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- Which Myers-Briggs® Types Become Musicians and Composers?
- Introducing Two New Myers-Briggs Reports: the Team Report and the Interpretive Report for Organizations
- About the Strong Interest Inventory®: What's the Leadership Style Scale?
- The FIRO-B™ Leadership Report: How You Work in Teams
- Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode (TKI): What's Good About Compromising?
- Group Testing
- Have Brian Speak to Your Group
Many people have a creative side. Some use their talents in their avocations, while others practice them as a profession. Musicians and composers are both quite creative and expressive people. Who do you think winds up in these jobs?
The data from one research study show a definite pattern in those who choose these professions.
First, it's important to remember that all types were represented in the sample of 136 people. While it's true some types are far more frequent than others, if your type infrequently chooses a profession YOU can still do it. In other words, avoid letting a small number or percentage keep you away from something you're interested in. If it feels good, do it!
The largest group in this sample was ENFPs, with around 17%. It's not surprising. Many artistic people are Feelers, particularly Intuitive Feelers. The second largest group was ENFJs at 11%, while INFPs made up 9.6% of the sample.
The smallest groups were ISFPs, with about 1.5%, and ESTPs and ISTPs, both with 2.2%.
Some interesting patterns emerge from these data. Surprisingly, Extraverts outnumbered Introverts 60% to 40%. Intuitives were more common than Sensors, 65% to 35%, Feelers over Thinkers 63% to 37%, and Judgers more than Perceivers 52% to 48%. Again, while ENFPs were the largest group, the sample was slightly slanted towards ENFJ.
The subgroups are also interesting. Intuitive Feelers made up 42% of the total, while Sensor Thinkers were about 13%. Extraverted Feelers came in at 43%, while Extraverted Thinkers were 18% of the sample. Extraverted Intuitives were about 38%, and Introverted Sensors close to 12%. In each of these examples, the combinations were the highest and lowest in the pairings.
Each subgroup above has a descriptor. The Intuitive Feelers are called the "intuitive and insightful types." They seem to be attracted to music. Sensor Thinkers are known as "the practical and matter-of-fact types," and tend to be less attracted to music. Extraverted Feelers are "action-oriented cooperators," while Extraverted Thinkers are described as "action-oriented thinkers." It would appear they have less interest in music than the former group. Finally, Extraverted Intuitives are called "action-oriented innovators" and Introverted Sensors "thoughtful realists." Again, the latter group appears to be less attracted to music, although every type is represented.
Remember: if you enjoy music, it doesn't matter what your type is. If you want to be a musician, go for it. Statistics and studies tell us a great deal about how groups behave, but nothing about how any individual will act.
Source: Atlas of Type Tables
Take the Myers-Briggs now.
Take the Myers-Briggs Step II (20 subscales) now.
Take the Myers-Briggs Career Report (50 most and 25 least popular careers) now.
Introducing Two New Myers-Briggs Reports: the Team Report and the Interpretive Report for Organizations
There are two additional ways for you to learn more about yourself and others. The Team Report is designed for groups of 3 to 64 people who work together. A composite team "personality" is created. Each person gets an individual report, showing how he or she fits in and mismatches the group. There's a group and individual action plan to overcome potential team weaknesses. You'll learn about the team's conflict management and problem solving styles. This is a great tool for getting concrete information about your team's make up. Each set of Team Reports comes with a Workshop Leader's Guide and a Type Table. Some companies who have used this report include Bank of America, Merck, and Dow Chemical. Click here to go to the Team Report page.
The second new report is the Interpretive Report for Organizations. Despite the long name, this report is full of useful information for those looking for more job satisfaction. The report describes how your type fits into an organization, discusses problem solving, communication, and learning styles, and dealing with stress. There's a great section on how to structure your work environment so it fits you better. You'll learn about leadership style, how you contribute to an organization, potential pitfalls, and suggestions for development. Click here to go to the Organization Report page.
This is a new scale in the latest version of the Strong. It shows whether you prefer to direct, persuade, or lead others versus leading by example or doing things on your own rather than telling someone else to do so.
There are correlations between this scale and the Myers-Briggs Extraversion - Introversion scale. Those who score towards the directs others pole are likely to be Extraverts, and score higher on the Enterprising Basic Interest Scales, particularly the Public Speaking, Law/Politics, and Organizational Management scales. The opposite is also true: those who score towards the leads by example pole tend to be Introverts, and have low scores on these scales.
In college, those who prefer the directs others pole tend to study subjects such as journalism, social sciences, law, and history. Those who prefer the leads by example pole tend to study the machine trades, physical sciences, mathematics, biological sciences, and agriculture.
Here are some jobs for those who prefer the directs others pole: Broadcaster, Corporate Trainer, Elected Public Official, High School Counselor, Minister, and Public Administrator. In contrast, jobs at the leads by example end of the spectrum include Auto Mechanic, Chemist, Farmer, Mathematician, Physicist, and Plumber.
Once again, be careful about choosing an occupation based on your score on this scale. Avoid using your score as an excuse or reason to do something. If you scored towards the directs others pole, you can still be an auto mechanic, for example. Likewise, if you came out near the leads by example pole, you can still study law. In many occupations, there is a wide range of role you can take regarding leadership. You might be a team leader who does the same work as everyone else, or you might be an executive over thousands of others.
