The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: The foundation of good leadership

Business owners and leaders at all levels within a business are under regular pressure to improve the performance of their business and/or the teams they lead. The most regular strategies used to enhance performance include introducing new technologies and processes, quality improvements programs and in some cases, cost reduction programs.

While these strategies may assist in improving performance for a short period of time, they do not always provide the change needed for long-term improvements in performance and efficiency. Performance improvement strategies often, on their own, do not provide a great return on investments. If however partnered with a program to reshape the culture in which the business operates it can generate a significant return on investment. Changing culture often requires understanding how people interact with each other and what drives them to perform. This level of internal understanding is essential if a business wants to improve performance. This level of understanding can be achieved through the use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (‘MBTI’) assessment (The Myers-Briggs Company https://ap.themyersbriggs.com/).

The MBTI assessment provides employees and employers with a systematic way of recognising individual differences and how the individual interacts with others and helps business’s to better understand employees’ strengths, weaknesses and the way they gather and process information. Myers-Briggs have identified sixteen different personality types and once an individual’s type is identified, an employee and their leaders have a better understanding of the best way to undertake work, manage time, make decisions and problem solve.

The main areas where this data can assist is in:

1. Building Teams – identifying personality types via MBTI will inform leaders about how each employee in their team prefers to work. It can also be used to identify and manage different personality types that may clash, as well as strengths and weaknesses complement one another.
2. Enabling Communication – if employees know their personality type and that of their colleagues, they will understand the best way to communicate with each other.
3. Motivating Employees – Not all employees are motivated in the same way; what works for one employee could have the opposite effect on another. Information on an employee’s personality type can inform a leader on how to mange and motivate them. For example, some people are motivated when they are left alone to work rather than in a group setting.
4. Improved Efficiency – Everyone processes and gathers information in their own personal way and these differences can show in the way people work. A leader needs to ensure that each employee is in a role that plays to their strengths and minimises the impact of weaknesses.
5. Personal Development – the MBTI assessment enables everyone to participates and become more self-aware and understand why they work the way that they do. Leaders who understand how their individual preferences influence the work culture is key to strong leadership.

The MBTI assessment can be introduced into any business and can support a variety of situations such as managing others, staff development, conflict resolution, development of leadership skills and change management.

If you and your business are interested in using the MBTI assessment as part of a strategy to improve your business; Business Assure consultants are now certified to conduct Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment. Contact Business Assure today at hello@businessassure.com.au for a free no obligation initial discussion to see how this can work for your business.