work it out, revised edition: using personality type to improve team performance

WORK IT OUT

WORKit OUT

Davies-Black Publishing • Mountain View, California

Using Personality Type to Improve Team Performance

SANDRA KREBS HIRSH & JANE A. G. KISE

R E V I S E D E D I T I O N

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hirsh, Sandra KrebsWork it out : using personality type to improve team performance / Sandra Krebs Hirshand Jane A. G. Kise.—Rev. ed.

p. cm.Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 978-0-89106-212-7 (pbk.)1. Conflict management. 2. Employees—Psychology. 3. Communication in management. 4. Interpersonal communication. 5. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® assessment. I. Kise, Jane A. G. II. Title.

HD42.H57 2006650.1'3—dc22

2006013314

REVISED EDITIONFirst printing 2006

For my children,Katherine and Elizabeth, whose company, HirshWorks, carries on the tradition of type in our family,and Andy, who is a constant source of inspiration to me.—Sandra

For Brian,my husband, best buddy, and psychological opposite, in celebration of working it out for 25 years!—Jane

CONTENTS

What’s New in This Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ixAcknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiAbout the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii

1 Working It Out with TypeCan It Make a Difference for You? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 The Extraversion–Introversion DichotomyThe Case of the Communication Conundrum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

3 The Sensing–Intuition DichotomyTo Improve or Expand? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

4 The Thinking–Feeling DichotomyExecutive Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

5 The Judging–Perceiving DichotomyDeadline Dilemmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

6 Function PairsST, SF, NF, NT in the Workplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

7 Style-Changing StressThe Inferior Function—the Shadow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

8 Influencing UpwardThe Problem Is the Boss—or Is It? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

9 Coaching Yourself, Coaching OthersPutting Type to Work for You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

10 A Leader Who Put Type to WorkManagement Style with Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Appendix A: The Teambuilding Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225Appendix B: The Coaching Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

WHAT’S NEW IN THIS EDITION

The first edition of Work It Out appeared in 1996, before Enron, the rise of Web-based communication, the dot-com bubble demise, and other events that haveaccelerated the rate of change in the world of work. Teams form and dissolvequickly, membership changes, managers come and go, all adding to the difficul-ties of working things out in the world of work.

However, the basic conflicts between people are still the same—we rush tosay, “What’s wrong with that person?” rather than take the time to ask, “Howare we different? What can I gain from that person’s style?” In this second edi-tion, we worked to make the concepts of type, and the solutions it provides,more accessible, with information and ideas that can help business leaders cre-ate effective teams.

For anyone who is working on workplace relationships, this edition provides:

■ Case studies that focus on real workplace issues, such as change, expan-sion, mandated policies, executive coaching, stress, communication, deadline issues, and more

■ Insights into how people with different type preferences view one another,and how the resulting conflict can be resolved when the issues are revisitedas common, normal personality differences

■ More hands-on exercises that allow leaders to implement the teambuildingtechniques described in the case studies

■ More material on the hows and whys of coaching, including examples of putting together coaching plans and tailoring strategies to meet clientpreferences

The cases present examples of teams in conflict that put personality type towork for them. We trust that these pages will help you work it out as well.

ix

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to acknowledge the following people, whose wisdom andideas have enriched our practice over the years and contributed to the contents ofthis book: Leigh Bailey, Maureen Bailey, Nicky Bredeson, the late Susan Brock,John Buchanan, John Bush, Sandra Davis, Ken Green, Elizabeth Hirsh, Kather-ine W. Hirsh, Douglas Peters, Sally Stockbridge, and Barbara Tuckner. In addition,Naomi Quenk gave her careful attention to chapter 7. And thanks to the peoplerepresented in this book who worked with us in learning to work it out.

xi

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Sandra Krebs Hirsh is the principal of Sandra Hirsh Consulting, a Minneapolis-based firm that focuses on leadership, career, and organizational development.She is coauthor of more than 15 books on personality type and vocational inter-ests, including LifeTypes, MBTI® Teambuilding Program, LifeKeys, Introductionto Type® in Organizations, and SoulTypes. She works internationally with typeand has conducted seminars in Asia, Australia, Europe, and Indonesia. Hirshholds advanced degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the Universityof Minnesota. Her type preferences are ENFP.

Jane A. G. Kise, EdD, is coauthor of more than 15 publications, includingUsing the MBTI® Tool in Organizations, Introduction to Type® and Coaching,Coaching Teachers for Change, LifeKeys, SoulTypes, and Working with Purpose.She is also a management consultant, specializing in teambuilding, strategicplanning, and school staff development. Kise is on the board of the Associationfor Psychological Type and also serves on the faculty of the Center for Applica-tions of Psychological Type. She holds an MBA in finance from the CarlsonSchool of Management and a doctorate in educational leadership from the Uni-versity of St. Thomas. Her type preferences are INFJ.

xi i i

WORKING IT OUT WITH TYPECan It Make a Difference for You?

Our second team meeting was worse than the first. Mark kept all his ideasto himself and then passed them to me in writing two days later—after I’dfinalized my plans. I wish he’d talk things over with me first. It would savea lot of work because he does have good ideas!

I was looking forward to working with Peter, but now I’m not so sure. Hejust leaps to conclusions—I can’t follow his train of thought.

Our work styles are so complementary; Carolyn addresses all the details Ioverlook. And yet, I wish she would be more creative, more forward-thinking.Then we would really be a team!

Chances are, you’ve heard similar comments in your workplace. Such observa-tions about co-workers, managers, or employees quickly deteriorate into problemsunless we understand that the differences expressed in the above statements arenormal, natural approaches to life.

Work It Out can help you discover patterns in these differences through thetheory of personality type, as made popular in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®

(MBTI®) assessment tool. Individuals are more than just sets of skills, knowl-edge, and competencies; there is something intangible that brings order, excite-ment, and unique nuances to each one of us. That intangible is our personality,

1

1

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our bundle of preferences for how we are energized, how we take in informa-tion, how we make decisions, and how we choose to relate to the world.

Personality type theory brings a framework to the complex—and sometimeschaotic—interactions between people in the world of work. Consultants like usare seldom summoned into a workplace that is “one big happy family”! Psycho-logical type helps us find patterns in the interactions of troubled teams, employ-ees and leaders, and colleagues, leading to proven solutions for more productiverelationships. While one can spend years (as we have!) learning all the nuancesand intricacies of each personality type, the key factors and patterns described inthis book can bring new levels of understanding to managers and team members.

Individuals and teams blossom as their leaders go beyond simple knowl-edge of the competencies of team members to the more useful understanding ofpersonality types. Generally, treating all members of a team as if they are thesame is like trying to herd cats: Not only are the results doubtful, but most peo-ple resent trying to fit a single mold. Understanding people’s types allows youto tap into their strengths, discover how you work best together, and minimizeunnecessary conflict. Type frequently is helpful in predicting both the strengthsand the developmental needs of each personality type and provides a positivelanguage for discussion and understanding.

TYPE THEORYYou may already know your type; millions of people have taken the MBTIassessment. Isabel Myers and her mother, Katharine Briggs, the instrument’sdevelopers, were longtime observers of human differences. Briggs developedher own four-part framework with which to study human diversity; however,she found Carl Jung’s work Psychological Types more complete. Myers con-structed an “indicator” so that Jung’s theory of personality preferences could bemore widely understood and its concepts made more practical.

If you know your type, you may wish to skim this first chapter for reviewand then jump into chapter 2. If not, your human resources department or localcommunity college is likely to have the MBTI tool in stock, because it’s themost widely used psychological instrument for people at work.1

People around the world have found these personality type conceptsintriguing. The theory describes complementary styles and the mutual useful-ness (effectiveness) of opposites, which leads to better problem solving because

WORKING IT OUT WITH TYPE 3

all factors have been considered. You may find that you use aspects of each ofthe personality preferences in the pairs we are about to discuss, but one will beyour natural preference, even if it’s only slightly more preferred.

The following analogy may help cement the ideas of this theory of person-ality preferences. Just as there are many sets of two in the physical body, thereare sets of two in the psyche as well. Generally, when there are two in a set(hands, eyes, ears, and so on), one has preference over the other; for example,one eye is for focus, while the other is for peripheral vision. The eye preferredfor focus varies. Some of us use the left eye, others the right. There is no cor-rect or incorrect here—just difference. In order to view the stars through a tele-scope, however, it is important to know which eye is better suited for the job.

Let’s give you a chance to experience this concept of physical preference. Inthe spaces below, write your name, address, and phone number with your non-preferred hand. For an extra challenge, keep track of how many seconds it takesto complete the task. When you are finished, note the quality of your outputand how much time it took.

How did it feel? Most people have said it felt awkward, clumsy, uncomfort-able, even unnatural. Others mentioned that it took time and concentration andthat the output looked like childhood penmanship.

Now, let’s see what happens when you write your name, address, andphone number in the spaces below with your preferred hand. Keep an eye onthe clock for comparison, and proceed.

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Most people have described this experience as faster, more comfortable,easy, and flowing—it feels natural. There’s even a flair, a distinctiveness thatdifferentiates your signature from that of others.

This type of physical preference is mirrored by psychological preferences.Evidence is mounting (through brain scans and other scientific studies) thatwhile psychological preferences are as innate as the preference for an eye forfocus, or a foot to step forward with, they are not immutable. Factors such asparents, family, educational experience, and functional training may affect theexpression of a person’s true nature.

Review your handwriting samples. Which one is of better quality? Whichtook less time? How slow and frustrated would you be if you had to work forthe next six months with your nonpreferred hand? You’d be tempted to give upand reach for your pen with your preferred hand—home, sweet home. That’show it feels psychologically, tiring and frustrating, when we use our nonpre-ferred personality preferences at work a majority of the time. Further, you’reprobably sitting next to someone who is using his or her preferred four func-tions, performing tasks with ease and added energy. That’s when self-esteem, avery important commodity at work, begins to diminish, because no matter howhard you work, the results pale in comparison to the accomplishments of peo-ple who do it naturally. Ask yourself if you would like to work for or with ormanage someone with low self-esteem, and its cost becomes readily apparent.

Meeting with people whose personality preferences are different from yourscan feel as awkward as extending the wrong hand for a handshake. They don’tact or work or think the way you do. Further, forcing everyone to do things thesame way is similar to asking some of them to write with their nonpreferredhands. How much better to understand the strengths of each preference, putthem to use, and work out the differences.

Now, on to the framework for understanding your unique style and that ofothers. Think about what you do most easily, comfortably, and naturally, andturn off ideas of what you should do as you identify your natural personalitypreferences.


Extraversion (E) and Introversion (I): The Source of Energy

People differ in how they draw energy to themselves. Some prefer to work withpeople and things, welcoming interactions with others and the outer environ-ment. People in this group, known as Extraverts, prefer to do their thinkingaloud in the company of others. People who prefer Introversion, known asIntroverts, tend to enjoy working alone or with one or two other individuals.Which of the following do you tend to do?

■■ Talk it out

■■ Extend into your environment by reaching out to others

■■ Act first, think later

■■ Enjoy variety and action

■■ Prefer face-to-face communication

■■ Frequently hear that you’re not availablebecause you’re out and about

■■ Think it through

■■ Defend against your environment bystepping back or avoiding others

■■ Think first, act later

■■ Enjoy concentration and reflection

■■ Prefer written forms of communication

■■ Frequently hear that even though you’represent, you’re miles away, deep inthought

Mix Extraverts on a team with Introverts and watch the misunderstandings pileup. The Introverts will claim “I can’t concentrate!” while the Extraverts com-plain “I can’t tell what they are thinking!” Through understanding, each groupcan allow the other to operate as the group’s members do best. In chapter 2,you will read about Extraversion and Introversion at work.

IntroversionExtraversion

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Sensing (S) and Intuition (N): Gathering Information

Each of us has a preference for how we take in and process information. Thosewho focus on the specifics are called Sensing types. They seek information thatcan be verified by the five senses and like things to be accurate, detailed, fac-tual, and practical. Those who focus on the big picture are called Intuitivetypes. They gather information using insights, associations, relationships, andconnections. While Sensing types concentrate on current reality, Intuitive typesare dreaming about what could be. Which of the following do you tend to do?

■■ Value accuracy and precision

■■ Let the facts pile up to find the trends

■■ Avoid fabrications and generalities

■■ Relish the present

■■ Let experience be your guide

■■ Want to know the practical applicationsor results

■■ Value insights and analogies

■■ Generalize larger meanings from onefact or happening

■■ Overlook details, lose focus when thingsare stated too obviously

■■ Anticipate the future

■■ Let a combination of imagination andideas be your guide

■■ Want to know possible innovations oradditional uses

Each group has much to offer the other. Where would new ideas be with-out the practical foundations to implement them? Where would quality produc-tion be without forward-looking products to meet new demands? Yet thesedifferences in how we perceive all too frequently lead to conflict, not synergy.You will learn more about this preference in chapter 3, which deals with therelationship between Sensing and Intuition at work.

IntuitionSensing


Thinking (T) and Feeling (F): How We Make Decisions

After gathering information through either Sensing or Intuition, we need a wayto organize that information, to draw some rational conclusions about it, or toput it into categories. We do this in one of two ways—through Thinking orthrough Feeling. These are our decision-making processes.

Some of us have a preference for Thinking and take an analytical and objec-tive approach to decision making. Thinking types like to weigh the pros andcons of each alternative and find flaws in advance. Feeling types consider theimpact of a decision on themselves, on others, and on their deeply held values.They proceed after subjectively studying the motivations and nature of people.

Note that Thinking types have feelings, and Feeling types think. Which ofthe following do you tend to do when you are trying to make a decision?

It’s easy to imagine possible conflicts between Thinking types and Feeling typeswhen they are working together on issues such as outsourcing, promotions, andeven space utilization. Organizations suffer when they run solely on Thinking oron Feeling; both styles are necessary, for effectiveness (Thinking) and collegialityor trust (Feeling). (For an example of a Thinking–Feeling conflict, see chapter 4.)

■■ Weigh the pros and cons

■■ Want a logical outcome

■■ Seek the truth, influenced by objectivereasoning

■■ Focus on the underlying principlesbehind a decision

■■ Tend toward skepticism and controversy

■■ Point out flaws in an effort to “care” for others

■■ Sort through values

■■ Want a harmonious outcome

■■ Seek what is most important, influencedby subjective information

■■ Focus on the impact the decision mayhave on people

■■ Tend toward acceptance and tolerance

■■ Prefer not to critique others, offeringappreciative comments instead

FeelingThinking

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Judging (J) and Perceiving (P): How We Approach Life

Finally, people differ in their approach to life: according to plan or open to themoment. Judging types tend to plan their work and then follow their plans.They enjoy having matters settled and like to make decisions quickly. Perceiv-ing types enjoy the process of gathering information more than the process ofreaching a conclusion. They are more likely to be flexible and respond as a sit-uation warrants. Which of the following do you tend to do?

■■ Plan your work and then work accordingto your plan

■■ Schedule your time, settling dates andarrangements

■■ Make decisions quickly, putting a stopto seeking new information

■■ Find surprises or interruptions annoying

■■ Want to have things settled

■■ Focus on tasks and timetables

■■ Deal with situations or problems as theyarise

■■ Leave scheduling options open as longas possible

■■ Enjoy considering new information, putting off final decisions

■■ Find surprises or interruptions refreshingor a source of information

■■ Want to face life and work with spontaneity

■■ Focus on processes and options

Assign an employee who has already decided which of two marketingstrategies is best (Judging) to work for a manager who wants to keep theoptions open (Perceiving), and watch the frustration level rise. Yet consider howthey could create balance: Judging types tend to ensure that deadlines are met,and Perceiving types tend to lend flexibility when it is needed. (To learn moreabout this preference, read chapter 5.)

PerceivingJudging


WHAT TYPE CAN DOWhich preferences seem most like you? Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I)?Sensing (S) or Intuition (N)?2 Thinking (T) or Feeling (F)? Judging (J) or Per-ceiving (P)? If you have trouble deciding, think about the experience of writingwith each hand. Choose the preference in each pair that feels more natural. Youare able to use both, just as you could write with both hands, but most of usprefer one over the other. Forget about what might be required of you by family,work, or the task you need to accomplish—at least for now. Write your chosenletters below:

E or I S or N T or F J or P

The eight different preferences lead to 16 personality types. You may bewondering if understanding a complex theory is worth all the bother. Well, ifgaining insights into the personality types of your team members or co-workerssounds overwhelming, the following overview of what you can do with thoseinsights may give you cause to go on. Through type, you will be able to:

■ Identify and reduce sources of conflict. For example, if one personprefers to talk about everything out loud (Extraversion) and the other likespeace and solitude for reflection (Introversion), they can negotiate theirshared and private space.

■ Recognize a team’s strengths and blind spots. Knowing what a teamhabitually prefers and, as important, habitually overlooks helps that teamstrategize for increased effectiveness. For example, a group dominated byIntuitive types may learn that it should develop checklists so that it doesn’toverlook facts and details, the province of Sensing types.

■ Clarify the fit between managers and their direct reports. For example,when a team leader who prefers Thinking (perhaps giving praise onlyafter a task is completed or expectations are exceeded) works with some-one who prefers Feeling (perhaps expecting praise from the start of a proj-ect), problems may arise. When both understand each other, they canproductively manage their different perspectives on praise and recognition.

■ Get value from type diversity. Leaving the most important for last, typetheory emphasizes the positive contributions of each preference. Teaming

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a Judging type who prefers to plan everything with a Perceiving type whoenjoys spontaneity ensures that a plan is in place and that it will beadjusted when new information or circumstances warrant a change.

We all know it would be absurd to form an investigative team entirely offorensics experts or cryptologists; however, in business, we tend to chooseteammates whose perspectives on issues are similar to our own. Diversity ofoutlook and behavior yields better team results—type theory helps us managediversity.

THE TYPE TABLELet’s build a type table with all 16 types on it. Myers and others who put thistable together gave us some mnemonics to help us remember the placement ofthe 16 types.

■ Extraversion: Extraverted types prefer action and movement, so they areat the foot of the table.

■ Introversion: Introverted types prefer time to think, so they are at thehead of the table.

■ Sensing: Sensing types like “left-brain” activities (careful use of facts), sothey are at the left.

■ Intuition: Intuitive types like “right-brain” activities (hunches and mean-ing), so they are at the right.

Sensing Intuition

IntroversionExtraversion


■ Thinking: Thinking types like to be objective and stand apart from theirdecisions, so they are on the outside columns of the table.

■ Feeling: Feeling types like to please and consider others in their decisions,so they are next to each other in the middle of the table.

■ Judging: Judging types like structure and order, so they are in the top andbottom rows, providing structure for the table.

■ Perceiving: Perceiving types like flexibility and adaptability, so they are inthe middle rows of the table, just enjoying it.

This gives the table its structure. Can you find your type’s place in this tableusing the mnemonics we’ve given you?

Some people feel boxed in when they look at the type table. So, instead of abox, many writers liken the type table to a house with 16 rooms. Your own typeis your favorite room, perhaps the one with the window seat or the fireplace,but there are other rooms you like almost as much and probably visit often. Afew others, like the laundry room, may be your least favorite, and yet, as anadult, you know how to function in that room. Type works the same way. Fur-ther, maturity involves knowing when you have to move to a different room byworking outside your preferences in order to meet the needs of a situation. Inother words, you aren’t stuck being just one type. Knowing your preferences,however, provides a framework for adjustment when you need to step outsidethem to work it out in the world of work.

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJISTP ISFP INFP INTPESTP ESFP ENFP ENTPESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ

JudgingPerceivingPerceivingJudging

Thinking Feeling Feeling Thinking

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THE TYPE DESCRIPTIONSNow that you’ve found your place on the table, Type Chart 1 provides moreinformation about your particular combination of preferences—your personalitytype.

If you’ve been undecided until now, does the chart help? If not, ask aspouse, friend, or colleague to read the clues for each pair of preferences (forexample, Extraversion–Introversion) and to look at the chart to find the typethat describes you best.

The Four-Part Framework

Once you know your type and understand the opposite preferences, the differ-ent combinations of preferences will help in working out different kinds ofproblems. For example, one of the key aspects of psychological type is the com-bination of the Sensing or Intuition preference with the Thinking or Feelingpreference. These possible combinations—ST, SF, NF, and NT, which form thefour columns of the type table—are called the “function pairs” because they sayso much about how we function in life.3 (To learn about how teams run into dif-ficulties if they don’t understand their differences in this function-pairs frame-work, see chapter 6.) These pairings are useful in looking at communicationpatterns, organizational cultures, and teamwork. Here are some clues to deter-mining your function pair:

ST SF NF NT

Are you most likely to bedescribed as

Practical and logical

Sympatheticand friendly

Enthusiasticand insightful

Logical and ingenious

Is the work you prefer

Tangible and useful

Social and personable

Creative and people oriented

Theoretical and complex


ISTJ■ Leads by bringing

order and efficiency tomeetings and tasks.

■ Influences by usinglogical argumentsbacked by specificsand realism.

■ Focus is on facts,details, and results.

ISFJ■ Leads by encouraging

others in tasks thatsuit them best.

■ Influences by ensur-ing that informationis accurate, things areorganized.

■ Focus is on settingpriorities based on theneeds of individuals.

INFJ■ Leads by encouraging

others to cooperate inworking to achieve avision.

■ Influences by beingcreative and dedicated.

■ Focus is on creativeinsights and strongvalues.

INTJ■ Leads by setting the

course to make anidea become reality.

■ Influences by intel-lectual depth anddedication.

■ Focus is on designingsystems, changing thestatus quo.

ISTP■ Leads by quietly set-

ting an example.■ Influences, when

asked, by having allthe needed informa-tion ready.

■ Focus is on finding the logical ways to get things done.

ISFP■ Leads by encouraging

others to cooperate.■ Influences by exam-

ple, helping otherspursue their ideals.

■ Focus is on the practi-cal care of people.

INFP■ Leads by promoting

harmonious teams inwhich each person is valued.

■ Influences by high-lighting common idealsand new possibilities.

■ Focus is on group consensus and sharedvalues.

INTP■ Leads by convincing

others of the meritand logic of theirideals.

■ Influences by provid-ing in-depth knowl-edge and analysis.

■ Focus is on logical,intellectual insights to problems.

ESTP■ Leads by finding the

most efficient way to work together.

■ Influences by estab-lishing logicalprocesses, pursuingthem with enthusiasm.

■ Focus is on action,taking care of prob-lems as they arise.

ESFP■ Leads by encouraging

others to contribute.■ Influences by enthusi-

asm and enjoyment ofthe tasks at hand.

■ Focus is on creatingan upbeat atmospherefor people.

ENFP■ Leads by creating a

vision, helping peoplesee their potential.

■ Influences by listeningto and incorporatingthe ideas of others.

■ Focus is on exploringall the possibilities.

ENTP■ Leads by developing

novel strategies fornew enterprises.

■ Influences by goingthe extra mile.

■ Focus is on innovativemodels, conqueringchallenges.

ESTJ■ Leads by planning,

providing direction,and assigning respon-sibilities.

■ Influences by model-ing the standards andcommitment expectedfrom others.

■ Focus is on structuringtasks so goals are met.

ESFJ■ Leads by paying

attention to the needsof others and makingsure they feel impor-tant.

■ Influences by beingconscientious andhardworking.

■ Focus is on gettingthings organized sothat people’s personalneeds are met.

ENFJ■ Leads by facilitating,

helping others planand cooperate to meetgoals.

■ Influences by clarify-ing processes bywhich goals can bemet.

■ Focus is on encourag-ing others in buildingconsensus.

ENTJ■ Leads by presenting a

vision and then ener-gizing and directingothers to meet it.

■ Influences by objec-tively analyzing ideas,setting goals.

■ Focus is on makingdecisions.

TYPE CHART 1

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Here is how the four-part framework is expressed on the type table:

ST SF NF NTISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJISTP ISFP INFP INTPESTP ESFP ENFP ENTPESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ

The Four Functions

Another concept from type theory is type development. We don’t enter life withall of our preferences fully developed. One of these four functions—S, N, T, orF—is developed earliest in our lives and takes charge of who we are. It’s calledour “dominant function.” For example, Sensing children are often known aspractical or matter-of-fact, while Intuitive children are often known as imagina-tive or daydreamers. And children who prefer Thinking are often quick to findthe flaw, whereas children who prefer Feeling are often sensitive, concernedabout others.

Our dominant function is supported by the other three preferences. We relyon our dominant function the most, so the type of work we do should reflectthis foremost function. If our work does not reflect its use, we should give ourdominant function its way in our personal life. Furthermore, our dominant func-tion is our greatest gift in solving problems.

Some characteristics of the dominant functions are described below:

If your dominant function is Sensing:

Things have to make sense, stabilityis sought, and you . . .

■ Point out pertinent facts, especially those gained fromexperience

■ Have the right thing in the rightplace at the right time; essentialsare on hand and schedules arerealistic

If your dominant function is Intuition:

Things have to appeal to the imagi-nation, change is sought, and you . . .

■ Recognize new avenues and possibilities and develop inge-nious insights

■ Conjure up plans for future contingencies with a spirit ofoptimism


If your dominant function is Thinking:

Things have to be logical, effective-ness is key, and you . . .

■ Make decisions only after ana-lyzing the strengths and weak-nesses in a situation or a person,pointing out flaws in advance

■ Monitor and hold organizationsand teams accountable for goalsin an objective, straightforwardway

Sensing problem solving

■ How is the problem bestdefined?

■ What costs are incurred—financial, emotional, and so on?

Thinking problem solving

■ What are the pros and cons andthe interesting alternatives? Whyare they so?

■ What is the relationship betweencause and effect?

If your dominant function is Feeling:

Things have to consider people’s aspirations, integrity is key, and you . . .

■ Make decisions only after antici-pating the needs of those involvedand how they will be affected

■ Monitor and hold organizationsand teams accountable for theirvalues while encouraging every-one’s contribution

Intuitive problem solving

■ How does this problem relate to the ways or patterns by whichsimilar problems are solved?

■ What interpretations can bemade from the information orlack thereof?

Feeling problem solving

■ How do people feel about this?Can different views be accom-modated?

■ How does this affect me and thepeople I care about? How muchdoes the outcome matter?

Source: Elizabeth Hirsh, Katherine W. Hirsh, and Sandra Krebs Hirsh, MBTI® Teambuilding Program: Leader’sResource Guide, 2nd ed. (Mountain View, CA: CPP, Inc. 2003). Adapted by permission.

Here are a few clues about how a dominant function works on problemsolving:

Source: Elizabeth Hirsh, Katherine W. Hirsh, and Sandra Krebs Hirsh, MBTI® Teambuilding Program: Leader’sResource Guide, 2nd ed. (Mountain View, CA: CPP, Inc. 2003). Adapted by permission.

WORK IT OUT16

If you want to identify your dominant function and the rest of your prefer-ences, use Type Chart 2, below. It has the same type table structure we havediscussed and shows the hierarchy for the 16 types.

The dominant function is balanced by the second function on your list,which is called your “auxiliary function.” If your dominant wants to get infor-mation (through either Sensing or Intuition, for example), your auxiliary willwant to organize that information (through either Thinking or Feeling) and viceversa. If your dominant is Thinking or Feeling, then your auxiliary, either Sens-ing or Intuition, will want to add information to your decisions. The auxiliaryusually develops when a person is in adolescence or early adulthood.

We don’t know as much about your third function, which is the preferenceopposite to your auxiliary. It usually develops in adulthood. If your auxiliary isSensing, then your third function will be Intuition, and vice versa, and if yourauxiliary is Thinking, then your third function will be Feeling, and vice versa.The third function is not as large a part of your conscious mental activity asyour dominant and auxiliary are. It’s more elusive.

ISTJ1. Sensing2. Thinking3. Feeling4. Intuition

ISFJ1. Sensing2. Feeling3. Thinking4. Intuition

INFJ1. Intuition2. Feeling3. Thinking4. Sensing

INTJ1. Intuition2. Thinking3. Feeling4. Sensing

ISTP1. Thinking2. Sensing3. Intuition4. Feeling

ISFP1. Feeling2. Sensing3. Intuition4. Thinking

INFP1. Feeling2. Intuition3. Sensing4. Thinking

INTP1. Thinking2. Intuition3. Sensing4. Feeling

ESTP1. Sensing2. Thinking3. Feeling4. Intuition

ESFP1. Sensing2. Feeling3. Thinking4. Intuition

ENFP1. Intuition2. Feeling3. Thinking4. Sensing

ENTP1. Intuition2. Thinking3. Feeling4. Sensing

ESTJ1. Thinking2. Sensing3. Intuition4. Feeling

ESFJ1. Feeling2. Sensing3. Intuition4. Thinking

ENFJ1. Feeling2. Intuition3. Sensing4. Thinking

ENTJ1. Thinking2. Intuition3. Sensing4. Feeling

TYPE CHART 2


The fourth function is the one that is least preferred. When you are behav-ing normally, it’s pretty much hidden from you, almost unconscious. Mistakesoften occur with this function, because we haven’t been able to tap its gifts ordidn’t make an effort to do so. For example, Sensing types often miss the bigpicture, and Intuitive types often overlook details. Thinking types may overlookthe impact a decision will have on people, while Feeling types may overlook thelogical consequences of a decision.

In midlife and beyond, many of us find that the fourth function begins toclaim some of our attention, though still a small part. Some examples of whatthis might mean for certain types are given below:

Sensing types, who naturally knowand appreciate the here and now, . . .

Intuitive types, who do best at envi-sioning the future, . . .

Thinking types, who keep logic and objectivity at the forefront, . . .

Feeling types, who keep the focus on what matters to people, . . .

Begin to seek out new and untriedfutures.

Begin to enjoy the here and now,paying attention to what is.

Begin to focus on values, interper-sonal relationships, and service toothers.

Begin to apply logic, set boundaries,or enjoy scholarly pursuits.

When we are tired, anxious, or under stress—or when we’ve been too one-sided in our type, acting as an overwhelming ENTJ who insists on being incharge of everything, for example—we may unconsciously undergo a bit of self-correction to counteract this one-sidedness. The fourth function, feeling verymuch like the inferior function it is, emerges. And emerge it does! We don’t actlike our usual selves but instead become caricatures of our opposite types—from ENTJ to ISFP, but with a vengeance. (For more on the emergence of aninferior function, see chapter 7.)

Thus, for a Sensing dominant person (ISTJ, ISFJ, ESTP, or ESFP), the usuallyinferior Intuition becomes predominant. When this happens, Sensing types tuneinto insights or future possibilities, all of which may look bad or seem filledwith doom. The Intuition dominant person (INTJ, INFJ, ENTP, or ENFP) willsee too many of the details and become obsessed with them.

Thinking dominants (ISTP, INTP, ESTJ, and ENTJ) become maudlin, over-emotional, and self-pitying when their inferior function takes over. Feeling dom-inants (ISFP, INFP, ESFJ, and ENFJ) become cold, calculating, and domineeringto an extreme as they critique others.

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The next time people say, “What’s gotten into you?” or “You’re not actinglike yourself!” pause and reflect on whether you’ve been experiencing stress orare out of balance from being too much your type. (In chapter 7, you’ll find tipsfor identifying this state as well as ways to regain your balance.)

A WORD TO THE WISEIn the world of business leadership, there are four types that like to take charge:ISTJ, INTJ, ESTJ, and ENTJ. While these types often excel at bringing logic andorder, or principles and best practices, to the world of work, each has Feeling asits third or fourth function (see Type Chart 2, on page 16). What gets over-looked in these business settings, then, are the gifts of the Feeling preference:values, interpersonal relationships, and concern for the needs and wants of oth-ers. Instead, these four types may focus on pursuing the product no matter thecost to people or the environment. You can see that when we ignore just one ofthese four functions—S, N, T, or F—we’re in danger of making big mistakes.

If you want to avoid these mistakes, look at your type’s order of preferencesand do your darnedest to factor in each preference—S, N, T, and F—in a thor-ough and systematic way when you are facing a major decision or a criticalproblem. Realize that your dominant and auxiliary functions will come easily,since you prefer them, and that the third and especially fourth functions will beless natural but are well worth the effort when you see the results.

HOW THIS BOOK CAN HELPIf you would like to learn more about the theory of type, check the appendicesand the sources mentioned in the notes. This book is mostly a hands-on guideto practical applications that will allow you to put type to work for your team.

The next six chapters present case studies of companies that improved per-formance by developing their understanding of personality type. All the companynames and industries have been disguised (to protect the innocent—and us,too!), and, in most cases, the businesses are composites of two or more orga-nizations. But the specific problems, motivations, and situational issues are real,as are the teambuilding and coaching strategies that helped those involved inworking it out.


For each case, there are guides to help you determine which team membershave personality types similar to yours, as well as exercises and applications forboth your personal life and your work life. Each chapter contains a Type Takeaway,specific suggestions for implementing the general principles in your situation.

To get the most out of this book, be sure to do the following:

■ Figure out your own type.

■ Determine the people in each case study most closely identified with youor someone you know.

■ Consider how you would react to the situation. Which aspects wouldcause you the most concern?

■ Use the Type Takeaway section to apply the principles to yourself and toyour team or organization. How could these understandings help youwork it out through better teamwork? Better understanding? Better inter-personal relationships, increased productivity, and more fun?

And as you read, remember:

■ Personality type isn’t a box others put you into; rather, it’s a way to under-stand your preferences and those of others.

■ Personality type doesn’t explain everything. Within each of the 16 person-ality types, there is an infinite variety of personalities, each unique andvaluable.

■ Type alone cannot solve all your organization’s problems. However, it canlead to a deeper understanding of the value of each team member andprovide a logical model for why people do and say the things they do.

■ No one type is better than another. Each type has its unique combinationof assets and blind spots.

■ Personality type should not be used for selecting your work, life partner,or teammates because it looks at natural preferences, not competencies orabilities.

If you’ve identified your own personality type and believe that all 16 typeshave a valuable contribution to make to your workplace, then you’re ready toread the cases and discover how to work it out with type.

21

THE EXTRAVERSION–INTROVERSIONDICHOTOMYThe Case of the Communication Conundrum

The Goal: Creating an environment where everyone has enough energy to get the job done!

Energy. It’s tough to be effective without it. Extraversion and Introversion say alot about an organization’s orientation. Does it focus primarily outward on itsmarkets, customers, competition, or other departments? Or does it focus primarilyinward on its own processes, technologies, or founder’s dreams? Extravertedreality is out there, while Introverted reality is within, according to WilliamBridges.1

Teams and individuals with a preference for Extraversion may be energizedby conditions that would drain colleagues who have a preference for Introver-sion. Look at the differences between ideal organizational and team settings forExtraverts and Introverts:

2

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Let’s look at a team that found a way to balance their needs, ensuring thateveryone had enough energy to get the job done.

COMMERCE BANK

Extraversion is honored in settingswhere people can:

■ Find action for stimulation

■ Be involved in many things at once

■ Change tasks and add variety tomaintain interest

■ Frequently share informationand ideas face-to-face

■ Keep up networks of contacts

■ Clarify thoughts through discussion

■ Move about for action, interaction

■ Work within a team

■ Focus externally on the market

Introversion is honored in settingswhere people can:

■ Find quiet for reflection

■ Take an in-depth approach to a few tasks

■ Concentrate on the task at hand

■ Prepare in advance, perhaps inwriting, to discuss ideas or plans

■ Work without interruption

■ Clarify thoughts through reflection

■ Have private space for working

■ Engage in small-group or one-on-one interactions

■ Focus internally on their ownresources and competencies

Luis, team leader(ESTP)

Systems Design group6 Introverts 1 Extravert

Marketing group6 Extraverts 1 Introvert

THE EXTRAVERSION–INTROVERSION DICHOTOMY 23

Commerce Bank constantly strove to be at the technological forefront of theindustry. Having the most useful—and most secure—online consumer bankingsystem was the top priority for senior management. The bank dubbed its newproject Commerce Online.

THE PRESENTING PROBLEM: TYPE MISUNDERSTANDINGS

It only made sense to team up the Marketing and Systems Design departmentsto develop Commerce Online. Marketing staff needed to know what they’d beselling; Systems Design needed Marketing’s input to determine what customerswanted. But they weren’t communicating—in fact, they were insulting eachother. The Systems team referred to Marketing as “overconfident loudmouths”who hogged company resources. The Marketing team called the Systems group“a bunch of Lone Rangers” whose lackluster presentations made senior man-agers assume the departments were unlikely to meet the project’s goals.

Luis (ESTP), head of the project, seemed a perfect fit for his job. His résumélisted several cross-functional projects he’d headed in the past. The vice presi-dent of new product development had selected Luis because of his communica-tion skills, agility with details, and willingness to take risks. The time framesand goals were ambitious, but Luis hand-picked his team and was promised pri-ority for company resources.

Luis had taken the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality inventoryduring a workshop and determined ESTP as his best-fit type. Here is how hedescribed his own style and the issues with his cross-functional team:

I do my best work when I can think out loud—brainstorm with others, heartheir ideas, and interact. That’s how meetings function with the Marketingteam. We get together frequently, and they present their findings and givestatus updates. Why waste time writing up reports when I can hear one?That way, we can discuss the details immediately.

I know exactly where they are in determining the needs of our endusers. They fill me in on customer focus-group data, and they’re right ontrack with finding out what customers want and will use. Action and inter-action with movers and shakers—that’s how I work best.

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How Extraverted Types View Introverted Types

Luis’s description of the Systems Design team, though, was far less favorable,and in general the Marketing team shared his concerns. While Luis acknowl-edged that the Systems team members had impressive résumés and exemplarytechnical expertise—at least on paper—he claimed that so far they’d shown lit-tle evidence that they really understood the nature of the project. He said,

I like the challenging questions I get from the Systems team members andtheir willingness to probe deeply into things. But sometimes they keep me inthe dark. Yes, they do send me memos and e-mails, but I don’t have the timeto read them. Honestly? I have no idea whether they’re on schedule, and I’mconcerned.

Given that the teams were hand-picked for Commerce Online, it didn’tseem likely that the Systems Design people actually lacked the ability to handlethe work. There must have been something preventing the two teams fromunderstanding each other, and understanding was essential to the success of theendeavor. As the head of new product development put it, “The two sides reallydo have to talk on this project. Otherwise, either Marketing will sell somethingthat can’t actually be designed, or Systems will build something our customerswon’t want to use.”

We often jump too quickly to affix labels of insubordination, incompetence,or indifference when what is really blocking productivity or communication isa basic difference in personality types. The following lists illustrate the com-plaints Luis and the Marketing team had about Systems Design and then ana-lyzes those complaints through the lens of type.

Luis’s and Marketing’s complaintsabout Systems Design

■ When Systems gets an assign-ment, it falls into a deep, darkhole. We have no idea whatthey’re working on because theydon’t talk to us. They’re at theirdesks, but they’re staring intospace half the time.

Viewing the comments through thelens of type

■ Introverts often get lost in theirown world. When they’re “star-ing into space,” they’re oftenhard at work. They typically seekinput at the start of a project andagain when they’re done, but inbetween, they gain energy fromworking alone.


■ We give verbal progress reports,but if we ask Systems, theyreport on whatever is right infront of them and then say they’llget back to us on the rest. Andthey do—via e-mail! What awaste of time!

■ We work right across the hallfrom each other, but they sendmemos. Why don’t they justwalk over and tell us?

■ Instead of interacting like ateam, they hide away in theirown space. We need to get toknow them better, both person-ally and professionally.

■ We almost have to force them toattend team meetings. Then theysit there in their own worlds.Why don’t they challenge ourideas? What about responding toquestions?

■ Written forms of communica-tion, like e-mail, allow Introvertsto reflect on the clarity of eachthought. They often have moreconfidence in their written com-munication abilities than in theirverbal skills.

■ By using memos, Introvertsavoid unpredictable and possiblytime-consuming interactionswith others when they want toconcentrate on the tasks at hand.

■ Introverts often have a differentvision of teamwork. They like to“own” their piece of a project,occasionally seek input from others, and then work with theteam at the end. Introverts tendto be more private about theirpersonal lives as well.

■ Introverts prefer more reflectiontime between team meetingsthan do Extraverts. Further, ifthey don’t know in advance whatwill be discussed, they may hesi-tate to speak until they can checktheir sources and think throughalternatives. Introverts are oftenvisual learners and may dislikeprocessing ideas that aren’t inwriting. While some take copiousnotes in an attempt to pay atten-tion, others need more time toprocess what they hear asopposed to what they read.

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■ They don’t share enough infor-mation. Once, we even threat-ened to lock the meeting roomdoors until they gave us feed-back. Until we know what Sys-tems can produce, we can’t startthe campaign.

■ They follow our lead even whenwe go off on tangents, noddingcomplacently. If the tangent’s tothe left, they look left. If it’s tothe right, they look right.

■ How can they help but talkabout this project when so muchis going on?

■ Introverts are energized by andenjoy in-depth study. They can’tbe rushed, especially on signifi-cant matters. When Extravertswant to push for a decision, theycan get clarity by asking Intro-verts for information. Questionssuch as “What else will youneed to consider? What alterna-tives come to mind?” are usefulin reframing issues for thosewith an Introverted preference.

■ Meetings that emphasize fast-paced interactions and quickdecisions can derail Introverts,who may take on a “deer in theheadlights” aura under such con-ditions. They need agendas inadvance so they can think throughall the angles and be prepared.

■ Too much going on may be theproblem for the Introverts! Talk-ing about it de-energizes themeven more.

Although Luis was frustrated, he, too, questioned whether Systems Designwas underperforming or whether there was a mismatch in styles between thetwo departments—and himself. He was right about the mismatch. Of the sevenpeople in Marketing, six were Extraverts like Luis. This is true of many Market-ing departments, since Marketing often involves the customer contact, rapidpace, and multiple tasks on which Extraverts thrive. The Systems Design teamwas the exact opposite: six Introverts and one Extravert. Systems work benefitsfrom thoughtful preparation before implementation and in-depth knowledge,and it often provides opportunities to work on complex efforts in a few areas.

