Through The Myers Briggs Type Indicator

Myers Briggs Technique

The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a self-report inventory which is a kind of test that engages in psychological assessment of a person. It is designed to point out the personality type of an individual, their preferences as well as their strengths. It involves a questionnaire which was designed during the 1940s by Isabel Myers, and Katherine Briggs (Myer’s mother) using Carl Jung’s personality types theory as a basis for their work. The question series collects information concerning an individual’s response to and relationship with different situations. The answers to the questions are manipulated to determine a person’s personality type of themselves. By understanding the personality type of a person, it becomes easier to point out their best romantic partnerships, optimal choice of career, and the key decisions to personal growth.

In this essay, I shall develop a reflective analysis of my personality characteristics as revealed by the Myers-Briggs Technique. The MBTI paces individuals into sixteen different personality types which are in turn organized into four psychology scales - pairs of opposing traits. The psychological scales are extroversion-introversion, thinking-feeling, sensing intuition, and judging perceiving. I understand that the tool is not aimed at showing any abnormality or dysfunction that I may have, instead, it simply helps me learn about myself.

Evidence of MBTI Characteristics Present in my Daily Life

The MBTI test reveals that I am an Extravert-Intuituve-Thinker-Judger (ENTJ) personality type. Extraverts like going out to interact with people, are action oriented and energetic (123Test, n.d.). They are expressive and enthusiastic. Intuitive people are more likely to pay attention to original and imaginative information. They focus on what comes ahead. Thinkers are decision-makers on the basis of impersonal analysis and logic. They rely on their minds and not their emotions while thinking. A judger is one who likes a planned, orderly and decisive lifestyle. They like control and organization in life .

At a glance, as an ENTJ personality type, according to the MBTI, I am a natural born leader and my motivation is very powerful to the extent that it may give me difficulties in taking the lead. My natural place is at the crowd’s head, in a marshal style, putting everyone together, and directing the group forward. I am discontented when I have to stay quiet in the background. I set high standards for myself and others. I keep developing a mental list of things that I want to learn, accomplish and master. I am keenly analytical and being dispassionate, logical and objective is natural to me. Problems are like the strong points of my personality, they invigorate me. My decisiveness and positivity leaves others off-balance about my intentions. II dislike uncertainty, confusion and inefficiency. I am not afraid to take third actions and tough-minded decisions.

From my point of view, to a reasonable extent, the MBTI does reflect my personality. Ever since I was a child, I realized that, in random conversations or basic arguments, like whether German vehicles are better than Japanese vehicles, my friends would appear to value my opinion heavily, even when I did not have a strong stand-point regarding the topic. In high school, I have been assigned prefect duties, both within and outside the classroom, although I kept questioning why they always chose me for the work. At a certain point in time, our classroom had two prefects but my classmates always approached me for assistance and insight on anything even though I was the junior prefect at that time. These experiences do agree with the MBTI trait of being a natural born leader. While interacting with my friends, I tend to be the one holding totally different opinions, which, I believe, sets me apart from them, because I factor in their personality types as I interact with them. Therefore, it is true that while I am an extravert, my natural position is being at the head of the crowd. To some degree, I want things to be done my way, and I would use logical reasons to back up myself. I love reading books, those which are informative and highly regard them as being ‘larger-than-life’ because they ensemble knowledge from hundreds of years of life’s experiences. For example, I love to read Robert Greene’s Mastery, just from the title itself, it teaches one how to be a master at anything they do. I rely heavily on theory and some evidence they hold through real-life happenings as a formula for making my decisions.

What I fail to agree with the MBTI is that I am dispassionate. I do not consider myself as being dispassionate because I would empathize with anyone’s situation in my vicinity. Also, sometimes I like sitting quietly in a group just to listen to what people have to say without making any contribution.

Impact on Employment Prospects

It is undoubted that every personality type has specific impacts in an organization. As and ENTJ, I exhibit the need to take charge and retains focus on the goals of an organization. I joyfully and readily tackle inefficiencies and confusion. I radiate confidence to everyone that I get into contact with. I am highly strategic in choosing the direction of a project or an organization. Indeed, many a time, I have thought about being a manager in the organization, although, I kept telling myself that everyone else has the same ambition – they do not. In my mid-teenage years, I was so much in need of money, but I did not want to borrow any of it from people, neither from my parents, nor friends. Therefore, I began started having entrepreneurial ideas, about how I could turn the resources available to me into profitable ventures. I tend to think hard, especially when faced with difficult decisions to make. By thinking hard, I try to recollect my knowledge, and synthesize it with my experience in order to come up with a well-thought out plan of working things out.

As a team member in an organization, my personality type would have a specific impact. The team would benefit from my pure and simple leadership. I believe in leading by example, rather than by giving orders. When working on a project, I would be totally bring in total dedication. I tend to commit myself towards solving a problem as I resent a half-hearted approach to things that bear a considerable level of importance. I am a goal-oriented individual, organized and result-oriented. I acquire motivation when results alert me of my progress towards achieving goals. I would use a forthright logic to influence my team members. Also, I am adept at finding flaws in proposed solutions. I like to think about every possible outcome for the course of actions I lay out. For every decision taken, I have to revisit its formulation to find out flaws and how to make them better.

Extent at Which MBTI Confirms My Thoughts

Often, my friends, since childhood, have always told me that I am different. They would not be precise in telling me how different I am. In the event that they did have a reason for my different personality, it would be as a way of defending their stand-points in an argument. I am an extravert. I like spending time with my friends and meeting new people. However, my friend’s thoughts in comparison to the MBTI regarding being an extravert do not concur. My friends think that I do not like interacting with people. I also find that to be true to some extent because it is only through the influence of someone close to me that I would end up meeting new people. Also, when I am in a group of more than two people, I like to listen to what they talk about and contribute my points of view concerning a topic once in a while. By listening to people, I can develop a personal idea of their personality, their strengths and weaknesses, and this helps me know how I would guide them when faced with a challenging situation.

The MBTI also answers my questions about why, for long, people have been seeing leadership traits in me. To some extent, I thought that my physical characteristics gave people the impression that I am tough, focused and knowledgeable. Instead, Carl Jung’s psychology suggests that the unconscious part of me is the determinant for my leadership characteristics.

Conclusion

The MBTI test reveals that I am an Extravert-Intuituve-Thinker-Judger (ENTJ). I enjoy the company of people around me. I like to think before taking an action and I tend to analyze the environment before making a decision which I would consider rational. In an organization, I would make valuable contribution through my leadership qualities and as a team player, I would be productive by being goal-oriented and result-oriented. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a valuable tool in aiding an individual to make key decisions about their profession and changing the perspective through which they see themselves. The MBTI does not reflect a person’s personality traits for the rest of their life time, because people face different experiences and gain new knowledge which changes their personality. Therefore, the MBTI will only provide information about an individual’s traits at the moment which is valuable information in making key decisions at that moment.

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References

• 123Test, n.d. Your Jung personality report. [Online] Available at: