Working with Your Opposite Personality Type

Okay, let’s face it. Sometimes, our opposite personality types can drive us nuts.

They do things differently than we do.  Their styles may clash with ours.  The way they work can lead us to feel anxious. If we like to get pieces done early, we can feel nervous when a coworker is delaying to the last second to start. If we like to know just the big picture, someone diving deep into the weeds can be irritating and seem irrelevant.

So what do we do?

1. We first need to understand that our opposite personality types are probably not trying to annoy us.  They are doing things in their own default way, just like we do things in our own default way.

2. It’s important to remember that each personality type has their own strengths and weaknesses and that all types are equal.  If we stop comparing and condemning those who are different than us, we can start to value them more.

3. One of the cool things about working with an opposite type is that you guys can cover each other’s blindspots.  That means less mistakes are made, more innovation takes place, and eventually, you guys will be cranking out much better work than each of you could do alone.  Celebrate that the differences lead you to succeed.

4. See if you can create a barter system.  If there is something you do much better than they do (e.g. details), offer to do that work for them in exchange for something they do better than you (e.g. big picture).  The barter will help each of you to get way more done in less time.

5. When you are around your opposite type, get curious and observe.  See how they do things and learn a new way to do it.  You may never master their way of doing it, but it could make the way you do things better.

6. Studies show that the more diverse a team is, the more likely they are to succeed.  Accept the challenge of working with someone whose personality type is different than yours and figure out how to work better together.  For example, if you are a J and want work done early and you are paired with a P who wants to be inspired near the deadline, break down the task into meaningful milestones with hard deadlines for each piece.  The hard deadlines will help the P’s get inspired more, and the deadlines will ensure that you, as a J, are not getting anxious as the deadline is approaching. If you fight for win-wins rather than engaging in deadlock, you’ll find them, and your team will benefit from it.

Chew On This:

• When have you seen opposite personality types succeeding together?

• How can you build a relationship with a person who is different from you so you can really get them?

• What needs to happen for you to enjoy the differences between you and your opposite type?

Ryan C. Bailey & Associates is an organizational effectiveness firm focused on equipping leaders to develop in-demand high-performing teams to increase the health and effectiveness of the greater organization.

*This blog is an amalgamation of a few different clients.  No client is being singled out.

6 Ideas for Using Myers-Briggs Outside of the Workplace

After we’ve completed a Myers-Briggs training with a team or department, the emails that come in after the training usually have way more to do with relationships outside of work than inside of work.  People want to understand their spouses, children, and friends way more.

That’s a great sign!  What you learn professionally can help personally, and what you learn personally can help professionally.  We encourage Myers-Briggs in both spheres.

If you want to use Myers-Briggs more in your personal life, one of the first things we usually recommend is to ask openly if the personal relationship (spouse, child, friend) is willing to take a Myers-Briggs test.  Of course, the real version is the most accurate and gives the most tailored information, but sites like truity.com or 16personalities.com can also be very helpful, especially if the person is able to identify that their description fits them with over 80% accuracy.

Hopefully, they will share their report with you, and you can share your report with them.  Talking through each other’s strengths and weaknesses will help us understand each other better.

Now look at the relationship.  How can you strengthen what is going really well by using more of what comes naturally to each of you because of your personality type?  Focusing on the strengths will help bring the relationship to a new level.

As you read each others’ personality types, make a list of the things that could be or have been obstacles to a great, close relationship (i.e unresolved conflicts, things we don’t like about the other, etc.).  If you see those traits in the description, note that they are not trying to annoy you or hurt you, but rather they are acting from their default.  Sometimes knowing that leads to forgiveness, which clears the obstacles immediately.

As you interact, see if there are ways to feed the other’s personality strengths.  So for example, ENFPs are excellent communicators.  Asking them about what matters to them will lead them to talk more, and they naturally get excited more.  This will enhance your relationship with them, because they can tell that you care enough to ask.

You can also help each other contain your weaknesses.  For example, ENFPs are notorious for not being organized.  If one of your strengths is organizing or if you do it better than they do, you can offer to help organize things while they help you with one of your weaknesses.  This leads each of you to appreciate the differences between you so much better.  It also is a way to show them compassion and understanding while being flexible.

Chew On This:

• Which personal relationship do you currently most want to improve?

• If you could wave a magic wand, what would this relationship look like to you and to the other person? What is missing that you want to explore using Myers-Briggs?

Ryan C. Bailey & Associates is an organizational effectiveness firm focused on equipping leaders to develop in-demand high-performing teams to increase the health and effectiveness of the greater organization.

*This blog is an amalgamation of a few different clients.  No client is being singled out.

Creating Trust 101

Trust is the assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.

It gets developed over time, but it gets developed faster when we see each other in different contexts.  Trust happens through being predictable and vulnerable.

• Being predictable to others comes from them understanding how we are wired and by them knowing our stories.  Our personality profiles show them some of this.  When appropriate, giving small snippets of our stories helps them to “get” us.

• Being vulnerable is about taking a risk to be real.  It is about taking that risk with wisdom and expressing ourselves in a way that demonstrates higher emotional intelligence.  It is also about not manipulating or having a hidden agenda.  You being willing to just be you - warts and all - goes a long way to being vulnerable.

A lot of the battle in building trust happens just by consistently showing up.  This means having integrity, owning our mistakes, and initiating conversations.  Being dependable, prompt, and respecting them really helps.

Connecting to others also builds trust.  This is especially true when they seem down.  Just the fact that you noticed and asked about it often increases trust.

When a team wins together, they start to trust each other even more.  Teams that win together understand what makes one another tick, and they feed that to each other.

Being quick to resolve conflict and not let any bitterness build up is invaluable to the trust process.  If you can show others that you are fighting for them when there is tension or outright conflict, you can show them that you respect and dignify them as a person.

Asking your leaders/direct reports about what led them to trust others also gives vital clues as to how to build trust with them.

Some signs that show that a leader trusts you include:

• They are not micromanaging you

• They are giving you more tasks that have impact

• They are giving you more information

• They’re increasing the amount of challenge in your tasks themselves

Some signs that show that a direct report trusts you include:

• They don’t doubt you

• They turn to you when they need answers

• They’re vulnerable and open with you

• They listen to you and respect you

Chew On This:

• Think about someone you trust deeply.  What helped you build trust with them?

• Who on your team do you need to grow trust with?

Ryan C. Bailey & Associates is an organizational effectiveness firm focused on equipping leaders to develop in-demand high-performing teams to increase the health and effectiveness of the greater organization.

*This blog is an amalgamation of a few different clients.  No client is being singled out.

9 Steps to Create Team-Focused Goals

Have you ever worked on a team where everyone had goals and ambition, but not in the same direction? Everyone put in 200% effort, but you might have felt like the team was going nowhere because people were pulling away to their own vision, like a tug-of-war.

Have you ever worked on a team where no one had goals? The team maybe seemed to drift purposelessly. Maybe the team would engage and go all-in on emergencies. But aside from those, you weren’t really sure why you were on a team in the first place.

On fun-filled, high-performing teams, every member has clear, team-focused goals. When this happens, siloed teams and scattered efforts turn into a unified purpose so that results are gained. Buy-in and motivation are built. Team members are inspired to collaborate and join in sacrificial, uplifting, empowering teamwork. Team-focused goals set clarity, so everyone knows what is the most essential part of their role.

How are your goals looking? If you quizzed a random team member, would that team member know their individual goals off the top of his or her head? Would they be able to say how their individual goals support the team’s goals? Do you have great team-focused goals, but want to make them even stronger still?

Here are 9 steps to creating team-focused goals:

1. First things first.  You need to know what your organization’s goals are.

Companies often have revenue-based organizational goals: “$500M by 20XX” or “expanding to 30 stores nationwide”. Knowing the whole organization’s vision will ensure you’re in step with other departments, leaders, and the organization’s structure as a whole. You won’t be growing out of step with the rest of the organization.

2. Then you need to know your team’s role in achieving those goals.

How is your team designed to assist the organizational goal? Do you play support for the main revenue generators? Or are you on the frontlines, making the sales yourself? Do you manage and coordinate those who do? Do you set vision for the whole organization?

This may seem basic, but if you don’t nail these first two steps, you can easily get off course.

3. Next, you need to make sure you have the right players on the team. 

As much as we might want everyone to stay on our team, if we don’t have the right mix of expertise and personality types to achieve our team and organizational goals, the team won’t move to high performing levels.

We often see companies move slow on those who perform well but bring in extremely negative levels of health and teamwork. They may score points now, but can you keep growing with that person on board? If you know at your heart that the answer is no, don’t wait until it’s too late. The longer you wait, the more influence and control that misfitted team member gains. We hate seeing clients who have to haggle with powerful team members to avoid losing sales, other team members, or both.

In some cases, you might not have the authority to choose who is on your team. In that case, step 4 is even more essential. You need to be responsible for exemplifying health and being the right player yourself.

4. Once we’ve got a full roster of strong players, we need to make sure that every team member is working from a place of high Emotional Intelligence.

This means knowing your own emotions, managing your emotions, picking up on others’ emotions on the fly, and influencing others’ emotions for win-wins.  Even if our team members are still working to lift their overall EQ scores, they can adopt high EQ behaviors that lead to the good of the team. For more on how to do this, you can read Emotional Intelligence 2.0.

5. Now team members need role clarity.

Each individual should be able to name what role they play in achieving their team’s and organization’s goals.  This helps everyone get on the same page.  If possible, it’s also extremely helpful for the team to develop a single-statement unified purpose that helps them achieve both goals.

