Newsletter #30

 

In this issue:

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® and Stress: ISFPs and ENTJs

About the Strong Interest Inventory®: In-Depth Look at Conventional Types

About the FIRO-B™: Leadership Patterns - Expressed Behavior

 

ISFPs and ENTJs and Stress

Let's start with ISFPs.  How can you tell when an ISFP is under stress, particularly at work?

One sign is when ISFPs complain about being unappreciated, or when they become very self-critical, and even more so when they become critical of others.  They might act as if they need to solve the world's problems.  They can focus only on the negative, seeing the bleakest outcome in any possible solution.  Many ISFPs isolate themselves from others, even family and friends.  Confusion can surround them, so they lose their easy-going ways.

ISFPs can feel this stress when they are given inadequate time to discuss important issues before making a decision.  Other events that trigger stress include being told they cannot do something, or feeling like they are boxed in, whether by colleagues or by a situation.  If others disrespect the ISFP's values, he or she can feel stress.  ISFPs can struggle with balancing personal freedom with being connected with others.  If the balance shifts too far in either direction, stress can result.

ENTJs, on the other hand, react differently to stress.  They tend to become more aggressive and arrogant, and rely more heavily on logical, rational answers to questions.  They might be closed to new ideas or wallow in self-pity.  Some ENTJs focus exclusively on getting the job completed quickly, without considering any other issues.  Others rehash old mistakes, and ruminate about them.  Still others become highly emotional, reacting strongly to the smallest provocation.

What can cause this stress for ENTJs?  Feeling powerless to make changes or influence others can do it.  So can losing control over their feelings and how they react to other people.  If an ENTJ feels he or she is no longer connected to his or her internal sense of competence, stress can result.  Finally, if an ENTJ is hesitant about moving forward and taking advantage of opportunities, he or she can feel stress.

 

About the Strong Interest Inventory: In-Depth Look at Conventional Types

This time we'll look more closely at Conventional types.  First, let's consider jobs.  As discussed in previous newsletters, Conventional types prefer to work with data in an orderly, systematic, and explicit way, such as keeping records.  They dislike ambiguous, exploratory, or unsystematic activities.  They often have clerical, computational, and business system abilities, and are least likely to have Artistic competencies.

Conventional types tend to value business and economic achievement.  Many believe becoming an expert in finance or business, having a comfortable life, and working a lot are all valuable goals.  Usually, they prefer to work within an organization's structure.  Their values often include traditional virtues, as well as ambition, politeness, and obedience.  Conventional types tend to have a very closed belief system.  They find being forgiving or imaginative less important than other values.

The self-image of Conventional types includes the ideas of being conforming and orderly.  They often have good numerical and clerical skills.  They consider themselves good at business, but weak in the arts.  They often enjoy record keeping and doing computational work.  Conventional types tend to have low self-esteem.

Some adjectives used to describe this type include thorough, efficient, methodical, persistent, careful, conscientious, practical, inflexible, dogmatic, conforming, thrifty, and inhibited.

As before, it's common for people to be a combination of more than one type.  No description will match everyone.  There are likely to be aspects of the above Conventional types will disagree with.  Each person has to decide for him- or herself which parts are accurate.

 

The FIRO-B: Leadership Patterns - Expressed Behavior

This issue we'll look at how your total Expressed Behavior score might affect your leadership style in regards to your visibility within the group.

If your total Expressed Behavior score is in the range from 0 – 9, it's possible you might initiate conversations, then let others take over, or wait to speak until the others have given their input.  Some people with scores in this range arrange for others to introduce topics at meetings so they won't have to do it themselves.  If so, you might get complaints from the group that you don't show enough initiative with your team.  You might need to get direction from a colleague about how much input you're required to give, or how much you can delegate to others.  In the latter case, you might assign topics to individuals ahead of time, then put it on your meeting agenda.

If your total Expressed Behavior is between 10 – 19, you might find you look for a balance between exploring new topics and discussing current business.  You might carefully consider when to initiate action and when to let the team do so.  You might have clear ideas of what's important for the team, and yet let the team discuss issues they want to address.  One result might be that team members will complain you start and stop too much, or hesitate too often.  They might get the feeling you are testing them.  Instead, you can encourage the team to explore new topics or use an outside facilitator to experiment with new ways to discuss issues.

Finally, if your score is in the high range, over 19, you probably feel comfortable suggesting many different topics for discussion, freely express your opinion, jumping right into the conversation, and trying to get the team moving into new areas.  Some team members might feel that the team lacks focus, or is too busy to actually get work done.  In such cases, you could consider slowing down the team's pace, or using an agenda to limit the number of items discussed in meetings.  This will also help bring focus to the group's efforts.