The Myers Briggs Type Indicator™

Overview of MBTI Step 1

The MBTI is a self-reporting personality inventory, designed to help individuals understand themselves. It helps people understand their natural preferences, motivations, and potential areas for growth. It helps in understanding others, particularly those with different types.

The MBTI is my favourite assessment for helping individuals learn about themselves. It helps to identify preferences in 4 areas:

• How am I around people?
• How do I prefer to gather information
• How do I make decisions?
• What sort of lifestyle is best for me?

There is a strong research background to this assessment. As a Chartered Psychologist I wouldn’t use anything that had not been well researched. The MBTI is based on the work of mother and daughter Katherine Briggs and Elizabeth Briggs-Myers. Today the MBTI is one of the most widely used tools for self-awareness. It has been translated into several languages and is used to help people in career choices, in relationship and family counselling, in team development and executive coaching.

The MBTI describes an individuals personality preferences on 4 dimensions:

• Extraversion – prefers to gain energy from the outside world of activity, people and things OR Introversion – prefers to gain energy from the inner world of reflections, feelings and ideas
• Sensing – Prefers to focus on information gained from the senses and on practical applications OR Intuition – prefers to focus on patterns, connections and possible meanings
• Thinking – prefers to make judgements on logic and objective analysis OR Feeling – prefers to base decsions on values and what is important to people
• Judging – likes a planned and organised approach to life and to make decisions OR Perceiving – likes a flexible, spontaneous approach and prefers to keep options open

Taking the MBTI will help you to understand your natural preferences, motivations and potential for growth. You will find out why you get on well with some people, but with others things don’t go smoothly; learn how to enhance relationships, improve your leadership and your communication skills. Understand how you make decisions and how this may differ from others and create a personal development plan.

More information on the MBTI Step 1

The MBTI doesn’t measure, but sorts, and sorts people into 16 types based on how they fall on the 4 scales, for example ISTJ and ENFP.

Who should take the MBTI?

• People interested in personal development who want to understand themselves more.
• People who want to be more effective when working with others.
• Career changers to get ideas for future career options.

What’s included and costs

• Everything you need to take the assessment on line
• Downloadable full colour report
• Additional reference booklet: MBTI Explored to help you get a deeper understanding of the assessment. This 17 page guide helps you to make sense of your results, and in particular how to improve your relationships with others. There is a comprehensive discussion of all the MBTI scales so you will be clear on the differences between Introversion and Extraversion; Sensing and Intuition; Thinking and Feeling; and Judging and Perception. It also helps you to make sure that the MBTI reported type – created via the on line questionnaire does fit right for you. You will complete a verification exercise and should the results differ, receive an explanation that relates to your verified type.
• Personal feedback discussion

To buy: £95.  Please choose required report using the links below

MBTI Step 1: The classic assessment

Choose this to get an accurate assessment of your MBTI type.

For £95 you get to take the Step 1 assessment, receive your chosen report, have a feedback discussion with Denise. Plus you also get an additional reference booklet- the 17 page eBook MBTI explored. You choose between the following reports:

• MBTI Interpretive report – Choose this if you want to understand more about MBTI type, without needing a particular work perspective.
• MBTI Interpretive report for organisations - For people who want to understand and enhance their performance at work.
• MBTI Career report – If your goal is help in identifying alternative careers then choose the career report.

MBTI Step 2: The in-depth assessment

you might also like to consider the MBTI Step 2: The in-depth interpretive assessment.

If you want to have a real depth to your understanding you can take the expanded version of the MBTI. This provides you with your step 1 results plus details on the 5 sub scales (facets) for each of the MBTI scales – an enormous amount of material for self understanding and for personal development.

The MBTI step 2 assessment and report cost £140, including VAT. You also get a telephone feedback discussion and an additional reference booklet- the 17 page eBook MBTI explored.

You can also take the MBTI alongside the Strong and get a combined report in addition to the 2 individual reports. If you request this when you order it will be at just an extra £25.

How do I buy it? What happens next?

1. Choose which report from the list above.
2. Make payment via paypal or using the worldpay secured server. You will promptly receive an e-mail with a link to the assessment and full instructions, including user name and password.
3. You complete the assessment on line in the comfort of your own home. Take 20-40 minutes to answer the questions. It’s that simple!
4. All reports are personalised to reflect your responses – you will be sent a report which details your results.
5. Usually within 2-12 hours your report will be sent to you as an Adobe PDF file, at weekends there could be a slight delay.
6. You contact Denise to schedule your discussion.

I’ve got some questions about the MBTI

Who came up with the idea?

The MBTI was developed by the mother/daughter team of Katherine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers over many years, starting in the 1940s. The theory is based on the work of Carl Jung, who wrote a book called “Psychological Types” in 1923.

What does it measure?

Nothing. It’s a sorter, and sorts people into 16 types based on how they fall on four scales.

Will the MBTI reveal my inner secrets?

You don’t need to worry on this. The MBTI asks you about everyday situations. It’s a sorter, and will provide you information on relating to others, how you take in information and make decisions and preferred lifestyle.

Can I lie and cheat on my answers?

Well, you can certainly lie, but there’s no way to cheat, because there’s no score to reach. The only thing you’d accomplish is to get invalid results for yourself. There is the risk that people will answer the questions the way they WANT to be or think they SHOULD be, versus how they really are. Again, that will only make your results sound like someone other than you.

What are the scales?

The four scales are Extraversion/Introversion, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling, and Judging/Perceiving. The sorter indicates which end of the four scales you prefer, leading to your four letter type.

What do the scales mean?

The Extraversion/Introversion scale describes how people get their energy, the Sensing/Intuition scale shows how people take in information about the world around them, the Thinking/Feeling scale indicates how people make decisions, and the Judging/Perceiving scale describes the lifestyle preferences people have.

Does the MBTI measure skills and abilities?

No. It indicates preferences and reveals nothing about skills or abilities. I use an example of signing your name. Each of us has a preferred hand for writing. We can use the other hand, but it feels odd, awkward, and uncomfortable. The same is true on the four scales. We prefer one end of each scale over the other. Like our hands, we use both sides every day. Yet one hand is our dominant hand. The MBTI helps us discover more about our dominant preferences.

Are some types better than others?

There are no good or bad types. Each has its strengths and potential weaknesses. Each type will react differently to different circumstances. In some situations, certain types will have an advantage. In others situations, those same types could be a liability. For example, the ability to concentrate can be quite useful. However, if you can concentrate too well, you might end up ignoring important people or information in your environment.

Will knowing about psychological type help me at work?

It can be very helpful to understand people who are different from yourself and can help reduce the risk of conflict and improve relationships. I use this extensively with teams including Browne Jackobson law firm and Mercer Consulting.

How can I choose between this and the Strong Interest Inventory?

These are different assessments. The Strong assesses your interests and the MBTI is a personality measure. In combination they provide great detail to make a career decision, but the best assessment of all is the Highlands Ability Battery which measures abilities, what your natural talents are, not self report.

You can take the Strong Interest Inventory alongside the MBTI and get a combined report in addition to the two individual reports. It’s just an extra £15 if you tell me you are taking both when you order.

Any further questions? Do contact Denise