Why knowing your Meyers-Briggs is Essential for a Small Business Owner

4 December, 2009, 8:41 am

personality_business_ownersMeyers-Briggs Personality typing is a topic that can arouse deep feelings for some people. Some people see it as a crystal ball by which they can determine everything about a person’s life. Others see is as a bunch of hocus pocus that doesn’t mean anything at all.

The truth – as it usually is – is in the middle. Meyers-Briggs is an excellent indicator of how you are made to function. There are some significantly large differences between people and this is one good way of understanding and capitalizing upon those differences.

If you understood more clearly where your strengths were, you would know better how to operate your business and what sorts of people you need to hire or consult with.

I will be going through a series of posts on this topic. We will actually be looking at each of the 16 personality types individually. If you follow along, you will explore the strengths and weaknesses of each. And most importantly, you will discover how each personality type functions best as an entrepreneur.

I will tell you right away that some of these 16 are naturally much better entrepreneurs and managers than others. But knowing is half the battle. So it is best if you take a look at a couple of resources that will help you determine your own unique personality type. This way you can use the information here to your advantage.

Meyers Briggs Explained

Let me give you a quick rundown of the basic components and what they mean, then if you really want to be successful I will urge you to do a little more research.

You are either an Introvert or an Extrovert. This means you are either energized by people, crowds and action or you need a little time alone to recharge.  If you are an introvert you think best when no one is around, and if you are an extrovert you do your best planning and thinking verbally with someone else.

You are either Sensing or iNtuiting. If you are Sensing you interact best with the world with what you can see and touch.  You notice and remember details easily.  In short, you can’t see the forest for the trees.  My son is a Sensing child and he can spot a bird eating a berry on a magnolia tree from 500 paces, but he wouldn’t be able to tell you what city the tree was in.

An iNtuitive person, on the other hand never notices the trees.  These are your big picture folks.   If you need a big plan to throw an outrageous party find an iNtuitive person.  Just make sure there is a Sensing one nearby to make sure they don’t forget to buy the beer.

You are either Thinking or Feeling. Thinkers plan things out rationally and find it difficult to understand how their plan might affect humans or be effected by emotions. Feelers on the other hand are less rational, but much more caring.  They depend on their feelings of situations to make decisions even when Thinkers with a day planner are telling them their plan doesn’t make sense.

You are either Judging or Perceiving. Judgers always have excellent calendars.  They carry out tasks without a hitch and they are always on time.  Perceivers are a bit more fly by the seat of the pants.  They are rarely on time, and usually work from a pile on their desk rather than a filing system.

Further research

Before following the links below, it would be good to subscribe to these posts, or you can fill out the email form on the top right of my website to get email updates. This is to make sure you don’t miss it when your personality type comes up.

I would also advise you to learn the Meyers-Briggs type of some of the people closest to you. A business partner, spouse, parent. Someone you interact with regularly. It would be ideal if you can think of someone you have a business relationship with. This way as we specifically explore how each of these types can interact with each other, hopefully we will shed some light on ways to improve that relationship.

OK so on with it!

Look for those posts to be coming soon. And in the meantime, check out the resources below and find out what your Meyers-Briggs type is.

  • the personality page – This website is very well done. While you might think it suffers in design, it more than makes up for it in content. They offer a test, but the many profiles of personality types may help you to discover your own without the test. Though it is a good idea to take a test ad confirm it.
  • Human Metrics Test – Here you will find a simple test.  This is not as involved as some, but it may give you a good idea of your type. I recommend that if you take the test, you read the profile of that type at personality page and see if that is really you.
  • A fast test – this is the briefest and therefore most unreliable. It is a simple four question test. But it might set you on the right path. Again, be sure to read the profile on personality page to see if this type is really you.

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