Anyone observing a Marketing meeting and a Systems Design meetingwould have been aware of the type differences. At Marketing meetings, jokesand verbal quips flew back and forth; team members clearly enjoyed being


together. Their excitement about Commerce Online was obvious. Hearty inter-changes and laughter filled the room as they fed off each individual’s energyand ideas. At the Systems meetings, quiet camaraderie filled the room. A similarshared sense of humor, often expressed in wordplay or in visual form, such ascartoons, permeated their interactions. Their meetings were also less noisy thanMarketing’s. As Introverts, they found energy in the quiet, reflective environ-ment. People seldom interrupted one another, instead allowing teammates tocomplete their thoughts.

How Introverted Types View Extraverted Types

In teambuilding, it’s important to hear all sides of any conflict. Systems Designteam members summarized their complaints about the work environment andtheir colleagues in Marketing this way:

Because we’re just a temporary project team, they tucked us into the Cus-tomer Service area. Maybe Marketing has a lot of customer contact work,but this place is like a zoo—three people to an office, with our desks actuallybutting up against one another.

If they’d get rid of the paging system and music that goes off and on allday, maybe a person could think! And the phones ring constantly. How canwe concentrate with constant interruptions, let alone without a quiet placeto work?

As for the team meetings, we’d like to know about the topics for discus-sion in advance. Usually, while Marketing is talking, we’re processing theirideas. This takes more time if we don’t know the issues we’re going to bediscussing in the first place! If we get a chance at the end of the meeting,what we say frequently moves the team from stagnation to progress. Whenwe’ve had enough time to process and are able to summarize, we can savethe day. However, Luis doesn’t seem to understand or appreciate that whathe sees as reticence and holding back is really work-related reflection.

The Systems Design team had serious doubts that teaming with Marketingwas the best way to roll out Commerce Online. “We’re on such different wave-lengths. Maybe our managers should do all the talking.”

Here are some of the Systems Design team’s complaints about Luis andMarketing, which show their misunderstanding of Extraversion:

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Systems Design’s complaints aboutLuis and Marketing

■ At the kick-off meeting for Com-merce Online, Marketing brown-nosed the entire time with theexecutive team, racing for spotsat their lunch table, playing golfwith senior management—theydid everything but tap dance toget noticed. We took the oppor-tunity to learn about one another,eating and golfing with our newSystems teammates.

■ We hear loud and clear whenMarketing meets a goal or comesup with a new idea.

■ Where are Marketing’s imple-mentation plans, beyond expect-ing us to make it happen? Theydon’t cover all the bases or thinkthrough alternatives.

■ Their constant interruptionssend us back to square one forwhatever we’re working on.Concentration is key for us.


■ The intermingling and small talkthat are appropriate at corporategatherings are natural forExtraverts but may be uncom-fortable for many Introverts, whomight even view it as a waste oftime. Instead, Introverts oftenuse such opportunities to beginunderstanding one another,learning about impersonalthings, like the other person’stechnical expertise, as a way toget acquainted.

■ Extraverts naturally talk aboutwhat they’re doing and get ener-gized to do even more. However,Introverts sometimes view thisas pushiness. Introverts expectothers to judge their work andthat of others on its own merits,whether they talk about it or not.

■ Extraverts like to take actionand, in this case, were encour-aged to do so by the project’stight deadlines. One way to statethe different approaches is thatExtraverts gain energy by Acting-Thinking-Acting while Introvertsare energized by Thinking-Acting-Thinking.

■ Extraverts often thrive on inter-ruptions that bring energy andfuel creativity. They may assumeeveryone wants to be interrupted!


■ They’re in deal-maker mode,focusing more on features theycan sell than on whether a fea-ture fits into our overall concept.

■ Our biggest fear is that Marketingwill produce a flash-in-the-panproduct. They’re concentratingon what customers are sayingthey’ll use now, not on whatthey’ll want two years from now.For us, it’s about a system that’suseful now but can serve Com-merce Bank for years to come.We’re aiming for a Cadillac, notan Edsel.

■ They want the broad picture ofCommerce Online services, butwe need to understand our ownpart in depth.

■ Extraverts often concentrate onvisible results as sources of moti-vation. Salable features give themsomething to talk about and ener-gize them to do even more. Intro-verts want the concept to beclearly developed before theyimplement it.

■ Extraverts, with their tendency tohave a broad array of interests,sometimes spend less time thanIntroverts considering the manyfacets of new processes or ideas.And, in this case, Systems hadn’tyet voiced its concerns about theneed to be forward-thinking.

■ For Extraverts, what they sayisn’t usually the last word—theyneed to get their ideas out thereand use discussion to processtheir thoughts. You hear whatthey’re thinking and feel theirenergy as they discuss theirplans. Introverts keep theirthoughts to themselves untiltheir ideas are finalized. Youneed to ask them if you want tofind out what they’re thinking.Their energy comes from think-ing things through.

WORK IT OUT30

Clearly, the Commerce Online team had a type difference—a misunder-standing that related to Extraversion and Introversion. Teambuilding, though,seldom calls for cookie-cutter solutions.

THE TYPE INTERVENTIONWhether you’re an outside consultant or the head of a team, follow these foursteps for developing an intervention.

Step 1: Gain a Clear Understanding of the Problem

Typically, it’s essential to hear from all involved parties before you plan anintervention. Employees often feel freer to speak with outside consultants.Because the Commerce Online Marketing team members were comfortable withone another, they voiced their concerns as a group; the same was true with theSystems Design team. However, we generally find that it’s important to speakwith each person individually in order to gain a more thorough understandingof the problem.

Once everyone has a chance to be heard, review the data with the follow-ing questions in mind:

■ Are outside factors causing difficulties?Tight deadlines and the temporary work space put pressure on both sidesof the Commerce Online team.

■ Are there factors in the team’s history that should be considered?In this instance, the team was recently configured to work on the project.In other cases, important factors might include the personality and leader-ship style of past managers, successes and failures, or prior conflicts, toname a few.

■ Are the team’s problems rooted in basic personality misunderstandings?For the Commerce Online team, a majority of the conflict seemed to comefrom differences and misunderstandings of Extraverted and Introvertedwork styles.


■ Does the problem involve one or a few individuals, or does it involvethe whole team? Is individual coaching or teambuilding called for?In this case, the problem did involve the whole team, making teambuild-ing an effective approach. However, meeting separately with Marketingand Systems Design and using group processes that appealed to eachenhanced their communication and understanding of the Extraversion–Introversion issues.

When the two groups met for teambuilding, they understood throughthe lenses of Extraversion and Introversion why we used various tech-niques such as brainstorming, reflection, and nominal group technique (aform of brainstorming that requires people to write out their ideas beforesharing their favorite ones).

■ Is the leader the problem?At other companies, we’ve been called in by a leader to “fix the team”and, after individual interviews, have determined that the leader is theone who needs coaching. Since Luis also had a basic misunderstanding ofExtraversion and Introversion, it was a mix of both leadership and teambehaviors, as is often the case.

Step 2: Create Understanding and Appreciation of Differences

When the problem is a difference in personality and work styles, simply tellingteam members that they’re different is seldom enough. They already know thatmuch!

For a teambuilding session to work, you must demonstrate that each of thepersonality preferences is normal and brings unique strengths and contributionsto the team. At the same time, it’s important to help team members develop aclear understanding of the needs of each personality type preference. The keyprinciple here is “Show them, don’t tell them.” Try the following hands-on exer-cise to accomplish both.

Work Style Preferences

At Commerce Bank, we had Marketing and Systems Design generate lists of what they needed to be productive in their work space and for their workstyle. Debriefing the lists in terms of Extraversion and Introversion illustrated

WORK IT OUT32

the significant, yet normal, differences in work styles. “So that’s why they actlike that!” and “So that’s the source of the problem!” were the general refrainsfrom both groups. Two additional exercises that demonstrate the differencebetween Extraversion and Introversion are included in “Type Solvers to Try” atthe end of this chapter.

Step 3: Generate a Plan

This two-part step should help team members develop a plan for working it out.

Facilitate Discussions to Generate Ideas

To reinforce the concepts, the two sides dialogued, with the Extraverted Market-ing team asking questions of the Introverted Systems Design team, and then theSystems Design team getting its chance to do the same with Marketing. (Seepage 37 for directions on conducting this exercise.)

The first question from Marketing was, “So what do you expect from uswhile you’re busy thinking? I mean, if I don’t get a response, I generally keeptalking, figuring you need more information from me before you can answer. Ialso feel uncomfortable with total lulls in the conversation. Sometimes I repeatmy question even louder, thinking that you might not have heard me.”

“I never thought of it that way,” said a surprised Systems team member.“Your comment helps me realize how important thinking out loud can be foryou and how necessary it is to let you in on my thinking process. I’d still ratherhave the questions in advance, though, so I can have time to think aboutthem.”

“And what do you do,” asked another Marketing team member, “when youreach a goal? You think we overdo the celebration, but we’d like to know whenand how to pat you on the back.”

“That’s a good point,” said another person from Systems. “We tend to focusso much on our work, absorbed in our own little successes, that we don’t letanyone else in on our progress. Speaking for myself as an Introvert, I don’t needor even like a parade or a celebration when I’ve succeeded. It’s enough to sharemy success with a few people who really know the effort that went into theproject. But for starters, Marketing can join us for pizza when we successfullytest the security coding.”

Then it was the Systems Design team’s turn to do the questioning. “Do youever wish you had thought things through before telling your ideas?”


One of the Marketing reps laughed. “Sort of. You know, I sometimes wishthat I could retract a statement from midair because I realize after I’ve said itthat it was a dumb thing to say. Sometimes, just as I might interpret your quiet-ness as a lack of ideas, people who meet me for the first time think I never keepmy mouth shut. Really, though, I get my best ideas by talking out loud andhearing myself speak and getting reactions from others. I’m a thoughtful kindof guy; my thoughts are just expressed quickly and more loudly than yours.”

Someone else from Systems stated, “I think it’s easier for you to tell us tospeak up than it is for us to tell you to be quiet. Any suggestions?”

Luis spoke. “Just tell me ‘Give me time to think’ or ‘Go away for a bit’—butalso give me an idea of when you can get back to me with an answer or whatissues you’ve thought of that prevent you from answering right then. Clue mein to where you are. I may still hound you, so don’t worry about telling memore than once. Each side has to give a little.”

Create Mutual Usefulness of Opposites

Once the needs of each preference are understood, a team can move on to gen-erating ideas for working out the situation.

Often, this can be done with the entire group. With the Commerce Onlineteam, however, letting Systems Design team members generate some ideasbefore meeting with Marketing gave them the chance to work within their ownIntroverted style. They were also ready to entertain more ideas as well as cri-tiques when the full team met. The cross-functional team then addressed threegeneral areas:

■ Meet Marketing’s need for immediate feedback.

Solution: Systems created a project board that they would update daily toshow their progress.

■ Increase Systems Design’s participation in meetings.

Solution: Systems asked to receive meeting agendas at least three hours, if not a full day, in advance of meetings so team members could bring theappropriate materials and be ready with ideas.

■ Meet senior management’s request for polished presentations on Commerce Online.

Solution: At first, Systems wanted Marketing to take care of presentations.Marketing, however, didn’t feel that it could adequately present the technical

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aspects. So Systems agreed to be at all presentations, but as backup, toanswer technical questions. Systems team members suggested an “Effec-tive Presentations” course for all those who wanted to work on their pre-sentation skills.

The group discussed alternatives and adjustments and developed the fol-lowing “Prescription for Commerce Online Team Communication”:

For the Extraverts

■ Team members will give one another time to think before responding.

■ Team meeting agendas and other information will be sent out in advance.

For the Introverts

■ Team members will acknowledge when they are thinking about an issueas opposed to when they have nothing to say about an issue.

■ Both Systems Design and Marketing will list their critical events. Theentire team will celebrate reaching those goals together. However, theteam member or subteam that accomplishes the goal gets to choose howto be recognized for the achievement. (For more on the different ways inwhich people prefer to receive recognition and praise, see chapter 4.)

For both Extraverts and Introverts

■ Representatives from Systems and Marketing will work together on a project board to ensure that everyone understands the current status of each aspect of Commerce Online.

■ Everyone will work to mitigate the effects of an environment filled withinterruptions.

Step 4: Reevaluate the Need for Individual Coaching

It might be necessary to coach individuals at any stage in the teambuildingprocess, so it’s important to determine whether any one person has develop-mental needs that are affecting the entire group.


Here, Luis became a candidate for coaching on a few advanced manage-ment skills. He’d successfully led many projects, but Commerce Online was themost complex. Coaching him on the usefulness of skills more natural to Intro-verts, such as in-depth reflection and careful analysis before acting, for exam-ple, served Luis well. The following lists, compiled through earlier interviewswith both teams, helped Luis see the patterns in his leadership style that hecould build on, enhance, or improve.

Marketing on Luis’s leadership style

On the positive

■ He’s great—he has lots of energy.

■ He’s easy to work with becausehe tells us what’s going on withhim.

■ He represents us well to seniormanagement.

■ He’s direct with us. He sayswhat’s on his mind.

■ He makes Commerce Online fun.

■ He’s responsive.

On the negative

■ Sometimes, it’s hard to get aword in edgewise.

■ He can be pretty impulsive.

■ He sometimes overcommits usbecause he doesn’t bother tocheck with us before he respondsto a request.

■ He’s often away from the teamsite visiting with the senior man-agers. This means I have to waitto talk to him.

Systems on Luis’s leadership style

On the positive

■ He’s got a good handle on whatneeds to happen.

■ We know he’s sold on CommerceOnline.

■ He has senior management’s ear.

■ I know where I stand with him.

■ The project allows me to grow.

■ He asks my opinion.

On the negative

■ When he doesn’t seem to under-stand, it’s often because he hasn’tread his memos or e-mail.

■ He doesn’t think ahead aboutwhat we need in order to workeffectively.

■ He talks before he listens andwants us to talk before we think!

■ When we’re thinking, he goesoverboard in pushing us torespond immediately.

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Once he’d read the comments, Luis said, “It clears the air for me to under-stand what the issues are and how the team and I can address them. As forwhat this means for me specifically . . . well, a word to the wise is sufficient.”

THE RESULTS OF WORKING IT OUT WITH TYPE

Within a month, members of the Commerce Online team managed to worktheir differences into an almost playful framework. The music was off, parti-tions were up, meeting agendas went out in advance, and the project board wasprominently displayed outside Luis’s office. Because Luis preferred face-to-faceoral communication, he reserved the right to ask questions of anyone postingprogress notes. The Systems Design team learned to be ready with answers.

Marketing had fun with writing out ideas and then tiptoeing in to deliverthem to the appropriate desk in Systems. Systems frequently responded immedi-ately with at least an “It depends, and I’ll get back to you in an hour” response,rather than with the long silences of the past.

Meeting agendas helped a great deal, although Marketing had to fight theimpulse to hound Systems before meetings took place. Systems team memberslearned to use the interruptions, which became much less frequent, to deter-mine if and when they needed more input from Marketing.

All in all, the Introverts and Extraverts of the Commerce Online team learnedto translate their needs into terms the other team and the other preference couldunderstand, even if they still spoke different languages. The Commerce Onlineteam found a balance between keeping quiet (I) and speaking up (E).


TYPE TAKEAWAYType differences between Extraverts and Introverts directly affect their productivity.Each style may keep the other style from working effectively in a way that comesnaturally to each of them. The insights gained from knowing personality type canlead to compromise and an understanding that benefits everyone.

Type Solvers to TryTo help people understand, and appreciate, the strengths and varying needs ofExtraversion and Introversion, try one of these ideas.

Dialogue for Understanding

Prior to a type-related team meeting, have the following questions on hand (sothe Introverts can come prepared to respond!):

■ What positive contributions does your Extraversion or Introversion maketo this team or endeavor?

■ What does the other style contribute?

■ What do you value about your style?

■ What do you value about the other style?

■ What do you and your team, company, or organization do that honors theExtraverted style? the Introverted style?

At the meeting, divide into two groups according to preferences on theExtraversion–Introversion dichotomy. Allow each group to present its answersto the above questions.

After each presentation, allow time for questions and discussion. Brain-storm first in Extraversion and Introversion groups, and then together, aboutpossible ways of improving the work environment to fit the needs of both preferences.

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Wait Time Demonstration

At a meeting, hand out cards that are red on one side and green on the other (oruse two Post-It notes of different colors stuck together). Tell the group that mem-bers will be discussing a given topic—it may or may not be work related, depend-ing on tensions in the group—which you’ll state after you’ve given directions.

Give the following directions: Participants are to keep their cards red sideup until they are ready to contribute to the discussion. When they feel they areready, they should turn their cards over so the green side shows.

Then offer a topic for discussion.Most people with a preference for Extraversion turn their cards green side

up within a minute after the topic is announced. Depending on the topic’s com-plexity, many Introverts ponder their thoughts for as long as 10 minutes beforethey’re ready to go. Point out the time differences to the entire group.

Once the discussion begins, most participants are impressed by the richnessof the discussion and the level of participation that results because everyonehas had a chance to ready his or her thoughts.

Note: With large groups, consider breaking into smaller groups of seven oreight for the ensuing discussion, or the Extraverts may still interrupt, outtalk,and overlook the Introverts.

It Is More Natural for . . .

The following list summarizes the natural styles of each preference, and it maybe beneficial to discuss it.

It is more natural for Extraverts to:

■ Give spontaneous presentations

■ Network with other departmentsand outsiders

■ Promote their ideas and productsto outsiders, new customers, orstrangers

It is more natural for Introverts to:

■ Give presentations that are indepth and planned in advance

■ Network with a few people whoshare their interests

■ Promote their ideas and productsto well-established customers orthrough one-on-one sales


■ Enjoy door-to-door or cold-callsales

■ Prefer private offices, but theydon’t mind open office plans ifthey can interact easily with co-workers

Extraverts, to be more effective, youneed to be out and about, but . . .

■ Introspect

■ Keep a journal or use anothertechnique for considering ideasin more depth

■ Schedule time-outs for yourself,away from constant activity

■ Lobby for opportunities to thinkthrough ideas in a collaborativeenvironment

■ You can also practice Introver-sion (see the list below)

■ Prefer long-term sales arrange-ments (for example, multiyearcontracts) that enable them toget to know both the productand the customer in depth

■ Prefer private offices with doors

Introverts, to be more effective, youneed time for yourself, but . . .

■ Speak up earlier in the processwhen you have a good idea

■ Make sure to connect with thosewho will promote or fund yourideas

■ Drive the long route home togive yourself time to reflect onthe day

■ Lobby for work space thataccommodates your need towork without interruption

■ You can also practice Extraver-sion (see the list below)

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For Personal Development

If your preference is for Extraversion, practice Introversion:

■ Count to 10 when you’re feeling especially action driven, enthusiastic, orenamored with an idea. Reflect on whether your ideas are everything youthink they might be.

■ Practice being silent for periods of time during meetings. Do so especiallyif you’re the boss! (One Extravert in desperate need of toning down evenplaced a cough drop in his mouth as a reminder to let others speak.)

■ Keep a journal, reflect, meditate, pray silently, or sit or walk alone innature—practice the contemplative arts.

■ Take an area that needs your thorough understanding and dig in. Get steepand deep with the information.

■ Let the other person speak first, and then listen, and listen again.

■ Slow down your actions. Before starting a task, ask yourself, “Have Ithought this through deeply?”

If your preference is for Introversion, practice Extraversion:

■ Join and become actively involved in a professional, business, or tradeassociation with people who share a similar interest.

■ If you think someone can help you formulate or implement an idea, askthat person for assistance, even if you’re not sure of the merits of doing so.

■ Open up with at least one trusted person at work and share what you’rethinking.

■ If you think you’ve limited your interests too severely, try adding some-thing new periodically—a course or a concept to study or a new leisureactivity, preferably one that involves other people.

■ Have lunch with one new business contact per week to increase your net-working circle and add breadth to your relationships.

■ Try getting out and about at work. Keep the office door open at times, ifonly periodically.


When You’re One or a Few Among the ManyWhen you have a preference for Introversion and your teammates have a prefer-ence for Extraversion, consider:

■ Arriving at work early to take advantage of quiet time

■ Seeking out private reflective time, for example, by taking the long wayhome

■ Planning private breaks throughout the day so you can collect yourthoughts

■ In meetings, voicing your perspectives even when you’ve only partiallythought them through

When you have a preference for Extraversion and your teammates have a pref-erence for Introversion, consider:

■ Networking with others outside your team

■ Asking others to voice their ideas

■ Paying attention to the written word

■ Allowing others to think about your idea before they provide feedback;count to 3—or 10!

43

THE SENSING–INTUITION DICHOTOMYTo Improve or Expand?

The Goal: Honoring information that incorporates both the big picture and the details—the forest and the trees.

What is success? At Stan Maslack’s restaurant in Minneapolis, people lined uparound the block for just one menu item: hot roast beef sandwiches with asavory garlic sauce. Diners crowded into Brenda Langton’s café in Minneapolisto sample from a different menu almost every night, with dishes determined bythe availability of fresh ingredients and the chef’s ideas for new items. BothStan’s tried-and-true, more Sensing approach and Brenda’s novel, more Intuitiveapproach brought success.

What information would you consider in determining business success? People with a preference for Sensing might look for practical, tangible, or

factual data, including, perhaps:

■ A proven track record

■ High customer satisfaction level indicated by repeat business and positivecustomer feedback

■ Clear financial profits

■ Loyal investors and appeal to potential investors

■ A standardized product or project with results that can be replicated easily

3

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Many organizations are started by Sensing types who find a way to do thingsefficiently, easily, and with less expense. Think of McDonald’s, which producesuniform, inexpensive fast food worldwide. Sensing types in these organizationsoften perceive a need to develop insights about new-product development ormarket expansion. Without knowing type, people with a preference for Sensingmay seek the perspective of those with a preference for Intuition.

In contrast, people with a preference for Intuition might look for insightfulinformation that includes future possibilities in determining business success,such as:

■ A track record of inventiveness

■ Creative alternatives for meeting employee and customer needs

■ Fresh and unusual approaches that lead to new services or products

■ Future possibilities for existing products, services, or ways of workingwith people

■ An entrepreneurial spirit

Many organizations are started by Intuitive types who have a vision or adream. Think of Federal Express, which started out by offering a new and dif-ferent approach to delivering mail. These organizational founders have anuncanny ability to perceive an opening, a niche, or a product to meet a need noone else has recognized. Intuitive types often know that if their dream or visionis to succeed, it must be backed by sound accounting practices, business plan-ning, and consistency of production. However, they tend to find such activitiesdifficult or dull and seek the strengths of Sensing types.

Which of the following workplace characteristics fit with your naturalapproach to taking in information?

Sensing is honored in settingswhere people can:

■ Observe and determine what isreal by engaging the five senses

■ Focus on the here and now

■ Follow a clear path to rewards

Intuition is honored in settingswhere people can:

■ Work with and create new ideasfor the future

■ Focus on connections and seerelationships among things

■ Look for and anticipate futurerewards

THE SENSING–INTUITION DICHOTOMY 45

■ Succeed through experience,with credentials other than academic ones

■ Engage in hands-on experiences,with real-time immediate interactions

■ Be rewarded for experience andseniority

■ Gauge success in concrete andstandard terms by reaching goals(profits, promotions, and typicalaccounting practices)

■ Succeed through potential, withbig ideas, concentrating on whatcould be

■ Push for change rather than stickwith the status quo

■ Be rewarded for sharing insightsand imaginative ideas

■ Gauge success by achievinggoals in new and innovativeways

The natural domain for Sensing tends to be organizations that focus onstandardization, replication, efficiency, and cost-benefit enhancement. Sensingtypes tend to gravitate to fields such as manufacturing, construction, medicine,banking, transportation, and production, in which exactitude and precision areheld in high regard.

The natural domain for Intuition tends to be organizations that focus oninvention, ingenuity, innovation, and potential. Intuitive types often gravitate tofields such as public relations and advertising, research and development, pub-lishing, entertainment, new technologies, and the arts, in which departure fromthe norm and new concepts are held in high regard.

However, most organizations need to pay attention to the realms of Sensingand Intuition—the forest and the trees. If an organization is too one-sided, itrisks getting stuck or becoming obsolete (a problem for Sensing organizationalcultures such as Montgomery Ward) or is in danger of chasing an elusive future(a problem for Intuitive organizational cultures like the 7 out of 10 businessstart-ups that don’t succeed).

As you read through the following case, consider what can happen wheneither Sensing or Intuition is given too much weight. Visions do need to takereality into account.

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ALPHA OMEGA SEMINARS ( A )

Alpha Omega Seminars (AΩ) was a start-up company that offered a full-serviceapproach in the field of human resources training for small and midsize compa-nies. AΩ provided assessment, teambuilding, problem solving, strategic plan-ning, and customized programs. Its mission statement proclaimed, “We provideopportunities for the growth of organizational learning by sharing knowledgeand practice through consulting and training services. We strive to be a dominantforce for creating value for organizations transitioning into the next century.”

Darin’s goal was to create an organization that would be known as an inno-vator in its field—and it soon was. He hired a team of experts to give smallercompanies the stimulating and creative training, teambuilding, and planningthat larger organizations enjoyed. However, the company experienced a fewgrowing pains as its number of clients and product lists rapidly increased. Itwas on the cutting edge, but could it keep up the pace? Many of AΩ’s employ-ees felt like they were on the bleeding edge.

THE PRESENTING PROBLEM:TYPE MISUNDERSTANDINGS

At a staff meeting, Darin announced plans to expand AΩ’s one-office operationby opening new facilities in Boston and then in Phoenix.

Blaire quickly scanned the agenda and said, “New offices? You barely men-tioned that to me in passing last week. I thought we’d agreed to slow down—even avoid new products—until we have concrete policies.”

“Right,” another executive added. “New clients, new services, new every-thing. Everything except new ways to handle the expanding system needs,client records, course development procedures—in essence, what we need tokeep the business going. We’ve got to get grounded right here, know what thisbusiness is about.”

Darin leaned forward. “I do know what we’re about. We’re helping compa-nies meet the future. I want us to work together efficiently, in harmony, and notwaste our time on the small stuff.”

Darin (ENFP)President

Blaire (ISTJ)Executive vice president

Ω


Blaire said, “We used to have harmony, but now everything is so tentative,with everything a possibility and nothing a certainty, that I question our abilityto strive for excellence. If we want to fulfill our mission, don’t we need to limitthe possibilities until we’re ready to meet them, not stay open to anything wemight fall into?”

After the meeting, Blaire pulled Darin aside. “As I recall, you partnered withme because I could bring reality and the clear light of day to your dreams.We’re both supposed to be in charge, so hear me out. It’s not practical to keepexpanding at the possible risk of losing all we’ve gained.”

Darin didn’t answer. But later, he called for help, concerned about the con-flict with Blaire.

How Intuitive Types View Sensing Types

Darin seemed nervous, almost confrontational, as he discussed what had beenhappening at AΩ. After confirming his preferences for ENFP, he said, “Our mis-sion is to prepare companies for the future. That future keeps changing, so howcan we slow down? Our customers know how on-target our training is. Why, Icould call almost any one of them and get them to sign up for the incentivescourse I proposed last week as our next offering. I’m tired of Blaire and the restof the crew demanding more specifics. Time is too short when opportunities arecalling!”

Here’s how Darin described his conflict with Blaire:

Darin’s comments about Blaire

■ Blaire wants me to “stick to theknitting,” standardize and repeatour key offerings. We could stag-nate if we don’t continue to growand develop. Our competitive edgeis that we create new offerings.

■ Blaire spends most of her time atthe office and may not see all thepossibilities that are out there.

Viewing the comments through the lens of type

■ Sensing types often think that anorganization’s competitive edgeis in its replication and standard-ization of a service or product,which thereby create efficienciesof scale.

■ While there is danger in over-looking all the possibilities, thereis real danger in not focusing onwhat can actually be done.

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■ Blaire wants me to have a formfor everything, with everythingplanned, documented, andsigned before we proceed.

■ I feel pushed to be consistent inour course offerings even thoughcustomization is our strength.

■ She watches expenses like ahawk. I feel monitored in all thatI do.

■ Blaire accuses me of lackingfocus, yet our mission for AΩ isclear: creating opportunities forexcellence.

■ Blaire wants me to limit AΩ’spossibilities.

■ Blaire wants me to cost-justifyadding more offices. I knowthere is a need in Boston—Idon’t need a cost justification toknow what I know!

■ Sensing types know that gooddocumentation keeps an organi-zation from reinventing thewheel, which is a waste of timeand money.

■ Sensing types often feel thatclients and customers deserve aconsistent product or service sothat an experience can be repeatedwith the same known outcomefor all.

■ Sensing types like tangiblerecords (such as budgets) bywhich to judge success of aproduct or service. The absenceof good cost accounting weakensconfidence in the long-term suc-cess of a venture.

■ If there is no specificity, Sensingtypes question validity. “Excel-lence in what context?” Blairemight ask. “And what aboutexcellence in execution?”

■ Blaire might say that by limitingthe possibilities, AΩ can focuson what it does best—seminardesign and delivery.

■ Sensing types see the world dif-ferently and trust their intuitionsonly if the details and figuressupport them.


Yet, Darin admitted, “Blaire is one of the most efficient, reliable people Ihave ever met, which is why I invited her to partner with me at AΩ. I neverthought we’d be tripping over each other like this. You know, I was really try-ing to go along with her methods because I do know I need someone to helpkeep me organized. But her efficiency could sandbag us now. I need help in get-ting this place moving again!”

How Sensing Types View Intuitive Types

Blaire came to her interview with a list of points she wanted to be sure to cover.As we began, she confirmed her preferences for ISTJ, the exact opposite ofDarin’s (ENFP). Blaire admired the initiative and broad vision of her partnerand had been excited about AΩ when she came aboard. When asked about herown role, she said, “I’m the realist, the one who makes sure we keep track ofthe essentials of our business. I’d worked with Darin before, and I was quitecertain that anything he started would succeed. Until recently, our division ofresponsibility worked well. But now . . . he seems to resent my role of ensuringthat we stay on the track that is bringing us success. Frankly, with his deluge ofnew ideas, trying to control this place is like rowing a boat up a waterfall,” sheadded without a trace of humor in her voice.

Blaire confided that they’d missed deadlines and made critical record-keepingerrors. She wondered if she had made a mistake in joining AΩ. Her stress levelwas getting higher and higher. “I’m having trouble keeping up on the proceduresside with Darin’s pace for creating new seminars and consulting packages. Lastweek, Darin mentioned opening a new office in Boston! Well, I don’t know howwe can do it. We can hardly manage this office, let alone one in Boston.” Blaire’sconflicts with her partner are explained below.

Blaire’s comments about Darin

■ He’s a man with a mission andhas an almost religious fervorabout it.


■ Intuitive types have confidencein broad-based visions thataren’t easily explained. Manyorganizations start out just thatway—as a vision in thefounder’s mind.

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■ While I know that mission state-ments should be broad and gen-eral, AΩ’s doesn’t say what wedo at all.

■ Darin surrounds himself withentrepreneurial people who seethe world as he does.

■ He’s brought together a team of“experts.” I know they’ve pub-lished in the training and devel-opment field, but what aboutclient recommendations? A realtrack record?

■ Darin sees limitless possibilities,missing entirely the many poten-tial barriers to AΩ’s success,including the fact that one majorgoof could close us down.

■ He wants to open offices inBoston, Phoenix—once he evenmentioned Brussels! Expansionis the name of his game. Yet wehaven’t managed our only officeeffectively.

■ He’s all excited about a Bostonoffice, but he doesn’t have oneshred of evidence that we couldthrive there.

■ His approach seems chaotic andscattered as he jumps from onepossibility to another.

■ Limitless possibilities with fewboundaries are the delight ofmany Intuitive types.

■ Both Sensing and Intuitive typesmay inadvertently hire peoplewhose view of the world matchestheirs, thereby missing out on avaluable opposite perspective.

■ Sensing types may want expertiseto be demonstrated by actualperformance of a task, not justwriting about it.

■ Intuitive types look at the bigpicture first and then considerthe relevant particulars. Theyoften need to focus and take acold look at the real situation.

■ By focusing on what could berather than what is, Intuitivetypes are at risk of missing whatis going on right under theirnoses. Taking a step-by-stepapproach, the province of manySensing types, may place futureactions on a sounder footing.

■ Intuitive types easily anticipatethe future even without directproof about a given situation,often with mixed results.

■ The lure of a possibility calls outto the Intuitive type. Concretiz-ing those possibilities will addmuch to the endeavor and maysustain it in the long term.


Blaire concluded, “I know Darin’s vision is rock-solid, but he just doesn’trealize that a truly successful business builds on a solid financial foundationbefore it expands! We need a plan that we can hang our hats on, one that willhelp us determine objectively whether and how fast or how far we can expand.Then we can perhaps start discussing new offices.”

THE TYPE INTERVENTIONFollow these four steps to facilitate the intervention.


Darin felt that an inventive, cutting-edge organization would naturally be prof-itable. Blaire wanted to be sure AΩ was built on proven processes, procedures,and products; she believed that having these things in place would naturallylead to profits for AΩ. Darin and Blaire had different perspectives, which gavethem different views on success for their company. Both perspectives werevalid, and both needed to be present if AΩ were to be a leader in its field and afinancial success. A struggle between these two perspectives was at the heart ofthis organization’s problems. The following questions helped get to the root ofthe problem:

■ Are outside factors causing difficulties?Darin was correct—the human resources development field is dynamic,especially since the Internet has increased the methods and acceleratedthe pace of educating and training people. But Blaire was right, too! AΩ’scapacity to deliver on its promises was directly related to standardizationof its products, internal systems, and processes.

■ Are there factors in the team’s history that should be considered?Darin sought out Blaire, whom he knew from previous work experiences.They made a complementary team, as each was gifted in a separate aspectof the business. Darin saw the need to seize the day by expanding productlines and locations. Feeling overwhelmed by AΩ’s continuously evolvingsystems and changing products, Blaire saw the need to stop and focus.The very success and frenzied climate of AΩ blinded each to the other’sperspective.

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■ Are the team’s problems rooted in basic personality misunderstandings?Darin and Blaire were the exact opposite personality types and had verydifferent perspectives on AΩ’s strengths and shortcomings. Understandinghow to use those differences to AΩ’s advantage and to each other’s bene-fit became key to this intervention.

■ Does the problem involve one or a few individuals, or does it involvethe whole team? Is individual coaching or teambuilding called for?At AΩ, individual coaching came before teambuilding. Darin needed tolearn more about his leadership style and how it enhanced or diminishedhis effectiveness. The staff of AΩ saw him as its founder and wanted himto assume a leadership role; he saw himself as just another player andwanted everyone to feel good about what was happening at AΩ. Thisleadership style left many to flounder for want of a clear direction andfocus.

Blaire’s coaching helped her learn what she could delegate to others(including Darin) and what she should do herself. After she understoodthat Darin’s sense of possibilities came from a different way of seeing theworld, Blaire regained her trust in his intuition. She also began to practicea new firmness about her own perceptions—sound systems were justwhat AΩ needed for its long-term success. And meeting client needs in a steady and consistent way meant less stress for all.


For the teambuilding session to work, demonstrate that each personality prefer-ence is normal and brings unique strengths and contributions to the team. Thefollowing exercise helped team members understand that both Sensing andIntuition were important to the company’s success.

Informational Needs

Ask team members this question: “What does this team need in order to suc-ceed?” We summarized the AΩ responses as follows:


Team members of both preferences quickly recognized how different theirlists were, although all agreed that AΩ needed elements from both lists to succeed.

Step 3: Generate a Plan



Darin and Blaire called an off-site company meeting to work through the ideas(N) and the needs (S) they had learned about through their coaching and theirnew understanding of personality type.

They had already discovered the importance of honoring different informa-tional needs. The Sensing group and the Intuitive group each recognized theother’s different informational needs. As Blaire put it, “I didn’t say we can’texpand. I just want to know the who, what, when, where, why, and how beforeyou ask me to start the process.” To practice communicating, each group chosean issue the others needed to understand more about and presented it usinginformation that met the other group’s needs (this exercise is explained on page60).

The Intuitive types presented their case for a Boston office, trying to meetthe Sensing need for facts. They reported, “Over the past six months, our busi-ness on the East Coast has tripled, causing a 35 percent increase in travel timeand expenses for our consultants. We have nine established clients in theBoston area. Further, Darin, through contacts in Massachusetts, has already

Sensing needs

■ A business plan, with supportingpolicies and procedures in place

■ A financial plan

■ Agreement on procedures fordeveloping new courses

■ Identification of our strengths,which we can then build on

Intuitive needs

■ More offices, with Boston andPhoenix as a start

■ New and evolving products tomeet ever-changing customerneeds

■ Ability to be flexible and refocusin response to the market

■ A focus on the future

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found several potential AΩ consultants. Someone from this office will workalongside them, replicating seminars that have already been presented here.”The Intuitive group continued with details about office management, conclud-ing that no other expansions should take place until the head office had deter-mined the procedures necessary to handle a remote site. Group members alsocommitted to concrete projections for costs, seminar attendance required inorder to break even, and so on.

The Sensing group presented its case for having a business plan, focusingon how it would fit into the big picture, the information the Intuitive groupneeded. “First, our main point is that a business plan will allow us to set expec-tations, not limits. With a sound plan, we’ll know just what the financials needto look like before a new office is possible. We’ll be able to ascertain whichtraining sessions meet our profitability standards and develop a fair profit-sharingplan. And a business plan ties to our mission by letting us know with certaintythat we have the resources to follow through before making promises. We candialogue about which line items are most important to track—and have just oneline item for all office supplies, not separate ones for pens and pencils!”

They outlined a general process for developing the plan, mentioning specificsteps but leaving out the details of time frames, responsibilities, and expectedoutput, concluding, “We’ll fill those in later—you can ask to see them whenyou need to know.”


Through coaching, Darin and Blaire developed a clear understanding of theneeds stemming from their different personality preferences. They then taughtthe entire organization how to use the creative tension that exists between Sens-ing and Intuition. (The Personal Operating Manuals exercise, described on pages102–103, is one way to attain this understanding.) They also developed severalnorms for working together, which included:

■ Asking each person, “What is most needed from your point of view?”before proceeding on a plan or making any decision

■ Making sure that the answers to who, what, where, when, and why wereconsidered in making plans and coming to organizational decisions

■ Doing a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis onany new idea


■ Using a type-based problem-solving model to resolve conflict: listing theverifiable facts (S), determining the implications of the facts (N), identify-ing the consequences of each suggested course of action (T), and acknowl-edging the impact on all the people involved, including AΩ partners,employees, and clients (F). (See page 59 for a detailed description of thisprocess.)

Using this open format of brainstorming and prioritizing, as well as theirnewly developed norms, the AΩ staff came up with the following ideas forworking it out in the year ahead. Staff members quickly realized the benefit ofassigning responsibility for some items to teams made up of a Sensing type andan Intuitive type. In the end, their list of objectives met the most urgent needsof both sides. Here is their list:

■ Develop a three-year financial plan for AΩ (S). Set profitability goals andgrowth benchmarks (N). Assess how profit sharing might be tied to success.

■ Develop a customer survey process to detail customers’ most urgent prod-uct needs (S) and use that information to determine which opportunity ismost feasible, timely, and important to pursue (N).

■ Determine policies for seminar development (N) and standardization (S).Determine what needs to be standardized and how to evaluate initial ses-sions. Consider what information Sensing types and Intuitive types needin order to decide whether a new seminar product is worth developing.

■ Explore the feasibility of opening one new office. Find out which locationis most practical and has the most potential to generate revenue. Look atprojections (N) and match them with known data (S).

■ Document pricing policies and standards (S) that both sides agree areneeded (N). Once these are proved effective, make sure everyone followsthem—no exceptions!

■ Systematically track AΩ’s competition to keep the company’s edge sharp(S and N).

With the list of objectives on paper, team members were able to agree thatthey were again on the same page and could work together to achieve the com-pany’s goals.

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After Darin and Blaire went through the initial round of coaching, they decidedto have all AΩ staff select an area for coaching (such as time management orcourse design), as determined by their type awareness. Many staff memberswanted to work more on using both Sensing and Intuition as they gatheredinformation. Some asked to partner with their opposite preference to work onnew course design and delivery. Several used their personal operating manuals(see p. 103) to identify outside training and development opportunities.


Translating between Sensing and Intuition became standard practice at AΩ.People of both preferences formalized organizational norms and implementedthem in meetings, decision making, status reports, and strategic planning.

Several months later, at a follow-up meeting, there were signs of progresstoward understanding the differences between the Sensing and Intuitive per-spectives and in carrying out AΩ’s listed objectives. Both Darin and Blaire usedan established financial plan to make decisions, complete with financial reportsthat allowed Blaire to proceed more confidently with Darin’s growth and expan-sion plans.

Darin had toned down his “just trust me” style. He commented that theobjectives they had set during the initial teambuilding sessions enabled him togain Blaire’s support for his big ideas more easily. In spite of all the effort, wasworking it out worth it? Well, it was for AΩ!


TYPE TAKEAWAYWhether your office is filled with Intuitive types (in which case, who’s payingattention to the current situation?), or Sensing types (in which case, who’s consid-ering new possibilities?), or a mixture of the two preferences, there is much to begained from honoring the strengths of both preferences.

Type Solvers to TryWhen you suspect a Sensing–Intuition problem, try the following exercises tohelp people understand—and appreciate—the strengths and different needs ofboth preferences.

An Experience in Perception

Although this exercise works best when people can go outside, they may alsotry this in a different part of their building. The following instructions assumeparticipants are able to go outside.

Go outside for 20 minutes. During that time, quietly write about what yousee. This is a silent exercise. After 20 minutes, come back to the room with yourwritten perceptions.

Request volunteers from those who are clear that Sensing describes themand ask them to read their perceptions aloud. Note the use of specific detailsabout the outside space. Be on the lookout for descriptions based on their useof the five senses, such as smells, textures, noises, colors, and so on.

Then ask for those who are clear that Intuition describes them to read whatthey have written. This time, be on the lookout for the use of generalities orrelationships such as “The grass reminded me of the farm where I grew up,”“The air was cool,” or “The smell brought back memories of working in theoffice during my first summer in college.”

An Object Lesson

This easy exercise illustrates the difference between Sensing and Intuition. Takea common object (a pencil, notepad, coffee cup, or picture) and ask people towrite about it. Do not say “Describe the object,” as this often skews the exer-cise toward Sensing by suggesting that people have to be descriptive.

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Note how differently Sensing types and Intuitive types write about some-thing they perceive. Sensing types will write about a pencil in concrete termsthat are easily verified by the five senses. “The pencil is an Eberhardt #2. It’syellow with a gum eraser enclosed in a silver metal casing.” Or “The pencil isseven inches long and smells like wood and rubber.” Those with an Intuitivepreference may write something like “We had yellow pencils beginning in gradeschool. One high school teacher handed out fresh ones for tests, and those testswere like riding a bronco because she used bizarre questions to try to under-mine our confidence.” Note the general nature of the comments, how one thingleads to another, and the lack of specificity about the pencil itself.

Dynamic Tension Demonstration

There is no doubt that organizations work better when they have a commonpicture of the future—a mission. In a good planning process, people set broad,far-reaching goals that tend to capture the imaginations of Intuitive types. How-ever, it’s also important to establish realistic subgoals, objectives, and specificsteps, or the endeavor could fail. Detailed steps will also allow those with apreference for Sensing to believe that the plan is feasible.

One easy way to demonstrate the dynamic tension between the Sensing andIntuitive viewpoints is with a large rubber band. Show the group that pullinghard on one end while pulling with equal force on the other end stretches therubber band to the breaking point. Then allow one end to drop. State that the endyou’re holding is Sensing, with its concern for the current realities of the orga-nization. With only one end being held, the rubber band is pretty ineffective,just as an organization would be if it concerned itself only with the present.Then pick up the opposite end of the rubber band and say that it represents thevision of the new organization. Allow the other end to go limp. Again, the rub-ber band becomes useless, just as an organization has no real vitality if it onlylooks to the future. Now, pull on both ends of the rubber band and say that thetension between the current reality and the future mission actually keeps therubber band viable—just like the organization. One does not exist effectivelywithout the other. The key to success is to hold on to the tension between theopposites!


Problem-Solving Model

Use this model to work through a specific problem such as reconfiguring officespace, launching a new product, or setting up new communications systems.(This model includes Thinking and Feeling preferences, the subject of the nextchapter. Working through the first two steps, however, will heighten the team’sawareness of the informational needs for Sensing and Intuitive types.)

Go through the following lists, spending equal time on each step of the process.

Sensing types want specific answers to questions such as:

■ How is the problem best defined?

■ What are the current ramifications?

■ What are our goals?

■ How do we establish time lines, and what are the intermediate objectives?

■ What costs do we incur—financial, emotional, other?

Intuitive types want general answers to questions such as:

■ What are the common threads?

■ What are the other alternatives?

■ What is the relationship of the part to the system?

■ What are the opportunities for growth?

■ Where and how will our inspirations be incorporated into this plan?

Thinking types evaluate options by asking:

■ What are the pros and cons?

■ What is missing from the analysis?

■ What needs to be clarified before we move on?

■ What are the logical consequences?

■ What precedents are we setting, and are they fair?

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Feeling types evaluate options by asking:

■ What matters most to each party?

■ How might the decision affect other people, the organization, or the community?

■ What or whose values are being served?

■ Who needs to be included in the final decision?

■ What is important to the people involved in each course of action?

(See pages 175–176 for an example of how a team might use this model.)

Type-Related Communication Practice

In order to improve communication, consider having the Sensing types give pre-sentations (or prepare written information) for the Intuitive types, and viceversa. Use the following lists to meet the needs of each group.

For the Sensing types:

■ Point out the pertinent facts.

■ Relate ideas to past experience.

■ Make note of what needs attention.

■ Have the right thing in the right place at the right time. Keep the essentialson hand.

■ Adopt realistic schedules and time frames.

For the Intuitive types:

■ Recognize new avenues and possibilities.

■ Develop ingenious insights.

■ Predict outcomes.

■ Conjure up plans for contingencies.

■ Supply enthusiasm, zest, and a spirit of optimism.


Remember, for the Sensing types, it has to make sense, and for the Intuitivetypes, it has to appeal to the imagination!

For Personal Development, Consider . . .

If your preference is for Sensing, practice Intuition:

■ Do a one- or two-page executive summary of all the trends or patternsyour data suggest.

■ Try some creative thinking, such as brainstorming (be sure to follow allthe rules!). Use metaphors or analogies and think about how this problemcould be related to your other areas of expertise.

■ Take a literature, art, or music class that focuses on motives, relationships,or themes. Or ask yourself, What does this book, painting, or song reallymean? How does it reflect its larger culture? Additionally, look at yourorganization’s annual report or advertising brochures. Ask what hidden orsubtle messages the customer might glean from the pages. For example,one organization put a photo of all the senior leaders in the center spreadof its annual report, all white men over the age of 50 wearing dark suits.This photo graphically illustrated the lack of diversity in the corporation’sleadership.

■ Ask yourself, what is the purpose of my work? Will that change in thenext 10 years? And where do I want to be in 10 years? How will I getthere?

■ Take a class in strategic thinking or long-range planning.

■ Find out which creative functions (advertising, art, communications) existin your organization. Sit in on a meeting. Which techniques in this depart-ment’s processes can you use in your work?

If your preference is for Intuition, practice Sensing:

■ Periodically take stock with your five senses. What do you see (be sureyou’re seeing the scene as it truly is), what do you hear (not what itreminds you of, but what it is), what do you smell (pungent, flowery,spicy), what’s the taste of your food (salty, sweet, bitter, sour), what are you touching (hard or soft, smooth or rough, cold or warm)? Think literally, not figuratively. Remind yourself to enjoy things as they are!

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■ Remember not to kid yourself. You need to deal with reality.

■ Stay in the present. What’s actually happening right now?

■ Ask yourself, Of all my perceptions, which ones can be verified (mea-sured, timed, corroborated)? What would an impartial other say about my observations?

■ Practice relaying concrete facts. “This is a yellow #2 pencil . . .”

■ Use precise or specific language in a report that you think may not meritthis kind of detailed information.

When You’re One or a Few Among the ManyWhen you have a preference for Intuition and your teammates have a preferencefor Sensing, consider:

■ Practicing step-by-step presentation of information

■ Providing specific examples of vital details

■ Honoring organizational values tied to experience and tradition

■ Reading the fine print and getting the facts straight

When you have a preference for Sensing and your teammates have a preferencefor Intuition, consider:

■ Getting involved in projects that require long-range thinking

■ Practicing brainstorming with the rest of the team

■ Preparing yourself for roundabout discussions

■ Going beyond specifics and asking about patterns, meanings, and themes

65

THE THINKING–FEELING DICHOTOMYExecutive Styles

The Goal: Making decisions in ways that honor the important objective and subjective criteria.

Not a minute goes by at work without a decision being made. Buy, sell, hire,fire, stay, go, increase, decrease. But are they good decisions?

We’ve seen companies lay off 10 percent of their workforce, expecting 10percent savings. The savings didn’t materialize because the productivity of theremaining workers decreased as they worried about the stability of their ownjobs. Objective criteria missed the subjective fallout.

We’ve also seen an organization fire one of its program directors becauseshe failed to produce a robust strategic plan. The people her programs serveddeserted in droves, citing her skill at building relationships and the betrayal theyfelt because of her dismissal. In concentrating on a single criterion, her man-agers had failed to note her overall effectiveness.

Logic and numbers don’t tell the whole story when decisions involve peo-ple. Linear predictions and if/then reasoning miss the heart of an issue. How-ever, there is no doubt that poor decisions also come from overlooking theseobjective methods. For example, a human resources director made funerals anexception to the company’s leave policy, unaware of the precedent she was set-ting. After months of employees asking for exceptions, the entire policy had tobe reworked. In another example, a leader assigned two team members to worktogether in a remote site, knowing that they were good friends and would

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appreciate the arrangement. He missed the fact that the team was already some-what divided, and the two friends had even less reason to work with the othersafter they were paired up at a different location.

In truth, the most rational way, and the best way, is to use both objectiveand subjective criteria when making decisions. Being subjective isn’t wishy-washy; it can be vital in determining the true possible impact of any decision.People aren’t always logical, predictable, or linear in their actions and reactions.Would Coke have introduced New Coke if the company had understood con-sumers’ irrational tie to “old” Coke, even though blind taste tests favored thenew version? Would legislators still have believed that increasing the amount oftime spent in math class would improve math scores if they remembered theirown feelings as first-graders, longing for a chance to run around the playgroundand get reenergized for learning?

The differences in workplaces that favor either the Thinking or the Feelingpreference to the neglect of the other are striking.

Thinking is honored in settingswhere people can:

■ Take an objective, logicalapproach to decisions

■ Focus on solving problems andthe tasks at hand in making decisions

■ Have clear and definite principles

■ Work within or create efficient,logically structured systems forcool decisions

■ Seek improvement through questioning, finding flaws, and making corrections

■ Be rewarded for exceeding task requirements

■ Often put tasks before relationships

Feeling is honored in settingswhere people can:

■ Consider the impact of decisionson those involved

■ Focus on teamwork, harmony,and human aspirations in makingdecisions

■ Instill trust and cooperation

■ Work toward attaining groupharmony and consensus formaking empathetic decisions

■ Seek to understand what is valuedand meaningful to people inorder to predict responses

■ Be rewarded for meeting theneeds of others

■ Often put relationships beforetasks

THE THINKING–FEELING DICHOTOMY 67

Understanding the importance of both Thinking and Feeling approaches todecision making is crucial in business and in life! Countless studies show thatmore than 80 percent of managers and executives in the United States andmany other countries have a preference for Thinking. It shouldn’t be a surprise.The learning environments that produce our managers, accountants, attorneys,and scientists are characterized by qualities that support the Thinking decision-making style. Some of these include:

■ Rigorous intellectual debate

■ Analytical reasoning

■ Prove-disprove style of challenging knowledge

■ Finding truth by examining and critiquing others, whether teachers, class-mates, or experts

■ Supporting positions and viewpoints with logical evidence

Thinking types’ natural style may be considered tough, critical, or cool by thosewho discount the value of the Thinking style in decision making.

Those 20 percent of managers who prefer the Feeling style of decision makingmay be somewhat at a loss in many settings. They tend to congregate in humanresources departments, nonprofit organizations, and customer service, and theyoften choose academic coursework in the arts, humanities, or social sciences andare trained to:

■ Understand the motivations of people and groups

■ Evaluate character

■ Work in cooperative and collegial environments

■ Focus on empathy and careful handling of others

■ Determine what is of value and importance to people

Their natural style may be considered soft, overly sensitive, or unbusinesslikeby those who discount the value of the Feeling style in decision making.

The gifts of the Feeling function are often lacking, ignored, overpowered, ordevalued in business organizations. Further, where the Feeling function doesreign, people may be so aware of the abuses of logic and objectivity that theyswing too far in the other direction.

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The Thinking style often uses cost-benefit matrices to calibrate actions orattaches numerical weight to different options when making decisions, thusrelying on “objective” outcomes and working to reduce subjectivity. The Feelingstyle typically uses a stakeholders’ model that looks at what matters or is impor-tant to decision makers, others, and the community. Values clarification helpsestablish a “subjective” outcome, action, or decision. Because the Thinking styleof making a decision is taught in schools in most cultures, Feeling types have theadvantage of knowing (if not always applying) the Thinking decision-makingprocesses well.

Thinking types need to learn to value the Feeling process, and Feeling typesneed to learn to present subjective criteria in ways that will be heard by Think-ing types. In other words, we need a balance of both Thinking and Feeling tomake good decisions.

At Integrity Manufacturing, Thinking types and Feeling types learned towork it out as they faced a production quagmire.

INTEGRITY MANUFACTURING

Integrity Manufacturing produced several niche computer products and hadrecently expanded outside its traditional domestic sphere after attracting severalinternational customers. Eric, the former president, voluntarily resigned andtook a sales manager position. “The company’s just bigger than I am now,” hesaid. “I’m better suited to working with our old customers than making us aworld-class firm.” Eric had hired at least two-thirds of the current employees.Many of them had been with Integrity for at least a decade, and Eric had men-tored them.

Malcolm (INTP)President

Eric (ESFJ)Sales manager,

former president



Malcolm had spent several years as president of a similar manufacturing firm.Integrity’s board of directors was delighted to find him, thinking that an out-sider would bring in fresh ideas. Indeed, Malcolm soon proved to have theexpertise Integrity needed. Orders increased exponentially. Then a major com-puter firm placed an order so large that production demand tripled, and allemployees, including sales and administration, were offered overtime bonusesso the factory could operate 24 hours a day. Even Malcolm took his turn in thenight-shift rotations on the assembly line. When questioned about the strain onemployees, he said, “This is our big chance. This order alone will allow us toupgrade several key manufacturing areas. And if business with this customerexpands, we will truly be a world-class player in the industry!”

But Malcolm was stymied in his attempts to build an effective team.“Instead of unity, I’ve got grumbling in the ranks. How do I get them to see thatwe have to please this customer?” He also had a hunch that Eric was a majorsource of what he termed “growing mutiny.” Malcolm understood that Ericcould sabotage his efforts to unify team members around the manufacturingprocess, even if unintentionally, because Eric had deep relationships with otheremployees.

How Thinking Types View Feeling Types

Here’s how Malcolm viewed Eric and some of the other sales managers:

Malcolm’s comments about Eric

■ He spends far too much timewith small customers. This is abusiness, not a charity for the little guys who used to be ourmain base. We’ve changed, andwe need to change how we dosales.


■ Feeling types, especially SFs,view each person or customer asimportant. Slighting people withwhom he’s built relationshipsmight seem like a poor idea toEric and could be seen as unethi-cal as well.

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■ Eric acts like a parent, trying tofix quarrels rather than encour-aging team members to workthings out themselves. Some tat-tle to him rather than dealingdirectly with the person withwhom they’re having problems.

■ Work is about work, but becauseof Eric’s influence, there’s toomuch emphasis on who is andisn’t getting along with others.

■ The sales team won’t take risks.They wait for me to set the bar,as if they’re afraid to do it.

■ Eric is too timid with me, and itinfluences the other sales man-agers. I want feedback on myideas, yet they just sit there.

■ Eric avoids conflict rather thanmanaging it. He just works witha few people he seems to likebest.

■ Eric doesn’t communicate well,seldom providing clear messages.He rambles on, giving a $10response to a $.25 question.

■ For Feeling types, work is allabout relationships. Not listeningto those with problems wouldseem rude and counterproduc-tive to team spirit.

■ Feeling types are often less productive in contentious atmospheres. Thinking typesoften view anything “emotional”as a waste of time.

■ Thinking types tend to be morecompetitive and make a decisionbased on whether it will lead tomeeting or, preferably, exceedinggoals.

■ Feeling types often would ratheragree than critique. In fact,“That might be okay” couldactually express strong doubtabout an idea when uttered by a Feeling type.

■ Feeling types may be accused of favoritism when instead theysimply prefer to work with like-minded spirits. In contrast,Thinking types might pick themost suitable associate, whetherthey like them or not, to consultabout a decision or to do a task.

■ Feeling types often hedgeresponses rather than respondwith a critique or bad news.They seek the most tactful wayto communicate an idea or adecision.


Malcolm knew that if he fired Eric, there would be considerable backlash.After all, Malcolm was still considered an outsider. He also admitted, “The guyran an effective business before I came along, or I wouldn’t have inherited sucha great shop. Frustrated as I am, I’m wondering whether I’m missing somethingabout Eric.”

How Feeling Types View Thinking Types

The sharp production increase meant that nothing was “business as usual.”Malcolm knew he needed buy-in from everyone if the company was to fulfillthe huge order and then capitalize on what that meant for the future.

He also wondered about how his employees viewed his style, commenting,“I’d guess not everyone respects me, especially since I’m nothing like Eric. Ican’t believe how hard it is to get their feedback on my ideas and plans. WhenI present things at meetings, everyone just stares at me. They either think I’mbrilliant, pander to me, or just dislike me.”

Malcolm was right. Many employees missed the familylike atmosphere Erichad fostered when he was president. Although two of the five sales managers hadpreferences for Thinking, they’d enjoyed Eric’s collegial style and his shareddecision-making method. Their complaints about Malcolm follow common con-flict patterns when Thinking types and Feeling types are trying to work together:

Eric’s and Sales and Marketing’scomments about Malcolm

■ Malcolm’s background is produc-tion. He doesn’t seem to under-stand the needs of Sales andMarketing.

■ Malcolm presents decisions as if they’re written in stone. Howcan we critique them?


■ Thinking types don’t always taketime to express their ideas, deci-sions, and mandates in waysthat show their overall under-standing of the issues, including,at times, the people issues.

■ In the interest of appearing competent, Thinking types oftenprefer to present fully moldeddecisions without seeking inputfrom others along the way.Although they may invite cri-tique, others may see the deci-sions as done deals.

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■ Malcolm doesn’t respect Eric.Doesn’t he realize Eric built thiscompany?

■ Malcolm thinks that as long as heputs in long hours, we should bewilling to do the same. He doesn’teven acknowledge how hard we’reworking. If we question the cur-rent schedule, he says, “I’m sacri-ficing, too—and you’re being paidwell. What more do you need?”

■ At meetings, Malcolm’s ques-tioning style puts the rest of uson the spot. If we can’t answerto his satisfaction, he’s quite dis-missive. We spend a great dealof time forecasting how he mightrespond—time we should bespending with customers.

■ The overtime pay is fine, but ifthe schedule doesn’t slow downsoon, we’re out of here.

■ Malcolm doesn’t communicatewell. If we’re his chosen team,why doesn’t he act like he appre-ciates us? Why do we only hearfrom him when he thinks we’vemessed up?

■ Thinking types can be impatientwith what they view as incompe-tence. While Malcolm wasn’tovertly hostile to Eric, his behaviorin meetings—often cutting Ericoff, frowning, or exhibiting othersubtle body language—might beread as disrespect.

■ Thinking types often have highexpectations for themselves andothers. Further, they don’t expectrecognition if they’re not workingany harder than everyone else,and they don’t believe recognitionis warranted for others who aredoing the same.

■ Thinking types often have a nat-ural prove/disprove style of cri-tiquing and may not realize thatit can be intimidating to others.

■ Thinking types sometimes under-estimate the human factors andthe non-work-related issueswhen making decisions.

■ Thinking types often assumeeveryone is focused on businessand dismiss the need for casualconversation or office niceties.They need to remember thatcommenting on a job well donegoes a long way toward buildingesprit de corps.


■ It seems that Malcolm has aninner circle of about three people—none from Sales—and the restof us are left out of decisions.

■ Given that Malcolm has beenasking for input, it may be thathis Thinking style doesn’t inviteresponse. The so-called inner circle is also made up of Think-ing types.

Clearly, Integrity Manufacturing had a Thinking–Feeling problem. Malcolmhad inherited a shop that was used to a Feeling-based management style, buthe tended to measure everyone by his own standard instead of stepping into theshoes of those involved. This was not sitting well with most of his employees,even those who had a preference for Thinking.

THE TYPE INTERVENTIONFollow these four steps to conduct a type intervention for Thinking and Feelingtypes.


In this case, the key problems arose from a change in the leader’s style. The mixof longtime employees with important expertise and experience and a totallynew leadership mode called for action. These guiding questions were helpful.

■ Are outside factors causing difficulties?The problems at Integrity were acutely visible because of the productioncrunch. The thought of losing a big order had employees and managers on edge. Because all parties felt that they were under siege, their tolerancelevels for difficult interpersonal relations were reduced.

■ Are there factors in the organization’s history that should be considered?It is unusual for a former CEO to stay on, albeit in a different position.Eric’s physical presence highlighted the differences between his and Malcolm’s styles. People were unclear about their loyalties, and this made effective leadership and decision making problematic.

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■ Are the team and the leadership problems rooted in basic personalitymisunderstandings?Thinking and Feeling leadership and decision-making styles were definitelyissues.

■ Does the problem involve individuals or the whole team? Is individualcoaching or teambuilding called for? Is leadership the problem?In this case, leadership, both old and new, definitely was a contributingfactor. Getting the old and new leaders to understand their differences andwork from the same page became a key focus of the intervention.

Step 2: Coach Individuals

Both Malcolm and Eric needed coaching before any teambuilding session couldoccur. Coaching provided a safe place where Eric’s dominant Feeling functioncould vent and hear suggestions. Similarly, coaching allowed Malcolm to learnsome new skills in private, reducing his natural Thinking concern with beingviewed as competent. Both benefited by understanding just how type couldhelp them work it out. While Eric and the other sales managers needed to learnabout Malcolm’s style, Malcolm also needed to understand the value of theFeeling approach to decisions.

It was difficult to help Malcolm understand the impact of his style becauseIntegrity Manufacturing was experiencing tremendous success under his lead-ership. However, as he saw his employees’ critique, he agreed that perhaps thecompany could be even more successful, and certainly less stressful, if headjusted his style.

Coaching Malcolm for Feeling Skills

Robert Kaplan, Wilfred Drath, and Joan Kofodimos have studied the challengesinvolved in coaching executives.1 They have identified four common issues:

1. Power and receiving criticism. Those who have information about anexecutive’s demeanor and impact often fear the executive’s power.

2. Competence and accepting criticism. Success often breeds a sense ofsuperiority and decreases any sense of urgency about making changesunless something threatens the executive’s position or success.


3. Nature of work and introspection. Executives often need to focus on theoutside world in order to make effective decisions; they don’t take time forreflection. Further, such introspection may trigger insecurity, as they aren’tused to it.

4. Success and change. Change involves risk. It also takes time. For thosewho have already found success, there seems to be little incentive tochange.

Before Malcolm could see any need to change, he had to understand boththe impact of his own style and what was missing at Integrity because he wasnot getting input from employees. He also needed to capitalize on the strengthsof employees with a Feeling decision-making style. Here is the plan we used tocoach Malcolm:

Provide objective data. Often, an executive’s need for objective data that refute“success syndrome” assumptions is best met through an outside coach or con-sultant. Employees may be more open with their responses with an outsider.Further, the outside coach can sift through the data objectively and consider themotivations and values of each person involved.

Two pieces of objective data convinced Malcolm that he needed to payattention to the Feeling side of management. First, his management team esti-mated that 25–30 percent of its members’ time went to forecasting answers tohis questions and defenses for their ideas rather than to producing new ideas.Second, several employees stated that the next time their input was omittedfrom important matters, they would leave Integrity for a company that actuallyused their expertise. Because Integrity had already hired industry leaders, manyof these employees knew they could easily secure employment elsewhere. Mal-colm knew that many of them would be difficult to replace.

Use type to “neutralize” critique. Type preferences serve as a framework forlooking at the strengths and pitfalls of each type. (See chapter 9, which describestypical coaching needs for each type, to learn how to take the sting out of cri-tique.) INTPs like Malcolm, for example, commonly exhibit several characteris-tics that might indicate a need for coaching, including:

■ Appearing aloof, with little awareness of their effect on people

■ Pointing out logical or other flaws in others’ reasoning

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■ Being mystified by emotional expression

■ Being an intellectual snob and thereby dismissive of the importance ofemotional or interpersonal intelligence

Critique is then reframed as the downside of an executive’s strengths ratherthan as complaints that can easily be dismissed in the glow of the executive’ssuccess.

Set clear goals within the logical framework of the executive’s agenda. Mal-colm’s buy-in on being coached was based to a large extent on whether his ownbusiness goals would be accomplished. These goals were to unify Integrityaround meeting the large-order production demand, to plan for the future, andto somehow turn Eric’s presence into an asset for Malcolm’s leadership. Specificgoals that met Malcolm’s needs included:

■ Understand his impact on others. Malcolm acknowledged that his meet-ing style shut down the flow of ideas from others. In order to gain anunderstanding of how to encourage input, Malcolm met with us and amember of the management team whom he trusted. Together, theyworked out ways for Malcolm to share his ideas before they seemed set in stone, including use of tentative language and frequent pauses duringwhich he could solicit input.

■ Practice discerning the motives and values of others. For example,when Malcolm read that ESFJs generally “focus on people and values tothe detriment of business” and are stressed by compromising their values,he understood why it was so difficult for Eric to ignore smaller yet long-standing customers.2 Malcolm listed the values Eric’s actions upheld andused them as a new lens for understanding those actions.

■ Publicly recognize the expertise and accomplishments of others. Withour coaching, Malcolm developed a list of ways he could show his appre-ciation for the overtime his employees were putting in. We attended thefirst few meetings where Malcolm adopted new methods to invite moreinput and discreetly raised a red pen to signal him to compliment some-one or say a simple “Thank you.”

■ Retool his critique-delivery style. Malcolm constructed a matrix basedon type information of how different employees reacted to his critiquesand how he should adjust his feedback and delivery. He noticed that theseslight changes brought about the desired results.


■ Publicly build bridges with Eric. Malcolm paid close attention to specificcomments employees had made regarding what they viewed as his disre-spectful behavior toward Eric. Using the logical formula “If I show respecttoward Eric, then I’ll gain the respect of the team,” he brainstormed areaswhere he could seek Eric’s expertise. These included:

■ Offering overtime rewards and incentives

■ Seeking input on preexisting small accounts

■ Using the goodwill Eric had built with employees, vendors, and others

■ Modeling parts of his behavior on Eric’s

Coaching Eric for Thinking Skills

Eric’s new position was a quagmire of stress for him. He had built so much ofthe organization and developed a wide network of contented employees andcustomers. Practically speaking, he also had two children in college, so he didn’twant to risk new employment. To help him adjust to working for and with Mal-colm, and to ensure that he was able to access his own Feeling strengths (butnot weaknesses), we used the following steps in coaching Eric:

Accentuate the positive. Feeling types need to start most feedback sessionswith the positive. In Eric’s case, this included comments from other employeesabout his former leadership and mentoring skills as well as Malcolm’s com-ments about the good shop he’d inherited.

Acknowledge sources of stress. Some of Eric’s performance struggles camefrom the tremendous stress produced by his new job. Using type informationhelped him name sources of stress, such as:

■ Being forced to compromise his values, including not being able to treatlarge and small customers the same

■ Feeling responsible for disagreements, since he knew that some employeesloyal to him were overly critical of Malcolm

■ Taking the drop in employee morale too much to heart

Use type to neutralize critique. Malcolm’s critique of Eric pointed out severalcommon coaching needs of ESFJs (see the list on page 201). These include:

■ Losing sight of the big picture, the long-term requirements, and reasonsfor change

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■ Holding on to the familiar for too long and not being skeptical whenappropriate

■ Focusing on people and values to the detriment of business needs

Set clear goals in line with the values of the person being coached. Ericassigned value to helping Integrity Manufacturing continue to be a great placeto work for all employees; reducing the stress on employees, Malcolm, and him-self; and continuing to provide exceptional service to all of Integrity’s cus-tomers. He also wanted to team up with Malcolm. Specific goals intended tofurther his values included:

■ Learn to use logic to influence Malcolm, so that Malcolm would consider theneeds of employees and Integrity’s traditional values. (See chapter 8, page172, for suggestions on how Feeling types can influence Thinking types.)

■ Streamline interactions with small customers so they weren’t forgotten, or assign them to other sales managers. Once Eric understood Malcolm’sconcerns more fully, he was open to devising his own strategies for servic-ing small accounts.

■ Consciously build support for Malcolm. Eric had not intentionally under-mined Malcolm’s authority, but he began to look at his patterns of interac-tion with employees, including after-work socializing. He also realizedthat Malcolm was sincere in his desire to develop his own interpersonalskills.

■ Undertake self-care and model it for others. We helped Eric make a list of stress-reducing activities. He encouraged other employees to use typeinformation to find methods that would work for them. (See chapter 7 formore specific discussion.)


After working with Malcolm and Eric, we decided on a general teambuildingsession with everyone at Integrity Manufacturing. We used the Appreciationand Recognition exercise in the Type Takeaway (see page 82) to demonstrate thedifferences between the Thinking and Feeling preferences.


In addition, because of the specific issues for this team, all team membersundertook an appreciation audit, individually and then collectively, document-ing the forms and frequency of appreciation they showed. (See page 83 forinformation on doing an audit.)

Step 4: Develop a Plan



The overarching problem still remained: the tremendous demands of the pro-duction crunch. Although Malcolm said, “It’s the way it has to be if we’re evergoing to grow,” he finally agreed to open up the topic for discussion at a staffmeeting.

To ensure that the gifts of each preference were utilized during the process,we introduced the problem-solving model (see chapter 3, page 59) and dividedthe team into groups of dominant Sensing, Intuition, Thinking, and Feeling pref-erences so that everyone could experience the difference in working with his orher preferred function.

First, all groups worked on the verifiable facts, the domain of Sensing. Thisis what we heard:

We’ve met all scheduled shipment dates so far.We can handle the workload by running a third shift.The officers aren’t taking extra pay. And even the president is taking his

turn at the night shift on the machine floor. The profit margin is 60 percent, even with the overtime wages.

Then we worked with interpretations and possibilities, the domain ofIntuition.

With the increased revenue, we’ll be able to do some long-needed technology upgrades.

We can finally increase salaries or add a couple of key positions for the future.

Having a large client will increase our credibility with other prospects!

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The pros and cons of the Thinking preference followed:

We’re vulnerable to a machine breakdown and need a contingency plan. We have to make sure we aren’t ignoring other long-term customers. We’ll succeed if we work as a team and keep our customers happy!

Finally, the team turned to Feeling, with its concern for the impact on people:

Morale is good, especially when the president takes his shift. People are excited that this customer might mean financial security.

The conversation continued in gleeful optimism until Eric stood up andsaid, “We’re forgetting that all of us are people. How long do you think we canrotate that third shift before our health, our families, or our relationships breakdown?”

The room went silent for at least a full minute. Then talk turned to gener-ating a whole new set of possibilities to meet the new demand levels whilephasing out the horrendous overtime burden. Eric’s lone Feeling voice hadchanged everyone’s perspective.

At the conclusion of the problem-solving exercise, the team had reached adeep level of understanding as to the importance of using both Thinking andFeeling in making major decisions.


At Integrity Manufacturing, the bulk of this endeavor was coaching Malcolmand Eric. In general, Malcolm as an INTP needed help with improving interper-sonal relations, bringing others into his decision making, and dealing with thesubjective factors of any work environment. As an ESFJ, Eric needed help withmaking objective business decisions, keeping the big picture as well as the cur-rent situation in mind, and making sure loyalties were not interfering withstrategic business and personal decisions.

After the teambuilding session, both Malcolm and Eric heartily agreed tomore coaching, sure that type would continue to help them work things out.



Several months later, Malcolm was consistently letting his managers knowabout the problems and policies that were grabbing his attention. He encour-aged informal meetings for gathering input and gave complimentary or appre-ciative feedback when appropriate.

Malcolm also frequently consulted with Eric regarding the “people part” ofthe business. Employees could feel the difference—the organizational climatewas less stressful, more collegial, and just as, if not more, productive. IntegrityManufacturing ran more smoothly, handling both large and small accounts welland enjoying the new equipment it was able to purchase with the increasedprofits from the large customer. When, two years later, Eric left to take a posi-tion with a nonprofit organization, he and Malcolm parted on friendly terms.

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TYPE TAKEAWAYRemember that organizations and teams make the most effective decisions whenthey factor in impact on people as well as impact on the bottom line. Achieving abalance of Thinking and Feeling in your organization will lead to choices that aregood for people and for business, and for the long haul.

Type Solvers to TryWhen you suspect a Thinking–Feeling conflict, try one of the following exercisesto help people understand—and appreciate—the strengths and different needsof both preferences.

Appreciation and Recognition

Divide participants into groups of Thinking types and Feeling types. Ask themto discuss and be ready to report on the following:

■ What do you consider good reasons for receiving appreciation (a moreFeeling-oriented word) or recognition (a more Thinking-oriented word)?

■ What kinds of recognition or appreciation do you prefer?

■ What happens when that appreciation or recognition is not given?

Thinking types uniformly say that recognition should occur when job stan-dards are achieved or, in many cases, exceeded. They may even suspect an ulte-rior motive if they receive appreciation before a job is done. Feeling typesuniformly want praise throughout the task cycle, acknowledgment that they areperforming well, encouragement to continue, and a sense that they are con-tributing to the overall success of the project.

Universally, both Thinking types and Feeling types become frustrated,demoralized, and possibly angry if they do not receive recognition or apprecia-tion in a way that appeals to them. Not an environment conducive to higher-order problem solving.


Concerns with Conflict

Divide participants into Thinking and Feeling groups and ask them to discuss,and then be ready to report on, the biggest concerns they have during conflict.Usually, Thinking types list objective issues such as lost productivity or thenecessity of correcting communication. Feeling types talk about hurting people,high stress levels, not sleeping, and losing motivation.

Appreciation Audit

■ Do you receive the appreciation or recognition you desire? Do othersreceive enough from you?

■ Are there particular individuals, projects, or tasks that deserve self-appreciation or recognition? Do you need to appreciate your teammates?

■ Are you proud of the quantity and substance of the appreciation youexpress to yourself? To your teammates? Do you give credit (to yourselfand others) when credit is due?

■ Do you express appreciation of contributions to individual or teamprocesses (such as helping to resolve conflict at a meeting) as well as indi-vidual or team outcomes (such as sales figures)?

■ What actions could you take to enhance the depth and breadth of yourexpressions of appreciation?

Meetings Designed with the Needs of Thinking and Feeling in Mind

Think of a recent incident or meeting and answer the following questions:

■ What does the presenter care most about (Feeling) regarding the topic heor she is addressing? What is most important (Feeling) to him or herabout the topic?

■ What are the criteria or analytical concerns (Thinking) about the topic?What is left out, missing, or illogical (Thinking) about the topic?

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■ How is the presenter reacting to the response or lack of response? Does heor she seem encouraged, motivated, upset, hesitant, concerned, ignored,pleased (Feeling responses)? Or does the presenter want to debate thequestion or probe or critique the listeners (Thinking responses)?

Understanding Check

Use the following questions to see the extent to which Thinking and Feelingtypes tune in to each other. Ask each person to consider the questions, andremember to include yourself.

■ What does this person care most about in his or her work? What’s mostimportant?

■ What inspires and motivates him or her most about work? What concernshim or her most about work?

■ What kind of appreciation or recognition does this person need the most?From whom? Under what circumstances?

■ What kind of criticism or correction seems most acceptable and mosteffective? From whom? Under what circumstances?

■ What kind of support and help would he or she value most from you?From others?

■ How might your actions or interactions be motivating or inspiring? Whatis upsetting or discouraging about your behavior and your interactions?

■ What can you and others do to build better working relations that willreally help work it out?

Feeling Style Application

The Thinking decision-making style is the most predominant in the Westernworld when it comes to business decisions. But using only the Thinking prefer-ence leads to poorer business decisions that fail to take into account the valuesbeing served or human aspirations and needs. Encourage a more rounded decision-making style that includes the rational process of the Feeling function by tryingthe following questions and techniques.


Think of your experiences during a recent day at work:

■ What interaction(s) particularly pleased you, and what led to that sense ofbeing pleased?

■ Did you particularly appreciate someone that day for his or her work,help, or insight?

■ Who or what inspired and motivated you the most that day?

■ Who or what discouraged and drained you the most that day?

■ What interactions with others frustrated you, and what led to that frustration?

■ How have you contributed to the current state of affairs, and how can youuse type, especially the Feeling preference, to improve the situation?

Activate team improvement with the following techniques:

■ When you’re starting a meeting, particularly about a new project or workfocus, ask people to identify what’s most important to them or what theycare the most about in the new effort. Factor that motivation into your plan.

■ Engage the staff periodically about what has made them feel proud andwhat concerns them about the way the work is going and the way peopleare treating one another.

■ If your team tends to be critical of ideas and suggestions, initiate this rule:“Before criticizing an idea or suggestion, you must say two things that youlike or find interesting about it.”

■ Get each team member to reflect on or discuss with whom they would liketo work and how they would like to treat one another. Ask them to identifyexplicit interaction guidelines that they will commit themselves to follow-ing. For example, team members might agree to give only specific praise,such as “The opening paragraph of your report summarized the findingswell,” not “Your report was great!”

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The following lists summarize the natural styles for each preference and mayfacilitate discussion.

It is more natural for Thinkingtypes to:

■ Fit easily into the business andhigher education worlds

■ Find that their decision-makingstyle matches the style of busi-ness leaders worldwide

■ Be supported by an industrialculture that emphasizes anobjective, logical approach todecisions

■ Be, by nature, prepared to solveproblems in a detached andimpersonal way

■ Use questions to gain clarityeven if the questions put otherson the spot

It is more natural for Feeling types to:

■ Feel misunderstood in the busi-ness culture because it reflectsthe Thinking style and Thinkingtypes are in the majority

■ Find that their subjective decision-making style is discounted anddistrusted in the business world

■ Be thought of as “emotional,”even though Feeling is a rationaldecision-making process, becauseThinking types have had littleexposure to the merits of Feelingdecisions

■ Be thought of as soft and overlysensitive in their decisions

■ Use acceptance and agreementto look for common ground evenwhen little of both can be found



If your preference is for Thinking, practice Feeling:

■ Acknowledge your own emotions and feelings. Then generalize thoseemotions and feelings to others who may be having an experience similarto yours. Anticipate feelings in others as you think about your own feel-ings about a decision.

■ For a week, keep track of your ratio of compliments to criticisms. Judgewhether the ratio is well balanced. If it is not, do something to improve it.

■ See if you can gain cooperation rather than enforcing compliance. Whenworking on a project, ask yourself, “How can I win that person over?What’s in it for him if he joins up with me?”

■ As spontaneously as possible, acknowledge someone who is putting a lotof energy into a task by making an appreciative comment or sending anote even if the task is not yet complete.

■ Move outside your normal range of conversational topics to share a personalfact, detail, or insight about yourself and its underlying emotional tone.

■ Tell someone at work what you value about him or her (resist discussingonly accomplishments or performance).

If your preference is for Feeling, practice Thinking:

■ Practice giving simple, direct, to-the-point feedback to others. When feed-back comes your way, be objective and use what’s helpful.

■ Ask yourself if-then and cause-effect questions such as, “If I say yes tothis, then what do I need to give up?” “What logical effects might resultfrom these suggestions?”

■ Make a business decision using an objective framework that lists two orthree options to be evaluated against major criteria such as cost, schedules,and ease of implementation. Give each option a score when judged againstyour criteria. Then select and implement the option with the highest score.

■ After logical consideration (using pros and cons or other approaches),take a tough-minded stance and hold firm.

■ In business communication, especially voice-mail and phone calls, prac-tice KISS (Keep it short, sweetheart!).

■ Accept that to some people, business means business, and therefore notall business relationships turn into friendships.

When You’re One or a Few Among the ManyWhen you have a preference for Thinking and your co-workers have a prefer-ence for Feeling, consider:

■ Working on projects in which alternative causes and solutions are evaluatedin personal terms

■ Reminding yourself that factoring in the impact on people is logical even ifpeople typically aren’t

■ Softening critical remarks—find the positive, too

■ Asking for others’ opinions and concerns, looking for points of agreementbefore questioning or discussing the issues

When you have a preference for Feeling and your co-workers have a preferencefor Thinking, consider:

■ Practicing laying out a logical argument by saying “if this . . . then that”or by considering the causes and effects and pros and cons of a situation

■ Accepting the idea that critical feedback is often given in the spirit ofimproving your professionalism, and you should not take it personally

■ Bringing attention to stakeholders’ concerns regarding projects or work

■ Using brief and concise language to express wants and needs

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91

THE JUDGING–PERCEIVING DICHOTOMYDeadline Dilemmas

The Goal: Allowing all team members to approach lifeand work in ways that enable them to be most productive.

Time—is it a resource to manage or something to make the most of? How weuse time and our view of effectiveness and efficiency are usually influenced byour preference for Judging or Perceiving. These preferences help us understandwhether individuals, teams, and organizations prefer to come to closure ondecisions or stay open to last-minute facts or insights, and whether they wantschedules and structures or would rather have the flexibility to maximizeopportunities or take advantage of the moment.

For example, consider what it means to be on time for the theater. Jane,with a preference for Judging, says, “It means you’re in your seat fifteen min-utes before the curtain goes up so you can read the program notes.” Sandra, aPerceiving type, counters, “You can read the program afterward—or even atintermission. I’m happy as long as I’m in my seat before the house lights godown.” Not understanding these different approaches to life often ends in frus-tration—or accusation. Judging types and Perceiving types do not speak thesame language, nor do they have the same approach to life!

Which of the following work setting descriptions fits with your naturalapproach to life?

5

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Judging is honored in settingswhere people can:

■ Trust posted schedules andschedule their time

■ Organize to accomplish tasks

■ Bring decisions to closure

■ Plan their work and work theirplan

■ Divide their day between workand play

■ Count on others to followthrough

■ Experience a minimum of sur-prises and schedule interruptions

Perceiving is honored in settingswhere people can:

■ Adapt and experience life as it comes along, enjoying themoment

■ Avoid structured, routine, andrepetitious tasks

■ Stay open to options and newinformation

■ Go with the flow

■ Tackle tasks when inspired

■ Enjoy surprises and detours from agendas as paths to newdiscoveries

■ Set their own pace and hours

In the business world of goal setting and strategic planning, the Judgingculture predominates. Daily interactions aim to get things done, driving for clo-sure or accomplishment (by working by the clock or the calendar). Perceivingtypes do their best to accommodate the Judging style but feel stressed withoutthe adaptability and flexibility they find enlivening. When people with differentpreferences work side by side, the chances of these Judging and Perceivingtypes occasionally disagreeing are about 100 percent.

As with all of the preferences, neither Judging nor Perceiving is best in andof itself. When businesses are too intent on deadlines, they may miss late-breakingdevelopments or trends that have an impact on their products or services. Ofcourse, not meeting deadlines and being too open to last-minute changes maymean missed opportunities in the marketplace or customer dissatisfaction. Howmuch better to respect the creative tension that exists between the two styles,Judging and Perceiving! In truth, we need each other, as the Donelle Sales Com-pany learned.

