Here’s what I know: personality tests are a scam. Look, you are perfect as you exist right now. There is no possible way you can improve. You cannot improve your communication with your spouse, or your colleagues, or your boss. Everything right now is perfect. So, if anybody comes to you and says, “You know, if you take the MBTI assessment, you might fix some of the blind spots you have” that is a total scam. Don’t believe it! Look, everything you’re doing right now cannot be improved. You have reached the peak performance of your life. So, don’t believe the hype around “personality tests.”
My recommendation to all Managers, Talent Acquisition folks, and Executives for best utilizing the INTJ goes as follows:
The INTJ is fundamentally a future-oriented strategic thinker who works very well within systems they can understand and can manipulate into the most efficient way possible.
Utilize the INTJ for brainstorming sessions where their creative mindset can reveal ways forward that other people may not be able to see clearly.
Do not bog them down with administrative details or they will tire out quickly and become stressed.
Pair them with a type like the ENFP or the ESFP in order to balance out some of the more hard-line decision-making tendencies. A good P type will be able to present more options or consider alternative ways to proceed that the INTJ is likely overlooking.
When asking for feedback from the INTJ, make sure you give them some time to collect themselves and do not demand an answer right away. Too quick of an answer may not be their true thoughts
Keep their intelligence in check and let them know that although you appreciate their intelligence, that if their attitude of superiority and/or condescension continues, disciplinary action will be required
Overall, the INTJ is a great asset when used for strategy and brainstorming sessions that utilize their future thinking orientation for long-term success of the organization.
Everybody wants more power; not in the negative, evil way, but as in more power over their lives, more power over their discipline, more power over their careers and success. If we can agree on a foundational level with the title of this article, then the rest of my argument will be coherent.
Gaining knowledge
If knowledge does equal power, then it’s a simple formula; to acquire more knowledge gets us more power. Then why aren’t we spending a little part of each day becoming more powerful? There are limitless amounts of free, or nearly free, resources to gain a skill, acquire more knowledge, or become a better person.
I’m not talking about knowledge as in following current events or watching the news. In fact, I say you should stop reading the news and only read books. The reason for this is that scrolling through a news feed is a passive, rather than an active action, which is scientifically proven to be a better way for your brain to function. YouTube is also a great source, but the vaunted rabbit hole exists and will probably derail you from your goal.
I have a recommended reading section on this blog that lists the books that helped me with my personal development. Browse through it and find something that sounds interesting to you.
Becoming Complacent
Right now, there are endless advertisements for subscription streaming services that only serve to pacify and distract you from utilizing your valuable time to gain more knowledge/power. You’ve always said, “Man, if I only had the time I would read that book, learn that skill, or get back into (insert passion) .” Entertainment as it exists today is a weapon of mass distraction meant to hypnotize you into regression, not progression.
People you idolize
90% of extremely successful people (my own statistic) are well-read and have a profound desire to learn and understand more than everybody else. They are never satisfied with just “knowing enough to be dangerous.” It’s been widely circulated that Bill Gates reads 50 books a year which, for someone as busy as he is, can’t be easy. He never said he “didn’t have the time to read.” You can surmise the importance he puts on gaining knowledge as a cornerstone of his success.
Gary V, a very influential hype-man and beanie-wearing motivational speaker, has been a proponent of obsessively studying your passion to the point where you know all there is to know about it. This follows the same general idea that says to become a professional, one needs to be put in at least 10,000 hours of practice. This applies to any industry or career without fail.
If you desire to become a digital marketing expert, you should have:
a giant stack of books on your nightstand
a queue of YouTube videos waiting to be devoured
100 LinkedIn messages out to professional digital marketers asking for their advice.
Your goal is to be a giant sponge that soaks up as much information as humanly possible.
Becoming Powerful
If you do not try to acquire more knowledge, then you can never attain more power. You will always be somebody that is dictated to by others. How to live, how to work, how to be happy. I don’t want anybody to settle for mediocrity.
