Check out my latest blog post below, or read it here.

Are you a T or an F?

How important is your personality to the success of your business?

Hey there, my fellow business owners, I have a quick question for you today.

Are you a T or an F?

No, this is not some sort of strange True or False Quiz. I’m talking about the Myers-Briggs Personality Types.

Thinking vs Feeling

More specifically, when making decisions, do you focus more on logic (Thinking) or personality (Feeling)? There is no one right answer, but it certainly helps if you understand how your personality traits affect how your run your business with the use of a personality test. If you haven’t taken the Myers-Briggs test before, you can try it out here or here.

While there are plenty of different but similar tests for personality traits (for example, DISC and Big Five/OCEAN or the newer Working Genius assessment), the Myers-Briggs remains one of the most recognizable.

This assessment looks at four different areas to determine your “type”:

• Introvert or Extrovert
• Sensing or Intuition
• Thinking or Feeling
• Judging or Perceiving

As a result of each of these four sets of options, there are sixteen different personality types. There is not one “perfect” type, they all have their strengths and weaknesses.

My Type: INTJ

For example, I am an INTJ (Introverted, iNtuitive, Thinking, Judging). Some of the strengths of this personality type include being logical, rational, analytical, determined, curious and independent. But INTJs also tend to be pessimistic, cynical, overly critical of people and somewhat dismissive of emotions.

And of course, my personality explains much of my career path (statistical analysis, market research) and the fact that I do not do well with what I call “cheerleading” networking groups or training sessions.

At one online workshop I attended, the chat feed was full of messages like:

• “Done is better than perfect!”
• “You’ve got this!”
• “You are powerful!”
• “People don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care!”

Meanwhile I am thinking things like this:

• “Shouldn’t it be both perfect and done?”
• “How do you know if I’m powerful?”
• “Do you have statistical evidence to support that claim?”

Yup, I’m a regular laugh-riot at these inspirational online chats. People can’t get enough of my supportive and light-hearted chatter. (Did I mention INTJs are known for their “sarcastic sense of humor”?)

Balancing Strengths and Weaknesses

And that’s why it’s important to understand your type and where your strengths and blind spots lie. That way you can play to your strengths while finding strategies – or partners – to balance out the weaknesses.

For those of you who run your own business, it might be beneficial to seek out others who have different personality traits to your own to be sure you have a well-balanced group of business partners.

Take introverts and extroverts: many engineering or technical fields are filled with introverts, which doesn’t always translate into strong sales skills. If you are deeply introverted, it may help to partner with someone who loves networking – or, at a minimum, learn how to channel your “inner extrovert” when it matters most.

There are plenty of successful business owners who lean toward being an introvert, but they know they have to shake some hands, show up at events, and talk to people if they want to actually grow their business.

Thinking vs Feeling in Business

So, let me get back to my original question – T or F. As with the Introvert/Extrovert situation, many Thinking people are in technical, scientific or analytical fields where truth and data and logic prevail – while their fellow Feeling associates tend to prefer work with a focus on communication and working with people.

And here lies the rub. To run your own business, you need to consider the value of both sides – thinking and feeling.

If you lean too far into Thinking, you might alienate people, including potential employees or customers. You may be too focused on the task or the project at hand, and not enough on the personality of the people you’re working with, or for. You might focus so much on data and logic that you forget about tact, empathy or the emotional side of decision-making. This doesn’t lead to a successful, growing business.

If you lean too far into Feeling, you risk making choices based on emotion, without enough attention to data, financials or logical trade-offs. You may be more focused on how you feel or how the decision affects the feelings of others, rather than the outcome.

As a business owner myself, I struggle to keep this balance in mind (see my “chat” comments above for evidence). Striking a balance between thinking and feeling is the real key.

Lessons Learned

I learned this early in my career. In my very first performance review out of college (as a Statistical Data Analyst), my boss told me I was “too business-like” and that I needed to learn to be more personable. At the time, I was offended. I thought, ‘He’s telling me that I should be wasting my valuable time chatting with co-workers without any goal or accomplishment in mind? What’s the point of that if it doesn’t advance my progress?’

Now, years later, I understand the value of building rapport and not assuming everyone is convinced by a chart alone. And jumping right to the goal of a meeting without getting to know the others in the meeting is a bad idea.

Even us “T’s” have feelings – and ignoring them can be just as risky as ignoring the data.

Applying Personality Awareness

As you interact with partners, co-workers, employees, suppliers, and customers, think about their personality type as well as your own.

• If you’re an extrovert working with an introvert, adjust your tone and pace to make them more comfortable.
• If you’re a feeler selling to a thinker/engineer, lean on facts and logic rather than enthusiasm alone.

The better you understand yourself and others, the more effective you’ll be at assigning roles, building teams, and communicating in ways that stick.

Final Thought

I’ll never be the kind of business owner who builds her brand around glamour shots and heart emojis, like an Instagram Influencer who can’t wait to meet all her adoring followers at some big gathering. That’s just not me.

But I do recognize the importance of showing that my analytical skills are paired with a true passion for helping small businesses grow. I love helping business owners find new ways to connect, scale and shape a successful future for their companies.

Their success is my success. Just don’t expect me to measure that with emojis!

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