THE JUDGING–PERCEIVING DICHOTOMY 93

DONELLE SALES COMPANY

Conflict was the story between Dean and Gwen, two senior executives in theSouth Central district sales office of the Donelle Sales Company. Donelle con-tracted with various manufacturers of medical devices to serve as their salesrepresentative. Dean, the sales manager, was one of Donelle’s top salespeopleand had brought in several of the organization’s biggest accounts. Gwen, theoperations manager, ran one of the most efficient offices in Donelle’s system.

When the South Central office was established a few years back, Gwen andDean were chosen for their roles because of their specific gifts: Dean for hisflexibility, his way of keeping abreast of market trends, and his ability to adjustquickly to customer needs; and Gwen for her ability to manage, organize, anddeliver products to customers efficiently and on time.


Today, however, it’s a different picture. Donelle’s CEO called for help, saying,

The two of them are at each other’s throats rather than each other’s side.They’re both such valuable players—and what a team they’d be if they’donly work out their differences! Dean thinks Gwen is trying to straitjackethim with filing systems and schedules, and Gwen thinks Dean is just onestep away from offending customers by derailing order fulfillments with allof his last-minute changes and emergencies.

The CEO had met with Dean and Gwen and suggested Myers-Briggs TypeIndicator (MBTI) teambuilding training for both of them. Their failure to teameffectively was causing problems in what had been a collegial relationship.Gwen and Dean welcomed the chance for teambuilding because of all the stressthey were feeling at work and at home.

Dean (ENTP)Sales manager

Gwen (ISFJ)Operations manager

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Gwen said, “We both agree that customer needs come first and that oursales will increase when we meet those needs, but do we ever have differentapproaches to meeting that goal!”

Dean remarked, “Gwen sort of clobbers me over the head with her sched-ules and procedures, as if I’m not also putting customers first. She doesn’t seemto understand what a time-waster it can be to do too much paperwork inadvance. In business, things always change!”

How Judging Types View Perceiving Types

Before taking sides regarding the “right” and “wrong” ways to meet customerneeds and run an effective office, all employees were invited to submit com-ments on working with Dean and Gwen as well as insights into the workingrelationship between the two. Gwen said, “Dean has even accused me of beinga wet blanket who sometimes impedes his progress on sales or slows down hisideas. I suppose I do inundate him and the office with procedural details attimes. But this office had a spotty record of order fulfillment before I standard-ized things.” Here are some of the comments employees made:

What Donelle employees saidabout Dean

■ This office is so chaotic! AllDean’s sales reports and activi-ties seem to show up at once—and usually at the last minute.

■ We constantly run up againstdeadlines because Dean ignoresthem and our standard operatingprocedures.


■ Perceiving types typically do theirbest work at the last minute. Theadrenaline rush may actuallyincrease their productivity andoften their creativity as well.

■ Actually, standard operating pro-cedures are listed as a source ofstress for ENTPs like Dean, whoview them as shackles that limitoptions (see page 213). Doingthings as needed is a Perceivingapproach.


■ Our workload fluctuates betweenboring and terrifying, whichobviously causes stress for thoseof us caught up in the mess.

■ He ignores requests for meetingagendas, or ignores agendas during the meetings.

■ Dean has no sense of time.We’re lucky if he’s there by 1:50 for a 1:30 meeting.

■ Dean’s office is filled with filesand piles. The only place I dareset something he must see is onhis desk chair, where he’ll haveto notice it when he sits down!

■ Our hottest disagreements comewhen Dean makes commitmentsto customers based on unreason-able time lines. He excuses him-self by saying that we need to be customer focused, but thenwe end up in a real time bind.

■ Dean constantly puts in latehours, which makes those of us who try to honor familyschedules feel guilty.

■ Most Perceiving types are ener-gized by last-minute efforts anddon’t notice how this approachaffects others. They prefer to seewhat turns up before making adecision or taking action.

■ Perceiving types often feel thatagendas should arise from whatis most important at the timeand can’t always be planned.

■ Perceiving types may struggle to estimate how long things willtake. From Dean’s perspective, heis timely enough. What he did inthose 20 minutes seemed neces-sary to him—completing a cus-tomer call or reviewing a contractrevision.

■ Perceiving types often attest thatthere is order in their chaos. Usu-ally they know right where to lookin their piles and files, even ifothers can’t figure out their system.

■ Perceiving types, perhaps mostclearly ENFPs and ENTPs likeDean, tend to believe that if itneeds to be done, there will be away to get it done and done ontime, too. This approach to lifeoften works well for them even ifit doesn’t for Judging types!

■ Perceiving types generally mixwork and personal time, seeingthe boundaries between the twoas quite permeable. They mayalso procrastinate to create thatlast-minute pressure they crave.

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Still, the South Central office employees liked Dean. He treated them pro-fessionally, allowing them to set their own daily appointments and schedules.Further, they recognized him as a key player in driving Donelle’s sales growth.

When asked, Gwen could also articulate several valuable contributionsDean had made, despite their conflicts. She said,

He is one of the most creative people I’ve ever known at work. He’s the clas-sic entrepreneur: going out and finding new markets that yield new sales,often huge contracts. Plus, he manages to adapt sales, marketing, and cus-tomer service to changing market needs—he never fails to find a uniqueremedy that exactly fits the bill. His ability to anticipate these changes isuncanny! I’ll admit, no matter how frustrating he can be, we’d be in badshape without him. However, he’d be lost without me as well, and I don’tthink he sees my role as equally important.

How Perceiving Types View Judging Types

Gwen came to her interview on time. She brought two copies, typed, of herresponses to the interview questions she and Dean received in advance from us.Dean was 10 minutes late, arriving breathless. He said, “I just got off the phonewith my newest account, and I’ve been looking for your questions. They’resomewhere in my office . . . but I’ve read them through and they’ve been on mymind.”

When asked about his relationship with Gwen, Dean sighed. “Gwen and Igo way back. She has been rock-solid in running the office side of sales, and Icouldn’t do what I’ve done without her. We used to be the perfect partners incrime, but our conflicts have grown right along with our sales and responsibili-ties. Gwen’s told me outright that I’m the driving force of the business—readyto drive us off track, that is! Maybe my last-minute ways are hard on her, buther schedules and procedures feel like slow poison to me!”

Here’s how Dean viewed Gwen:

Dean’s comments about Gwen

■ She constantly makes sugges-tions on how I could rework mycalendar or set up responsereminders.


■ Because Perceiving types have adifferent perspective on time,Judging-oriented organizing sys-tems often don’t work for them.


■ While I can appreciate that shemay need to have things morescheduled, it doesn’t alwayswork to Donelle’s advantage.

■ Sometimes I feel as if she’sobstructing my progress andresists making changes that willkeep us current and up-to-date.She seems so set in her ways.

■ She gives me so many remindersthat I forget which items arereally important or what sheactually wanted me to do.

■ If I do as she asks and list dead-lines and shipping dates on apiece of paper, she sets thosedates in stone. Once she almostshipped the stuff without the lat-est changes.

■ I’m not always last minute;Gwen needs to lighten up andrelax a bit along the way.

■ I need to do a better job of prior-itizing but often I don’t know ifwhat I’m handing over to Gwenis urgent or important.

■ Judging types prefer to approachlife with a schedule for gettingthings done, while Perceivingtypes prefer to approach life witha contingency plan.

■ Judging types like to stick withthings and get them done—organizing, planning, and com-pleting tasks in a timely andunhurried fashion.

■ When Judging types accept a task,they fit it in with everything elsethey have to do and assume otherscan do so, too; Perceiving typesmay not notice that they’ve over-looked something while they’retrying to meet other obligations.

■ If something is listed as neededat a certain time or place, mostJudging types see that it’s done.This is a clue to Gwen’s level ofstress—she seems to be mired incertain details, unable to see thatsome are more important thanothers (see page 193).

■ Judging types find it difficult to relax when the last-minuteapproach is the norm. WhatDean may see as a need to lighten up may actually be signs of Gwen’s stress level.

■ Judging types often approachwork by setting priorities, distin-guishing the important from theurgent.

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■ I’m on the road a lot, calling oncustomers. Because of my erraticschedule, I often come in atnight with a burst of energy toget things done before I have toleave town again. I surprisemyself at how much I get donebetween seven and midnight.

■ Judging types like to approachtheir work in an orderly mannerand typically avoid odd or irregularhours. They become stressed whentheir workload is unpredictable.They also like to keep their workand home lives separate.

Dean admitted, “More than once, she’s saved my neck by reading the fineprint and coming up with a specific maneuver that carries the day. I really dovalue the way she can take the mixed-up jumble of things I bring her and putthem in manageable order. Occasionally, I’ve tried to imitate her, but it neverquite works out.”

THE TYPE INTERVENTIONFollow these four steps to conduct an intervention for Judging and Perceiving types.


The Judging–Perceiving clash is a common source of conflict between salesgroups and operations departments. Sales representatives need to take advan-tage of the moment. As Dean put it, “My biggest contribution is my ability toread our customers’ ever-changing needs and respond quickly—especially intight market conditions.” Operations people need to fulfill commitments andthink through schedules. As Gwen put it, “There’d be utter chaos without meor someone else with similar organizational skills. What I do best is head offproblems at the source.”

We used these questions to help resolve the conflict:

■ Are outside factors causing difficulties?Within most companies, tensions exist between sales and operations dueto the nature of each department’s work. Meeting customer needs whilemaintaining internal quality and consistency can put the two differentfunctions in conflict.


■ Are there factors in the team’s history that should be considered?In this case, Dean and Gwen were both senior executives with DonelleSales. Dean was one of the company’s top salespeople, and Gwen wasknown for running one of the most efficient offices in the Donelle system.They had worked together for years, and although they initially enjoyedtheir different approaches to work, their tolerance was wearing thin.

■ Are the team’s problems rooted in basic personality misunderstandings?In cases like this one, when there are conflicts between job roles, there isplenty of room for misunderstanding. The Judging–Perceiving differencesdefinitely claimed the bulk of time in our interviews, but looking at eachperson’s job requirements also took time. Donelle needed the strengths ofboth preferences. Helping team members understand the pitfalls andstrengths of their opposites often points the way toward working it out.

■ Does the problem involve individuals or the whole team? Is individualcoaching or teambuilding called for?At Donelle Sales, the problem was really between Dean and Gwen, a Judging–Perceiving struggle over different approaches to work.

Step 2: Create an Understanding and Appreciation of Differences

Often, the best way to begin working things out is by demonstrating that eachpersonality preference is normal and brings unique strengths and contributionsto the team. In this case, both Gwen and Dean wanted a better relationship,making it easier for them to discover for themselves the benefits they derivedfrom their different personalities.

Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution exercises, such as the following, have proved their merit insituations that involve opposing approaches to work. At Donelle, this exercisehelped Dean and Gwen understand that they needed each other. Both wereasked the following interview questions:

■ What do you bring to Donelle Sales?

■ What actions or habits do you have that may be unsettling or irritating tothe other person?

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■ What does the other person do that annoys you?

■ What do you find valuable about the other person?

■ What outcomes do you hope for as a result of this conflict resolution process?

These questions usually work well with any of the preference combinationsor with entire type categories when there are relationship conflicts. Askingabout the value of the other person, as we did above, helps rebuild bridgesbetween the combatants.

After Dean and Gwen met to discuss their answers to the above questions,Dean said, “This difference in Judging and Perceiving gives me a way to keepour disputes in perspective. If I want the benefit of Gwen’s ability to have thingsin the right place at the right time, I need to accept that she may not want tochange the proven way she’s always used to get them there.”

“That’s true,” said Gwen. “And if I’m enjoying South Central’s profitabilityand our generous bonuses—due in large part to your entrepreneurial drive—Imay need to accept that deadlines could have different meanings for you . . .well, at least I can accept it occasionally!”

Negotiating and Realigning Work Relationships

Gwen and Dean also worked through a series of questions to set new norms forworking together, as illustrated below.

Reflect generally about your work:

■ List things that you value and want to keep in your work. What do youpersonally have energy for?

■ List things that you have now that you no longer want.

■ List things that you haven’t got now in your work but that you hope tocreate for yourself.

Discuss the current situation:

■ Prepare a positive feedback list: things you value about the way you worktogether.

■ Prepare a negative feedback list: things you don’t like in your work together.

■ Prepare an empathy list: predict what the other will have on his or her list.


Prepare for the future:

■ Describe your idea of your future work relationship.

■ Describe what you hope will be absent in your future work relationship.

■ List things you can do (or might avoid doing) to achieve the desired workrelationship.

■ Present data to each other to reach understanding. Ask clarifying ques-tions to ensure understanding.

■ Negotiate changes; reach agreement.

■ Establish mutual monitoring and a follow-up process.

■ Reflect alone on actions you need to take in order to change.




Gwen and Dean needed to outline a future working relationship that left roomfor Dean’s spontaneity and Gwen’s structure. This meant finding commonground on task and role clarity, time management, operating procedures,growth management, customer service, and flexibility and strictness regardingwork habits.

After a facilitated discussion of the Judging–Perceiving conflicts betweenDean and Gwen, they agreed to do the following:

■ Create further role clarity. In this way, each knew what the other’s tasksand responsibilities were. This helped them create distinct roles, responsi-bilities, and reporting relationships that recognized the ways in whichSales had to dovetail with Operations in order to meet customer needs.

■ Agree on benchmarks for time management. So that they could work intheir own styles, Gwen and Dean formalized the number of requests thatDean could mark as extremely urgent at 20 percent. Gwen agreed to trackhis special requests and give him warning as he neared the limit. Deancommitted himself to following that guideline.

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■ Mutually agree to necessary procedures. For example, Dean agreed tocheck with Gwen in advance before committing to delivery dates andother services for customers. Gwen then had the opportunity to feed backrealistic time and work schedules on a case-by-case basis.

■ Manage sales growth more effectively. Dean took responsibility forpromptly communicating customer and product changes to Gwen so thatshe could manage the increased back-office workload, hiring temporary orpermanent workers as needed. They also established a contingency budgetout of Dean’s sales budget to cover those hiring needs. This kept Dean incheck and allowed Gwen to manage her own time and costs.

■ Use customer surveys. Surveys helped Gwen find the steps in the salescycle where customer interface was crucial. Detailing these steps enabledher to develop better follow-up procedures.

■ Develop key customer manuals. Dean kept a great deal of customerinformation in his head. Together, he and Gwen created step-by-step procedures for key customers and products so that any new sales andoperations personnel could more easily come on board.

■ Adapt work habits. Finally, Dean agreed to work away from the office several days a month, staying out of Gwen’s way, and Gwen committed to working no more than 10 percent overtime. They hoped these stepswould decrease the constant friction between them.


We wanted Gwen, Dean, and the others at the South Central sales office todevelop a clear understanding of the needs of each personality preference. Todo this, we decided to use an exercise that we call Personal Operating Manuals.

Personal Operating Manuals

In work-style clashes, type plays a valuable role in getting people to movebeyond comments such as “Don’t be so uptight” or “Show some responsibility.”One way to do this is to have each team member develop a personal operatingmanual.


■ Ask the team members to review their type information. What is mosttrue about how they work? What do they need, from a type preferenceperspective, to be most productive? Make sure they review all their prefer-ences. For example, Dean and Gwen would expand their search beyondtheir Judging and Perceiving needs.

■ Each person then creates a list, using one or more of the followingprompts:

■ What I contribute to the team

■ Areas I’m working on in order to improve my performance

■ What I’d like you to know about working with me

■ What I need to be a productive member of this team

■ Have each person write out 6–10 statements that they would like others touse in working with them.

■ Let each person report to the team about his or her list.

■ Put a date on each list. If everyone consents, have the lists typed up anddistributed to all team members.


Dean admitted that developing items such as key customer manuals was too biga stretch for him. He asked Gwen to be his coach. She agreed, saying, “Withour new way of looking at our differences, I think we could actually worktogether on this.”

Both Gwen and Dean wanted help with stress management. Dean neededto learn about his limits before illness taught him what they were. Coachingtopics included ways of attending to his physical needs, especially for rest, exer-cise, and good nutrition. He also had to look for better ways of determining pri-orities and attending to them even in the face of continuing urgent situations.

Gwen needed to learn ways of relaxing and letting go—especially of herhabit of taking work home. Recognizing that she should say “No” and stick to itdespite Dean’s use of charm made sense to her. She also decided to take her fullallotment of vacation days, especially when she or others determined she neededa break.

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A month later, Gwen and Dean agreed that their objective benchmarks hadhelped to neutralize their conflict. Dean just squeaked in under his 20 percentlimit for urgent requests but said, “I was thinking differently, evaluating whichorders could be processed early rather than assuming all were subject to last-minute changes. I’ve also cut down on the late-night hours. I’m not getting anyyounger!”

Gwen successfully checked her overtime hours and took some needed vaca-tion. Others, especially Dean, noticed a new sense of authority in Gwen—shesaid “no” more often, and they knew she meant it. She commented, “Theseguidelines allow Dean to manage himself rather than having me try to do it forhim. And they’ve let me take better care of myself and my job.”

Both Dean and Gwen felt the freedom to contribute to Donelle in a way thatmatched their styles—and that dispensed with many, if not all, of those peskydeadline dilemmas.


TYPE TAKEAWAYAre there Judging types in your office, frustrated by herding those who prefer Per-ceiving into a more orderly, structured procession? Or are Perceiving types tryingto open the eyes of Judging types to the value of keeping their options open? Yes,we can all learn to benefit from the best each style has to offer. And you can usepersonality type to work it out!

Type Solvers to TryWhen you suspect a Judging–Perceiving problem, try these ideas to help peopleunderstand—and appreciate—the strengths and needs of the two types.

Term Papers

This brief group exercise illustrates the difference between Judging and Perceiv-ing. Use 81/2" x 11" signs with the following labels:

■ Done before midterm break

■ Done with research before midterm break

■ Choose topic before midterm break

■ Start during last week of term

■ Late for class, just finished typing paper

Ask participants to recall their approach to term papers or big projects inhigh school or college. In the Donelle group, Gwen’s habit was to turn in herpapers before midterm break so she could relax during the break. Dean custom-arily spent his time on research and synthesis and pulled everything together atthe very end, even if it meant writing or proofreading on the train back to col-lege after vacation.

Ask for a volunteer whose work habit matches “Done before midtermbreak” to take that sign to one end of the room. Then, ask for a volunteerwhose approach matches “Late for class” to take that sign to the other end ofthe room. Find three more volunteers to hold the other three signs and then askthe rest of the participants to choose a place along the continuum formed by thesigns. Are they at either end or somewhere in the middle?

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Explain that people at the “Done before midterm break” end, the Judgingend, do their best work when things are under control. They approach projectsin an organized manner and are often energized by making steady progresstoward set goals.

At the other end of the continuum, Perceiving types often do their bestwork at the last minute. They may not feel inspired until the pressure is on. Askthose who are standing at this end if this is true for them. Emphasize that thesigns at both ends represent legitimate ways to be (though each would mostlikely be irritating to the people at the opposite end).

You might then ask those at each end to comment on what it felt like whenthey had to operate out of their preferences, when a Judging type faced a tightor unexpected deadline or when a Perceiving type was asked to start a projecttoo far in advance. Judging types will talk about stress and may even say theiraccuracy or inspiration suffered. Perceiving types will often say that theydelayed starting as long as they could and ended up with a less-inspired projectthan usual. They dislike putting things together too far in advance of the lastminute.

Houses or Sailboats

This exercise highlights the different approaches of Judging and Perceiving typesand demonstrates each preference’s reaction to time pressure and change.1

Bring a box of “stuff”—paper, glue, markers, fabric, tape measures, rope,wood scraps, scissors, yarn, straws, anything! Divide participants into Judgingand Perceiving groups of five or six. Place the box in the center of the room. Tellthe groups they have five minutes to make the best house they can. They mayuse anything or nothing from the box and anything they have with them. Thereare no restrictions. Tell them that at the end of five minutes, you will judgewhich house is the best.

At the end of three and a half minutes, announce that you have changedyour mind and that you want them to make a sailboat instead. Tell them theyhave one and a half minutes left.

Debrief the experience. The Judging group often spend the last one and ahalf minutes complaining or panicking. They want to show the excellent housethey’ve almost finished and are frequently upset because of the change in plans.

The Perceiving group usually move toward making a sailboat and often fin-ish it. Typically, they enjoy the whole exercise. They may even create a “human


sculpture” or display sailboat clip art on their laptop computer screens, muchto the chagrin of many of the Judging types.

Brainstorm Ways to Accommodate Judging and Perceiving Needs

Break into small groups of Judging and Perceiving types. Ask each group to gen-erate ideas that they believe will meet the needs of both preferences. Examplesinclude:

■ Provide general meeting agendas, with topics but no specific time frames.

■ Plan interim deadlines for Perceiving types. One of our Perceiving coauthors,for example, teaches a class the week before we need his input on a chap-ter or article about the same topic. We then meet to blend his lesson planwith our chapter outline.

■ Work together on time estimates so that those who prefer Perceiving canbenefit from the Judging type’s natural ability to estimate how long taskswill take and so that those who prefer Judging can benefit from the Per-ceiving type’s talent for squeezing tasks into the last window of time.

Discussion for Those in Conflict

Ask the following questions:

■ What do you contribute to the relationship?

■ What actions or habits of yours may be unsettling or irritating to the otherperson?

■ What does the other person do that annoys you?

■ What do you find valuable about the other person?

■ What outcomes do you hope for as a result of this conflict resolutionprocess?

When Judging and Perceiving types give and receive positive as well as nega-tive feedback concerning each preference’s approach to life and work, you mayfind some areas for negotiation, and peace!

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One-Sided Projects

This group exercise may help illustrate how respect for the opposite preferenceworks to a team’s advantage.

■ Divide the team into two groups based on preferences for Judging andPerceiving.

■ Ask each group to think of two projects or decisions that suffered becauseof a one-sided approach. For example, a market opportunity may havebeen missed because Perceiving types were reluctant to come to conclusionsabout the trends they were investigating. Conversely, a product may havebeen introduced too quickly because Judging types made hasty decisionsabout the product’s features.

■ Have each group list specific steps they would have taken to handle theincident differently. The goal is for both groups to provide concrete exam-ples of how each type preference might benefit from the processes of theother.


The following lists summarize the natural styles of each preference and mayfacilitate discussion.

It is more natural for Judging types to:

■ Value timetables and schedules

■ Decide on project steps beforebeginning

■ Make decisions without revisit-ing each nuance

■ Feel that surprises tend to upsettheir plans

It is more natural for Perceivingtypes to:

■ Leave room for late-breakingchanges

■ Allow for what is necessary asthey go along

■ Search for options, not wantingto overlook anything

■ Find last-minute changes orinterruptions useful in maintain-ing flexibility



If your preference is for Judging, practice Perceiving:

■ Schedule at least one day per month to go with the flow at work. (Thatmay be asking a lot, but see what happens. Trust us!) Note what turns upthat may add value to your tasks, give you joy in the moment, or enrichyour life.

■ Give yourself some extra time to gather more information, both factualdata and new ideas.

■ In solving a problem, think of several options in addition to the one youhave decided is correct. Make a list of the positive, interesting, and nega-tive characteristics of each option. Challenge your original choice.

■ In a low-stress area or low-risk situation, ask someone to interrupt andask you to do something with him or her. Then evaluate your tolerance forinterruptions, delays, and ambiguities and your ability to handle unfore-seen events.

■ Expect some contingencies to your planned processes. If you have extratime, use it to gather more data or come up with one more idea.

■ If someone wants your opinion, try offering several alternatives and thenletting that person make his or her own decision.

If your preference is for Perceiving, practice Judging:

■ Schedule at least half an hour between meetings. Refrain from taking onnew commitments until you’ve had a chance to think about them. Learnto say “no.” Investigate other time-management techniques. Keep usingthe ones that work for you.

■ Ask yourself which five major things you need to accomplish during thenext year (or other time frame). Schedule the five things on your calendaror planner and then plan backward to ensure that you have allowedample time to accomplish them. For extra credit, add a bit more time thanyou originally allotted.

■ Remind yourself that contingencies almost always arise and plan for them.Resist the temptation to attend to just one more thing.

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■ Place limits on yourself by setting an imaginary deadline for generatingideas or gathering information. Then stop when you reach it.

■ Determine which daily tasks could be done consistently, and then developa routine and follow it. Realize that, in the long run, doing this gives youmore time to explore and enjoy.

■ Practice completing less important tasks a day or two before the deadline.Be sure to distinguish the important from the urgent.

When You’re One or a Few Among the ManyWhen you have a preference for Judging and your co-workers have a preferencefor Perceiving, consider:

■ Seeking out projects with definite milestones and a final deadline

■ Delaying making a decision for a few days; continue to gather more information and pay attention to other ideas that may come up

■ Accepting the idea that work is progressing despite the differences in people’s approaches

■ Making your own milestones or deadlines along the way

When you have a preference for Perceiving and your co-workers have a prefer-ence for Judging, consider:

■ Recognizing that deadlines set by the organization may not be negotiable

■ Revisiting a past decision you believe was rushed and demonstrating theadvantages of slowing down to gather more information

■ Finding projects in which the process is just as important as the outcome

■ Keeping surprises to a minimum and reducing your options

113

FUNCTION PAIRSST, SF, NF, NT in the Workplace

The Goal: Appreciating the contributions and communication styles of every team member.

That meeting was a waste of my time. We only discussed one of the fouragenda items. (ST)

That meeting was confusing. They didn’t say a word about the specifictraining our team would need. (SF)

That meeting was inspiring. I have a clear vision of new trends in trainingand development. (NF)

That meeting was okay, but we needed to spend more time deliberating ourunderlying rationale and coming up with an effective strategy. (NT)

Yes, all four people quoted above were at the same meeting, but they have verydifferent standards for effective communication. How we perceive (Sensing orIntuition) and how we judge (Thinking or Feeling) greatly influence our func-tioning and our styles for communication, decision making, and leadership. Thefour combinations of these preferences (ST, SF, NF, and NT) make up thecolumns of the type table:

6

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When people who function differently are on the same team, it’s no surprisethat there are clashes. Accuracy versus inspiration? Service versus theory? Thebiggest clashes come between opposite pairs: ST versus NF, and SF versus NT.Workplaces that honor each of the four functions value very different things:

ST: Let’s be accurate and responsible.

SF: Let’s be practical and service oriented.

NF: Let’s be insightful and inspiring.

NT: Let’s be theoretical andentrepreneurial.

■ ISTJ

■ ISTP

■ ESTP

■ ESTJ

■ ISFJ

■ ISFP

■ ESFP

■ ESFJ

■ INFJ

■ INFP

■ ENFP

■ ENFJ

■ INTJ

■ INTP

■ ENTP

■ ENTJ

ST environmentsvalue

SF environmentsvalue

NF environmentsvalue

NT environmentsvalue

■ Efficiency

■ Certainty

■ Thoroughness

■ Consistency

■ Control

■ Stability

■ Personal loyalty

■ Being of service

■ Emotional well-being of others

■ Respect

■ Clarity of role and function

■ Integrity

■ Community

■ Enthusiasm

■ Insightful problemsolving

■ Harmony

■ Serving society’sneeds

■ Creativity

■ Competence

■ Competition

■ Strategic planning

■ Global concepts

■ Big-picture focus

■ Goal setting

Key words Key words Key words Key words

Practical and logical Practical and helpful Insightful and helpful Insightful and logical

Within corporations, clashes among the function pairs are inevitable giventhe different character of the work in different departments:

■ STs are often found in accounting, sales, and production.

■ SFs are often found in customer service, quality control, and office management.

■ NFs are often found in training and development, advertising, and publicrelations.

■ NTs are often found in planning, research and development, and marketing.

FUNCTION PAIRS 115

Without a deep understanding of the strengths, concerns, and needs of thedifferent function pairs, friction and misunderstandings can distract quite thor-oughly from the jobs at hand. Such was the case at Investment Partnership Ser-vices (IPS).

INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP SERVICES

IPS was successful. Very successful. But the growth that came with that successled to other problems. IPS started as a full-service financial planning firm in theboom times of the 1980s. Founded and managed by two extremely competentwomen, Julie and Nira, the company targeted career women in all stages of life.Its organizational hallmark was treating clients with respect. The mission state-ment read: “We are stewards for yet partners with our clients, working togetherto establish and reach financial goals.”

As part of their initial marketing strategy, Julie and Nira joined FinancialWomen International, the National Association of Women Business Owners, andtheir own universities’ women’s associations. They also kept active in professionalassociations—restaurant and hotel management for Nira and accounting for Julie.

Julie viewed her financial planning work as a means to help more womeninvest in the marketplace, gain a solid financial footing, and prepare for retire-ment. Nira loved the challenge of playing the market and pitting her financialsavvy against the more traditional brokerage houses. She excelled at predictinginvestment trends and promoting her ideas to clients.

With rapid success came growing pains. The client base increased so quicklythat business methods sprang up by accident rather than through tried and truepolicies and procedures. Julie and Nira hired Frances as office administrator;she in turn hired two assistants. They also found two experienced investmentanalysts who were investment model experts. IPS then contracted with a largerbrokerage company to execute stock purchases and sales.

Julie (ENFJ)Founding partner

Frances (ISTJ)Office manager

Office support staff(SF)

Nira (ENTP)Founding partner

Investment analysts(NT)

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Julie asked for help in dealing with tension in the office. She said, “I’m notsure why Nira and I are struggling, given that we share common goals for IPS.But the tension is contagious—everyone seems on edge with everyone else, andit’s starting to affect how we serve our customers.”

We interviewed each employee in an effort to understand the root causes ofconflict.

The NF Side of the Story

Julie’s office was filled with neat stacks of files and books on almost every flatsurface. Numerous plants and family pictures added to the room’s warm andcomfortable style. Julie, however, looked exhausted, with dark circles under hereyes and a general spirit of weariness to her demeanor. When asked, she describedher motivations for founding IPS at some length, concluding, “Women still earnless than men. I’m committed to helping as many as I can to establish themselvesfinancially, gaining a fair financial return for the faith they’ve placed in me.”

She listed several strengths she brought to the business, which follow pat-terns seen in many people who share her NF preferences.

Julie’s self-reported contributions

■ I know the market and the needsof women.

■ I enjoy developing long-termrelationships with my clients.

■ I’m able to read our clients anddiscern their particular needs,financial and emotional.

■ I’m deeply committed to increasing women’s share of the financial pie.

■ Being a teacher at heart, thepublic workshops and the presentations are fun for me.

Common NF strengths and contributions

■ Envisions the future and how to meet people’s needs.

■ Focuses on relationships,enabling growth in others.

■ Has insight into what matters to others.

■ Serves society’s needs, works fora purpose beyond a paycheck.

■ Communicates, inspiring others.

FUNCTION PAIRS 117

Julie’s NF concerns

■ While I’m in the office meetingwith clients (and overseeing allof the account administration),Nira is out with vendors, beingwined and dined, gatheringinvestment information. I knowthat I’m better at client contact,but a part of me shouts that I’mbeing taken advantage of.

■ I’m having problems sleeping atnight—market shifts remind methat I’m responsible for so manyclients. I can’t even deliver amodest 5 percent return in afalling market. Many women arenovice investors, and I’m afraidthey’ll pull their money, regard-less of long-term prospects.

■ The way Frances is streamliningprocedures doesn’t really allowme to meet everyone’s needs.Regardless of anything, she wantsdeadlines met, costs down, andwork flow well managed.

How the other functions mightinterpret those concerns

■ NT: Place people in the roles thatsuit their competencies.

■ SF: One partner shouldn’t haveall the internal responsibilities.It’s too much for one person tohandle.

■ ST: There ought to be a way tostreamline operations so that noone is doing more than the others,unless that person is getting paidto do so.

■ NT: This is a buyer-beware busi-ness; 5 percent is 5 percent morethan they might have gotten ifthey hadn’t come here!

■ SF: Julie needs to take a weekoff and relax!

■ ST: The market has its ups anddowns, one time 5 percent,another time 15 percent. Peopleought to know that!

■ NT: Yield to Frances. That’s whatshe was hired to do, streamlineand manage the office.

■ SF: Meet the needs of one per-son at a time and use efficient,proven ways to do that.

■ ST: We can’t meet all needs; itisn’t practical. Use the 80/20rule: Meet 80 percent and let goof the other 20 percent.

Julie’s demeanor went from bright to weary when asked what it was like towork at IPS. Her specific concerns are listed below:

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The NT Side of the Story

Nira’s office was quite a contrast to Julie’s—sleek and sophisticated, withmuted colors and stylish furnishings. Expensive art and Oriental rugs completedthe high-status feel of the room. Nira’s dress and attitude expressed self-assurance.She talked about her motives for founding IPS, concluding, “I was one of thefirst women to become a certified financial planner, and it seemed obvious tome that more and more women would be seeking financial advice as theybegan flooding the workplace. I wanted to build a business so I could pass onmy knowledge and also make a nice return for myself!”

Nira’s self-reported strengths also follow patterns of people who share herNT preferences:

Nira’s self-reported contributions

■ I keep abreast of market trendsand find areas with the highestreturn for the lowest risk.

■ I’m always finding new possibili-ties for expanding and developingour business. I wish I had 48hours in every day to pursue it all.

■ I can tolerate the risk that goeswith the excitement of financialmarkets.

■ I can clearly see where this company is headed—and plan to make sure we’re ready.

■ I can tell if some product willyield results for our clients andknow the various risk positionsinvolved.

Common NT strengths and contributions

■ Analyzes complex problems, systems.

■ Fosters organizational growthand development, not wanting tomiss any opportunity.

■ Seeks challenge, competition.

■ Uses strategic planning, big-picture focus.

■ Sees the relationship of the partsto the whole.

FUNCTION PAIRS 119

Nira’s NT concerns

■ Julie is too concerned aboutsmall financial gains or losses inour portfolios. She takes marketdownturns personally—forgettingthat we tell our clients to expectups and downs in the market.They simply have to stay in themarket for the long haul if theywant to make a profit.

■ Julie spends more time holdingclients’ hands than I think isappropriate. After all, we have abusiness to run, which meansbringing in new clients. Sheshould enjoy the fun of salesrather than worry about babysit-ting our current clients.

■ I thought Frances was a greathire, but she can be a real pain inthe neck. Here I am, one of thefounding partners, and she wantsme to document expenses andturn in travel advance requests.Yes, we asked her to streamlinethings, but she’s too picky!


■ NF: Taking things personallyhelps me better meet clients’needs, even at my own expense!

■ SF: Each person’s portfolio isimportant. We can’t lose sight ofour individual customers.

■ ST: Julie needs to toughen upand realize that each person is a grown-up.

■ NF: The easiest business comesfrom repeat sales and referrals.

■ SF: It’s easier to manage existingaccounts. We already know themand their specific needs.

■ ST: The facts are as plain as day.Referrals or repeat business fromsatisfied customers accounts for 80percent of our business; only 20percent comes from new contacts.

■ NF: I wish Nira would supportFrances’s work so that our officewould run more smoothly.

■ SF: Why can’t Nira just try tofollow the procedures?

■ ST: Frances was hired to do ajob. She’s doing it, and sheneeds our respect and adherenceto her plans.

Like Julie, though, Nira’s enthusiasm for IPS had been tempered by officeconflicts. Nira’s specific comments are listed below:

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■ The office assistants think Ishould be able to keep track ofevery client individually, askingspecifically how Mrs. Jones orMs. Brown or even their cousinor friend has fared. I watchaggregate performance, notdetails of each client portfolio.

■ NF: I don’t always know specificsabout each portfolio, but I dohave a general recollection ofeveryone with whom I’ve worked.

■ SF: Each client is important, andkeeping up with those littledetails keeps them satisfied andhappy with IPS.

■ ST: We should have a form withjust the necessary facts so wecan keep on top of any changesin the portfolio.

Nira indicated that the two investment analysts were working out well.Later, they confirmed that they shared her NT preferences.

The ST Side of the Story

Frances was cordial but reserved, a bit wary of being interviewed. She said, “Ihave several pressing business concerns, such as readying a client’s initialfinancial plan by noon today. Our track record for sales is good, but I have a ter-rible time getting Julie and Nira to do the simplest things.” The strengthsFrances sees in herself match the patterns of others with an ST preference:

Frances’s self-reported contributions

■ Before I was hired, proceduresand filing systems were practicallynonexistent. I now have docu-mentation almost under control.

■ I’ve established systems andaccounts so we can track costsand inefficiencies.

■ It’s my duty to do all the follow-up and make sure this officeruns smoothly.

Common ST strengths and contributions

■ Practical focus, establishing pro-cedures and attending to details.

■ Seeks measurability and ways ofmanaging costs and schedules.

■ Consistent, efficient focus on theproblems at hand.

FUNCTION PAIRS 121

■ I’ve made Julie and Nira awareof the critical need for documen-tation in this business.

■ I’m the stable factor in the office.I’m always here, unless of courseI have to run an errand becausesomeone else fell short on some-thing.

■ Focus on order, thoroughness,and control.

■ Stability and productivity.

Frances’s ST concerns

■ When Julie or Nira forgets tohave transaction forms filled inor signed, I have to call theclients—or worse, we may notget forms to the banks or broker-age houses in time. They’d besurprised if they knew howmuch money gets lost and howantagonistic clients can be overthose slipups, especially if theyhave to drive back here to signsomething that should have beensigned at the time of the sale.

■ Julie seems to understand thesestruggles and relates well toclients, but she acts like a mis-sionary out to convert thewomen of the world to financialplanning. Worse, she seems tothink that anyone who doesn’tvoice the same degree of enthu-siasm is not committed to IPS.Look at the hours I put in—howcan she say that?


■ SF: I hate to call people to comein and sign a forgotten form. I’llkeep a record of how often thishappens. Maybe that will lead toa change in the way things aredone!

■ NF: I use the form Frances setup, but I’m never quite sure I’musing it effectively. Maybe shecould help me occasionally.

■ NT: I see these forms as toodetailed for someone with myresponsibilities.

■ SF: I’m committed and show it bythe attention I give each client andthe care I take with each client’sportfolio. I want a sale to be tidy!

■ NF: Maybe everyone is as enthu-siastic as I am, but I wish they’dshow it more!

■ NT: We serve all people, not justwomen, although that’s whereour expertise lies.

Frances had several specific complaints.

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■ Nira is always out of the office,without my being quite surewhen or where or why she’sgone. So many of her trips arelast-minute affairs. It wouldn’tbe prudent to keep cash here, yetshe expects me to give her cashadvances at a moment’s notice.She doesn’t realize how disrup-tive and costly it is to make aspecial trip to the bank or runother spur-of-the-momenterrands for her.

■ Nira seems to have a superiorattitude, what with her clothesand her car. I know she needs toimpress clients, but . . .

■ I never see the investment ana-lysts, and they never fill us in onwhat they’re doing.

■ SF: Nira’s the boss, and thatcomes with some perks!

■ NF: Maybe Nira needs to decidewhat’s most important. Sheoften rushes about at the lastminute.

■ NT: I never know where the nextopportunity will be or when.Catching opportunities is key toour business success!

■ SF: You can’t argue with success,and Nira does set a tone ofwealth and success.

■ NF: We don’t want to be tooobvious about the money we’remaking. Some of our clients arebarely making it.

■ NT: If you’ve got it, wear it, useit, or drive it, unless it’s strategicnot to do so. Also, I have toimpress the vendors to get thebest deals for IPS and ourclients.

■ SF: It would be good to knowhow each person contributes toIPS, what they do each day.

■ NF: I trust all the people whowork here to make the best useof their time.

■ NT: Competent people don’tneed anyone to hover over them.They are their own best drivers.

FUNCTION PAIRS 123

Frances concluded, “I shouldn’t have to work so hard to get everyone to dowhat needs to be done to run this business. Think of how easy it is to loseclients, not to mention the legal implications!”

A look at the IPS employees’ function pairs explains why such highly com-petent people were struggling to work together:

ST SF NF NT

Frances Office administrators Julie Nira Investment analysts

Frances, naturally practical and precise, was trying to pin down Julie, theidealistic NF, and Nira, the achievement-oriented NT. All three of them faultedthe SF office administrators for paying attention to individuals, which is a legit-imate SF concern. For NTs, such personal interactions seem almost like gossip.As for the others, they didn’t understand Nira’s drive for competence and cred-ibility or the investment analysts’ behind-closed-doors work style. If the IPSstaff became type-aware, they might start to see their colleagues’ actions asflowing from their personality types rather than from spite or disregard for IPS’smission.

THE TYPE INTERVENTIONFollow these four steps to conduct a type intervention for the different preferences.


Discuss the answers to these guiding questions:

■ Are outside factors causing difficulties?Yes, the markets go up and down, and yes, they’re hard to predict, but IPS stood to benefit from enforcing and supporting Frances’s role and her changes to office procedures.

■ Are there factors in the team’s history that should be considered?Success in the company’s niche did not necessarily mean success in runninga business. The entire IPS staff needed to look at the internal operations and

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each person’s workload and responsibilities in order to adjust the distribu-tion of duties and to ensure that people’s responsibilities were matchedwith their strengths.

■ Are the team’s problems rooted in basic personality misunderstandings?This seemed to be the root of the problems. Knowing type could provide alanguage for discussing the differences and a rationale for managing andenhancing those differences to the benefit of both the staff and the companyas a whole.

■ Does the problem involve individuals, or does it involve the wholeteam? Is individual coaching or teambuilding called for?At IPS, the problems seemed rooted in general misunderstandings of howpeople with ST, SF, NF, and NT preferences operate and communicate.

Step 2: Create an Understanding and Appreciation of Differences

Demonstrate that each personality preference is normal and brings uniquestrengths and contributions to the team. Here’s an exercise the team used successfully.

Work Style Exercise

At the first teambuilding session, we talked about the function pairs framework.Team members then grouped themselves into the function pair category that fitthem best (ST, SF, NF, or NT) and listed what they thought were characteristicsof their style. Provide a flip chart so that participants can see what each teammember writes down. This exercise will help team members understand thattheir company benefits when people of every function pair group respects theothers’ differences and when they all acknowledge the gifts each function pairbrings to the successful operation of their company.