If you'd like to learn more about your own career interests and how they compare to those who enjoy their jobs, you can take your Strong online now by clicking on the link below.
The FIRO-B Leadership Report combines the results from the Myers-Briggs and the FIRO-B to give us a more complete picture of the person. Many times the leadership role requires us to take actions that might not be our first instinct or pattern. This report is designed to uncover those areas where you might have blind spots.
Anyone in a leadership position will have to work with other people. The report has a section called "Working with Groups and Other Leaders." The first subsection is called "How You Work in a Team." This part is based entirely on your FIRO-B results and not the Myers-Briggs type.
The report details the three behaviors Inclusion, Control, and Affection and how you express these needs with a team. For example, those who score High on Expressed and Wanted Inclusion frequently want to express their opinions, join in discussions, maintain a high profile in the group, acknowledge the strengths of team members, and produce highly visible results.
In contrast, those who score low on Expressed and Wanted Affection often prefer teams where there is no pressure on them to build consensus, offer personal guidance, work intensely for many hours at a time, or have frequent contact with other team members.
What about those cases when a person scores high on Expressed but low on Wanted, or vice versa? Usually, this means the person wants to have the opportunity to express those behaviors but doesn't want to feel pressure to accept those same behaviors from other team members. For example, someone who is high on Expressed Control may want to set the activities and goals for the team. At the same time, if this person were low on Wanted Control, he or she would be less likely to accept the same behavior from others on the team.
Another interesting aspect of this subsection is there are only two possible states: high and low. 0-4 is considered low. 5 and above is high. There are only two possibilities here because we are talking about two conditions: initiating or receiving behavior, so there's no need for medium.
Many people discover there is a gap or difference between what they want from the team and how they want to participate. This information can be quite useful for those struggling with team building or leadership development. The insights from this report make it easier to understand the forces at work and how to create more effective leaders.
If you'd like to learn about your own leadership style, you can take the FIRO-B Leadership test online now by clicking on the link below.
Source: Coach's Guide, The Leadership Report, 1999
When people read the results of the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI), they can reach the conclusion that compromising is the best style. In fact, each of the 5 styles works well in some situations and poorly in others. The skill is to know when to use each style.
Compromising can help move things along. When two parties disagree, splitting the difference often makes quick work of the hurdles stopping agreements. Each person gives up something and each person gains something, so folks believe they've been treated fairly. Many people consider this style to be quite pragmatic. It gets the best possible results from what's available. Others note that meeting people halfway helps keep important relationships intact. Few people will walk away from such an agreement feeling like they've been taken advantage of.
Here are some areas where this style can be used: if you're under time pressure to make a decision, when two parties of equal importance are facing a win-lose situation, and when being more assertive would harm the relationship. One method to use for compromising is to make partial concessions. You give up something in the negotiations, then wait for the other party to do the same. You'll want to insist on fairness. It's best if you can agree at the beginning of any negotiations that both sides will consider what's fair for the other. Trying to be objective and gathering facts beforehand will make this part of the process go more smoothly.
As with each of the styles, there are some potential disadvantages to this system. For example, because both sides give up something, it's possible some real concerns will not be taken care of, or the issue won't truly be resolved, leaving residual frustration that can come back. Further, compromising might not lead to the best solution to the problem. It might be quicker, but will it be better than longer, more concerted negotiations? It's also true that the numbers on the paper might not be the real issue. You might reach agreement on the surface, neglecting the feelings and beliefs of those involved. It's important to avoid appearing weak when offering a compromise to the other party. If the others are still trying to compete, they might decide to wait and see what else you'll offer. Instead, you might ask if they agree you've reached an impasse and a new strategy is called for.
Naturally, it's easier to give up small things than large. Remember, if the issue is vital to you or your organization, compromise won't work. Ethical issues are one example of an area that can't be resolved by compromising. We've seen companies who apparently did so and the resulting trouble it caused.
To be sure you're not taken advantage of, make sure both sides take turns bearing small costs. Examples include taking turns paying for lunch, meeting at the other person's office, or car pooling. As long as both sides feel the other is being fair, the system can work well.
We'll discuss more about conflict styles in the next issue.
To learn about your own conflict management style, you can take the TKI online now by clicking on the link below.
Source: Introduction to Conflict Management by K.W. Thomas, 2002
As some of you know, it's easy to test your group online. There is a discount for groups over 10 people. We can set you up and have your people take their tests in a short while. Their results will come via e-mail, as for regular clients. If you'd like to find out more, just send an e-mail with the number of people and which test(s) you'd like. Write to or call (858) 571-3931. Past clients have included Bank of America, Sara Lee, Kaiser Permanente, and others.
You might be looking for a speaker or trainer for your next conference or workshop. Why not have a presentation about personality types, conflict styles, leadership, or team building? Include testing your group online as part of your program. This month I'll be presenting information about Myers-Briggs, personality, and work styles at a Federal Emergency Management Agency conference. Call or write to find out how you can have a fun, practical, and insightful presentation for your group. Call (858) 571-3931 or write: