by less
sensitive people, and take on more of the burdens of others than they can bare.
All of these resemble me as a person and they also resemble many leadership
qualities.
According to CNNs 23
Traits of a Good Leader some of the traits incorporated “honesty, focus,
passion, respect, confidence, integrity, shared vision, engagement, empowering,
humility, self-awareness, communicative, genuine, and leverage team
strengths”. Every single one of these traits
has been recognized within the MS Leadership Program, and I believe in every
single one. My idea of what a leader is involves someone who can be respected,
trusted and no matter what situation presented they remain true to their
values. Leaders are people that don’t need a title to be a leader because they
lead by example. Leaders support others, listen, empathize, care, teach,
empower and help others believe in themselves to go further than once thought.
This is the type of leader I want to develop into and I believe with my
personality there is a lot of potential for me to achieve this goal.
Some of the drawbacks I know I suffer from and the test
pointed out was my inability to say “no” to others when they need me even if it
is more than I can handle. In the past I got an ulcer and was sick for a very
long time because I took on more than I could handle. Since that experience I
feel I have made slight improvements when making decisions to take on projects,
but there is still a long way to go. The test pointed out that ENFJs are at
risk of being hurt by less sensitive people and this is something I will need
to be more cautious of in the future when dealing with others. As a harmonizer
I believe it is going to be critical to be able to become more analytical in my
decisions, because leaders are required to make good decisions that are right for
the people and the company needs. I struggle a lot with analytical thinking in
general and I believe this is because I tend to use my intuition and judging in
order to make many decisions. I am aware of this pitfall and I am actively working
on improving this by paying more attention to factual data while also recognizing
how I am feeling and why I am feeling this way.
This test allowed me to recognize that if I am not able to
interact effectively with others it may be because we do not have similar personalities.
For example my old director was very quiet and reserved and I sometimes felt
that he wasn’t interested in different things I would tell him; however I
realized he was just thinking before he decided to speak where as an extrovert
I tend to think out loud. Our differences show that we were still able to
interact just in different ways so in the future I will try to think before
speaking and see if this improves our communication. These are important aspects of a leader as
they deal with an abundance of personality types so becoming self-aware will
help better develop interpersonal skills with others. When approaching someone
on the opposite spectrum as myself I will now be able to walk in with a clear
understanding of how to handle different issues successfully with them in order
to prevent a misunderstanding due to communication perception and judging
differences. .
Reading into my description I found that an ENFJ is
described as “warm, empathetic, responsive, and responsible. Highly attuned to
the emotions, needs, and motivations of others. They find potential in
everyone, and want to help others fulfill their potential. They may act as
catalysts for individual and group growth. They are loyal, responsive to praise
and critism. They are sociable, facilitate others in a group, and provide
inspiring leadership” (MBIT Basics). All the descriptions above describe my
personality and how I treat others. I also found that four world leaders that
are also ENFJs include President Bill Clinton, former British Prime Minister
Tony Blair, Clara Barton who founded the American Red Cross and President
Ronald Reagan. All of these influential leaders have done amazing things in
their lives, which shows me that with the personality type I have it is possible
to go further and dream bigger than I already due. The top four careers
recommended are counseling, psychology, social work, and education which are
all career interests I have had considered in my life. I even have my undergraduate
degree in psychology! This test has helped me become more self-aware in ways I wasn’t
able to identify naturally, and I plan to build on my strengths pointed out
while improve my weaknesses.
References:
Personality
test based on C. Jung and I. Briggs Myers type theory. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp
My MBTI Personality
Type - MBTI Basics.
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/
23 traits of
good leaders - CNN.com.
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/08/03/good.leader.traits.cb/
No comments:
Post a Comment