The NF Report

Julie listed:

■ Envisioning where we are going

■ Acting on issues I feel strongly about

■ Knowing I can make a difference for women

FUNCTION PAIRS 125

“I can’t help it,” she laughed. “I’m a crusader for women’s financial needs.”The other team members then gave feedback on the contributions Julie

made to the company. These included:

■ Convincing, authentic, and sincere sales presentations

■ Solid teaching on financial principles

■ Mediating between spouses and their partners or families

The NT Report

Nira and the investment analysts reported next, listing:

■ Individual initiative, being able to take risks

■ Discovering or sniffing out opportunities well in advance of trends

■ Drive and energy to achieve breakthroughs in financial dealings with prof-itable results

Nira said, “Taking risks is who I am. You all know I left Lebanon for the UnitedStates to strike out on my own—and brought all my siblings here, earningenough to put them through college. I have the same drive for IPS.”

Team members then added the qualities they associated with the NT perspective:

■ Insistence on goal setting

■ Constant innovation, especially with products and computerized models

■ State-of-the-art investment planning

The ST Report

Frances listed:

■ Dependability and reliability

■ Being efficient

■ Ensuring that each step necessary to achieving IPS’s goals is followedexplicitly and accurately

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“You really can set your watches by my arrival because it’s 8:30 a.m. everyday,” Frances added. “I actually enjoy the implementation specifics—if only therest of you would acknowledge how many clients we’ve almost lost becauseothers overlook those details!”

The team quickly came up with a list of ST contributions:

■ Spotting and then eliminating inefficiency and waste

■ Assuring that everything will be taken care of

■ Fulfilling IPS’s obligations and responsibilities to customers

The SF Report

The operations assistants who reported to Frances added their list of what theyvalued in their work:

■ Servicing IPS customers in a personal and practical way

■ Being accurate and helpful

■ Working to keep the office harmonious

“Recently,” they added, “the last one, maintaining a harmonious office, has notbeen taken seriously by the rest of you. A simple ‘please’ and a ‘thank you,’ amorning ‘hello,’ go a long way toward making the office more pleasant.”

The rest of the team agreed that they appreciated the SF ability to act as thesocial glue that had in many ways kept the office harmonious, to support otheremployees, and to model cooperation and order.

Develop a Clear Understanding of the Needs of Each Preference

In the exercise above, team members learned how to improve communicationand customer service at IPS by paying attention to what was on each other’slist. To practice communicating, they used the following chart to develop a mes-sage for their opposite preference (ST–NF and SF–NT).

FUNCTION PAIRS 127


Team members met again a few weeks later, after taking time to observe thefour functions in action around the office and think through their co-workers’—and their own—needs through the lens of type. The second meeting showed asignificant reduction in tension around the office. Team members reported ontheir ideas for working it out:

STs like communication that is

■ Short, crisp, businesslike

■ Impersonal yet polite

■ Factual and credible

■ Sequential

■ Non-biased

SFs like communication that is

■ Personalized

■ Sequential

■ Empathetic to their position

■ Practical and results oriented

■ Complete with examples

■ Centered on building the relationship

NFs like communication that is

■ Full of new insights and perspectives

■ Enjoyable and fun

■ Big picture oriented

■ Associative, not sequential

■ Concerned with harmony

■ Fuel for brainstorming

NTs like communication that is

■ Organized logically

■ Oriented toward future implications

■ Straightforward

■ Complete with underlying theory, research

■ Full of options

■ Balanced, with pros and cons

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■ Julie affirmed to the group that she would be slightly less crusading in herapproach to selling financial planning to women, that she would work onputting more distance between herself and the effect of stock marketchanges on her clients’ portfolios, and that she would accompany Nira onseveral trips to brokers and vendors so that she could better understandNira’s role—and get out of the office.

■ The team agreed that many of the smaller clients should be turned over tothe office assistants, who looked forward to gaining this vital work experi-ence. This would lighten Julie’s workload and increase office expertise ininteracting with clients and managing accounts.

■ Nira acknowledged that some of her junkets were not profitable to IPS inthe long run. She asked Frances and Julie to help her when she started tobackslide and agreed to:

■ Be more focused and strategic in her selections

■ Spend more time on client relations

■ Share more of the day-to-day operations burden with Julie

■ Initiate her requests for travel advances earlier

■ Stick with the systems that Frances established

■ As promised, Frances and the SF staff did their homework on logging inef-ficiencies and came to the meeting with a list of dissatisfied clients anduncompleted financial deals caused by overlooked details.

■ The office assistants were delighted to work with long-term clients as wellas those with relatively small portfolios. They asked to watch Julie’s andNira’s initial meetings, at which they evaluate clients. They committed tolisting the clients with whom they had good working relationships andasked to manage their files as well.

■ The investment analysts agreed it was important to keep the other staffmembers informed on their work in the research room. They offered to dobrown-bag lunch seminars to explain the intricacies of their task to theircolleagues.

Julie and Nira pointed out that if they all followed through on the commit-ments they were making, it could have a positive impact on IPS, each person’swork life, and each person’s part of the corporate profit-sharing plan.

FUNCTION PAIRS 129


We stayed in touch with the partners, Nira and Julie, and did more coachingwith them. We also helped with an off-site teambuilding session, which rein-forced the work that had already been done.


Several months later, the team was still participating in brown-bag lunches.Julie reported, “Hearing logical explanations of market predictions and behav-iors has enhanced my ability to explain stock ups and downs to customers.While I still take a bit too much responsibility for what happens, I know theclients have a better handle on what ‘playing the market’ really means.”

Frances developed an excellent client-tracking system for current and poten-tial IPS customers, modeled after one she had used at her previous job. She sta-pled a flowchart to the inside of each client folder and marked time-sensitivedocuments with due dates and procedures to be followed. “It’s taken somework on my part,” she said, “but I’m doing less reminding. Everyone who hasclient contact has gotten better at following the model and procedures for clientinteractions!”

Nira and Julie conscientiously worked to develop the office administrators’customer contact skills. Nira took each one on a research junket, which improvedeveryone’s understanding of Nira’s contributions to IPS and the company’s markets.

With all team members working toward their mutual objectives, IPS man-aged to develop a cohesive culture rather than a clashing four-part one.

REVIEWING THE FOUR-FUNCTION FRAMEWORK

Can you place yourself or your team within this four-function framework? Seeif you can find your own and your teammates’ strengths and possible blindspots as you review the four functional pairings (ST, SF, NF, NT) below.

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ST: Let’s Be Accurate and Responsible

ST organizations tend to want answers to questions about costs, schedules, effi-ciency, precision, and accuracy. STs like to build hierarchical organizations witha place for everyone and with everything in its place. They believe they areearning their keep when they are critiquing broad, general ideas in order to helpeveryone focus realistically on what is feasible.

Because STs are most concerned with day-to-day issues, they may some-times overlook the long-term implications of their work. However, their orien-tation to the present keeps the team from misusing its current resources, bothhuman and financial.

STs often prefer to work in organizations that produce reliable, high-quali-ty products and services. You can often identify STs because they want detailson specifics and logical answers to their questions, which are usually tacticaland procedural. Remember Frances’s talent for organizing and establishingprocedures?

SF: Let’s Be Practical and Service Oriented

The SF organizational environment may resemble a diverse, extended family.Most SF organizations also have a hierarchy, but it’s a friendly one. SF organiza-tions (such as schools and hospitals) are structured in such a way that a per-son’s level in the hierarchy reflects that individual’s qualifications or skills forthe services he or she is to provide. This division of labor in a broad hierarchyallows for a particularly SF flavor—having the right person in the right place todo the right thing for others.

The motto “Service with a smile” is quite characteristic of SF organizations.SFs feel like they are worth their salt when they use clarity and direction tomeet the needs of each individual and group. Their attention to people makesthem extremely cognizant of how things will affect others. They are unlikely tobe very wrong about a customer’s needs. Because they are busy serving others,they may overlook the strategic plan, the big picture, and sometimes their ownneeds. They may, therefore, need help in these areas.

SF organizations are typically pleasant, sociable, and enjoyable places to be.Efficiency is important to SFs, but only if that efficiency allows for careful han-dling of people’s concerns. Remember how the administrative staff hated call-ing clients back to sign papers when the financial planners had not taken care

FUNCTION PAIRS 131

of them? Staff members gladly worked to help Frances’s system meet both com-pany and client needs.

NF: Let’s Be Insightful and Inspiring

NF organizations are characterized by their focus on mission and values. NForganizations typically set goals that make improvements in the circumstancesof people and communities. While SFs might focus on specific people, the NFapproach is to help people in general. NF organizations are often about foster-ing growth and development, inspiring people to greater heights, developinghuman aspirations, and making the world a better place in which to live.

NFs tend to set up collegial organizations with an interchangeable leader-ship format, because NFs are often reluctant to elevate one person over another.Instead, they prefer that people take turns as leader and follower. This is prob-ably one of the reasons that NF business organizations are rare, but that seemsto be just fine for NFs, who tend to avoid being part of business bureaucracies.Business organizations generally have only a few places where NFs can expressthemselves in the ways they prefer.

Working in accord with one’s values and having, as Isabel Myers said, “apurpose beyond the paycheck” are important attributes of the work environ-ment for NFs. Work must have meaning; when it doesn’t, NFs become less pro-ductive. Like SF organizations, the NF work environment is best when it is filledwith harmonious people who enjoy one another’s company as they strivetogether for a common purpose. Remember Julie’s passion for helping womendo well financially?

NT: Let’s Be Theoretical and Entrepreneurial

The NT organization is characterized by meeting challenges: mental, financial,conceptual, and sometimes physical. NTs set broad goals for themselves. Theyare not very patient with detail; however, like STs, they tend to like things to belogical. While the ST focus may be on day-to-day specifics, the NT focus is onthe big picture and long-range possibilities.

NTs are most happy in an environment that is filled with others who likedebate, rigor, and intellectual work. They are most effective in situations thatinvolve the orchestration of various systems for the purpose of achieving a com-mon objective.

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NTs use a hierarchy when it is the most effective organizational format, butthey generally prefer a structure of matrix organizations and project teams inwhich roles are more fluid. They often overlook interpersonal niceties, thinkingof people as only one of the facets in their systems and structures. Of course,NTs believe people are an important component of any system, strategy, orstructure, but it’s up to people to fit into their structure. Remember Nira’s abil-ity to spot key investments for IPS clients?

FUNCTION PAIRS 133

TYPE TAKEAWAYType Chart 3 may be helpful in summarizing the function pairs framework andintroducing these type concepts.

Type Solver to TryWhen you suspect a clash of cultures, try this exercise to help people under-stand—and appreciate—the strengths and different needs of all four functions.

Characteristic STs SFs NFs NTs

Like work that is

■ Practical

■ Crisp

■ Social

■ Personal

■ Idealistic

■ Insightful

■ Theoretical

■ Complex

Establishteams that are

■ Efficient anddata oriented

■ Friendly and serviceoriented

■ Creative and growthoriented

■ Effective andcompetitionoriented

Establish team structurethat is

■ Hierarchical ■ Fraternal ■ Collegial ■ Entrepre-neurial

Team focus is ■ Predictableand stable

■ Traditionaland affiliative

■ Dynamic andideological

■ Achievementand compe-tence oriented

Seek ■ Permanence

■ Accountability

■ Control

■ Membership

■ Personalinteraction

■ Support

■ Personalmeaning

■ Development

■ Growth

■ Rationality

■ Opportunity

■ Long-rangeplans

Are oftenfound in

■ Military

■ Industry

■ Service

■ Health care

■ Arts

■ Communi-cation

■ Sciences

■ Start-up companies

TYPE CHART 3

Source: Elizabeth Hirsh, Katherine W. Hirsh, and Sandra Krebs Hirsh, MBTI® Teambuilding Program, 2nd ed. (Mountain View,CA: CPP, Inc., 2003). Reprinted by permission.

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The Function Pairs Framework

After discussing the basic concepts, have group members identify which one ofthe four function pairs best describes them (ST, SF, NF, or NT). Then, eitherindividually or in groups, ask them to answer the following questions:

■ What should the other groups know about our values and contributions tothe workplace?

■ What do we need from the three other parts of the four-function frame-work so that we will have a more effective working relationship?

If appropriate, meet again as a large group. Depending on your needs, thefollowing topics could be discussed:

■ List the tasks on which each person or group works most naturally andwith the most energy and enthusiasm. Ask whether work division followsthese lines.

■ Conversely, which tasks should each person or group avoid? In what wayscould participants team across the four-function framework to better coverthese areas?

■ When communication is problematic, take two or three recent writtencommunications and let each person or group report on those aspects ofthe communication that made it easy or difficult to understand. Look forconcrete examples of the different communication styles and needs withinthe four-function framework. List any changes that would help communi-cation bridge the four cultures.

Tips for Communicating Effectively with Each Function PairType Chart 4 describes approaches that work well when communicating withpeople who identify with the different function pairs.

FUNCTION PAIRS 135

ST NF

■ Show me that it works. ■ Show how it will enhance relationships.

■ Indicate how it saves time and money. ■ State how it helps people grow and develop.

■ Demonstrate a good cost/benefit ratio. ■ Focus on my own and others’ strengths.

■ Show how results can be measured. ■ Show how it offers new insights and perspectives.

■ Allow me to try it before I buy it. ■ Indicate that people will like it and, byimplication, will like me.

■ Offer specific applications and benefits. ■ Point out how it will help me find meaning.

■ Answer all my questions. ■ Say it’s enjoyable and fun.

SF NT

■ Indicate its practical results for people. ■ Discuss its research base.

■ Demonstrate how it will clearly benefit me and those I care about.

■ Highlight its theoretical background.

■ Use personal testimonies from those whohave benefited from it.

■ Demonstrate how it fits a strategy.

■ Point out its immediate results. ■ Show how it will increase competency.

■ Set it in a personal context. ■ Indicate its broad and far-reaching possibilities.

■ Show respect to me and others in yourpresentation.

■ Point out its intriguing and fascinatingpossibilities.

■ Explicitly state the benefits; don’t justimply them.

■ Be a credible source of information.

Source: Sandra Krebs Hirsh, MBTI® Teambuilding Program (Mountain View, CA: CPP, Inc., 1992). Reprinted by permission.

TYPE CHART 4

137

STYLE-CHANGINGSTRESSThe Inferior Function—the Shadow

The Goal: Using type as a tool for understanding and reducing stress.

Workplace stress. The problem is so pervasive that you can read about it at theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention Web site. According to the NationalInstitute of Occupational Safety and Health, 40 percent of workers report thattheir jobs are very or extremely stressful.1 From what we’ve observed, the other60 percent are so accustomed to stress that it’s become “business as usual”!The threat of layoffs, computer screens that announce, “You’re not working asfast as the person next to you,” cell phones that mean you’re always available,not to mention performance reviews and lost sales opportunities—the sourcesof stress are infinite.

And it’s no joking matter. Early signs of stress include headache, sleep dis-turbances, upset stomach, a short temper, and difficulty concentrating, none ofwhich help us do our jobs better. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Researchshows that prolonged stress can lead to cardiovascular disease, back and neckdisorders, and mental health problems such as depression. Other studies haveshown links to cancer, suicide, immune system disorders, and increased work-place injuries, although more research is needed. Further, stress definitelyincreases absenteeism while decreasing morale, productivity, and employee loy-alty. It is destructive to workers and the workplace.

Certain circumstances, such as financial difficulties, cause stress for almosteveryone, but people are often unaware that various attitudes, activities, andevents in the workplace may negatively affect others. They think that everyone

7

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should just get a grip and get on with the job. However, our personality prefer-ences influence what we find stressful and how we will react.

TYPE AND STRESSCarl Jung saw that our reactions to stress—“eruptions” that are inconsistentwith our normal way of being—can be predicted by type. We end up in the gripof our inferior function, the function we’re least comfortable using. As men-tioned in chapter 1, each type has a dominant function and an inferior function.Type Chart 5 shows the dominant (in bold) and inferior functions for each per-sonality type.

It can be extremely useful for team leaders and members to know thesymptoms of being in the grip of the inferior function. This awareness allowsfor recognition and reduction of stress in the workplace. To understand how ourdominant and inferior functions interact, remember that we can’t pay attentionto all four functions at the same time: We can’t see the forest and the trees, norbe objective and subjective, in a given moment.

ISTJ

Sensing

Intuition

ISFJ

Sensing

Intuition

INFJ

Intuition

Sensing

INTJ

Intuition

Sensing

ISTP

Thinking

Feeling

ISFP

Feeling

Thinking

INFP

Feeling

Thinking

INTP

Thinking

Feeling

ESTP

Sensing

Intuition

ESFP

Sensing

Intuition

ENFP

Intuition

Sensing

ENTP

Intuition

Sensing

ESTJ

Thinking

Feeling

ESFJ

Feeling

Thinking

ENFJ

Feeling

Thinking

ENTJ

Thinking

Feeling

TYPE CHART 5

STYLE-CHANGING STRESS 139

■ If a dominant Intuitive type is guided by insights and possibilities, he orshe naturally relies less on information from the senses (facts and currentrealities).

■ To a dominant Sensing type who relies on actual data and facts, hunchesor inklings are not seen as trustworthy.

■ If a dominant Thinking type depends on logic for decision making, theimpact of a given decision on people may not seem as important or relevant.

■ Dominant Feeling types believe that the most reliable information isknowing what matters to people and what values are important; coolobjective analysis may take a backseat.

Hence, the way we comprehend and experience the function opposite toour dominant function truly feels inferior. We don’t naturally use it well, andbeing forced to use it can be stressful. Under such stress, we sometimes becomecaricatures of those for whom the function does come naturally.

All of us can work to become more skillful at using the gifts of our inferiorfunction. Effectiveness in life requires that we continue to mature in using allthe preferences, but some will always be more difficult to access. And despiteour awareness of the gifts and common pitfalls of our inferior function, it couldsneak into our behavior in an unmanageable way when we’re under stress!Consider the following examples:

■ Dominant Sensing types may begin to conjecture about the future and fearthat a prime customer will leave or that a new product launch will failwhen neither is likely.

■ Dominant Intuitive types may begin overeating or watch television mind-lessly, both of which involve exaggerated use of the senses.

■ Dominant Thinking types may become sentimental and emotional inundesirable ways or at inappropriate times.

■ Dominant Feeling types may become bossy and cold in their dealings withothers.

Clues about the common manifestations of the inferior function for eachtype are found in Type Chart 6. Learning about the inferior function gives you

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When usingthe dominantfunction

In the grip ofthe inferiorfunction

Common trig-gers of the infe-rior function What helps

ESTJ, ENTJ

ExtravertedThinking

■ Make decisions

■ Look fortruth, effec-tiveness, andcommitment

■ Enjoy leadership

■ Hypersensi-tive to criticism

■ Prone toemotionaloutbursts

■ Uncomfortablewith theirown feelingsand those of others

■ Violation oftheir corevalues

■ Accusationsof coldness

■ Remorse overtheir unfeel-ing actions

■ Solitude

■ Rest

■ Assessmentof limitations

ISFP, INFP

IntrovertedFeeling

■ Known astrustworthyand affirming

■ Focus on thebest in others

■ Maintain innerharmony

■ Judgmental

■ Critical ofothers

■ Act beforethinkingthingsthrough

■ Negativeatmosphere

■ Fear of lossor failure in arelationship

■ Violation ofvalues

■ Time

■ Acknowledgethe effect ofcriticism onothers

■ Emphasizeestablishedskills

ISTP, INTP

IntrovertedThinking

■ Observeobjectively in order tofind truth

■ Use logicalanalysisadeptly,applying thatanalysis topeople andevents

■ Known fordepth ofknowledge

■ Overly defen-sive when try-ing to provethe “logic” oftheir feelings

■ Excessivelysensitiveabout rela-tionships

■ Too emotional

■ When othersare overlyemotional

■ Situationsthat appeararbitrary oruncontrol-lable

■ Having notime forreflection

■ Time alonedoing activi-ties theyenjoy

■ Physicalactivity

■ Having othersgive themspace

TYPE CHART 6





ESFJ, ENFJ

ExtravertedFeeling

■ Depend onfeelings,which areconsideredmore rationalthan logic

■ Known forsensitivity tothe needs ofothers

■ Able to easilyand appropri-ately expressemotion

■ Overly criticaland domi-neering

■ Sidetrackedby poor logic

■ Compulsivelysearch foranswers inbooks orunusualphilosophies

■ Being askedto compro-mise a value

■ Being misun-derstood orbelittled byothers

■ Experiencingtoo muchconflict, too little harmony

■ Change inroutine

■ A new project

■ Confiding in an under-standingfriend or toself throughjournaling

ESTP, ESFP

ExtravertedSensing

■ Take in andsort all thedata thesenses provide

■ Accept theworld at facevalue

■ Enjoy every-day life

■ Imaginedoom andgloom

■ Misinterpretthe motivesof others

■ Obsessedwith mysticallife views

■ Overcommit-ment

■ Being forcedto make deci-sions aboutthe future

■ Having toomuch struc-ture at work

■ Contingencyplanning

■ Solitaryactivitiessuch as gardening,exercise

■ Getting helpfrom othersto adjust priorities

INTJ, INFJ

IntrovertedIntuition

■ Demonstrateintellectualclarity

■ Sort intuitivehunchesaccurately

■ Have long-term, novelperspectives

■ Overindulgein Sensing(TV, food)withoutenjoyment

■ Approach theworld as anenemy

■ Overwhelmedby sensorydata

■ Dealing withdetails

■ Experiencingunexpectedevents

■ Too muchExtraverting

■ Space

■ Quiet, naturalsurroundings

■ Using Think-ing to findsolutions orFeeling toallow them-selves to beless serious

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ISTJ, ISFJ

IntrovertedSensing

■ Exhibit effi-ciency, calm-ness, andattention tospecifics

■ Focused onthe presentand perfect-ing the triedand true

■ Aware oftheir sensoryexperiences

■ Anxious overfacts anddetails

■ Reckless andimpulsive

■ Worried aboutpossible futuredisasters

■ Experiencingchange,prospect ofthe unknown

■ When othersdeny reality(especiallydominantIntuitivetypes)

■ Overdoingreliability andefficiency

■ Finding otherswho will takethem seriously

■ Delegatingdetails

■ Workingthrough auxiliaryThinking tofind Feelingsolutions

ENFP, ENTP

ExtravertedIntuition

■ Focus ontheir visionor the bigpicture

■ Pursue newideas opti-mistically

■ Identifyfuture trendswith uncannyability

■ Depressedand with-drawn

■ Obsessedwith detailsand infor-mation

■ Focused onphysicalsymptoms

■ Overcommittedand tired

■ Attending todetails

■ Violation ofimportantvalues orprinciples

■ Meditation

■ Positive useof Sensing—physical exercise,sleep, healthydiet

■ Using Thinkingor Feeling to lend perspective

Source: Adapted from Naomi L. Quenk, Was That Really Me? (Mountain View, CA: Davies-Black Publishing, 2002).Adapted by permission.

ways of recognizing its positive contributions and negative manifestations,understanding your blind spots, and making sense of your behavior and theactions of others during stressful or changing times.

The following case offers a concrete example of what can happen whenstress takes over and the inferior function is unleashed.

TYPE CHART 6 continued


Penny (INFJ)Director, Quality Department

Leya (INFP)Quality control analyst

Wesley (ENFP)Quality control analyst

Josh (ESTJ)Marketing liaison

IMPRESSIONS, INC.

Impressions, Inc., was a midsize retailer of quality discount furniture with aloyal customer base. After 25 years as a regional firm, Impressions had posi-tioned itself to go nationwide. Expansion plans included streamlining and sys-tematizing the business.

Senior management started those changes with the Quality Department.Traditionally, furniture quality at Impressions had been defined in a personalway, with analysts asking, “Would I buy it?” “Would I want my friends to buyit?” “How will it hold up?” “Will it reflect an Impressions standard of qualitythat wins repeat customers?” The new definition involved quality for the price,or “you get what you pay for.” For example, a lower-priced rocker wasn’texpected to last as long as an expensive one. Those who weren’t happy withthe changes called it “buyer beware” quality standards.

Further, the vice president of Quality, Ellen, retired after 16 years in theposition. Ellen had been with Impressions from the start, originally as thefounder’s administrative assistant. In that role, she’d answered customers’ let-ters and complaints, until the company’s rapid growth necessitated the creationof the Quality Department. Through her work in Quality, Ellen gained technicalexpertise and selected people to work in the department who had the qualityanalysis experience and educational expertise that she lacked.

From previous work with Impressions, we knew that Ellen had preferencesfor ESFJ. She ran the Quality Department like a big family, with herself in thesupportive and nurturing role. Because of Ellen’s direct link to the founder, theteam had relatively high status in the organization.

While Impressions conducted a 12-month nationwide search for Ellen’sreplacement, the Quality Department managed itself. Wesley, a departmentmember, acted as informal leader. Meanwhile, through their strategic planninginitiative, management decided to streamline the number of vice presidents andcreate new liaisons among departments. Now the Quality Department reported

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to Marketing. The new head, Penny, was hired as director, not vice president,of Quality.

A few months into Penny’s tenure, the director of human resources calledfor our help. “I need you to read the riot act to our Quality team. They’rebehaving like children, giving Penny a run for her money. You know what agreat work environment we have here. I want you to tell them that.”

She continued with a rundown of Penny’s credentials. “We snatched heraway from our competitor. She knows every aspect of the furniture business—she’s even written articles about quality standards for household furnishings.But she’s never been a manager, so perhaps she needs some coaching.”

While we were not going to read anyone the riot act, we agreed to meetwith the key players to explore what was happening. The first meeting revealedthat the changes affecting the Quality Department were deeper than the organi-zational and procedural ones.

The team sat back, passively listening to Penny, until she mentioned theQuality Department’s quarterly report.

Wesley, a quality analyst, blurted out, “I was in charge of that whole proj-ect. You only rewrote a few pieces. How could you take our names off and sendit to senior management under your signature? Ellen would never have donethat!” Heads around the table nodded in agreement.

“Well,” stammered Penny, “it’s my responsibility to check things. I’m headof this department now, and my name should be on department reports. Anyerrors and it’s my neck on the block, not yours. Part of a leader’s job is to pro-tect the team and be a team player. Besides, getting to the details is one way Ican familiarize myself with the way things are done.”

“Team player,” someone muttered. “Yeah, right.”After the meeting, we arranged interviews with each person in the Quality

Department. The following four individuals illustrate the patterns we found inemployee attitudes and reactions toward all the changes at Impressions, Inc.

The Introverted Intuitive View of Quality

In her brief time at Impressions, Penny had single-handedly created a newdepartment vision and mission statement, conducted interviews with each ofher direct reports, audited the department’s procedures and practices, and delin-eated the new price-based quality standard. During her interview, Penny’sdefensive tone and nervous gestures created the impression of a person with


Penny’s comments

■ This team treats me like a newkid on the block, balking ateverything I ask them to do. Iinstituted several changes thatwill make the department’s oper-ations smoother, but they ignorethe opportunities I’m creating.

■ I’ve read all the department’sreports, financial statements, andwarehouse inventory reports forthe last year. I’m brimming withdetails.

Signs of the inferior function

■ Penny was under stress to provethat she could lead the team, butINFJs usually lead by winningcooperation, not demanding it.Her ENTJ style was inauthentic,and the team knew it.

■ Even under optimal circum-stances, working with details isdraining to a dominant Intuitive.Penny showed signs of beingoverwhelmed.

trouble on her hands. “I want this team to cooperate with me and accept me asthe leader,” she began, “but you saw the meeting—they’re either apathetic orvenomous. I know I’m not an experienced manager, but I do know the technicalstuff and I’ve read up on all the latest leadership gurus. All my hard work so farshould have been enough to show my team that I’m capable. Plus, I have thesolid backing of the VP of Marketing and the rest of the senior managementteam.”

Penny’s reported type came out ENTJ, with slight preferences for Extraver-sion and Thinking. As Penny reviewed the results, she said, “I need to be anExtravert in this job. I’m pleased to see my Extraversion score because that’swhat I’m working on—being more action oriented and outgoing. One of myresponsibilities is to develop buy-in for the new quality standard.”

Hearing that someone is “working on” changing a preference is always a bitof a warning signal; if all preferences are great ways to be, then the best prefer-ences to have are the ones most natural for you. As Penny continued to talkabout her new role, her discomfort became evident. Was she really an ENTJ?Further conversations led us to suspect a more natural style of INFJ—a domi-nant Intuitive type, not a dominant Thinking type (see Type Chart 6 on pages140–142. Note that one of the ethical principles of working with type is that theperson, not the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment or the consul-tant, determines his or her own type. “I answered according to the way I thought I should be here at work, not the way I want to be,” she finally concluded.

Here’s how her comments provided clues to her inferior function, Sensing.

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Penny was also under a great deal of stress, brought on by the followingfactors:

■ Her move to a new geographic location: “I’ve moved clear across thecountry for this job—left my family, friends, and a very comfortablehouse, not to mention a sure promotion at my old company.”

■ Her move to a new job: “I wanted the senior management post Impres-sions offered, and the salary and new job title are great too.”

■ Page six, paragraph three, of thequarterly report deals with agroup of occasional chairs fromNorth Carolina. They shouldn’thave been rejected under ourstandards. At every chance, I’mexploring why it happened.

■ Most days, I leave this place witha headache. I keep losing mywatch and my glasses and feellike my brain is so scattered.

■ I have to be logical and analyticalin this job. My decisions have tobe fair and firm. I used to be moreon the “heart” side, but I don’tthink that works in management.

■ Life would be so much easier if I didn’t have to play the toughguy—monitoring everyone everyday to see whether they followthrough on my requests.

■ For a dominant Intuitive, focus-ing on one detail to the exclusionof others is a sign that the inferiorfunction, Sensing, may be atwork.

■ Bodily manifestations of stresssuch as headaches and an inabil-ity to manage the external world(the gift of Extraverted Sensing)are signs of her inferior functionat work.

■ The words “have to” are verydifferent from “prefer to.” Pennyis forcing herself to be somethingshe really isn’t, doing things thatdon’t come easily to her.

■ Again, the words “have to.” Pennywasn’t leading from her naturalstyle. Usually, we don’t adoptanother style very well, andwhen we do, we may exhibit its weaknesses rather than itsstrengths. For Penny, detailedmonitoring became causticrather than the helpful guidanceit can be.


Wesley’s comments

■ Show me in my job descriptionwhere it says I’m supposed to do trade show displays! I’m nothappy about doing somethingthat is not in my job description.

■ There is no model for me to follow or detailed information on this assignment.


■ Most dominant Intuitives rarelyread their job descriptions, letalone follow them to the letter.Wesley brought his to the inter-view, a possible manifestation of his inferior function.

■ Most dominant Intuitives enjoycreating from scratch. Because ofstress, Wesley was upset by thekind of creative challenge heusually thrived on.

■ Her move to senior management: “I know that I’m not a seasoned leader,but to become one, I needed to take this position.”

All of this added up to ideal conditions for Penny to be in the grip of her inferiorfunction.

Instead of using her own style, Penny adopted one that was inconsistentwith who she was, behavior that in itself was stressful. Instead of looking at thebig picture, she became obsessed with details and paranoid about errors.Instead of listening to her body (headaches and feelings of tiredness), she choseto plow ahead. Penny needed coaching to understand her true type and use itprescriptively in her new leadership role and for personal development.

The Extraverted Intuitive View of Quality

Wesley served as the informal acting leader of the Quality Department beforePenny was hired. He quickly and easily determined his type to be ENFP. Whenasked about how others viewed him, Wesley responded, “I’m known as aninnovator who has lots of creative ideas.” Recently, Wesley had been workingovertime, creating a display room of fabrics and furniture samples for a tradeshow.

Here are some of Wesley’s comments, indicating the stress he was underand suggesting that his inferior function, Sensing, might be active.

Much like Penny, Wesley was showing his stress in his obsession withdetails. He couldn’t see the creative opportunities coming his way. In addition

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■ More and more they’re askingme to travel all over the place!Ugh!

■ I have terrible stomach crampsand ache all over. I must havecancer, so I’ve put myself on astrict macrobiotic diet. I followthe recipes to the letter.

■ I really miss the good old dayswith Ellen and our old approachto sizing up quality.

■ Travel, especially at companyexpense, is usually an Intuitive’sdream, opening up a world ofpossibilities.

■ During stressful times, manydominant Intuitives feel ill andattribute this feeling to a majoror catastrophic illness. Wesley’sstrict macrobiotic diet was anotherclue to the grasp of the inferiorfunction—most Extraverted Intuitives love food in all its variety and don’t take well torestrictive diets.

■ Experiencing so many imposedchanges leads many dominantIntuitives to long for the “goodold days.”

to the stress caused by organizational changes, after flourishing under Ellen’smanagement style, he experienced Penny’s pseudo-ENTJ approach as tough,detail-obsessed micromanagement. For him, Penny’s signature on the quarterlyreport was the last straw in a series of antagonisms. “We did just fine withouta leader for more than a year. Now we have one who doesn’t trust us!”

The Introverted Feeling Side of the Story

Leya, too, showed signs of stress. She affirmed her preferences as INFP, withdominant Feeling. INFPs are usually among the most cordial of types. However,Leya was anything but pleasant as the interview began; her hostile glancesrevealed her anger.

Leya had more seniority than anyone else in the Quality Department. Shehad been selected by Ellen and, in the course of their working together, saw thedepartment grow in influence and size. She and Ellen were friends outsidework, too. More than others on the team, Leya detested the new quality stan-dard. “Ellen trained us to look at quality with these questions in mind: ‘WouldI buy this? Would I want my friends to buy this? How would I feel about


Leya’s comments

■ This department is the pits! Iwon’t be a part of something that’sgoing to hell in a handbasket.

■ The new policy of “quality forthe price” is one of the worstmoves Impressions has evermade. I can’t imagine any good-will coming from it.

■ We used to get letters day in andday out from satisfied customers.We’re going to lose them withthis new policy.

■ Penny manages the departmentlike she’s Attila the Hun!

■ I can’t be part of peddling “qual-ity for the price” to Impressionscustomers. Given a choice ofgoing along or getting along, I’lljust move along.


■ Negative global evaluations areunusual for Introverted Feelingtypes, but when they’re understress, their judgments take on anegative tenor.

■ Values-based standards “feel”right to Feeling types. KeepingImpressions a leader of low-cost,high-quality furniture was impor-tant to Leya. The new standardunnerved her and helped pushher into her inferior function.

■ Leya seemed to be finding faultwith everything, speaking at lengthabout the organization’s stupidity.

■ When Leya thought about goingalong with the changes, she feltdisloyal to her own values and to her friend Ellen. Penny was aconvenient target, as she was thenew person in charge of imple-menting the new standards andhad also taken Ellen’s job.

■ Although the inferior functiondrives people toward escape,making big changes while in itsgrip is unwise. People aren’t attheir best psychologically andmay make flawed decisions.

Impressions if I bought a chair and something was wrong with it?’ PerhapsEllen’s standards were personal in nature, but they worked for 25 years!”

Leya’s specific personality type added to the general stress caused by themanagement and standards changes. As a dominant Introverted Feeling type,

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she had a keen sense of what was important to her and operated from a valuesbase. She’d internalized the old quality standard and was deeply bothered bythe new approach as it was contrary to her values. She also valued Ellen’sfamilial style of leadership. She held steadfast to what she thought was right,and Impressions held steadfast to developing consistent quality control.Because of this impasse—this values clash—Leya felt the need to leave theQuality Department of Impressions, Inc.

The Extraverted Thinking Side of the Story

Aside from Penny, Josh was the newest hire in the Quality Department. He hadbeen with the company for four years and often was on the road in his procure-ment role. He felt that his added responsibilities as Marketing liaison matchedhis abilities well. “I used to be a buyer, but I saw firsthand how mistakes weremade between the two functions. I wanted to be proactive on the Quality sideof things so that we can ‘buy right’—you know, correct mistakes before cus-tomers are involved. I know from experience what we need to do to keep thingsworking well.” He agreed with his MBTI results of ESTJ.

Josh didn’t seem stressed by the changes at Impressions; in fact, he wel-comed them. Here are his responses to the same interview questions we askedeveryone.

Josh’s comments

■ ESTJ suits me to a T. I like to seethings happen, and I work hardto make sure that we all followthrough on commitments.

■ Given the nationwide expansionplans, it only makes sense thatthe organization is shifting andthat Penny was brought in fromthe outside to initiate the changes.

Signs of the dominant function

■ Josh felt comfortable in his type, perhaps because the newMarketing leader was an ESTJ,and they shared similar views on the changes.

■ With typical ESTJ reasoning,Josh said, “The others shouldrealize that new leadershipalways wants to put its ownstamp on things.”


■ The disruption with Penny hasn’taffected me all that muchbecause I have a good grasp ofthe company’s overall strategies.I thought we needed clearerquality standards, and it onlymakes sense to partner withMarketing.

■ You can’t miss the problemsbetween Penny and the team,but it puzzles me that they can’tget along. People never agree 100percent; even at home, we quar-rel once in a while.

■ We are simply at a low timebecause of all the changes.When Penny gets used to herrole and everyone else gets usedto the quality standard, thingsshould be okay.

■ Because of their logical approachto assessing new problems andtheir ability to keep emotions out of the way, ESTJs often adda cool stability to their workenvironments.

■ As a dominant ExtravertedThinking type, Josh expectedpeople problems both at homeand at work. That there arealways people issues seems onlylogical to ESTJs like Josh. Nottaking this fact personally servesESTJs well.

■ Thinking types believe that indue time and with proper analy-sis, things can be turned around—and that there naturally will be“ups and downs” with anychanges.

Why wasn’t Josh as stressed as everyone else? He hadn’t been at Impres-sions as long, his experiences outside the department had helped him see theneed for some changes, and his personality preferences, ESTJ, fit the newlyevolving culture at the company. The new standards and reporting relationshipswith Marketing matched Josh’s experiences and ideas about improvements thatcould be made.

Even with all the changes going on around him, Josh maintained his psy-chological equilibrium and did not experience the mishaps of the inferior func-tion. He used his personality type to advantage by objectively analyzing thesituation and making sense of the changes. He applied his earlier experiencesto the new situation and refused to let his emotions get in the way of his logi-cal assessment. “It only makes sense to support Penny as the new director,” hesaid. “That’s how you get ahead.”

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THE TYPE INTERVENTIONFollow these four steps to conduct a successful intervention.


To get to the root of the problem, consider these questions:

■ Are outside factors causing difficulties?At Impressions, a host of factors other than basic personality differenceswere causing problems. In fact, without all these issues, the new teammight have gotten along famously—Penny, Wesley, and Leya all shared NFpreferences, which aided communication. These outside factors included:

■ A long period of uncertainty between the departure of the former leader,Ellen, and the arrival of the new leader, Penny

■ New leadership with a different style, from ESFJ to INFJ

■ New standards for evaluating quality, from a Feeling standard to moreof a Thinking standard

■ A perceived loss of status in the corporate hierarchy, with the Qualitydirector (no longer vice president) reporting to the head of Marketingrather than the CEO

■ A change from an ESFJ familylike culture to an ESTJ price-directed busi-ness culture

■ Are there factors in the team’s history that should be considered?Ellen, who had founded the department and selected all of the currentemployees except Penny, was gone but was almost a phantom leader. HerESFJ leadership style had left its stamp on the department. Further, Feel-ing types tend to be loyal; those at Impressions felt torn between their loy-alty to Ellen and the knowledge that they should transfer that loyalty toPenny.

■ Are the team’s problems rooted in basic personality misunderstandings?Type theory played a key role in helping team members understand thedegree of stress they were experiencing and its effect on their behavior. Inthis case, stress-related issues rather than basic personality clashes led tothe need for an intervention.


For example, Penny thought she could change her type, much as onechanges an outfit, to suit her new role. A true understanding of personalitytype theory was important to this intervention, as it has been to many others,since there is real reason to be who you are. Personality type does not pos-tulate one best way to be but offers 16 types, each with its own strengths.Working to change your type is counterproductive; a better goal is to seekpaths for growth that are congruent with your natural bent.

■ Does the problem involve individuals or the whole team? Is individualcoaching or teambuilding called for?Both individual coaching and teambuilding were required. Each personused the MBTI tool, and we met with them individually to help them verify their best-fit types. The MBTI data helped all the team memberslearn about the inferior function, what leads to stress, and how to reducethat stress.


Help team members develop a clear understanding of the needs of each person-ality preference. At Impressions, the team needed to understand how stressaffected their personalities, considering their dominant functions. This includedknowing what events, activities, or changes cause stress, how each type mightact when in the grip of the inferior function, and what would help each typerelieve that stress. (See Type Chart 6, on pages 140–142, for information on eachpersonality type.)

Because tensions ran so high, we met with each person individually to dis-cuss the workings of the inferior function. As part of the process, Sandradescribed to them her own experiences with her inferior function:

My inferior function is Introverted Sensing. People who have Sensing as theirdominant function are able to take in all the data the senses provide. Aes-thetic and sensual experiences are appreciated in all their richness. There’s awonderful delight in the physical world.

But when I’m in the grip of my inferior function, those gifts of Sensingget twisted somehow. Instead of processing data, I become obsessed withdetail and perhaps paranoid about errors. Instead of seeking pleasure, I tendto overindulge in ice cream and other things that feel good. Instead of enjoying

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the physical world, I avoid it or complain about it. And instead of accuratelyevaluating any physical discomforts I have, I tend to overreact and think I’mreally sick with a major life-threatening illness!

Quality Department team members then used the chart to evaluate how thestress-producing changes had affected them. We worked with each person tolist concrete suggestions, based on his or her personality, that would work toreduce stress. Type Chart 6, on pages 140–142, was a key part of these discussions.