The very first thing you need to do is take the Myers-Briggs type indicator assessment and figure out who you are. This is the foundational knowledge from which everything else blossoms. Once you do that, you can begin to direct your life towards that which gives you happiness, and utilizes your best characteristics.
Contact me if you would like a personal Myers-Briggs consultation.
According to the book Type Talk At Work and the over 10,000 individuals the folks at OKA have interviewed over the last couple decades, over 60% of managers in corporate America are of the Thinking-Judging preference. As you climb the corporate ladder into the C-suite, this consolidates even further to about 90%. And of course this makes sense as you want to surround yourself with those who are most like you.
The issue with this is quite obvious. A whole ton of people aren’t of the T/J persuasion and fall into the Feeling-Perceiver preference. The major conflict comes with the J vs P function and the (J) manager’s inability to be flexible to the (P) employee’s agile work mindset and methodology. As a (J) Judger, deadlines are met, tasks are checked off in a linear manner, and projects plow full steam ahead with little room to change direction. And for the corporate leader, this is a very desirable trait to have. As a (P) Perceiver, flexibility is a must. There needs to be room to adjust schedules and deadlines as things come up as they are guaranteed to do. The ability to be successful comes down to having room to fly by the seat of our collective pants.
In addition, having a preference for (F) Feeling over (T) thinking will cause strife when it comes to conflict resolution and interpersonal communication. (F)’s make considerations based on the group and who it will effect. They want to make sure there is a consensus and that the group comes away harmonious after a decision is made. The (T) wants to take an objective stance and be pragmatic. What is best for the business, despite the feelings of the group? What makes the most sense? So, the conflict is awfully apparent and is one of the harder workplace conflicts to reconcile in the short term.
My advice to those who consistently find themselves in this predicament is to consider starting your own business. Or, at the very least, finding an outlet where you can put your own schedule, talent, and creativity to the test. Most recently, I have spoken to a number of F/P types who are starting an Etsy page to sell their art or pursuing other creative avenues where their flexibility won’t be challenged, their timelines can be in flux, and not everything comes down to what is most pragmatic.
There is no better time than now to start pushing for the things you want out of life. The first step is to know yourself. Once you do that, consider if you are utilizing your strengths to their absolute max, or if you are being held back.
A misunderstanding in regards to workplace motivation or “rallying the troops,” stems from personality type. A rousing speech, a pep talk, or a motivational meme will have starkly different results depending on an employee’s MBTI. Many articles and videos have been produced highlighting what I am going to write here. Nonetheless, it continues to be a roadblock many organization cannot navigate around.
Standard motivation
A quick list is useful to get a high level overview of which types are internally motivated and which need a polite nudge to get moving. Internally motivated types are: ENFJ, INTJ, ENTJ, ENTP, ISTJ, ESTJ, ESTP. Externally motivated types are: INFJ, INFP, ENFP, INTP, ISTP, ISFP, ESFP. Take a look at the hyperlink above to get a further analysis of each individual’s motivational posture.
Also, for managers or aspiring managers, take the assessment and know what you are working with.
The reason we have to focus ontype as an imperative to great management is to recognize that, guaranteed, a percentage of your office isn’t going to process your motivational tactics the way you want them to. This is why company’s that dominate their industries use MBTI to build the strongest and most dynamic teams. For example, let’s look at Ray Dalio and his company, Bridgewater Associates. In his book, Principles, he talks about his implementation of “Radical Transparency” within Bridgewater and how it completely transformed the corporate culture. Along with the internal app that allowed each employee to view another’s profile, at every desk was a card that listed out MBTI, DiSC, and other personality assessments. This way, that vaunted communication issue could be greatly reduced.
When you know who you are dealing with and how they interpret and interact with their environment, you can avoid pitfalls before you step in them. That email you are about to send? That zoom meeting you are about to attend? That project you are going to lead? Well, now you know how how to approach everybody. And there’s no way you would argue against having more information about those you work with 8-10 hours per day. Work is already stressful enough–let’s do what we can make it increasingly more pleasant.
