I regularly use the MBTI with my career coaching clients and was trained to use it over 25 years ago. It’s an interesting assessment to help people learn more about themselves.
 
It was featured on a Radio 4 show a few days ago ‘How Myers-Briggs Conquered the Office’ and the programme was presented by Mariella Frostrup. You can access the programme via this link for the next couple of days.
 
I’ve been reading comments from MBTI practitioners and many people are surprised of the critical comments. This doesn’t surprise me, it’s always a better story online to pick up on the negative comments, but it does help to spread the word.
 
A couple of things I picked up on – there were loads more, but it’s Easter Sunday so I wasn’t making lots of notes as I prepared for a large lunch.
 
Negative comments included that you can fake your answers and so it is not an accurate assessment and it is a blunt instrument and the results end up with people being ‘either/or’, so you could be either an extravert or an introvert as there are many differences between people that are e.g. Introvert.
 
I mainly use the MBTI Step 2 with my clients that goes into much more detail so I can have several clients who come out as Introvert but there individual profiles are very different. When we move into Step 2 there are 5 facets
 
Initiating – Receiving
Expressive – Contained
Gregarious – Intimate
Active – Reflective
Enthusiastic – Quiet
 
So there are many combinations. People who are Introvert are more  likely to be Receiving (meaning more reserved), Contained (which is being more private) , Intimate (preferring one to one than larger groups), Reflective (preferring to communicate more in writing and with time for reflection)  and Quiet (preferring to be out of the limelight).
 
But we don’t all measure up fully like this, for example, I am an introvert overall, but one who is not the contained and private person but the person who is easier to get to know and more likely to reveal personal information.
 
The MBTI is also used for personal development, not for recruitment, and in a one to one feedback discussion you would be helped to understand the ‘real you’ rather than the person you have learnt to be to fit in at work.
 
If you are interested in learning more you can read more on my website or get in touch.
 
Brought to you by Denise Taylor, Chartered Psychologist, Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and Award winning career coach.
Published On: April 4th, 2010 / Categories: Assessments / Tags: , /

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