Coaching to Relieve Penny’s Stress

As an INFJ, Penny had Sensing as her inferior function. Being forced to attendto details, extraverting too much, and experiencing unexpected events (such asemployee rebellion!) frequently trigger the INFJ’s inferior function (see thechart on page 141). To deal with stress, we suggested that Penny:

■ Use the teambuilding session as a vehicle to relate, in a straightforwardway, her background and expertise to her new responsibilities at Impressions

■ Be open with her team about her newness to management, acknowledg-ing her need for their support of her and of one another

■ Take some time to be alone and reflect as a way to reduce physical stress,including her headaches

■ Extend the upcoming holiday with extra days of vacation so she could getaway and be refreshed

■ Read more about her own psychological type and those of the people inher department, focusing on the impact of stress and change and the infe-rior function (we suggested LifeTypes and Was That Really Me? 2 INFJsoften prefer to learn by reading background information and reflecting onhow it applies to them)

Coaching to Relieve Wesley’s Stress

Triggers of Wesley’s inferior function included being overcommitted and tired(he was putting in considerable overtime on a trade show) and violation ofimportant values or principles (Penny’s inauthentic leadership style and thenew Quality standards). Because he mentioned so many physical symptoms, westrongly suggested he immediately take the following actions:


■ See a doctor to get an expert’s opinion on his stomach pain

■ Take time off to reflect on the creativity and inventiveness of his tradeshow assignment

■ Look at the impact of his judgments on Penny and see if he couldempathize in part with her anxiety about her new position at Impressions

■ Leave the office at normal times for the next two weeks without takingany work home (Wesley groaned at this one!)

■ Plan to use the upcoming holiday to get some fresh air and see if he couldfind a way to change his perspective about what was going on at work

Note that we came up with similar suggestions for Penny and Wesley.That’s because they have similar type dynamics. Both are dominant Intuitives,and both have Sensing as an inferior function.

Coaching to Relieve Leya’s Stress

Typical triggers of the inferior function for INFPs like Leya include a negativeatmosphere, fear of loss in a relationship, and violation of values—all of whichLeya had experienced. No wonder she was distraught and full of rage over thechanges at Impressions, Inc. In coaching Leya, we took the following steps:

■ Asked what new possibilities might be open to her and whether she couldregain her enthusiasm for the new path ahead of her

■ Allowed her to vent her frustrations (INFPs need to hear others agree thatcriticism, backstabbing, and negative atmospheres are harmful)

■ Asked her to think about the impact her heated explanations of her posi-tions might have had on Penny and her other colleagues

■ Provided both personal and career counseling (Leya determined that shecould not stay in the Quality Department and be productive with the newleader and the new standards. The human resources director offered Leyaa choice of moving into another spot at Impressions or moving to a differ-ent organization entirely. Leya chose to move within Impressions andlooked forward to the change.)

With time, Leya realized that there were sound business reasons for thechanges at Impressions even though she couldn’t accept them herself. When she

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finally left to join another department, she had calmed down and recognized thelegitimate differences in points of view, even if she couldn’t adapt to them.

Coaching to Relieve Josh’s Stress

It seemed clear from our observations that the changes at Impressions, Inc.,hadn’t caused as much stress for Josh as they had for his teammates. Some ofthis could be attributed to his shorter tenure with the company, his alignmentwith the new plans for Quality, and the frequent road trips that kept him awayfrom the fray and the daily irritations involved. The literature on ESTJs alsoindicates that they tend to recover from inferior function stress reactions morequickly than other types, perhaps because of their objective perspectives. Joshwanted all the “sensible and logical” changes made as quickly as possible.“Things will be just fine once Penny gets started on implementing the changesand my colleagues get used to the way things are going to be,” he said.

We provided a sounding board for Josh as he reworked his thoughts aboutthe value of all the changes at Impressions. We also asked him how he couldsupport Penny in her current situation and what advice he might have for hisco-workers on coping with the changes.

Leadership Styles

This exercise is designed to help people understand how different types lead.Leadership was an important issue for two reasons: Penny had adopted a falseleadership style, thinking that she had to be as tough as nails to be fair; and theteam had thrived under Ellen’s ESFJ style and needed to become aware of thestrengths of other styles.

Each person was asked to fold a piece of flip-chart paper in half crosswiseand then lengthwise, so that it had four quadrants. They were to draw foursymbols, one in each quadrant, representing:

■ Their image of the Impressions Quality Department

■ Their leadership style

■ An animal that represents their way of contributing to the department

■ Their theme song

The last two items were meant to add some humor to the exercise but oftenalso help people learn about one another. The following chart shows theresponses of the four people at Impressions, Inc.


Penny (INFJ) Wesley (ENFP) Leya (INFP) Josh (ESTJ)

Image of the Quality Department

A boat that Iaccidentallypunched a holein while tryingto rig the newsails it needed

A polishedstring quintetthat’s strugglingto adjust todance-hallmusic

Dorothy’s TinWoodsman—noheart

A good clockthat just neededa few adjust-ments

Leadershipstyle

A flashlight,shining the wayto new ideas

A juggler, keep-ing all sorts ofthings going

A mirror,reflecting backwhat we oughtto be

A clock,dependable andaccurate—nosurprises

Animal thatrepresentstheir way ofcontributing

A race horse—professionallyoriented butalso has a bit ofthe Wild West(new adventure)in her

Dolphin—intel-ligent, playful,and communica-tive, with awide ocean ofideas

Unicorn—hold-ing great ideasbut only cominginto the lightwhen necessary

Border collie—knowing whatwe need to doto move in theright direction

Theme song “Don’t Fence Me In”

“A Spoonful ofSugar”

“I’d Like toTeach the Worldto Sing”

“Heigh-Ho,Heigh-Ho, It’sOff to Work We Go”


In this step, team members met to generate ideas and then developed actionplans for working it out at Impressions.

After they gained an initial understanding of personality type and the roleof the inferior function, team members were ready to clarify roles and respon-sibilities. At the first meeting, the vice president of Marketing made a clear pre-sentation on Quality’s role, the rationale for selecting Penny, and the newquality policy. Penny then stated her goals for teambuilding, her understandingof the department’s mission, and her thoughts about the new quality standards.The rest of the session involved deepening their understanding of type andexploring how they might reduce stress for one another.

The second phase of the teambuilding process came three weeks later. Dur-ing this meeting, team members set up committees to develop action plans thataddressed the specific concerns identified in the previous meeting. As the com-mittees reported out at the end of the day, Penny commented, “I think we’re

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finally on the same page. And I can be who I am and use my natural style.” Sheacknowledged that she had overdone her “tough guy” stance in a poor imita-tion of an ENTJ and would be true to herself in the future.

“I’m beginning to feel hopeful and even enthusiastic about our departmentagain,” said Wesley.

“Finally, we can get down to work,” added Josh.


Penny in particular needed extensive coaching and support for her new role andresponsibilities. She listened carefully to several key findings from the interviewdata, which were shared without mentioning names or specific situations.These included the impact of her tough, unnatural management style, micro-management of employee assignments, and newness to management. Afterreviewing the typical areas for growth for INFJs (see page 201), she also recog-nized that she had failed to bring others into her thinking and had tried to doeverything herself. She used the first teambuilding session to rectify some of hermistakes, clarifying her positions and forming committees to involve everyonein solving the problems facing the department.

Other specific coaching included:

■ Explaining situational leadership. In The Situational Leader, Paul Herseyand Ken Blanchard compare and contrast leaders’ experience with their fol-lowers’ readiness to complete tasks, resulting in four leadership styles:Delegating, Participating, Telling, and Selling.3 At Impressions, Penny, aninexperienced leader, inherited a very experienced staff. The model helpedPenny—and the rest of the team—understand why any new leader mighthave had initial difficulties managing this particular team.

■ Providing reading materials on type and leadership. INFJs often prefer independent study, with a coach available later for discussion and clarification.

■ Promoting self-advocacy. Penny practiced self-advocacy at the first teambuilding session by explaining why she was uniquely qualified forthe role. INFJs often assume that people understand the value of theircontributions.


Penny announced to the staff that she wanted them to tell her any time theyfelt she’d left them out of her thought processes for too long. Seeing that INFJsgenerally had this tendency made it easier for team members to suggest they beincluded in her thinking processes.


Leya and Wesley both left the Quality Department, although Wesley left onlypartially. After his doctor confirmed that he did not have cancer, Wesley beganto enjoy setting up the trade show. Further, he found such satisfaction in part-nering with Marketing and Sales for the project that he approached their direc-tor about moving to that area, and she created a new Marketing/Quality liaisonrole for him.

Those who chose to remain with the Quality Department reported thatunderstanding their inferior functions helped them work through the changesand challenges they’d experienced.

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TYPE TAKEAWAYYou might ask, “How do I recognize the signs of a lurking inferior function, andhow can I keep it at bay?” Here are some suggestions for you as an individual andfor your team. Type Chart 6, on pages 140–142, should help you implement them.

Type Solver for IndividualsTo reduce the effects of an activated inferior function, you can use your auxil-iary function. The following questions may help you focus on how to use yourauxiliary function (#2 on page 16) in order to escape the grip of your inferiorfunction.

If your auxiliary function is Sensing (ESTJ, ESFJ, ISTP, ISFP), ask:

■ What can my senses verify about this situation? What is real, and whathave I imagined?

■ What can I learn that is concrete? What can I do that is more sensible?

■ What are the real costs, and how can I be sure something works?

If your auxiliary function is Intuition (ENFJ, ENTJ, INFP, INTP), ask:

■ What new ideas might be helpful? Could I take a different approach to acurrent activity?

■ What possibilities for growth or renewal could come out of this situation?

■ What else could be going on in this situation, and in what other waysshould I proceed?

If your auxiliary function is Thinking (ESTP, ENTP, ISTJ, INTJ), ask:

■ What logical steps could I take to change what is causing me stress?Which area can I fix first?

■ What are my guiding principles? How can I align with them?

■ Why is this an issue, and what should be done about this situation?


If your auxiliary function is Feeling (ESFP, ENFP, ISFJ, INFJ), ask:

■ How are my actions making others feel?

■ Am I being too hard on myself? Would I judge others as harshly undersimilar circumstances?

■ What is good about this, and why do I like/dislike this course of action forthis situation?

Type Solver for TeamsWhen your team seems unduly stressed, and the inferior function may be lurk-ing, choose from the following teambuilding ideas.

■ Interview each person using a common set of questions. If you are con-cerned about whether responses will be honest, consider bringing in arepresentative from your human resources department or an outside con-sultant to gather the information. Here are some sample questions:

■ What’s it like to be a part of this team?

■ What would you change if you could?

■ Do you receive clear direction? If not, give some examples of timeswhen you have not had clear direction for your area of responsibility.What would help bring clarity?

■ Are employees treated fairly? If not, give examples of unfair treatment.How could employees be treated more fairly?

■ What does this team do best?

■ Where could the team improve?

■ What else would help this team function more smoothly?

■ Consider conducting a commercially available team attitude survey. Thesesurveys provide specific and quantifiable data about the various issuesfacing teams (leadership, support, clarity, roles, and so on).

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■ Talk with external customers, vendors, and others who interact with theteam and ask for their comments as to what the team is doing well andwhere improvements could be made.

■ Brainstorm with a mentor or a senior manager to explore the history ofthe team, as we did at Impressions. Look for reasons for the team’s cur-rent reality. Could there be resentment of newcomers or promotions? Howhas this team changed organizationally (for example, at Impressions, theteam had recently acquired a new quality standard, a new manager, anddifferent reporting relationships and status)? If there are contrasts betweenthe management styles of the new team leader and previous ones, whatare they? Type can help tremendously with this analysis.

■ Assess what the team can and cannot change and/or what the team“needs” versus what the team “wants.”

■ Consider your own communications in times of stress. Are you sendingclear messages? Remember that when a person is in the grip of the infe-rior function, you may need to communicate repeatedly before you areheard and understood.

■ Think of general ways to relieve stress around your workplace. Someremedies include noise reduction, private spaces where people may gowhen they need to concentrate, keeping surprises to a minimum, andmaking sure that people keep regular hours and take their vacations.

Be careful not to imply that a given behavior is a result of another person’sinferior function. People don’t like to hear that they’re acting like they got upon the wrong side of the bed, especially when they’re already feeling that way!

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INFLUENCING UPWARDThe Problem Is the Boss—or Is It?

The Goal: Effectively influencing others by speaking their language.

It’s a fact: Your boss is the boss. She or he is in control, and your relationshipmay not always be smooth. Given that all of us go through life and work inter-acting with many different people, there is ample opportunity for problems. Youcan approach these problems with seminars and books about how to deal withmicromanagers, procrastinators, show-offs, and other difficult people. Or youcan look for clues about the kinds of information people with different person-ality preferences pay attention to—especially your boss. What factors do theyconsider in making decisions? How do they prefer to approach solving prob-lems? How can you get them to listen to your perspective?

One way to do this is to identify your boss’s dominant function—Sensing,Intuition, Thinking, or Feeling. (See chapter 1 for more information on the dom-inant function.) The dominant preferences have different styles of problem solv-ing and decision making. Understanding these styles can help you provide theright tools and information to your superiors and others as well as discovermore effective ways to communicate.

Compare your boss’s preferences for gathering information, making deci-sions, and solving problems. If these preferences match yours, you’re in luck,because you have methods in common. If they don’t, this chapter covers waysto adapt your style to exert influence upward. However, even when the preferencesare a match, remember that there are a lot of individual differences within per-sonality preferences and types. Thus, the techniques given here may apply evenwhen the person you hope to influence shares your personality preferences. Sothis chapter may give you some ideas for bossing your boss—or at least playingto his or her strengths!

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SOLVING THE MYSTERY OF GETTING YOUR IDEAS HEARD

Dominant Sensing (ISTJ, ISFJ, ESTP, ESFP)

Kyri, a dominant Intuitive type, thought she had developed a brilliant way tohandle her division’s monthly client review process. When the computer gen-erated its list of troubled accounts, she carefully marked those that appeared onthe problem list for the first time. For those accounts, Kyri had her assistant pullthe client’s complete file. She or one of her colleagues then filled out a summaryanalysis form, recording the pertinent financial information and review com-ments. For repeats on the problem list, her assistant pulled only the informationplaced in the file since the previous review, thus eliminating several hours ofreview work that duplicated the efforts of the month before. The existing analy-sis form was updated and passed on to Kyri’s manager for review and approval.

Sara, Kyri’s manager, disliked the new system. A dominant Sensing type,she still wanted to see all the data, especially the background information onwhich the summary form was based. Before Kyri came up with her idea andreview form, a client’s entire folder, three to five inches thick, went to Sara eachmonth with a written analysis form placed on top. Sara told Kyri, “I can’t tell ifyou’ve captured all the important information. Besides, what if you missedsomething last month? What if that information is important now?”

Kyri replied, “You don’t have time to review all this stuff . . . and we don’thave time to redo the same items month after month. With my method, wedon’t spend time checking on clients who seem to provide repeat business forour surveillance screens.”

Even though Kyri has an idea that could save considerable time and effort,Sara, a Sensing type, will not be comfortable with it unless Kyri pays attentionto her needs for details and specific information. Dominant Sensing types suchas Sara often have a unique ability to find pertinent facts in the midst of volumi-nous data files and notice what needs attention.

Here are some Sensing characteristics along with suggestions for approachesKyri could try:

INFLUENCING UPWARD 167

Dominant Sensing types tend to:

■ See the facts at hand and wantto know the exact details

■ Rely on their past experience

■ Want realistic time frames andschedules

■ Have all the necessary informa-tion at their fingertips

■ Look for the details first in orderto ascertain what is essential tothe problem

As a dominant Intuitive type, Kyricould:

■ Increase the amount of detailshown on the summary sheets

■ Spell out specific policies andprocedures for the new system

■ Prepare several files using boththe old and new methods

■ Review the dual reports withSara, demonstrating how the oldmethod dovetails with the new

■ Quantify the time savings underthe new system

■ Provide a comparison of the processing schedules under the old and new systems

■ Set up a flag system so that moreinformation can be pulled quicklyif Sara needs it

■ Use her Intuition to look for patterns in Sara’s informationalneeds and then meet those needs

■ Back up the summaries withdetails in plain sight so that Saracan quickly review what needsattention

■ Perform periodic reviews andassessments so that importantdetails are not overlooked

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THE COMPANY GATHERING PUZZLEDominant Intuition (INTJ, ENTP, INFJ, ENFP)

Mutual Benefits Corporation, a large insurance company, had just completed amerger with Trimark Corporation, one of its competitors. Hannah, the head ofemployee relations, asked Andrew, a senior manager, to meet with her.

Hannah began, “Now that our merger with Trimark is complete, I want tomake sure that the annual employee gathering welcomes everyone, includingour newcomers. Let’s make it a stretch this year, something really special tohelp them transfer their loyalty from Trimark to Mutual Benefits.”

Andrew asked, “What kind of budget do I have for the event?”“I’ll negotiate some extra funding from senior management after I review

your ideas. Why don’t you get back to me next week with your plans? You canput your other projects on the back burner until we have the site reserved andour plans roughed out.”

Andrew spent the next few days thoroughly checking out the traditionalcompany picnic site—a beautiful, multiuse park complete with beach, play-ground, picnic area, and nature trails. He verified that if Mutual Benefits rentedtwo adjacent picnic shelters, the park could accommodate the increased size ofthe group. The company’s favorite caterer, a popular Mexican deli, also assuredAndrew that it could easily serve the larger group.

Andrew reported back to Hannah, “We can get the park on the first Sundayin August, as usual. I found two new entertainment acts, so we’ll be able todivide the children into groups instead of having one magician or clown act try-ing to keep the interest of so many. Also, with two picnic shelters, we can addmore games and activities. This should make for a great employee appreciationevent.”

Hannah looked at the information Andrew had given her. “Did you checkout any other possibilities? What if we did something other than a picnic?”

“Something else? We’ve been at Mears Lake Park for twelve years, and mostemployees circle the first Sunday in August when they get their yearly calen-dars. It’s a tradition that lots of people look forward to. More than 200 employ-ees and their families attend every year. That shows how popular the event is.”

“I hear, though,” replied Hannah, “that it’s the same employees every year.Those without children aren’t interested, and others don’t like Mexican food.Did you find out if Trimark had any traditions for their gatherings?”


“Well, no. I thought it would be better to welcome them in our fashion.”Hannah paused a moment before speaking again. “I want some new ideas

for this event. Some companies rent recreational facilities, theaters, hire profes-sional entertainment, take evening cruises. What would generate some excite-ment here? What would make this an event no one would want to miss?”

“I’m really not sure we should change it. It’s always been a family event.You could lose as many employees as you gain, all for a lot of bother and cost,”Andrew replied.

Andrew, a dominant Sensing type, didn’t understand that Hannah, a domi-nant Intuitive type, wanted new possibilities for the annual employee gathering.Andrew knew that the picnic had been popular and built on his past experi-ences to come up with what was, to him, a bigger, better, more exciting event,albeit at the same place and time.

To meet Hannah’s needs, Andrew might consider these tendencies andways of addressing them:

Dominant Intuitive types tend to:

■ Explore new possibilities.

■ Look for patterns other than theobvious when reviewing data.

As a dominant Sensing type,Andrew could:

■ Research several alternatives,either by calling his counterpartsat other companies or by check-ing library or Web resources oncorporate events.

■ Survey employees through aninformal poll or by posting asuggestion box in the lunch-room.

■ Seek other reasons why picnicattendance has been consistent.Talk with other employees abouttheir likes and dislikes.

■ Gather information from others—suppliers, customers, other firms(especially Trimark).

■ See what data points come upagain and again and presentthem as a pattern.

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■ Use analogies to solve problems.

■ Tackle new problems with zest.

■ Focus on the big-picture aspectsof a problem.

■ Review how other meetings andevents have been handled sincethe merger. Are all consistentwith the Mutual Benefits style,or have Trimark elements beenadded? Use the findings to aug-ment the planning process.

■ Review the way others handleissues.

■ Use his experience to reflect onor remember similar events andask, “What worked and didn’twork?” Use conclusions to aug-ment his plan.

■ Remember that Hannah may bea better advocate for a novelevent than for the “same oldthing.”

■ Determine what is new, differ-ent, or unusual in his findings.

■ Keep the broad scope of the eventat the forefront for Hannah.

■ Show how people and processescome together.

■ Save details until they are needed.

SOLVING THE MYSTERYOF WHO SHOULD GO

Dominant Thinking (ISTP, INTP, ESTJ, ENTJ)

For Edge Electronics, a manufacturer of consumer electronics, early advertisingand exposure of its new developments were vital to success. Edge’s strategies


included showcasing new lines and ideas at the major electronics industry tradeconventions each year.

Chris handed a folder to his associate Gerri and said, “Here’s the scoop onthe upcoming digital electronics convention in Orlando. I have clearance fromabove to send one sales representative from your team and one rep from myNational Accounts team. Everyone realizes that two people will be slim cover-age for our booth, but Edge’s travel budget won’t handle sending more repsthan that. Given that our three major customers plan to attend, I think that I, ashead of National Accounts, should be there to provide them with red-carpettreatment. I’d like you to decide who the other rep should be—no reason itcouldn’t be you, if you think that’s best. Otherwise, take a look at everyone’ssales records this year, which sales representatives’ customers plan to attend,and whatever else you think will make your decision as fair as possible.”

“You and I certainly don’t both need to be there,” replied Gerri. “And youknow, my husband and I just took our kids to Orlando last year, so I have nointerest in attending. My first thought is to send Roxanne. She needs this typeof experience in making contacts and spotting potential clients.”

“Roxanne? She’s too new. I don’t think she knows enough about our upcom-ing consumer products to work a convention. I won’t say no to her yet, but let’sconsider our other options. Which rep is furthest ahead of budget so far this year?”

Gerri thought for a moment. “Kyle—but he just got back from the Las Vegasshow. Sending him would only hurt the morale of others who’ve worked just ashard. Given that the convention runs over the weekend, it would be a shamenot to send someone who has children.” Gerri went on, “Perhaps we could setthis up as an annual opportunity, with the idea that the chance will rotateamong our top achievers. That way, everyone will feel motivated by the oppor-tunity to go.”

Chris raised an eyebrow. “The problem with doing that is finding crystal-clear criteria so that we won’t be accused of playing favorites. If it’s set as a per-centage of budget, someone will say his or her budget was unfairly high. If it’sseniority, the same people will go. If it’s perfect attendance, then we might notlike the choice. The people who go should be the best ones to represent ourfirm,” Chris concluded. “Set up your criteria and let me know your choice.”

Chris, as a Thinking type, needed a logical rationale to reach his decision,whereas Gerri, as a Feeling type, wanted to maintain harmony in the organiza-tion. Gerri has quite a job, trying to set objective criteria for Chris that will alsomeet her needs and contribute to harmony in the office. Here are some sugges-tions for going about this task:

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Dominant Thinking types tend to:

■ Seek objective, measurable criteria for decision making thatcan be fairly and consistentlyapplied

■ Identify the flaws in ideas orprocesses

■ Desire consistency, considering itmore important than the feelingsof others

■ Look at the principles involvedin the situation

■ Weigh the pros and cons

As a Dominant Feeling type, Gerricould:

■ Create a matrix that lists thedecision-making criteria, cover-ing both Thinking and Feelingaspects

■ Rank each decision against thecriteria

■ If the decision turns out“wrong,” revisit the criteria

■ Show that only logical criteria,such as sales records, might beless than effective as key indica-tors of problems

■ Point out Thinking criteria earlyso as to more easily introduceless logical yet equally rationalFeeling criteria

■ Work with Chris to articulate aframework for choosing futureconvention attendees; the samecriteria would have to workwhen conventions are held indifferent settings

■ Meet Chris’s need to know thatthe best people are being consid-ered by making a list of eachmember’s objective qualifica-tions, such as product knowl-edge and convention experience,before moving to values-basedcriteria

■ Be sure to consider the nega-tives, hard as it may be, abouteach alternative


THE SEARCH FOR THE RIGHT SITE

Dominant Feeling (ISFP, INFP, ESFJ, ENFJ)

Tender Toys manufactured and distributed nonviolent toys that emphasized cre-ativity and met the needs of people of different ethnic origins. Dale had workedfor Tender Toys and its founder, Ramón, from the beginning. Ramón’s timingfor Tender Toys was perfect; the company was ahead of the market in realizingthe importance of multiculturalism and parents’ concerns about selecting long-lasting, worthwhile products for their children. The company had outgrown itssuburban facility, and Ramón asked Dale to meet with him to start relocationplanning.

Ramón began, “This has been such a great spot for our company, with itseasy access for our staff and Oak Field Park just down the way. I know employ-ees often walk there at lunch, and I personally like the view. I’ve also enjoyedbeing housed with a nonprofit organization—this is all in keeping with ourimage as a values-driven company. Dale, your job is to find us a new spot thatwill keep our employees happy and be good for our business. I’d like to have asmall museum-style showroom in the new building so that customers and theirchildren can stop by and see the development of our toys. We’ve had a lot ofmail recently from teachers who think this could be a good field trip spot, andI’d like to provide that opportunity. It’s good business and good customer rela-tions, too.

“So what I’m looking for is a place like this, but one with more space. Cost-effective and convenient, of course, but also personifying the mission of TenderToys. I feel you’re the right person for this assignment,” Ramón continued. “Youhandled our space planning so well last year, keeping shipping, manufacturing,and our customer service staff happy! Let me know when you find some possi-ble sites.”

Dale left the meeting with her head full of considerations. Her first thoughtwas, “If Tender Toys could be near the airport, rather than on the opposite endof town as we are now, that would reduce our trucking costs by about 50 per-cent and save headaches on rush shipments. And sharing a warehouse facilityagain could decrease overhead. Perhaps the new office park next to that spa-cious compound the defense contractors developed . . . ”

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Two weeks later, Dale returned to Ramón’s office with a neatly boundreport on relocation sites. “My report delineates the top five choices, weightedon the criteria of leasing costs, distance from the airport, and space available forfuture expansion. Various other factors such as neighboring tenants are listed innarrative form. Actually, I included more information on the top three sitessince the last two are significantly more expensive and therefore pretty muchout of the running. I’m especially excited about the first one, in QuadrangleOffice Park. It’s close to the airport, yet it’s a new building that could be turnedinto a showpiece.”

Ramón scanned the report summary. “We can’t move to the west side oftown. Most of our employees live here in the eastern suburbs and wouldn’twant that kind of commute. As for the second one—isn’t it next to the NationalGuard armory? I served in the Guard myself, but I imagine that Tender Toys cus-tomers wouldn’t want to drive their children past the military display as theyhead to the premier maker of nonviolent toys!”

Dale looked a bit perplexed as she replied, “But anything on this side oftown will double our transportation costs as well as lessen our chances of find-ing a newer site. Everything around here is occupied by established businessesthat are not likely to move out. The other side of town is full of empty space,and that means more choices and lower costs. We’re at the top end of the toymarket already, and we can’t afford to increase our costs. The fifth site on mylist is close to here. You’ve already eliminated sites one and two, but I can’t seechoosing number five over sites three and four.”

“Well, the third one isn’t in the greatest part of town for our workers. Am Icorrect about that?” asked Ramón.

“We’d have our own secured facility, and the building already has most ofthe modifications we need,” Dale replied.

Ramón shook his head. “I want my employees to feel that we look out fortheir best interests. Remember, key factors for me are, in no special order, prox-imity to a park or nature area, having business neighbors with values similar toours, and a space that reflects our image back to our customers. So that leavesjust two of your five choices, and I’m not sure about the fourth one. I thinkyou’d better come up with at least two more that meet our needs. Will that takemuch longer?”

Ramón, a dominant Feeling type, did not have the same priorities as Dale, adominant Thinking type. Dale placed a higher weight on the logical, measura-ble criteria for the decision than on the values-based criteria Ramón outlined.Here are some ideas Dale could try as she looks for sites that would be accept-able to Ramón:


Dominant Feeling types tend to:

■ Consider foremost the impact of a decision on the peopleinvolved

■ Be values driven (These valuesoften seem vague to Thinkingtypes. For example, the image ofco-tenants and the ambience ofnearby parks might matter greatlyto Feeling types like Ramón,whereas criteria like cost andefficiency tend to be more impor-tant to Thinking types like Dale.)

■ Make exceptions to rules if people or circumstances warrant it

As a dominant Thinking type, Dalecould:

■ Restart the process with Ramón

■ Listen carefully to his concernsfor employees and customers(commuting distances, surround-ings, etc.), typical of Feelingtypes

■ Know that the impact on people might outweigh cost considerations

■ Understand that it is extremelydifficult to change a Feelingtype’s position on a value, andtherefore find options that honorthose values

■ List the non-negotiables for theFeeling type

■ Start first with the values beingserved and then carefully list thepros and cons of each site usingboth the “logical” and the values-based options

■ Remember that the best choicemay be based on a combinationof values and logical criteria

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■ Try to keep harmony among allplayers and therefore may under-state their position

■ Want group consensus

■ Remember that Feeling typesmay really dislike a decision butbe unwilling to hurt anyone’sfeelings by directly articulatingwhat they dislike (Dale, as aThinking type, needs to listenclosely to hesitancies or cushion-ing terms that may indicate she’s on thin ice with Ramón,her Feeling-type boss.)

■ Consider letting the employeesvote on the two or three mostreasonable choices that meet allof Ramón’s criteria (This is arational, although perhaps notlogical, way to proceed.)


TYPE TAKEAWAYHas this chapter piqued your curiosity? Would you like to see if providing infor-mation in a different way or paying attention to different factors can indeed influ-ence those around you?

Type Solvers to TryWhen you suspect differing dominant functions, these ideas may be helpful.

Influencing Upward

If your problem is with the boss, try this exercise:

■ Determine your boss’s dominant preference (S, N, T, F), either the actualone or your best estimate.

■ Recast your messages using the suggestions given in this chapter for yourboss’s dominant preference.

■ If you know someone else with the same dominant function as your boss,have him or her coach you as you practice communicating. Incorporatethis person’s suggestions before you approach your boss.

Criteria Comparison

If your problem is with your team, try this exercise:

■ Select one of the scenarios from this chapter—introducing a new process,planning a company event, choosing the right person for an assignment,or moving to a different location—or work on your team’s current hot-button issue.

■ Divide into four groups, based on dominant function (Sensing, Intuition,Thinking, and Feeling). If you are missing a dominant function, worktogether to fill in responses, using the material in this chapter.

■ Ask the people in each group to outline the process they would use tosolve a problem and record the factors they consider most important.

■ As the groups report back, use the statements on pages 167, 169–170, 172,and 175–176 to analyze how closely each group’s answers reflect its domi-nant functions.

■ As a full team, discuss the implications of each group’s style for dealingwith problems that face the team. Are there any missing perspectives—Sensing, Intuition, Thinking, or Feeling?

■ If any of the dominant functions is absent from your team, discuss waysin which your team can compensate, perhaps by looking at who mighthave that function as his or her auxiliary function.

Progressive Problem Solving

Here’s another graphic way to demonstrate the use of the dominant functionsin problem solving. Work as a full group on a topic such as purchasing newcomputers for everyone.

■ Start with the whole group in one corner of the room and list three factualinformation needs for the decision (Sensing).

■ Leave the Sensing types in the first corner to listen while the rest of thegroup moves to the next corner. Come up with three possible “outside thebox” possibilities for addressing the issue (Intuition).

■ Move on to the third corner, leaving the Intuitive types behind in the secondcorner to listen, and consider the pros and cons of the informational needsjust given and the possible methods (Thinking) of resolving the problem.

■ Finally, move the Feeling types to the last corner. With the other threegroups listening, ask them to address the way the process delineated sofar may affect individual team members.

This exercise illustrates the importance of considering the domains of eachdominant function (Sensing, Intuition, Thinking, and Feeling) in making deci-sions and solving problems.

Note: If your team has had considerable training in formal approaches toproblem solving, the differences among the dominant functions may not be asstriking, because good problem solving involves the use of all four dominantpreferences—Sensing (the facts), Intuition (interpretation of the facts), Think-ing (the pros and cons of acting), and Feeling (the impact of a solution on thepeople involved).

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181

COACHING YOURSELF,COACHING OTHERSPutting Type to Work for You

One of our great privileges in the work we do is coaching people for success—helping Malcolm, the new president, soften his critical edges; tutoring Penny,the new director of the Quality Department, to use the strengths of her person-ality type; and seeing Luis pull his team back together.

The concepts of personality type often deepen an individual’s self-awareness.Our clients understand more about themselves, their individual work situations,and how they want to live their lives. The theory gives Sensing types a practi-cal and meaningful way of understanding human interaction. For Intuitivetypes, it offers a conceptual framework for pondering human potential and pos-sibilities. For Thinking types, it provides a logical model that explains manypuzzling nuances of human interaction. And for Feeling types, it presents a sys-tem that honors the value of individual differences, encouraging us to enrichour lives and our work by learning how to work it out with our opposites.

Several common scenarios lead to requests for individual coaching, including:

■ A teambuilding process in which either the leader or a team memberneeds specific skill development, support, or more intensive one-on-onetime. Remember the public speaking needs of the Systems Design team inchapter 2?

■ When the person appears mismatched with the work he or she is requiredto do, with others on the team, or with the organizational environment ingeneral. Remember Eric, who eventually left the company he’d once led?

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■ When there are personality clashes and people need mediation or conflictresolution. Remember Dean and Gwen?

■ When an individual feels like a “square peg in a round hole,” is caught ina no-win situation, or finds that work is no longer meaningful or reward-ing. Remember Leya?

Appendix B outlines our coaching process in detail. In this chapter, though,we provide information on each of the 16 types: their general strengths, typicalareas for growth, leadership styles, problem-solving styles, and how you mightcoach them. Use the information as a starting place for coaching yourself, or asa source of tips for working with someone on your team.

Also included is the story of a real-life coaching situation (identities dis-guised, of course), which is representative of typical needs for each of the 16personality types.

COACHING YOURSELF Use these coaching tips for yourself:

■ Before reading the pages for your personality type, think of two recent sit-uations that didn’t go as smoothly as you would have liked. Ask yourselfif type may have been a factor.

■ Look through the typical areas for growth for your type. Were any of theseareas a factor in the situations you identified?

■ Review the coaching suggestions and record specific instances when youcould have acted or reacted differently.

■ Review your self-critique with a trusted colleague or someone else yourespect. Does he or she agree with your conclusions? If so, what mightthat person recommend you do differently?

■ List the areas for growth most appropriate for you on an index card andplace it somewhere that will allow a daily review of your hot-button issues.

■ Broaden the coaching suggestions by reading other management texts orfinding specific training opportunities.

COACHING YOURSELF, COACHING OTHERS 183

■ Look at your type dynamics. Respect the role of your dominant function(#1 on page 16) and make sure you allow time for its expression, either atwork or at home. Then think about your inferior function. How does itemerge under times of stress? Have you overlooked its domain in problemsolving? If so, what were the results?

ACTING AS COACH Use these suggestions to coach a teammate or someone who works for you:

■ First, review your own type description to see if the problem between youand the other person might result from your own shortcomings or fromhonest differences in your and the other person’s personality styles. Payparticular attention to the typical areas for growth given below.

■ Allow the person you are coaching to self-select his or her own type bytaking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment, reading the firstchapter of this book, or reviewing another type resource.

■ Use the following suggestions for people with a given preference.1 Tailoryour constructive feedback to meet that person’s communication style:

Sensing: Describe the actual and specific unwanted behavior or unful-filled responsibilities you have observed. Be concrete. Use factual data.

Intuition: Relate the actual behavior to the big picture (team productivity,for example) and give your impressions about how this behavior hasaffected outcomes. Present this as your interpretation of the facts.

Thinking: Determine and express the logical outcomes of this behaviorand its consequences for you, the individual, and others in the work unit.Consider the pros and cons of any actions you might take.

Feeling: Disclose your values and feelings. Explain why this behavior orresponsibility is important to you and why it matters.

■ If the difficulty is between different members of the team, consider havingeach person work through the suggestions above. Then mediate a discus-sion of what went wrong from a type perspective and how the team coulddo things differently in the future (see chapter 5 for an example).2

■ Together, adopt an action plan that respects each type and gives specificsfor improvement.

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ISTJCommonsense Leaders

Ruth asked for coaching. “I can’t seem to say ‘no’ to my boss, no matter howmuch work I already have. How can I delegate when he’s counting on me to doit right?” she lamented. As with many ISTJs we’ve coached, Ruth worked toohard, put in long hours, and consequently lost sight of the big picture. Not sur-prisingly, as her work mounted, her enthusiasm dropped. She felt burned out.

While we were discussing Ruth’s situation with her boss, he commented,“She does everything I ask her to do, so I naturally thought she could handlemore. I didn’t realize that Ruth completed these assignments by workingevenings and Saturdays and on her vacation days, too.”

As we coached Ruth, we reviewed her duties and tried to assess what couldreasonably be accomplished in a normal workweek. We then helped her deter-mine options for delegating tasks to others and strategized how she could sayno to unreasonable requests. By periodically pausing, taking a step back, andlooking at the big picture, Ruth gradually gained perspective and lowered herstress level considerably.

General Strengths

■ Learning and practicing until they have mastered their tasks or necessaryskills

■ Being trustworthy with details in contracts, documents, time tables,events, and so on

■ Sticking with things, such as schedules and commitments, until they aredone

■ Using past experience and the facts of a situation to make decisions

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ

ISTP ISFP INFP INTP

ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP

ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ


Typical areas for growth

■ Not being able to see the big pic-ture, getting mired in the details orconstraints of the current reality.

■ Holding on to your own conclu-sion too long, becoming inflexiblein your views.

■ Accepting more responsibilitiesrather than delegating them orsaying “no.”

■ Making few exceptions for your-self or others with regard to standard operating procedures.

■ Failing to express approval orappreciation.

■ Being too work oriented or serious.

Coaching suggestions

■ Look again at the situation. Askyourself how the facts add up,how your perspective mightchange in the future, what infer-ences you can make based onthe data.

■ Ask about the other stakehold-ers’ perspectives. What piecesare you missing?

■ Say “yes” only if you have timeor if no one else could do it orbenefit from doing it. Ask your-self what else would benefitfrom your attention.

■ Recognize the reality of extenu-ating circumstances. Before youresist making an exception, thinkabout whether anything will beharmed, or if a different ruleshould become the standard.

■ Write a note or say how muchyou appreciate or value the con-tributions of others. Work to per-sonalize these expressions.

■ Open up to others, relax andtake time away from work, orshare your wry sense of humor.

Leadership style: Bring order and efficiency to whatever they undertake.

Problem-solving style: Sensing (looking at the facts), then Thinking (applyinglogic), then Feeling (considering people), and last, Intuition (looking at the largerpicture).

When coaching ISTJs: Use systematic, step-by-step, practical, and provenmethods.

WORK IT OUT186

ISTPFactual Leaders

If most ISTPs we’ve encountered could have their way, their positions wouldallow them to work autonomously, with little interference. Many ISTPs preferworking alone and enjoy taking a task from start to finish. Fred was just suchan ISTP. His supervisor, who thought highly of Fred’s technical work, asked usto coach Fred because he found Fred difficult to read. “Plus, if he wants resourcesand responsibilities, he needs to let others know the value of his work and howthey might add value.”

Fred admitted, “I’ve always been a man of few words. And shouldn’t mywork speak for itself?” However, he understood the rationale for being more polit-ically savvy and willingly agreed to be coached rather than put the job he enjoyedat risk. He believed it would, in the long run, yield him more job satisfaction.

Fred took several short courses in interpersonal relationships. We also video-taped role-playing activities, using recent experiences from his work. As he role-played situations, we noted what he did well and brainstormed how he couldhandle other things differently. As Fred watched the videotapes, he commented,“That actually works. I felt strange, trying to be a bit warmer and more enthusi-astic, but I sound believably persuasive!” That motivated him to practice hisskills outside our sessions.

Fred agreed to give his supervisor brief daily updates as well as weekly andmonthly reviews of his work in progress. This allowed him to communicatewhat he was thinking to others.

General Strengths

■ Being a repository for facts and specifics that can be readily retrieved

■ Working around or through red tape to accomplish the seemingly impossible

■ Adapting realistically to extenuating circumstances

■ Using past experience and the facts of a situation to make decisions

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ

ISTP ISFP INFP INTP

ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP

ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ



■ Being indifferent to the needsand wants of your managers, co-workers, or family; keepingimportant things to yourself.

■ Being nonchalant about howothers view your actions.

■ Having unrealistic expectationsor being overly concerned thatall things should be logical.

■ Taking the expedient, but notnecessarily the most effective,route to getting things done.

■ Not completing what was started.

■ Dismissing or withdrawing froma troublesome relationship ratherthan trying to fix it.


■ Respect others’ need for commu-nication. They may need to seeoutward signs of enthusiasm orcommitment.

■ Take a moment to understand thelogic or values behind the posi-tions of others so you may deter-mine whether autonomy is wise.

■ Remind yourself that manythings in life defy the rules oflogic. Therefore, factor in theimpact on relationships of thedecisions you make.

■ Try project-planning methods.Think “Am I responding to theurgent or the important?” or, “If I do this quickly, what mightI overlook?”

■ Analyze things left incomplete.What do you gain or lose? Whatis important to finish and why?

■ List concrete reasons why therelationship should be fixed. If itseems worth saving, say so, andthen devise a plan to bring aboutthe desired end result.

Leadership style: Lead by quietly setting an example.

Problem-solving style: Thinking (applying logic), then Sensing (looking at thefacts), then Intuition (looking at the larger picture), and last, Feeling (consider-ing people).

When coaching ISTPs: Use observation, example, and hands-on experiencesthat apply directly to developmental needs.

WORK IT OUT188

ESTPSelf-Starting Leaders

Marcie was recently appointed director of security for St. Luke’s, a large subur-ban hospital. Her career had progressed with the growth of the hospital. Sheenjoyed her work immensely and was one of the most senior women there.Clearly, her boss saw her as a key performer, yet he felt she needed somecoaching help. A series of hasty actions on Marcie’s part had resulted in somecostly security problems for the hospital.

Marcie loved to live life on the edge, and she frequently jumped into actionat any hint of a hospital security violation. Others had tolerated this behaviorwhen she was at a lower status in the organization. However, as her boss pointedout, “She’s the head of security now. She has to balance prudence, safety and cost.”