6. With an understanding of their specific roles, the team can look at performance goals.

What numbers does your team need to hit in order for the organization to achieve its targets? Also, what developmental goals does the team need to hit in order for the organization to achieve its targets?

7. Now look at the team’s personality type map.

Whether the team has a strong diversity of personalities or not, you want to look at the strengths of the overall team.  What does each person do that is better than average?  Add in those pieces.  Ask yourselves how this specific team will accomplish its team and organizational goals.  Then map out a plan of action for each person.

8. Each team member needs to be focused on systems, not on goals from here on out.

In other words, what incremental, long-lasting changes can they make to work towards their goal?  Even if it’s just a 1% improvement, if everyone is making improvements, things really add up fast!  For more on this, read Atomic Habits.

9. Part of the process will be the need to review and refine.

Scheduling time to check in according to what each team member needs and/or wants will help the overall team to far exceed expectations.

Chew On This:

• Are your goals currently team-focused? If not, which of the 9 steps above can you use to update them?

Ryan C. Bailey & Associates is an organizational effectiveness firm focused on equipping leaders to develop in-demand high-performing teams to increase the health and effectiveness of the greater organization.

*This blog is an amalgamation of a few different clients.  No client is being singled out.

10 of the Easiest Ways to Use Myers-Briggs in Your Team

Myers-Briggs is an incredibly useful and popular personality assessment. 89 of Fortune 100 companies use it! Introducing Myers-Briggs to your team can help boost trust, communication, and productivity. But we know that the personality system can seem like a lot to digest at first. (“What does T stand for again? What type am I again?!”)

We want to make things simple. Here are our top 10 easiest ways to use Myers-Briggs in your team:

1. First off, before you can work with your team’s personality, you need to know your team’s personality types.  You can have members take the official Global MBTI Step II through Ryan C Bailey & Associates. If you’re interested in this, contact us!

2. If you want to save the expense, you can also get general information about their personality type by getting their personality results from truity.com’s or 16personalities.com’s version of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

3. Then once you know their type, you can always Google someone’s personality type and what you want to know about them.  Myers-Briggs is the world’s most researched personality assessment, so you will almost always find what you want to know.  For example, you can search:

   1. “How to work best with an ENFP”

   2. “What helps an ISTJ boss”

4. You can also just observe someone.  Staying curious and asking questions will lead you to naturally understand someone better.

   1. What stands out to you about them?

   2. What do they do the same way over and over again?

   3. What’s their story?

   4. How did they get to this job?

5. Even better, you can ask your team member to tell you: “When was a time you felt incredibly energized?  What led you to become so energized?”  Their story often gives the best and most tailored ways to know how to energize them in the future.

6. Once you know their type, you can also look at what motivates them by reading the Business Insider article “How to Manage Every Personality Type”.

7. We have a one-page template that gives specific clues on how to energize your team.  You can ask your team members to complete the template and then reference it every time you meet with them.  Again, please contact us if you’d like to use our template!

8. You can also leverage a team member’s personality by learning about their ideal role and then creating ways to help them stretch and reach their potential, according to their personality.  Consider these questions:

   1. Do you know what each team members’ ideal role is?

   2. Do you know what are the most important skills they need to have to get to that role?

   3. How can they master those skills?

9. We are big believers in going all-in on strengths to create the most growth.  You can ask: “How can they take their greatest strength and move it up another notch?”  For example, my dad wanted us Bailey kids to be more efficient, so he taught us how to save 6 seconds in the way we cut up our apples into smaller bits.

10. Learning how to contain weaknesses is also super helpful. For example, I am not as detail-oriented as I’d like to be yet. One way to contain that is by asking someone who is detail-oriented to review my completed work and help me spot anything I missed. Know that it takes way longer to grow a weakness than it does to master a strength. If I contain the weaknesses while mastering my strengths, that will lead my strengths to shine even more to the point where they also cover some of my weaknesses.

Chew On This:

• How will you use Myers-Briggs to grow your team?

Ryan C. Bailey & Associates is an organizational effectiveness firm focused on equipping leaders to develop in-demand high-performing teams to increase the health and effectiveness of the greater organization.

*This blog is an amalgamation of a few different clients.  No client is being singled out.

Giving Negative Feedback Can Be a Positive Experience: Here's How

Whenever we give negative feedback, we rely on what we believe about the person receiving the feedback.

If we don’t like them, if we don’t believe they are the right person for the job, if we are judging them, that will show up during the feedback meeting (subtly or obviously) - and can lead to unwanted consequences.  If, however, we believe in them, have established a trusting relationship with them, and desire their growth, then we can communicate feedback in positive ways.  A key first step: decide what you truly believe about the person receiving your feedback.