In coaching Marcie, we thoroughly explored the ramifications of her ESTPpersonality type. She quickly contrasted her natural style with the meticuloussecurity procedures established by the hospital board.

A simple strategy helped her avoid acting too quickly: We coached her tocount to 10 to give herself time to think before acting. Under our direction, shemade her own checklist for the security breaches that occurred most often andbegan following that checklist to the letter.

The vice president of administration also agreed to mentor her. By acting asa sounding board, he helped check Marcie’s rush to action when a potentialsecurity emergency loomed. Marcie was a quick study and put the coachingsuggestions to good use. Thus, she reduced her hasty responses to securityemergencies and their potentially hazardous or chaotic results.

General Strengths

■ Solving problems in straightforward, direct, and logical ways

■ Being resourceful, flexible, quick to act to save the day

■ Negotiating and seeking compromise in order to move things along

■ Reminding others, by their example, of pleasures of the moment

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ

ISTP ISFP INFP INTP

ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP

ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ


Leadership style: Lead by finding the most efficient way for people to worktogether.

Problem-solving style: Sensing (looking at the facts), then Thinking (applyinglogic), then Feeling (considering people), and last, Intuition (looking at the largerpicture).

When coaching ESTPs: Use outdoor activities that provide hands-on skilldevelopment; let them try out new behaviors in real time.


■ Bluntness—calling it like it iswithout regard to the impact onothers.

■ Being overly concerned withrecreational pursuits or materialpossessions.

■ Restlessness, indecision, leadingto last-minute heroics.

■ Overlooking or giving littlethought to long-range planningor outcomes.

■ Competitive motivation, pushingyourself and others to do thingsbefore you or they are ready.

■ Not owning up to your part of aproblem.


■ Ask, “If I say or do this, whatimpact will it have on others,and what might be the conse-quences for me?”

■ Communicate how committedyou are to your work as well ashow much your leisure activitiesheighten your work productivity.

■ Stop, think ahead, and seewhere forethought couldimprove results.

■ Ponder your goals or desired outcomes for the next year, yearand a half, or five years. Thenplan backward.

■ Remember, others may not havethe same abilities, interests, ordesire to do things quickly.Regard the caution of others asprudent for them—and occasion-ally for you.

■ Accept your role in the difficultyand then suggest ways to solvethe problem.

WORK IT OUT190

ESTJTake-Charge Leaders

Bill had switched industries, from heavy equipment manufacturing to designerclothing. An accountant and financial analyst by training, Bill assumed that hisfinancial experience would transfer easily between the two industries.

However, his new environment was completely different from the old one.In his previous job, he gave orders and people followed them, but that manage-ment style just didn’t work in the new job. When Bill called us for coaching, hesaid, “They’re about to fire me because I lack ‘teaming skills.’ I guess I’ve nevermanaged and teamed at the same time.”

Together, we reviewed his past experience to see what he could apply to hisnew environment and evaluated his knowledge and skill level with teamwork.Then we set action steps to develop teambuilding and problem-solving tech-niques for anticipating and adjusting to his new environment.

At our suggestion, Bill attended several internal corporationwide programson team development and team leadership. He also participated in an externaladventure-style leadership school where he learned teamwork skills and princi-ples that could be applied to his new job. Eventually, Bill met the challenge ofadapting to the new culture. He became a team player, to his and everyoneelse’s satisfaction.

General Strengths

■ Stepping up to the task and getting people, things, and organizationsmobilized for action

■ Providing structure, direction, and clarity of focus

■ Following through to see that tasks are done correctly and results are seen

■ Finding flaws and correcting them in advance

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ

ISTP ISFP INFP INTP

ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP

ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ


Leadership style: Lead by planning, providing direction, and assigningresponsibilities.

Problem-solving style: Thinking (applying logic), then Sensing (looking atthe facts), then Intuition (looking at the larger picture), and last, Feeling (considering people).

When coaching ESTJs: Use structured, logically sequenced activities withstated, clear benefits.


■ Becoming so goal focused thatyou overlook the impact ofactions on others.

■ Expecting others to have thesame methods or goals as you.

■ Speaking out of turn and rail-roading things through, believingyour course of action is the onlyone.

■ When successful, you believe noimprovements are necessary—the “you can’t argue with suc-cess” syndrome.

■ Not making exceptions whenothers would.

■ Deciding before collecting all thenecessary information.


■ Remember, people get thingsdone and often work harder iftheir needs are considered in theplans. Acknowledge and rewardthe contributions of others.

■ Practice allowing some give andtake. Start in small ways andwork to increase adaptivenessand attentiveness to others.

■ Watch what you say and the wayit affects others. People often seeyou as tougher than you seeyourself, often to your detriment.

■ Practice humility even when youdon’t want to. Consider if thingscould be better with input fromothers or by making somechanges to the way you usuallydo things.

■ Explore why others would makean exception, then determinewhether the standard should bechanged.

■ Learn and use techniques ofdefining problems, brainstorm-ing, and generating ideas beforerushing to act.

WORK IT OUT192

ISFJBehind-the-Scenes Leaders

Rosa worked in the production section of a large airplane parts manufacturer.The organization initiated a total team concept, and her section attended one ofthe first training programs. Rosa was instrumental in the team’s subsequentsuccess in implementing the training concepts while continuing to meet theorganization’s production goals. She worked in a quiet, yet directive way andmade sure expectations and assignments were clear.

The organization asked us to work with Rosa because, while all the evi-dence pointed to her key leadership role in the team’s accomplishments, sheshied away from acknowledging her abilities and taking on an expanded lead-ership role. For Rosa’s boss, the last straw came when Rosa arranged a photoshoot for the three top teams in the organization. Her team was one of them,but Rosa wasn’t in the picture. She was so busy organizing the photographerand her teammates that she neglected to step into her spot!

After an initial coaching session, we convinced Rosa to take a three-partseries on leadership effectiveness offered by a large, off-site leadership trainingorganization. The program included videotaping and a thorough assessment ofleadership skills and competencies. Additionally, Rosa worked with us to findspecific ways to enhance her leadership style. We put a plan in place to meetperiodically over several months, acting as a sounding board as Rosa developedher leadership and assertiveness skills.

General Strengths

■ Honoring commitments—others can rely on them

■ Being painstaking and thorough in organizing so that everything is in theright place at the right time

■ Handling with ease those details that matter to others

■ Being cooperative, considerate of each person

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ

ISTP ISFP INFP INTP

ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP

ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ


Leadership style: Lead by encouraging others in tasks that suit them best.

Problem-solving style: Sensing (looking at the facts), then Feeling (consider-ing people), then Thinking (applying logic), and last, Intuition (looking at thelarger picture).

When coaching ISFJs: Use practical assignments with clear instructions anddefinite procedures that have demonstrable outcomes for the tasks at hand.


■ Not taking the credit that is due,thereby losing out on resourcesfor yourself and others.

■ Picking up the balls that othersdrop; feeling taken advantage of,undervalued, or stuck.

■ Putting your own needs on theback burner while you help others.

■ Neglecting to set priorities, doingthings as they turn up, or work-ing straight through a to-do list.

■ Avoiding leadership roles.

■ Missing the larger picture; becom-ing lost in defending traditions,hierarchies, and procedures.


■ Say “I did that” and toot yourown horn; practice seeking thespotlight you deserve.

■ Have others complete their ownassignments. This helps themgrow while freeing you to doyour own work.

■ Befriend yourself; put yourselfon your list of those whodeserve support and attention.

■ Prioritize those tasks that matterto you and to others and then dothe most important things first.

■ Consider what projects mightbenefit from your leadership.Assume a low-stress leadershiprole and then move to larger ones.

■ Practice using the facts to come up with several possibleapproaches. Could more thanone work? Would a new approachbe better?

WORK IT OUT194

ISFPGentle Leaders

Michael, a lead auditor for an accounting firm, was in career transition whenhe sought our coaching help. He seemed down on himself and mused aloud,“I’m not sure I did the right thing in following in my parents’ footsteps andgoing into accounting. I spend my days getting information from people whoare reluctant to give it or telling people about their record-keeping errors. I don’tknow if my work is really useful to the clients—it only seems to upset them.”After some soul-searching, Michael determined that what he missed most wasthe chance to give concrete, positive feedback and service to people in need.

We used a fairly straightforward career development intervention in coach-ing Michael. He completed several vocational assessments, a values clarificationexercise, and the MBTI tool. With this new information and self-awareness,Michael researched the job market. After about eight months, he found a jobthat aligned more closely with his service-centered values. He became a busi-ness manager in a small nursing home, where he used his accounting skills in acaring environment. There, he also enjoyed interacting personally with the res-idents and their families.

General Strengths

■ Knowing the right word or action for just the right time

■ Exemplifying joy, kindness, and awareness of the precious nature of livingthings

■ Valuing and using sensual treats, such as color, form, and texture

■ Creating harmony, unassumingly modeling compassion so that otherswant to cooperate

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ

ISTP ISFP INFP INTP

ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP

ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ



■ Being overly gullible, too easilypersuaded.

■ Living in the day-to-day world,neglecting to think about or actstrategically for the future.

■ Not representing your accom-plishments in businesslike terms.

■ Being overly self-critical.

■ Empathizing to the point of beingunable to separate yourself fromneedy others.

■ Sweeping conflict under the rugwhen you feel threatened, beingreluctant to leave your comfortzone.


■ Consider taking assertivenesstraining to learn to representyour needs as legitimate.

■ Consider studying project man-agement or taking on a task withlong-range planning requirements.

■ Practice talking about youraccomplishments appropriatelywith someone who knows youwell.

■ Make a concerted effort to findyour own value and worth byreflecting on your past gooddeeds or by consulting with others whom you trust.

■ Work on establishing boundarieswith people. Give others ampletime and opportunity to helpthemselves.

■ Accept conflict as a way to clarifyyour own agenda and those ofothers. Seek out support to helpyou bridge your comfort gapsuntil you feel more at ease.

Leadership style: Lead by encouraging others to cooperate.

Problem-solving style: Feeling (considering people), then Sensing (looking at the facts), then Intuition (looking at the larger picture), and last, Thinking(applying logic).

When coaching ISFPs: Use tangible, relevant learning experiences with concrete steps that match the person’s abilities and directly augment his orher skills.

WORK IT OUT196

ESFPExuberant Leaders

Nils’s co-workers called him “Mr. Sunshine,” and he lived up to his name.When we met Nils at a restaurant near his office, he greeted us with a broadsmile and a friendly wave and immediately stood up to shake hands. Overlunch, we discussed his coaching needs. He said, “You know, the people in myoffice don’t take my work abilities seriously. Just because I tend to be a littlemore outgoing and try to make the office more enjoyable, they look right pastthe quality output I produce.”

His boss had told us that he wished Nils could be a little less lively andmore serious at work. “I have to admit, though, that Nils is a real asset,” headded. “When he does tone down his exuberance, everyone listens to him.”

Because Nils was a realist, he quickly caught on to the downside of beingMr. Sunshine. To coach him, we helped him contrast his natural style with sev-eral key on-the-job interactions. What were appropriate behaviors for his role asmarketing director for office products? He decided that before a sales call, hewould ask himself what impression he had to make. He would keep thatimpression foremost in his mind and then act it out during the sales call.Because Nils was a valued employee, his boss agreed to mentor him in learningthe appropriate use of his serious side. Now Mr. Sunshine is earning the respecthe deserves.

General Strengths

■ Being generous with people, accepting others in spite of their flaws

■ Taking an exuberant approach to work as well as play

■ Adding enthusiasm, energy, spirit, and spunk that enhance any workplace

■ Being observant and able to link people, practical information, andresources to the task at hand

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ

ISTP ISFP INFP INTP

ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP

ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ



■ Being perceived as a social but-terfly, party person, or companyclown.

■ Misjudging what is importantversus what is urgent.

■ Failing to see patterns or systemsthat explain your world and thethings in it.

■ Not following through to com-pletion and thereby missing outon rewards.

■ Avoiding theoretical learning.

■ In trying to be nice, failing toexpress your true opinion orpreference in a situation.


■ Ask yourself, “Of the roles I haveat work, which ones allow othersto see my serious side?” Keepyour answer in mind to balanceyour work and playful sides.

■ Use your person-centered valuesto determine what is importantfor others, your work, or your-self. Turn that knowledge intoaction.

■ Stop and ask, “What do all thesethings add up to? What interpre-tations could be made? What isthe larger picture? Is there ordersomewhere?”

■ Improve your project and time-management skills.

■ Motivate yourself by listing thepractical outcomes and benefitsof learning theories that are rele-vant to your career.

■ When the situation calls for it,use your values to clarify yourposition and then state it. Guardagainst being “too nice,” or othersmay take advantage of your goodnature.

Leadership style: Lead by encouraging the contributions of others.

Problem-solving style: Sensing (looking at the facts), then Feeling (consider-ing people), then Thinking (applying logic), and last, Intuition (looking at thelarger picture).

When coaching ESFPs: Use hands-on, adaptable skill development, prefer-ably in an action-oriented group setting.

WORK IT OUT198

ESFJService-Oriented Leaders

Charlotte was the new executive vice president of a small family-owned hotelchain. Because of her strong service orientation and her loyalty to the compa-ny’s founder, Charlotte had risen quickly to a senior position. The company’sfounder considered her part of his family. When he died suddenly, with no suc-cession plan, she landed the role of keeping his business affairs going duringthe executive search process.

Charlotte was not used to making tough decisions; the founder had handledthose himself. With the uncertainty created by his death, however, severalweighty matters arose. Charlotte tried to keep things running smoothly, but thefamily accused her of meddling. They wanted to retain her because of herknowledge of the business, but they asked us to coach her regarding the appro-priate boundaries for her role.

We helped Charlotte separate her likes and dislikes from the family’s busi-ness needs and wants. She acknowledged that the new president would likelybe a family member and that her responsibilities would change. Together, weplanned for setting appropriate boundaries with the new leader.

We also recommended that Charlotte pursue a degree in hotel managementfor career insurance. She worked diligently at her studies and graduated a fewyears later. In the meantime, she did an admirable job of staying out of the wayof the new president and the family owners unless they asked for her help.

General Strengths

■ Responding consistently, compassionately, and carefully to each person’sneeds

■ Being committed and loyal to people and organizations, a team player

■ Offering warmth, practical recognition, and harmonious ways of gettingalong

■ Working for accord, helping everyone fit in

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ

ISTP ISFP INFP INTP

ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP

ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ


Leadership style: Lead by paying attention to the needs of others and makingsure they feel important.

Problem-solving style: Feeling (considering people), then Sensing (looking atfacts), then Intuition (looking at the larger picture), and last, Thinking (apply-ing logic).

When coaching ESFJs: Use a variety of structured methods—observation,acting or role-playing, and step-by-step action plans.


■ Telling people what they need,attempting to help but insteadbeing perceived as meddlesome.

■ Losing sight of the big picture—the long-term requirements andreasons for change.

■ Staying too long with the famil-iar; not being skeptical enough.

■ Focusing on people and valuesto the detriment of the business.

■ Talking too much.

■ Loss of boundaries, forgettingyour own needs.


■ Monitor others’ perceptions ofyour interventions; ask for otherways you might help or even ifyour help is needed.

■ Look for patterns by organizingmaterial in terms of future valueto you, to others, and to theorganization.

■ In adverse situations, ask whobenefits the most from keepingthings the same. Try asking“why?” more often.

■ Look at your values with work-place goals in mind. If there areconflicts, find ways to negotiateor compromise. If all else fails,consider finding a job thatmatches your values.

■ Every now and then, tryresponding as concisely as youcan. Remind yourself to be briefand businesslike.

■ Put yourself first occasionally.Do boundary and/or role clarifi-cation for yourself and others.

WORK IT OUT200

INFJVisionary Leaders

Cecil worked for a large international religious organization. Although he was anordained clergyperson, his main responsibilities were administrative tasks andstrategic planning. Cecil was bright, earnest, and dedicated to giving his best effort.

However, he sometimes ran into trouble because his co-workers didn’t quiteknow what was on his mind. He had a reputation for showing up with a taskfully accomplished when his teammates were still wondering if anything neededto be done! In one recent incident, Cecil actually developed and began fundinga plan that no one else had heard about or passed judgment on. Cecil definitelyneeded to work on reducing his “surprise” factor in order to achieve more suc-cess in his calling.

Part of our coaching plan for Cecil included weekly lunches with at leastone other person from his immediate circle—his manager, a co-worker, some-one who reported to him, or someone who represented the people he served—with whom he could discuss his current ideas. Additionally, he agreed to take apublic seminar on influencing skills. As Cecil reflected on his tendency to go italone, he said, “I didn’t realize I wasn’t sharing. When I’m incubating ideas Ido get lost in my own world.” He decided to meet one-on-one with his bosswhen he came up with an idea so that they could interact before Cecil workedthe idea through to completion. Cecil called us several months later, pleased atthe progress he had made in inviting others into his work world.

General Strengths

■ Providing insights that sometimes approach clairvoyance, especially aboutwhat matters to people

■ Understanding how individuals and systems interrelate

■ Being a storehouse of integrity, uplifting those with whom they live andwork

■ Contributing future-oriented ideas to planning and development

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ

ISTP ISFP INFP INTP

ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP

ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ


Leadership style: Lead by encouraging others to cooperate in working towarda vision.

Problem-solving style: Intuition (looking at the larger picture), then Feeling(considering people), then Thinking (applying logic), and last, Sensing (look-ing at the facts).

When coaching INFJs: Ask people-oriented questions or assign readings withmultiple interpretations and layers of nuance that they can use for reflection.


■ Failing to bring others into yourworld of ideas soon enough.

■ Being too sure you know what isbest for others.

■ Neglecting to let others knowhow they might help you.

■ Being very optimistic and livingtoo much in the future, forget-ting to deal with the present.

■ Not advocating for yourself,thinking others should be able toguess your potential contributions.

■ Lack of political savvy andassertiveness skills when pre-senting ideas.


■ As you go along, share some ofthe richness of your insights andthinking process with others sothat you may gain their support.

■ Hear others out and ask yourself,“What does it mean if they’reright?”

■ Remind yourself that acceptinghelp early in the idea-generatingphase may give you even moretime for your first love—creating.

■ Let someone you trust who lives spontaneously and for themoment plan your leisure timeand perhaps even some of yourwork life.

■ Ask how big a difference yourinvolvement would make. If it’ssignificant, get involved.

■ Learn to watch your back even if you think everyone is on thesame team. Strategize how youcan win the support of thosewho could promote your ideas.

WORK IT OUT202

INFPInspired Leaders

Grace was a trust officer at a large banking firm. She enjoyed customer contactand the opportunity to think creatively with the people she served. However,Grace’s supervisor, Anne, was displeased with her lack of attention to very nec-essary trust formalities and regulations. Anne appreciated the good relation-ships Grace had with her customers, yet she also knew that rules had to befollowed.

As we began coaching Grace, we underscored the importance of followingbank protocol. Because she valued her relationship with Anne, Grace quicklyrealized that attention to procedures would not only benefit the bank but alsomaintain harmony between her and Anne.

We tutored Grace on presenting new ideas to Anne, an ESFJ, in concrete,incremental steps, which would help gain Anne’s acceptance so that Grace’sideas could become reality. In time, though, with the new information abouther INFP type, Grace decided that her heart was really elsewhere. She loved thepeople side of the business but resented the time she had to spend keeping up-to-date on the myriad of trust regulations. Eventually, she moved to an interna-tional economic organization that focused on fighting world hunger—one of herdeeply held values.

General Strengths

■ Galvanizing people and organizations to action

■ Standing firm on their values in the face of formidable opposition

■ Reminding others in creative ways about human aspirations and goals

■ Focusing on compassion, caring, and harmony

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ

ISTP ISFP INFP INTP

ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP

ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ


Leadership style: Lead by promoting harmonious teams in which each personis valued.

Problem-solving style: Feeling (considering people), then Intuition (lookingat the larger picture), then Sensing (looking at the facts), and last, Thinking(applying logic).

When coaching INFPs: Use originality of expression and novel ideas; provideopportunities for creativity and deep exploration of topics.


■ Tending to consider your ownvalues of greater merit thanthose of others.

■ Not being straightforward withothers.

■ Missing deadlines while pursu-ing perfection.

■ Harboring resentments.

■ Being too idealistic.

■ Accepting salary treatment thatmay not match your worth.


■ Evaluate whether other people’svalues are as appropriate tothem or their situation as yoursare to you.

■ Try assertiveness training, espe-cially for the tough messagesyou need to deliver or that othersneed to hear.

■ Decide before you begin how wella job needs to be done. Give your-self a concrete deadline, or teamwith someone who will bring thejob to a timely conclusion.

■ Talk with the transgressor, stat-ing the facts as you see them.Offer your interpretation andsuggestions on how he or shecould earn your favor again.

■ When appropriate, temper youridealism with realism. Remindyourself that both are necessaryand mutually beneficial.

■ Tell yourself that fair compensa-tion for what you do allows youto give or do even more.

WORK IT OUT204

ENFPCatalytic Leaders

Alex came late to our first meeting, carrying an armful of books and files andlooking rather frazzled. He had the potential to be a star performer in his orga-nization but was also known for lack of focus and direction. At team meetings,he was often unprepared and seemed disorganized. His manager had told usthat Alex sometimes took the team way off track through the force of his per-sonality. “I need his creativity,” he said, “but Alex needs to develop some orga-nizational skills.”

In coaching Alex, we asked him to list his five key job requirements in pri-ority order. Then we arranged his daily schedule and appointment book toreflect these five priorities. Alex also attended a time-management class. Addi-tionally, he started watching for cues from his teammates that he was promis-ing more than he could deliver, interjecting too many of his own faddish ideas,or otherwise pulling the team off track. While it was sometimes difficult forAlex to restrain himself, he realized that a less scattered approach, built aroundhis top five priorities, was yielding him more real influence at work, somethingon which he placed a high value.

General Strengths

■ Being initiators and promoters for all kinds of ideas for human growth and potential

■ Tirelessly pursuing novel opportunities

■ Being resourceful and innovative in efforts to accomplish the nearlyimpossible

■ Celebrating and appreciating others

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ

ISTP ISFP INFP INTP

ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP

ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ


Leadership style: Lead by creating a vision, helping people see their potential.

Problem-solving style: Intuition (looking at the larger picture), then Feeling(considering people), then Thinking (applying logic), and last, Sensing (lookingat facts).

When coaching ENFPs: Use a variety of methods, experimentation, brain-storming, and what-if questions; provide plenty of opportunity to talk over whatis being learned.


■ Not knowing your own physical,mental, and time limits.

■ Being considered unbusinesslike;giving too much information toothers, who may use it againstyou or without giving you duecredit.

■ Promoting a new fad, leader, oridea without enough evaluation.

■ Underestimating how long orhow much effort something willtake.

■ Procrastinating while searchingfor the optimal answer; over-whelming yourself and otherswith options or ideas.

■ Ignoring facts and reality.


■ List the practices you shouldadopt that will allow you tohonor your spirit, mind, andbody. Use healthful stress- andtime-management techniques.

■ Assess the value of your ideas,your intellectual property. Areyou receiving the credit youdeserve and good information inreturn?

■ Use your values to weigh whichclaims are proven and how wellpromises are kept. Be wary inyour selection and, consideringyour enthusiasm, what youencourage others to do.

■ Ask someone with strong project-management skills to help youset timelines.

■ Find a trusted person who has atalent for decision making, orlearn some of the skills yourselfand then apply them.

■ Look for the givens or unalter-ables in a situation. Don’t shyaway from what is.

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ENFJValues-Focused Leaders

Jesse was an entrepreneur in the software design and development industry.Specializing in user-friendly products, his business was booming. In the earlydays, he hired people based on their potential for camaraderie as well as theircredentials. He asked for coaching when several employees claimed that heplayed favorites and reacted negatively to anyone’s disapproval. His staff feltthat these problems made him less effective as a leader.

Jesse quickly grasped the concepts of personality type and saw that heneeded to be more businesslike and, as head of the firm, fair to all. We cau-tioned him that while he might wish to make everyone his friend, not everyonewould want his friendship in return. He also realized that tough business deci-sions had the potential to affect the bottom line, as well as people, both posi-tively and negatively. He wanted to make those decisions wisely.

When Jesse sought to add another senior-level person, he looked for some-one who would provide balance in decision making as well as technical exper-tise. Notice we didn’t say Jesse would hire a certain type, because hiring on thebasis of type preferences would be unethical! Besides, even if Jesse did hire acertain type, that person still might not have the requisite skills for the job. Hav-ing a particular type doesn’t guarantee that a person can use those type prefer-ences effectively.

General Strengths

■ Offering care, cooperation, and facilitation for people’s growth

■ Articulating messages that others want or need to hear

■ Reminding stakeholders of their mission and core values

■ Providing support, believing in the positive nature of people

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ

ISTP ISFP INFP INTP

ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP

ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ


Leadership style: Lead by facilitating, helping others plan and cooperate tomeet goals.

Problem-solving style: First, Feeling (considering people), then Intuition (look-ing at the larger picture), then Sensing (looking at the facts), and last, Thinking(applying logic).

When coaching ENFJs: Use a variety of information sources; allow time to talkand to work in groups on topics that are important for people.


■ Ignoring or not valuing your ownnatural decision-making process,leading to a caricature of logicaldecision-making processes.

■ Staying too long in a social modeand not getting down to business.

■ Taking work-related coaching aspersonal criticism.

■ Thinking that most, if not all,relationships can be win-winand collaborative.

■ Becoming bossy or overly zealous on issues.

■ Becoming the caretaker for co-workers’ problems and office woes.


■ Rethink decisions minus thebusiness jargon. Which outcomeis really better? Trust your ownstyle and augment it with logicalmethods as needed.

■ Monitor and ask for feedback onhow quickly and efficiently youget to the point of the businessat hand.

■ Ask yourself how a sensible,impartial person would regardthe critique. Then work to sepa-rate your work performancefrom your personal identity.

■ Develop a checklist of factorsthat allow people to operate in alose-win or lose-lose way. Use itto be sure others are playing bymutually agreed-upon rules.

■ Especially when deadlines loom,take time to notice the reactionsof others. Ask yourself what agiven stance might cost you.

■ Practice detachment. Take careof yourself, too. Get away fromwork, take vacations, and findother diversions to rejuvenateyourself.

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INTJStrategic Leaders

Shelly, a senior vice president at a large engineering organization, was chargedwith developing a plan to reduce technical obsolescence for the engineers andscientists under her direction. Unfortunately, she implemented her plan withoutsharing it with other members of the executive team. Furthermore, she didn’tgather input from those who would be affected by the plan, namely the scien-tists and engineers. When rumblings of discontent began, Shelly called forcoaching. “I think the plan is essentially right, but without buy-in, it’ll neverwork,” she admitted.

When Shelly saw that a common area for growth for INTJs is “Not lettingothers in on your thinking until the very end,” she nodded slowly in compre-hension. We helped Shelly understand that although working independentlyserved her well in technical aspects of her job, not involving others could bedetrimental for other arenas, such as management. We coached her in consider-ing the impact of her decisions on others. We looked at each step of her techni-cal vitality plan to see what effect it might have on people. With Shelly’sconcurrence, we also held focus groups with the engineers and scientists so thatwe could gain their insights for the plan.

Shelly set a goal for herself to involve others earlier in future plans thataffected them. She also took an off-site class on interpersonal negotiating skills. Ather request, we continued to meet with her on a periodic basis to see how thingswere going and to serve as shadow consultants for some of her major projects.

General Strengths

■ Envisioning an idea so clearly that it’s palpable

■ Acting as paradigm shifters, conceptual blockbusters

■ Seeing the relationship of each part to the whole

■ Using independent thinking, redesigning outmoded approaches in order tomeet future needs

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ

ISTP ISFP INFP INTP

ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP

ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ


Leadership style: Lead by setting the course to make an idea become a reality.

Problem-solving style: First, Intuition (looking at the larger picture), thenThinking (applying logic), then Feeling (considering people), and last, Sensing(looking at the facts).

When coaching INTJs: Use systems, theories, and constructs relating to univer-sal principles and creative processes to stimulate original thinking.


■ Seeing outcomes so vividly thatyou become impatient and can’tunderstand how others missthem.

■ Not letting others in on yourthinking until the very end.

■ Detaching from interpersonalrelationships, getting lost in yourown world.

■ Doing team projects alone,believing no one else can dothem as well.

■ Failing to take the necessary timeto train or develop others.

■ Having a skeptical, challengingattitude and lacking awarenessof its impact on others.


■ Practice patience. Think aboutwhat will capture others’ atten-tion and then use this informa-tion as you outline your ideas.

■ Bring others into your processbefore you work it all out. Writedown others’ ideas and pondertheir merits.

■ Develop the art of friendship;schedule time for building rela-tionships and networking.

■ Delegate parts of the project asearly as possible—people willoften learn from the experience.

■ Practice sharing tasks with others.Spend time training them. Real-ize that the net outcome is morefreedom for you to dream.

■ Make yourself think of somepositives in others’ ideas beforecritiquing them. Where do youneed to be more intentional inchanging the impression youmake?

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INTPIntellectual Leaders

Nicole was a talented research scientist who could draw circles around anyonein her technical area. However, she often struggled to read people’s verbal andnonverbal behaviors. She knew that her lack of interpersonal skills jeopardizedher prospects of becoming senior project leader in the laboratory where sheworked. Because she wanted a crack at setting the course for a cutting-edgeproject with extremely high potential, she sought interpersonal coaching withus.

Nicole wanted to understand the impact she had on others. We videotapedher interactions with us and with a small group of her team members who werealso learning interpersonal skills. As we viewed the tapes together, Nicole tookextensive notes on the suggestions we made. We also gave her reading assign-ments, as this was her preferred mode of learning.

With that foundation, Nicole began to practice many of the tips and skillssuggested during our coaching session and those she found in her reading.With her determination and intentional use of interpersonal skills, she soonreceived the project leader assignment she wanted. She noted that using theskills was draining but well worth it in light of reaching her true goal of leadingmore technical projects.

General Strengths

■ Being the strategists’ strategist, masters of complexity

■ Developing models and theories

■ Providing independent, critical, and logical analysis of traditions or newthoughts and systems

■ Finding the errors of logic and long-term consequences of plans or strategies

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ

ISTP ISFP INFP INTP

ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP

ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ


Leadership style: Lead by the merit and logic of their ideas, persuading othersto join in.

Problem-solving style: First, Thinking (applying logic), then Intuition (lookingat the larger picture), then Sensing (looking at the facts), and last, Feeling (con-sidering people).

When coaching INTPs: Use broad developmental models with intellectual/scholarly underpinnings.


■ Intellectual snobbery.

■ Regaling others with abstractthought, confusing them withcomplex explanations.

■ Appearing cold and aloof, withlittle awareness of your effect onpeople.

■ Pointing out logical flaws in others’ reasoning.

■ Forgetting commitments andresponsibilities when lost inthought.

■ Being mystified by emotionalexpression—your own or that ofothers.


■ Study the other types of intelli-gence, such as interpersonal,intrapersonal, and emotional.

■ Practice explaining yourthoughts with three to five easilyunderstood key points.

■ Remember that most workinvolves people. Finding ways to engage with them may ulti-mately provide more resourcesor recognition for you or yourwork.

■ While like-minded souls mayappreciate your critique, othersmay choose to avoid you. Lookfor points of agreement and offerthose instead.

■ Review and act on your obliga-tions, take people breaks, putyourself on committees.

■ Recognize the value and strengthof emotions, starting with yourown feelings. Seek self-awarenessclasses or personal growthopportunities.

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ENTPEntrepreneurial Leaders

Britta was on the faculty of an international training organization and oftenteamed with two or three other trainers when working with a client company.Britta’s boss, the head of consulting and training, asked us to coach Britta abouther exaggerated Extraverted style and overly competitive nature. “She stays cen-ter stage when she co-trains—and her teammates complain that she upstagesthem. Plus, we work with many multinationals. Sometimes her style just isn’tappropriate for the different cultures we serve.”

With Britta’s permission, we videotaped several training sessions so shecould see the impact of her style on her colleagues. After watching herself, shesaid, “No wonder they think I’m competing instead of co-training . . . ” To con-trol her center-stage tendencies, Britta agreed to solicit feedback from her col-leagues periodically during the training day and adjust her behavior accordingly.

Britta also enrolled in a university course on cross-cultural sensitivity in aneffort to improve her effectiveness internationally. Through connections shemade in the class, she joined an intercultural service organization that gave hera firsthand understanding of several different cultures’ interpersonal norms.

Finally, because her energy was quite Extraverted, we suggested that Brittado some needed introspection, perhaps making her sporadic meditation prac-tice a more regular part of her life.

General Strengths

■ Providing energy and thrust to new endeavors, starting things off withenthusiasm

■ Using synthesis as a strategy to work on or solve problems

■ Seeing possibilities even in the face of disaster

■ Strategizing to meet challenges proactively

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ

ISTP ISFP INFP INTP

ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP

ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ


Leadership style: Lead by developing novel strategies for new enterprises.

Problem-solving style: First, Intuition (looking at the larger picture), thenThinking (applying logic), then Feeling (considering people), and last, Sensing(looking at the facts).

When coaching ENTPs: Offer ideas, case studies, or systems to challenge, eval-uate, or debunk.


■ Competitive nature—stealing theshow, needing to be the center ofattention.

■ Glib responses to human needs.

■ Impatience, questioning, andimpulsive interference with productive processes.

■ Getting tied up in models orstructures when explaining reality.

■ Bending the rules, taking advan-tage of loopholes.

■ Overextending yourself, yourresources, and those of others or the organization.


■ Ask others for feedback on yourstyle. Consider who else deservesrecognition. Remember, sharingthe limelight may increase others’support for you.

■ Think through how others might interpret or feel aboutyour remarks.

■ Ask a question, then wait (count to 10 if need be) and listen. Practice giving others the benefit of the doubt.

■ Remember that many people getlost with models and prefer morestraightforward answers.

■ Note the times when this practicegave you more trouble that it wasworth. What were the actual costs?

■ Take time to reflect, recreate, andrejuvenate. Practice closing downoptions using logic to decidewhere you should place yourfocus. Determine what you needto let go of to make room for anew opportunity.

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ENTJMaster Plan Leaders

Miki earned her doctorate in business management in the shortest amount oftime possible by being characteristically focused in her studies. After gradua-tion, she moved into several troubleshooter assignments in which she wasexpected to turn things around. However, she often left people in pain in herwake. This caught up with her in her last assignment. She was on the verge ofbeing terminated or plateaued because of her overbearing style. “But,” sheexplained to us, “I was told I had free rein. When I exercised this option, peoplegot on my case. I realize I’ve been a bit heavy-handed, but I got the job doneand in record time!” Rather than lose her, Miki’s boss asked us to coach her.

In our first session together, Miki asked us to describe our coaching compe-tency. We then did a thorough cause-and-effect analysis of her three most recentassignments and weighed the consequences of her actions, not only on the taskbut on the people involved. Next, we searched for a qualified mentor for her—someone who had similar accomplishments and had reached the same goals ina more productive way. We looked at areas in Miki’s work and leisure timewhere she could relax her standards and just enjoy the people or the circum-stances. Of her own accord, Miki decided to take a project-management coursethat emphasized the people part of the planning process.

After several months, Miki told us that she’d gotten some positive feedbackabout the “new Miki” and that she even liked her new self better!

General Strengths

■ Marshaling forces to achieve future goals

■ Thinking in terms of systems, bringing all elements to bear on a situation

■ Finding flaws and focusing on what can be achieved once the flaws areremoved

■ Taking charge, dealing directly with problems

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ

ISTP ISFP INFP INTP

ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP

ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ


Leadership style: Lead by presenting a plan and then energizing and directingothers to achieve it.

Problem-solving style: First, Thinking (applying logic), then Intuition (lookingat the larger picture), then Sensing (looking at the facts), and last, Feeling (con-sidering people).

When coaching ENTJs: Use developmental activities that lead to mastery orthe ability to get ahead or secure an advantage.


■ Overstructuring and/or control-ling people and processes.

■ Being overly confident of yourstrategies; shutting out otherswho are less assertive or logical.

■ Becoming impatient withprocesses or people when youare able to come up with a solution so quickly.

■ Assuming the world is yours to run.

■ Overlooking the interpersonal,spiritual, and psychologicalneeds of yourself and others.

■ Forgetting the basic day-to-dayrealities necessary for achievingyour large-scale plan.


■ Work on need for control. Prac-tice being in the moment. Notevery person or interaction hasto have a goal.

■ Listen to others, even people youmay not consider experts. Findthe person most likely to chal-lenge your views and then runyour ideas past him or her.

■ Try to manage your impatienceby realizing that the implementa-tion of your ideas may go moresmoothly when the peopleinvolved have input.

■ Develop and coach the leader-ship potential in others.

■ Think about yourself and othersas whole persons with needsbeyond achievement and work.

■ Take your focus off the goal andcheck to make sure the detailsare still in place.

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A LEADER WHO PUTTYPE TO WORKManagement Style with Type

In these pages, you’ve seen business leaders tackle wide-ranging and very realissues such as problems with communication, deadline difficulties, rapid expan-sion, changing work cultures, and more. In each case, personality type provideda language for working through the dilemmas and a framework that made senseof complicated human interactions.

As with any worthwhile tool, though, mastering the complexities of typetakes time and effort, although benefits often begin to flow from your firstefforts. To close, let's look at one leader whose knowledge and use of type grewwith his responsibilities. As you read, note how working it out with type allowsyou to do the following:

■ Anticipate what others might need.

■ Acknowledge the strengths and leadership qualities of every team member.

■ Establish norms for working together that work for everyone.

■ Plan ahead for productivity.

■ Build bridges and coalitions right from the start.

■ Identify blind spots and adjust for them before making decisions.

■ Make constructive and wise use of differences.

■ Continue to grow as a leader throughout your career.

10

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Joel first learned about personality type when he was the director of cur-riculum for a large suburban school district. At the age of 32, he was one of theyoungest people in the state to hold such a high-level district position. He askedfor help with his elementary principals as they implemented site-based manage-ment together. The principals had several concerns about this new approach,including the role of the principal and the curriculum director, shared decisionmaking, and how the system would allow them to work with their various con-stituencies, including teachers, unions, parents, and one another.

Joel agreed to offer the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment toeach individual, taking it for the first time himself. His type preferences cameout INTJ, and he confirmed that as his best-fit type. The elementary schoolprincipals were primarily ESFJs and ESTJs. He immediately went to work, usingthe type information about himself as an INTJ to interact with his team. Heknew he had a good plan for the way site-based management could functionand a well-thought-out model that could be applied in each school. However,he quickly recognized that if he wanted his complementary Extraverted Thinkingprincipals to be committed to his ideas, he needed to dialogue with them sothat they would be active participants in the planning process.

We structured our teambuilding meeting to debrief members on their MBTI®

results, work on issues of collaboration, and determine a plan of action forimplementing site-based management.

Joel started off the program with his hopes for the session’s outcomes. Hesaid, “I guess I’ll be known as the ‘newcomer’ here for a long time to come,since the rest of you have at least five years in your positions. As we move for-ward into site-based management, though, I want to put to rest such issues asthe ‘old guard versus new guard’ politics that have hindered this team. Thoseissues will only block each person’s individual effectiveness. That’s why we’rehere today: to reach a better understanding of our strengths and to see howeach of us can best be utilized in implementing these ideas.”

Many of the team members nodded in agreement. They were well aware ofthe problems and appreciated Joel’s efforts to address them. The principals asa group believed that, so far, they were more trusting and supportive underJoel’s leadership than they had been before. But there was still room forimprovement.

After a group interpretation of the MBTI® results, we moved on to theissues. Joel had decided in advance to participate as a group member so that histhoughts wouldn’t unduly influence the others’ input, so we facilitated the dis-cussion, working with each person on the concepts of psychological type andthe following points.

A LEADER WHO PUT TYPE TO WORK 219

First, the participants listed

■ One accomplishment in their current position of which they were proud

■ What they saw as their strengths and areas for development

■ What they most admired in each of their colleagues

■ What each of their colleagues needed to do so that all would have betterworking relationships

Second, we worked on setting priorities for putting plans into action. Thefactors we considered included the interpersonal relationships on the team, basedon the information we had gathered in the first exercise and through the MBTItool. When the action plans were set, we moved on to the following questions:

■ How do we want to express support within our group?

■ How do we want to manage conflict and disagreement?

■ How can we value team operations as well as highly competent individualperformance?

■ How do we handle competition among ourselves?

We worked through each of the questions in our two-day session. Joel eas-ily wove the ideas and plans of others into an overall strategy for the district.He guarded against his natural INTJ tendency to find the flaws in others’ ideas,knowing it could interfere with the input of his staff—something he really valued.He did an excellent job of keeping the team on course and listened intently tomembers’ input in a nonjudgmental fashion.

By the end of the meeting, the elementary school principals had developeda code of conduct for their team efforts, a unified plan for each school to use inintroducing the concepts of site-based management, and a partnership systemfor managing the inevitable difficulties. They saw their Extraverted Thinkingand Introverted Intuition differences as a strength for the tasks ahead. “Realitycombined with vision,” they named it.

The teambuilding process seemed to work well in Joel’s eyes—at least,that’s what he reported when we met several weeks after the session. He stuckwith his plan that year, and it worked.

Two years passed before Joel called again. By then, he had become the newsuperintendent of a large suburban community with very high educational stan-dards. Joel was clearly perceived as a rising star in the state’s educational arena.

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For most of the previous superintendents, the position had been a capstone totheir careers; they had not been at midcareer, like Joel.

Joel had just moved to the district when he called for help in working withhis new school board. He particularly wanted to build on the existing pride andsense of community in the district’s schools. The district took a very progres-sive approach to education, with 12 educational pilot projects under way whenJoel arrived on the scene. However, he said, “We’re facing a huge bond issuevote, and I don’t want to alienate anyone who might support the bond. Weneed to be cautious about suggesting any more innovations and be unified as aboard.”

At Joel’s request, we met individually with all school board members anddiscussed:

■ Their view of education

■ What topics made them get up on their soapboxes

■ What they wanted to be remembered for

■ What mattered most to them in establishing their working relationshipwith Joel

Joel had also already conducted in-depth discussions with all board mem-bers, sharing with them his vision for the schools. Many of these board memberswere recently elected and anxious to support their new leader. We then adminis-tered the MBTI tool to each of the board members and found that the board hada mixture of the 16 types, with the majority preference being for Intuition.

The teambuilding session began in a spirit of camaraderie and mutualrespect between Joel and the board. Joel started the meeting by listing some ofhis hopes for their relationship. We then worked through the MBTI information.

Before the meeting, Joel distributed nine different pieces of information toeach board member, including what the school board could expect from asuperintendent, why teams have problems, team commandments, and a self-assessment on his or her thoroughness and efficiency in relation to tasks. Hejoked, “I assigned the advance readings for those of you with a preference forIntroversion so that you would be ready to give me your opinions today.They’re listed in priority order, and there’s also a synopsis of each piece for peo-ple (probably those with a preference for Extraversion) who might not learn aswell by, or enjoy, reading articles. I hope that by now, everyone is set to go onto our big task today, crystallizing our vision for the district.”


Joel’s advance planning paid off. By the end of the day, the group had comeup with a 20-point plan. At Joel’s urging, they placed each goal and subgoal forthe district in priority order. The plan also included timelines, specific imple-mentation ideas, and assignment of responsibilities.

The session demonstrated a clear collaboration between Joel and the schoolboard. Joel was persuasive, yet remained open to the ideas and influence ofboard members. His clear thinking, ability to represent his viewpoints, andstrong commitment convinced the others that he was on target.

At the end of this meeting, board members discussed what they had accom-plished. The team felt that it had moved very effectively and efficiently throughthe many issues it faced at the start of a new school year with a new superin-tendent. Board members universally praised Joel for his organizational skills,ability to listen, and clarity of vision, which was instrumental in helping theboard develop its plan. Many commented that they had felt the group’s open-ness as they expressed their own positions. They had enjoyed the humor andtrust evident in the session—and there was unanimous agreement that no onehad a hidden agenda and that egos had been checked at the door before entering!

After obtaining such clarity of purpose at the first meeting, Joel was off to agood start. He and the board enjoyed being perceived as a solid leadership teamacross the community.

Exactly one year later, Joel called again. He had just issued the first annualreport of his activities to the district and the local newspaper. Not surprisingly,as an INTJ, he chose to call it “The Road Ahead,” a visionary look at the dis-trict’s future. This time, he asked us to do a teambuilding session with his entireadministrative council, which included the district’s administrative leaders aswell as the principals from every school.

Joel’s objectives were similar to those of the previous session with theschool board. The goals for this administrative council were:

■ To help members become better acquainted

■ To strategize how to navigate “The Road Ahead”

■ To increase role clarity about each council member’s responsibilities, espe-cially those of the district administrative leaders and the school principals

■ To establish higher levels of trust

■ To determine, from the council’s perspective, the immediate as well as morelong-term needs for the continuation of educational excellence in the district

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As is common in teambuilding sessions, Joel worked with several othercouncil members to define the objectives. We interviewed council membersindividually to gain their views on Joel, their own strengths, the challenges theyanticipated, and their responses to “The Road Ahead.”

Several key issues were identified in the interviews: ensuring that the newpeople on the council felt comfortable about speaking up; selecting the correctgroup of individuals for different “Road Ahead” projects; and meeting the needfor quick communication methods (e-mail, interoffice memos, or voice-mail)that would facilitate effective communication across the sprawling district.

We also decided to give the MBTI assessment to each team member. Aftereach individual confirmed his or her best-fit type and a team type analysis wascompleted, the following data emerged: The team type was ES/NTJ, and itsmodal types were ENFP and ESTJ. The dominant functions (selected from thefour functions of S, N, T, and F) were Intuition first, Thinking second, and Sens-ing third. No one on the team was a dominant Feeling type. As the meeting pro-gressed, team members decided that, before making any major decisions, theywould work on factoring in the characteristic Feeling emphasis on values andconcern with the impact on people involved.

Further, in examining the four-function framework, the team discovered ithad only one SF. The council decided to invite that person to speak out and toincorporate the SF service focus in its work.

The NT functional pairing was the most frequent, and it was Joel’s prefer-ence, too. The NF and the ST functional pairings were second and third, respectively.

The MBTI data proved to be very compelling to the council members, gen-erating lively discussion of Joel’s style and that of the group. Many issuesrevolved around the team’s Extraverted style and Joel’s preferred Introvertedstyle. After seeking input on how he could better accommodate the predomi-nant Extraverted communication style of the council, Joel listed some futureaction items for himself.

Joel’s dominant Intuitive style matched the dominant Intuitive style of theteam. Someone remarked, “No wonder this district has so many educationalpilot projects going on!” To act as a check on Joel’s and the council’s majorityIntuitive process, the Sensing types in the group were asked to pay attention toand remind the group about current operations and standards and to focus onthe practical aspects of “The Road Ahead.” Without this check, the group mightwant to spend too much of its time on future planning.

Joel and the team matched on their preference for Thinking. Some of theteam members with a preference for Feeling asked for a bit more feedback from


Joel at the start of a new project so that they could know that he valued whatthey were doing.

Joel’s preference for Judging matched the team’s preference for Judging;however, the influential high school principal Andy, who had a preference forPerceiving, supplied a strong counterbalance to the majority of Judging types.Andy was a lifetime resident of the school district and enjoyed firm supportfrom students, parents, and community leaders for his enthusiastic and creativemanner. Council members agreed that they would call on Andy and the otherPerceiving types before anything was absolutely solidified. They also set groundrules to give Perceiving types enough time to bring in new findings before anymajor decisions were made.

Council members used the concepts of psychological type as they estab-lished a list of issues, assigned those issues to various team members, and drewup timelines. An overall sense of satisfaction permeated the session.

We occasionally met with Joel, his board, or his council when problemsarose. We asked Joel how psychological type helped him in working with peo-ple. He said,

You know, I used to wonder why other people didn’t think like I did. All toooften, I lost them with my ideas and brainstorming. I wanted to move aheadand get on to the task, but time and again, I’d find that others were diggingin their heels on projects I knew were on target.

Now, I understand that I wouldn’t want them to all think like me. If theworld were full of INTJs, a lot of things would get left undone. Further, typehelps me communicate with the other 15 types and explain my ideas in away that they can understand. Then they ask me the right questions, whichhelps me.

I truly can’t think of being in leadership without this understanding ofmyself and those around me. Take Andy, for instance. Knowing that one ofhis gifts is identifying as many options as possible is very different fromthinking that he can’t keep focused on a single solution. Being a student oftype, I think, is one of the things that makes me an effective leader.

Yes, Joel was a model student when it came to personality type. He foundthat his INTJ preferences and his understanding of personality type helped himunderstand 15 other valid styles and ways of doing things. This self-knowledgeand understanding of the type model took the mystery out of working relation-ships and allowed Joel to achieve success by working it out. And that is whatwe wish for you!

THE TEAMBUILDINGPROCESSA team may be defined as two or more people who coordinate their activitiesregularly to accomplish a common purpose or task. Teambuilding, as we see it,is a process for working with a group of two or more people to facilitate andmake possible an enhancement in their working relationships. As a result,teambuilding may be described in any of the following ways:

■ It may be a one-time or an ongoing process.

■ It may involve the entire team, subteams, or a pair of individuals.

■ It may use instruments such as the MBTI tool.

■ It may occur when a team forms or at any other point in the team’s life.

■ It may happen when the group is in conflict or when the group is workingwell.

■ It may be part of an ongoing culture change effort or may occur in isolation.

In any one of these six scenarios, we might be called in to provide team-building consultation and coaching.1 Most teambuilding begins with a requestfrom an individual team member, the team leader, or someone in the organiza-tion’s human resources department. This appendix will give you a flavor of howmost teambuilding interventions go.

When possible, we prefer to do teambuilding with another individual,either someone from within the organization or one of our colleagues in typework. Having another person helps ensure that the information gathered in the

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teambuilding process is as clear and complete as possible. The other personalso serves as a check on our perceptions and evaluations.

INITIAL INTERVIEWThe first phase of the teambuilding process almost always includes an initialinterview with the client and/or the human resources person in the organiza-tion. One of the goals is to determine whether the process we offer fits the workthat is to be done. We also want to hear the client’s objectives and hopes for theteambuilding process, learn how the company heard about us, and judge theappropriateness of a teambuilding intervention. (Other alternative interventionsinclude one-on-one conflict resolution, coaching, training, or systemwide orga-nizational development planning.) At this initial interview, we can determinewhether or not it seems useful to use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)tool and the concepts of psychological type.

Preferably, this meeting takes place at the client’s work site because it givesus a chance to read the organizational culture.2 Our primary goal at this earlyproblem-definition stage is to obtain as much information as possible about theteam’s or individual’s past successes, current needs, and future aspirations.

CONTRACTINGIn the contracting phase, we work with the client to develop a written contractthat delineates his or her expectations and hopes for the teambuilding session.We also include our best guess as to costs, facilitation fees, steps in the process,and the use of the MBTI tool or other instruments.

FORMATION OF THE PARTNERSHIP TEAM

If there is a match between our styles, skills, and abilities and the objectivesand needs of the client, and if we agree to go ahead with the teambuildingprocess, the next step is to form a partnership or implementation team with theclient and several others in the organization. The task of the partnership teamis ninefold:

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■ To model teambuilding from the very start

■ To be learners in a process designed to train and develop the team and itsmembers

■ To define and fine-tune the teambuilding objectives and procedures asnecessary

■ To assist in the interview process by:

■ Selecting or creating interview questions that have the greatest potentialof yielding the most valuable information

■ Providing guidance to create a safe environment for the honestexchange of information by all those interviewed

■ Scheduling interviews, rooms, and so on

■ To serve as a communication conduit to the teambuilder(s) throughout theprocess

■ To provide reality checks and understand context as the data emerge

■ To offer guidance and assistance for future training designs or other inter-ventions and to help with their delivery

■ To find a place for an off-site teambuilding session, to provide the neces-sary resources for that session, and to otherwise facilitate a comfortableclimate for the teambuilding process

■ To be sure the teambuilding process continues once the teambuilder(s)leave the organization

On numerous occasions, the partnership team has saved our hides. Becausethey live and breathe in the organization, they often balance our perceptions,add suggestions for subsequent action, and aid in managing sticky issues thatmight come along (some examples we’ve experienced include uncovering a reli-gious cult, an office affair, weapons at the work site, and, on a few occasions, aracial or ethnic conflict). Because the people on the partnership team also sharein designing the intervention and have a sense of the way it will go, they gener-ally are more committed to the process and are able to get their fellow team-mates’ commitment, too.

Members could also be selected for the partnership team by asking theclient’s organization for volunteers who want to experience a teambuildingprocess firsthand and learn some skills that they can use later in their work.

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The partnership team is charged with the responsibility of carrying theteambuilding process forward and making sure the action items and the legacyof teambuilding continue in the life of the team or organization.

INTERVIEW QUESTIONSThe partnership team helps us select interview questions for each team mem-ber. Here again, the team assists the process in a very cogent way. The ques-tions on the coaching process, listed in Appendix B, are similar to those we usein teambuilding. With that list to spark their recall or imagination, members ofthe partnership team modify the questions or come up with some of their own.Usually, we interview each team member, asking the same six to eight ques-tions of everyone and recording their answers. Later, we synthesize the respons-es to each question and suggest possible solutions or actions.

If the team is very large or there is not enough time to interview everyone,we may send out the interview questions to all team members and ask for theirwritten responses. However, we’ve learned from experience not to enter a team-building session unless we’ve provided every team member with a chance tovoice his or her concerns to us.3

INTERVIEWS AND DATA ANALYSIS

Once we have determined the interview questions and the individuals who willbe interviewed, we schedule approximately 30–60 minutes to conduct eachinterview. This book provides many examples of this interview process. Duringthis interviewing step, we might discuss the MBTI results.

The interview and data analysis process involves using Sensing, Intuition,Thinking, and Feeling as we weave together comments and opinions, data fromsights and surroundings, and our own intuitions into a synthesis about the keyissues or problems facing the team. We also compare the team’s MBTI data to theinterview data, looking for type-related clues that we can use in the teambuildingintervention. For the report on interview data, we use our impressions of theenvironment, the history of the organization, the organization’s annual reports(if available), mission statements, departmental objectives, job descriptions,

APPENDIX A 229

company newsletters, product information, and any other material that willhelp us understand and work more effectively with our client.

That report on our interview findings and other data sources might be any-where from 10 to 25 pages long, with the following typical format: an executivesummary, a synopsis of each interview question with an overall impression ofthe findings, and then specific comments from people (with identities disguisedin order to maintain anonymity) that help amplify the overall summary. Weavoid words that would identify an individual in particular. For example, if ateam member constantly says “I put my stake in the ground,” using that phrasein the written report would identify that person.

At the end of the responses to each interview question, we add severalaction steps for the team to consider. Finally, at the conclusion of the report, wedevelop a list of potential action plans, some of which incorporate principlesfrom psychological type data.

ONE-ON-ONE CONSULTATIONSSometimes, during the interview and data-gathering stage, it becomes obviousthat problems may exist between two individuals on the team or with just oneof the team members. Our contracting allows for private sessions, known onlyto us and the individuals involved, with such a team member or, for conflictmediation and resolution, the two individuals involved. It’s usually a judgmentcall as to when, how, and with whom we intervene. (See the section on Deanand Gwen in chapter 5 for an example of how we go about this process.)

These one-on-one consultations are often brief, since our role is not a ther-apeutic one. If therapeutic counseling is necessary, we make a referral to acounselor, and if the individual agrees that we may share the information, wewill help lobby the organization for the required funds.

PLANNING SESSIONAfter we have prepared the interview report, and while any necessary one-on-one consultations are in progress, we meet again with the client and/or partner-ship team members to share our findings. In essence, they get a preview ofwhat is going on. Then we work together to plan the teambuilding session andstrategy. This planning session covers:

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■ The issues the team faces, as given in the report

■ Schedules, processes, and time needed for a teambuilding session

■ Agenda items and time frames

Here again, the partnership team plays a vital role in the ultimate success of theteambuilding intervention because team members provide extra informationand an extra evaluation of the process so far.

For example, in one especially contentious government agency, the partner-ship team decided that each person needed to see a copy of the report. Theyrequired team members to put their names on the report and return it to us atthe end of the session because in an earlier teambuilding process, someonefaxed another consultant’s report to the local newspaper! Luckily the localnewspaper chose not to publish it.

THE TEAMBUILDING SESSIONWe plan the session so that we do the right things, in the right sequence, andin, we hope, an adequate amount of time. Decisions include whether MBTIresults come first or follow the team interview report. Sometimes it’s best tostart with the results of the interviews because those are first and foremost inpeople’s minds, and they may not pay as much attention to the MBTI data.

More frequently, we work with the MBTI tool first, because it provides alanguage and a lens through which team members can understand the reportfindings. In many situations, we’ve offered individual MBTI interpretations dur-ing the interviews, which gives people a chance to think about and confirmtheir best-fit type before the large-group session. They then come ready to putthis information into practice.

One effective way to start the teambuilding session, after some basic intro-ductions, is for the client to tell the group why he or she thought teambuildingwas necessary. Additionally, the client might share the mission or vision for theteam and the goals for the day. Next, we provide a chronological history of theendeavor, sharing our intervention activities to this point. Then, with the team’shelp, we establish some norms of conduct for teambuilding. These norms ofconduct often include:

APPENDIX A 231

■ Speaking for oneself using “I” messages

■ Critiquing the problem, not the person

■ Having only one person speaking at a time

■ Skewering no one (it’s not the purpose of the session)

■ Speaking about things from one’s own perspective

Throughout the day, we take note of additional process or action steps aswe watch interactions and listen to comments.

Often, we subdivide the team and ask each group to select the issue forwhich it has the most energy (see the example in chapter 7). They then formsmall, informal subteams within the team to set action plans.

The following sample agenda for a typical teambuilding session might bespread over two days.

A TYPICAL TEAMBUILDING SESSION

1. Icebreaker and personal introductions (name, role, personal update sincelast meeting)

2. Why we are here (client’s presentation on the need for teambuilding)

3. Teambuilding definitions (if necessary)

■ Terms (what is a team, examples of team characteristics, and so on)

■ Norms of conduct

■ Our role in this session

■ The team’s role for the session

4. History of the endeavor

■ List of meetings and events prior to this session that can clarify whathas occurred so far

■ Agenda for the session

5. Points of clarification, logistics, and “administrivia” for the session

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6. Basic introduction to personality type

■ History of the MBTI tool

■ Illustration of preference concept

■ Review of MBTI preferences

■ Selecting one’s best-fit type

■ Return of MBTI results

■ Selected type and reported type clarification

■ Review of scoring and other questions

■ Reading type description

■ Meeting with others of the same type (type-alike groups)

7. Team type exercise

8. Interview or teambuilding report

9. Use of MBTI data and interview data to solve problems

10. Action implementation planning

11. Closing activity

■ One thing I’ve learned about myself today

■ One thing I’ve learned that I will apply immediately

■ One thing I learned about the team today

■ One thing I will do to help the team work differently

12. Evaluation and wrap-up

FOLLOW-UP SESSIONFew teams are able to smoothly implement what they learn from an intensiveteambuilding session without follow-up. In fact, we usually include at least oneadditional follow-up session in our initial contracting so that the client under-stands the long-term commitment necessary to work it out effectively. The follow-up session may take place several weeks to several months after the team-building session. The main purpose of the follow-up session is to determineprogress toward goals. The partnership team is typically responsible for the

APPENDIX A 233

actual implementation of plans. The partnership team knows from the start thatimplementation will be a large part of its work, but this follow-up sessionallows us to give appropriate suggestions.

At the follow-up session, we plan the next steps the team should take anddetermine which people are the logical choices for carrying out these steps.Believe it or not, we view our job as working ourselves out of a job. We like toleave the organizations, teams, and individuals we serve with the tools andskills to continue to work it out on their own!

THE COACHING PROCESSWe approach each coaching opportunity with the important and deeply heldvalue of supporting the people and organizations involved in the process. Ourrole is to care for individuals, teams, and organizations as they master the intri-cacies of working it out more successfully and effectively, either alone or withothers—no small feat!

In the work of coaching, boundaries become important. Coaches aren’ttherapists, nor are they magicians. Our usual tack is to find what the individualis doing right and enhance it, on the premise that it is better to augmentstrengths than to try to overcome weaknesses.

Part of the coach’s job is to facilitate a greater awareness of the individual’spersonal and professional expertise. As coaches, we want to present as full apicture as possible and represent accurately any data that we gather. In deliver-ing that data to a client, we take care to ensure that it is relevant and fair. Wealso need to assure the person of confidentiality in all that we do and to striveto help him or her make necessary changes and perhaps find time to heal as well.

Finally, any coaching endeavor is a partnership with the client. Whatever weask the individual to do is for the purpose of enhancing his or her well-being. Ifwe find that the situation might compromise our values, for whatever reason,we either decline the opportunity or discuss that values conflict with the clientor organization in the hope that we can resolve it and proceed. Coaches are mosteffective when they follow their hearts as well as their heads, allowing theirwork to reflect their principles and values.

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If this sounds like a decidedly NF approach to coaching, well, that’s becauseit is! Being NFs, we seek to achieve a win-win situation for all involved,enhanced self-esteem for the client, and as many possibilities as we can gener-ate for his or her future development and growth.

THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE COACH

Here are some general principles we think are essential when providing profes-sional coaching to another person:

■ Determine the objective for the coaching process. What does the organiza-tion want to achieve? What does the person want to achieve? How doboth the client and the organization see the coach’s role in meeting thisgoal? And how will we evaluate change and/or success with the process?

■ Determine who the client is. Often, individuals are referred for coachingby management or by someone in human resources. It’s necessary to be absolutely clear with the referral source and with the person to becoached about the differing loyalties and responsibilities. Privacy is a keypoint to contract and negotiate: Which data go back to the organization,and which reside with the coach and the individual?

■ Is the person aware of the coach’s skills and competencies? Does the per-son know what coaching implies? Decide if there is buy-in and a relation-ship of trust between both parties.

■ Find out if the person to be coached is a victim of selective feedback—inother words, if negative feedback has been withheld from him or her. Thishappens in some organizations when people are reluctant to pass negativeinformation up the ladder, which results in people at higher levels beinguninformed. For managers who have not experienced openness from othersin their work lives, it may be necessary to establish that part of the coachingprocess might involve relaying information they have not heard before—and may not like hearing.

■ Before starting the process, make sure that coaching is the best strategyfor the individual. Perhaps he or she would be better served by therapy,support group meetings such as Alcoholics Anonymous, or a specifictraining or skills-development course.

APPENDIX B 237

■ Establish that you are on the person’s side and that this process is one ofreciprocity. Listen, and then listen again to what he or she is experienc-ing. While our job is to offer suggestions and support, we do expectsomething back—commitment to the coaching process, to trying out newskills, and to giving us feedback about the merits of the process as we goalong.

■ Learn about the culture or climate of the team or organization where theindividual works. When coaching, be aware of the various ways in whichorganizational or team climates operate and affect the person. Also, froma psychological type perspective, how does this person’s type interact withthe predominant psychological type of the job, team, or organization? UseMyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) concepts to judge the match or mis-match between the individual’s type and the organization’s style.

■ Finally, appreciate the seriousness of this task. The people you are coach-ing often have jobs on the line or relationships in serious disrepair. Peopleneed to understand the amount of trauma they may be causing them-selves or others. At times, you may need to move beyond giving peoplewhat they want and make sure they are getting what they need.

THE CLIENT’S RESPONSIBILITIESThe person to be coached needs to provide input to the coaching process: plan-ning our work together and deciding on how to measure the success of thework. The client is responsible for doing the following:

■ Determining the objectives for the process and why changes in skill orbehavior are necessary

■ Ascertaining who else has a stake in the outcomes of this coaching rela-tionship, such as a boss, teammates, and so on

■ Finding an on-site sponsor or organizational coach who can help withpracticing the coaching tips

■ Demonstrating commitment by following through with the coaching sug-gestions and assigned tasks

■ Giving direct feedback to the coach about how the coaching process isproceeding toward the targeted goals, needs, and wants

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THE ORGANIZATION’S RESPONSIBILITIES

Finally, the organization has responsibilities for the coaching process. Some ofthese are listed below:

■ Provide resources. For example, make tuition available for off-site coursesor arrange for private meeting spaces on-site.

■ Decide who is to be involved in the coaching process, what their informa-tional needs are, and what the confidentiality arrangements should be.Aim to have clear communication among all parties.

■ Determine what constitutes success in the coaching experience and how itwill be evaluated.

■ Assist in finding a mentor within the organization to help and support theperson being coached.

QUESTIONS FOR GATHERING INFORMATION

Before determining a coaching plan, we interview the person to be coached andas many people who work with that person as possible, for example, boss, co-workers and peers, employees, and outside vendors. By altering the wordingslightly, the following questions can be used with the person being coached andhis or her co-workers. We usually choose six to eight questions for an interview.

■ What do you do well? Describe your interpersonal, leadership, or manage-ment skills and other key strengths.

■ What do you do that is less than effective in terms of interpersonal, leader-ship, or management skills?

■ What are your greatest current needs for development? Future needs?

■ Which of your skills or talents are particularly helpful to others?

■ What things do you do that get in the way of your having effective rela-tionships with others?

APPENDIX B 239

■ If you could wave a magic wand, what would you want to accomplish inthis coaching process?

■ Describe how you solve problems.

■ Discuss the factors within the organizational or team environment thatlessen your effectiveness.

■ Describe how you handle change.

■ Tell me about your personal goals and aspirations.

■ What barriers do you perceive as keeping you from achieving your goalsand aspirations?

■ What steps would you be willing to take to remove these barriers?

■ Tell me your thoughts about conflict. How do you approach resolving conflicts?

■ What are your views on why we need to work together?

■ What information would help me be more effective in coaching you if Iwere to know it right now?

■ If your boss, colleague, or spouse were to describe you in 25 words, whatwould those words be?

■ Have I omitted asking you any questions that I should have asked?

The next set of questions deals with psychological type:

■ Think about your personality type preferences, and determine which onesare assets and which ones offer you the greatest challenges.

■ How have your personality type preferences influenced your life andcareer?

■ Which of your preferences make you feel good? Why?

■ Which aspects of your personality type most often cause relationshipproblems between you and others?

■ Based on your self-analysis, articulate the fundamental things about yourpersonality type that people need to understand if they want to build aworking relationship with you.

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■ Think about your personality type and identify which aspects of it aremost difficult for you to accept or change.

■ Think about the personality types of your colleagues, teammates, ororganization. Which ones do you have the most difficulty with, whichones are you drawn toward, and which are the most complementary?Why?

■ In order to be more versatile, which part of your personality type needs tobe strengthened or modified?

■ What are the greatest insights you have attained about yourself by learn-ing about personality type?

THE COACHING PLANThe MBTI tool is a vehicle for greater self-awareness and self-acceptance and istherefore an excellent beginning for the coaching process. A typical process hasthe following steps:

1. Before the initial meeting with the client:

■ Review and record the person’s general strengths in relation to his orher psychological type preferences.

■ Study the typical areas for growth using chapter 9 of this book, priori-tize what is most important for this individual’s development, and usethese areas as a springboard for early discussions.

■ Select from resources such as the MBTI Step II instrument; other instru-ments (such as the Strong Interest Inventory® and Fundamental Interper-sonal Relations Orientation–Behavior™ [FIRO-B®] assessments); audio orreading resources; biographical data; counseling professionals; college,technical school, community, or in-house educational offerings; role-modeling exercises; videotaping; or shadowing someone in the organi-zation who has mastered a certain skill.

2. In the first meeting, interpret the client’s MBTI results:

■ Have the person choose a best-fit personality type.

■ Read about the general strengths and areas for growth for that personalitytype.

APPENDIX B 241

3. Develop specific action items with timelines based on your own knowl-edge and resources.

4. Have the person you are coaching practice the necessary skills or behaviorsin coaching sessions and then on the job.

5. Meet to report back on skills practice. Determine the next steps for coach-ing sessions.

6. Evaluate progress toward goals. Decide if and when follow-up should occur.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR THECOACHING PROCESS

Here are several suggestions for resources to use in addition to the standardMBTI instrument:

■ The MBTI Step II instrument is particularly helpful for executive develop-ment and for individuals who are having trouble clarifying their best-fit type.

■ The Strong Interest Inventory assessment used with the MBTI tool offers acombination of perspectives when coaching people about their careers.

■ The Perception Checklist can be helpful in gathering information on others’perceptions of the client. It is published in the Strong Interest Inventory®

Resource: Strategies for Group and Individual Interpretation in Businessand Organizational Settings training program.1

■ Try using instruments that take a 360-degree feedback approach or inter-views with people who can assess how the client manages various inter-personal and functional business interactions.

■ Discussion of an individual’s psychological type dynamics (the order ofdominance of Sensing, Intuition, Thinking, and Feeling) helps clientsunderstand whether they are experiencing tension with or attractions tothe various aspects of their type dynamics at work or in life.

■ Add a values clarification exercise to see which values are most importantto clients and how those values influence their work or other parts of theirlives.

NOTES

Chapter 11. For more information, you may also contact us, at www.lifekeys.com, or CPP (for-

merly Consulting Psychologists Press), which publishes the MBTI® instrument, at800-624-1765 or www.cpp.com.

2. N is used for Intuition because I is already used for Introversion.

3. For more information about this “functions lens” for viewing team dynamics, seeElizabeth Hirsh, Katherine W. Hirsh, and Sandra Krebs Hirsh, MBTI® TeambuildingProgram: Leader’s Resource Guide, 2nd ed. (Mountain View, CA: CPP, Inc., 2003).

Chapter 21. William Bridges, The Character of Organizations (Mountain View, CA: CPP, 2000).

Chapter 41. Robert E. Kaplan, Wilfred H. Drath, and Joan R. Kofodimos, High Hurdles: The

Challenge of Self-Development, Technical Report 25 (Greensboro, NC: Center forCreative Leadership, 1985).

2. Sandra Krebs Hirsh and Jane A. G. Kise, Introduction to Type® and Coaching(Mountain View, CA: CPP, Inc., 2000).

Chapter 51. Exercise adapted from Margaret U. Fields and Jean B. Reid, Shape Up Your Program

(Gainesville, FL: CAPT, 1999).

Chapter 71. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/stresswk.html on June 1, 2005.

2. Sandra Krebs Hirsh and Jean M. Kummerow, LifeTypes (New York: Warner Books,1989) and Naomi L. Quenk, Was That Really Me? (Mountain View, CA: Davies-Black Publishing, 2002).

3. Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard, The Situational Leader (New York: Warner Books,1984), p. 160.

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Chapter 91. Adapted from Sandra Krebs Hirsh and Jane A. G. Kise, Using the MBTI® Tool in

Organizations, 3rd ed. (Mountain View, CA: CPP, Inc., 2003).

2. For more help on coaching using the framework of type, consider purchasingIntroduction to Type® and Coaching, available from CPP (www.cpp.com).

Appendix A1. Definitions adapted from Elizabeth Hirsh, Katherine W. Hirsh, and Sandra Krebs

Hirsh, MBTI® Teambuilding Program, 2nd ed. (Mountain View, CA: CPP, Inc.,2003).

2. See C. Williams, D. Armstrong, and C. Malcolm, The Negotiable Environment(Ann Arbor, MI: Facility Management Institute, 1985), for discussions and illustra-tions of the office layout and furniture that STs, SFs, NFs, and NTs prefer.

3. Our teambuilding approach is detailed in Elizabeth Hirsh, Katherine W. Hirsh, andSandra Krebs Hirsh, MBTI® Teambuilding Program: Leader’s Resource Guide, 2nded. (Mountain View, CA: CPP, Inc., 2003); some but not all of these steps are fea-tured in the chapters of this book. For more detailed information, consider pur-chasing Introduction to Type® and Coaching, available from CPP (www.cpp.com).

Appendix BIn the section “The Organization’s Responsibilities,” we are indebted to John C.Buchanan, of Buchanan and Associates, Minneapolis, for his coaching expertise. Inthe section “Questions for Gathering Information,” we are indebted to Douglas Peters,of Douglas Peters Associates, Minneapolis, for the formulation of many of the type-related coaching questions.

1. Sandra Krebs Hirsh, Strong Interest Inventory® Resource: Strategies for Group andIndividual Interpretation in Business and Organizational Settings (Mountain View,CA: CPP, Inc., 1995).

INDEX

auxiliary function, 16–17, 160–161

Blanchard, Ken, 158boss, 165, 177

coach: client partnership with, 235; description of, 183; responsibilities of,235–237

coaching: boundaries in, 235; client’s responsibilities, 237; of ENFJ type, 207;of ENFP type, 205; of ENTJ type, 215; of ENTP type, 213; of ESFJ type, 199; of ESFP type, 197; of ESTJ type, 191; ofESTP type, 189; for Feeling skills, 74–77; individual, 34–36; of INFJ type, 199; information-gathering–related questions,238–240; of INFP type, 203; of INTJ type,209; of INTP type, 211; of ISFJ type, 193;of ISFP type, 195; of ISTJ type, 185; ofISTP type, 187; for Judging–Perceivingtype differences, 103; organization’sresponsibilities, 238; process of, 240–241;resources for, 241; situations that need, 181–182; for stress management,158–159; stress management by,154–156; for Thinking skills, 77–78; of yourself, 182–183

coaching plan, 240–241communication: description of, 25; by NFs,

127, 135; by NTs, 127, 135; by SFs, 127,135; by STs, 127, 135

conflict, 9conflict resolution, 99–100, 107criticism, 74–75critiques, 75–78

decision making, 66documentation, 48dominant function: description of, 14–16;

Feeling as, 15, 172–176; interventions for

differences in, 177–178; Intuition as, 14,167–170; problem-solving uses of, 178;Sensing as, 14, 166–167, 169–170; Thinking as, 15, 170–172

ENFJ type: characteristics of, 13; coaching of, 207; dominant function of, 138, 142,173–174; inferior function of, 138, 142;leadership style of, 207; problem-solvingstyle of, 207; strengths of, 206

ENFP type: characteristics of, 13; coachingof, 205; dominant function of, 138, 143;inferior function of, 138, 143; leadershipstyle of, 205; problem-solving style of,205; strengths of, 204

ENTJ type: characteristics of, 13; coachingof, 215; dominant function of, 138, 141,170–171; inferior function of, 138, 141;leadership style of, 215; problem-solvingstyle of, 215; strengths of, 214

ENTP type: characteristics of, 13; coachingof, 213; dominant function of, 138, 143;inferior function of, 138, 143; leadershipstyle of, 213; problem-solving style of,213; strengths of, 212

ESFJ type: characteristics of, 13; coaching of, 199; dominant function of, 138, 142,173–174; inferior function of, 138, 142;leadership style of, 199; problem-solvingstyle of, 199; strengths of, 198

ESFP type: characteristics of, 13; coaching of,197; dominant function of, 138, 142, 166;inferior function of, 138, 142; leadershipstyle of, 197; problem-solving style of,197; strengths of, 196

ESTJ type: characteristics of, 13; coaching of, 191; dominant function of, 138, 141,170–171; inferior function of, 138, 141;leadership style of, 191; problem-solvingstyle of, 191; strengths of, 190

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ESTP type: characteristics of, 13; coaching of,189; dominant function of, 138, 142, 166;inferior function of, 138, 142; leadershipstyle of, 189; problem-solving style of,189; strengths of, 188

Extraversion–Introversion type differences:intervention for, 30–36; understanding of, 37; wait time demonstration for, 38

Extraverts: characteristics of, 5; interven-tion for, 30–36; Introversion practice by, 40; Introverts’ view of, 27–30; natural style of, 38–39; in team setting,41; in type table, 10; view of Introverts by, 24–27; workplace settings for, 22

feedback, 236Feeling types: communication style of, 183;

decision making by, 67–68; dominant,139; natural style of, 86; problem solvingby, 15, 60; in team setting, 88; Thinkingpractice by, 87–88; Thinking types’ viewof, 69–71; traits of, 7; in type table, 11;view of Thinking types by, 71–73; work-place settings for, 66

Feeling–Thinking type differences: case studyof, 68–81; coaching of individuals, 74–78;exercises for, 82–88; intervention for,73–80; plan for working out, 79–80;understanding of, 73–74, 78–79

function pair(s): definition of, 12; types associated with, 114; work-place settings for, 114. See also specific function pair

function pair differences: case study of,115–129; exercises for, 133–134; interven-tion for, 123–129; plan for working out,127–128; understanding of, 123–127

goal setting, 76–78

Hersey, Paul, 158

INFJ type: characteristics of, 13; coaching of,201; dominant function of, 138, 142; inferior

function of, 138, 142, 154; leadershipstyle of, 201; problem-solving style of,201; strengths of, 200

information-gathering questions, 238–240INFP type: characteristics of, 13; coaching of,

203; dominant function of, 138, 141,173–174; inferior function of, 138, 141, 155; leadership style of, 203; problem-solving style of, 203; strengthsof, 202

interview, for teambuilding, 226, 228–229INTJ type: characteristics of, 13; coaching

of, 209; dominant function of, 138, 142; inferior function of, 138, 142; leadershipstyle of, 209; problem-solving style of,209; strengths of, 208

INTP type: characteristics of, 13; coaching of, 211; dominant function of, 138, 141,170–171; inferior function of, 138, 141;leadership style of, 211; problem-solvingstyle of, 211; strengths of, 210

introspection, 75Introversion–Extraversion type differences:

intervention for, 30–36; understanding of, 37; wait time demonstration for, 38

Introverts: characteristics of, 5; Extraversionpractice by, 40; Extraverts’ view of,24–27; intervention for, 30–36; naturalstyle of, 38–39; in team setting, 41; intype table, 10; view of Extraverts by,27–30; workplace settings for, 22

Intuition–Sensing type differences: communi-cation practice for, 60–61; dynamic ten-sion, 58; exercises for, 57–62; interventionfor, 51–56; plan for working out, 53–55

Intuitive types: characteristics of, 6; commu-nication practice for, 60–61; communica-tion style of, 183; description of, 44;dominant, 139; natural domain for, 45;problem solving by, 14, 59; Sensing practice by, 61–62; Sensing types’ viewof, 49–51; in team setting, 62; in typetable, 10; view of Sensing types by,47–49; workplace settings for, 44–45

INDEX 247

ISFJ type: characteristics of, 13; coaching of,193; dominant function of, 138, 143; inferior function of, 138, 143; leadershipstyle of, 193; problem-solving style of,193; strengths of, 192

ISFP type: characteristics of, 13; coaching of, 195; dominant function of, 138, 141,173–174; inferior function of, 138, 141;leadership style of, 195; problem-solvingstyle of, 195; strengths of, 194

ISTJ type: characteristics of, 13, 184–186;coaching of, 185; dominant function of,138, 143, 166; inferior function of, 138,143; leadership style of, 185; problem-solving style of, 185; strengths of,184–185

ISTP type: characteristics of, 13; coaching of,187; dominant function of, 138, 141, 166,170–171; inferior function of, 138, 141;leadership style of, 187; problem-solvingstyle of, 187; strengths of, 186–187

Judging types: characteristics of, 8; naturalstyle of, 108; Perceiving practice by, 109;Perceiving types’ view of, 96–98; in teamsetting, 110; view of Perceiving types by,94–96; workplace settings for, 92

Judging–Perceiving type differences: coaching for, 103; conflict caused by, 98; description of, 92; exercises for,105–110; intervention for, 98–103; planfor working out, 101–103; understandingof, 98–101

Jung, Carl, 2

leadership style: description of, 35, 156; of ENFJ type, 207; of ENFP type, 205; of ENTJ type, 215; of ENTP type, 213; of ESFJ type, 199; of ESFP type, 197; of ESTJ type, 191; of ESTP type, 189; of INFJ type, 201; of INFP type, 203; of INTJ type, 209; of INTP type, 211; of ISFJ type, 193; of ISFP type, 195; of ISTJ type, 185; of ISTP type, 187

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® assessment, 1–2,23, 93, 183, 218, 222

negative feedback, 236NF: case study of, 116–117; characteristics of,

133; communication preferences of, 127,135; organizations for, 114, 131; strengthsof, 116–117; types associated with, 114

NT: case study of, 118–120; characteristics of, 133; communication preferences of, 127, 135; organizations for, 114,131–132; strengths of, 118; types associated with, 114

partnership team, 226–228Perceiving types: characteristics of, 8; Judg-

ing practice by, 109–110; Judging types’view of, 94–96; natural style of, 108; inteam setting, 110; view of Judging typesby, 96–98; workplace settings for, 92

Perceiving–Judging type differences: coach-ing for, 103; conflict caused by, 98;description of, 92; exercises for, 105–110;intervention for, 98–103; plan for workingout, 101–103; understanding of, 98–101

physical preference, 3–4problem solving: description of, 14;

dominant functions for, 178; by ENFJ type,207; by ENFP type, 205; by ENTJ type,215; by ENTP type, 213; by ESFJ type,199; by ESFP type, 197; by ESTJ type,191; by ESTP type, 189; by Feeling types,60; by INFJ type, 199; by INFP type, 203;by INTJ type, 209; by INTP type, 211; byIntuitive types, 59; by ISFJ type, 193; byISFP type, 195; by ISTJ type, 185; by ISTPtype, 187; by Sensing types, 59; byThinking types, 59

Psychological Types, 2

reflection, 25

selective feedback, 236self-advocacy, 158

WORK IT OUT248

self-awareness, 181self-coaching, 182–183self-correction, 17self-esteem, 4Sensing types: characteristics of, 6; commu-

nication practice for, 60; communicationstyle of, 183; description of, 44; domi-nant, 139; Intuition practice by, 61; Intuitive types’ view of, 47–49; naturaldomain for, 45; problem solving by, 15,59; in team setting, 62; in type table, 10;view of Intuitive types by, 49–51; work-place settings for, 44–45

Sensing–Intuition type differences: commu-nication practice for, 60–61; dynamic tension, 58; exercises for, 57–62; intervention for, 51–56; plan for working out, 53–55

SF: characteristics of, 133; communicationpreferences of, 127, 135; organizationsfor, 114, 130–131; types associated with, 114

situational leadership, 158ST: case study of, 120–123; characteristics

of, 133; communication preferences of,127, 135; organizations for, 114, 130;strengths of, 120–121; types associatedwith, 114

stress: case study of, 140–159; health effects of, 137; intervention for, 152–159; signs of, 137; situational, 137;type and, 138–140; understanding of,152–156

stress management: coaching for, 154–156,158–159; by Extraverted Thinking,150–151; by Introverted Feeling, 148–150; plan for, 157–158; for teams,161–162

“success syndrome,” 75

tangible records, 48team: definition of, 225; partnership,

226–228; strengths of, 9; stress manage-ment for, 161–162

team setting: Extravert in, 41; Feeling type in,88; Introvert in, 41; Intuitive type in, 62;Judging type in, 110; Perceiving type in, 110;Sensing type in, 62; Thinking type in, 88

teambuilding: contracting phase of, 226;interview for, 226, 228–229; one-on-oneconsultations, 229; overview of, 225–226;partnership team, 226–228; planning session, 229–230; sessions for, 230–233

Thinking types: characteristics of, 7; commu-nication style of, 183; decision makingby, 67–68, 84; dominant, 139; Feelingpractice by, 87; Feeling types’ view of,71–73; natural style of, 86; problem solving by, 15, 60; in team setting, 88; in type table, 11; view of Feeling types by, 69–71; workplace settings for, 66

Thinking–Feeling type differences: coaching ofindividuals, 74–78; exercises for, 82–88;intervention for, 73–80; plan for workingout, 79–80; understanding of, 73–74, 78–79

time, 91time management, 101type: benefits of determining, 9–10, 217;

descriptions of, 12–18; self-awarenessand, 181; stress management and,138–140. See also specific type

type development, 14type table, 10–11type theory: description of, 2; principles of, 2–4

values, 175

work relationships, 100–101work style preferences, 31–32

work it out, revised edition: using personality type to improve team performance

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