Next, ask them about their perspective before you share your feedback.  Listen to their side.  Get curious.  Ask questions.  Make it a dialogue.  Make sure you are exercising high emotional intelligence so the person feels respected as you listen.  Talk through their decision-making steps, the “why” behind what they do.  Exemplify vulnerability by sharing your own mistakes and being genuine.  Foster trust.  Empathize.

Next, we need to take personality type into consideration.

• Feelers tend to globalize criticism until they know that they’re in harmony with the person giving the feedback.  Talk about how, if they change, they will make a positive impact on their people. Add a statement to a Feeler like, “I am for you and want to help...  Are there any obstacles...?”

• Thinkers tend to get defensive when they believe their competency is being attacked or questioned.  Show them how they are valuable, then give direct, fact-based, fair insights that will show them how to improve. It might be, “You bring value, and I know you have expertise...  Are there any obstacles...?”

• Sensors may want more detail.

• iNtuitives may want you to focus more on the big picture.

Let’s bring these tips together and look at an example:

What was said:

“You haven’t met your targets. I’m concerned it is going to drag down the team’s performance.”

What it could be replaced with:

“You haven’t met your targets, but I know how hard you have been working. Are there any obstacles in your way that I can help with?”

If you notice in the second version, the speaker was clear about what was off.  They spotted the good in the situation.  And they asked a question that showed they support the one receiving the feedback, in a way that also opened up a conversation.

These additions will help the negative feedback to be received as a positive and constructive growth experience.  You’ll motivate the person to make changes, rather than discourage them.

Now, if the person has no desire to change, then this experience will not go well.  In that case, future steps may need to be taken.  The important piece is that you’ve done everything on your side to promote the desire to change.

Chew On This:

• Think of a person you need to give feedback to. What do you believe about the person receiving your feedback?  What parts of your belief are off?

• What specifically needs to change?

• What’s one key evidence you have of the undesired behavior?

• What are they doing well?

• What’s the opening paragraph you want to convey to the person that will help them to see that you are for them and want to help them grow?

Ryan C. Bailey & Associates is an organizational effectiveness firm focused on equipping leaders to develop in-demand high-performing teams to increase the health and effectiveness of the greater organization.

*This blog is an amalgamation of a few different clients.  No client is being singled out.

Blog Bite: 3 Elements at the Core of Clear Deadlines

Have you ever worked on a task that felt like 100% busywork?  Tasks that aren’t connected to goals can drain even the most self-motivated person.  If you want high levels of buy-in and drive on your team, you’ll need to tie your team’s deadlines and expectations to a unified purpose.

Team members also need to understand how they work best and how the teams under them work best.  Breaking down tasks into smaller chunks will work for many personality types.  But some may want to see all of the work to complete at once.  To keep passion flowing, learn how to motivate each personality type.

Lastly, honestly communicate so that refinements can be made and progress can be tracked. The way you’ll get buy-in for your deadlines and expectations will vary from person to person. That’s why having a system to reflect and review what’s working and what isn’t is key.

Chew On This:

• How does your team make a deadline clear?

• How about an expectation?  How are expectations made clear?

• How does your team communicate deadlines and expectations?

• How do you reinforce this communication to each individual on the team according to their personality type?

• What motivates each personality type on the team to complete tasks?

Ryan C. Bailey & Associates is an organizational effectiveness firm focused on equipping leaders to develop in-demand high-performing teams to increase the health and effectiveness of the greater organization.

*This blog is an amalgamation of a few different clients.  No client is being singled out.

Blog Bite: What Is Guided Team/Group Coaching?

Both Team coaching and Group coaching are fantastic and super effective.  However, there is a drawback.  Coaching works best when the client has data inside of them, and the coach can help draw out that information in a plain, easy-to-act-on manner.

But what happens when the client lacks the expertise?  

Typically, a coach might help the client wrestle out how they can get expertise.  Then other topics are discussed for the rest of the coaching session.

But sometimes, clients are super busy.  Some clients are not sure which knowledge sources to trust.  Some don’t like to read or research.  And some may be really new to leadership and don’t have a basis for knowing what information will work for them.

When that happens, Guided Team Coaching (GTC) or Guided Group Coaching (GGC) is a great solution.

The way the GTC/GCC process works is: a team/group decides what topic they want to discuss.  If the coach has expertise on that subject or knows how to get to expert sources, the coach puts the information together and sends the team/group an article of highlights ahead of the next session to stimulate ideas.  Then, all participants can come in and follow standard group coaching techniques.

In other words, the team doesn’t need the expertise; they’ll get the data prior to the session.

If the team/group is short on time and can’t prepare beforehand, a coach can synthesize the information into short paragraphs that the team/group reads in the coaching session.  Then the coach will use questions to draw out what was just read, new ideas are inspired from those facts, and the group follows standard coaching techniques in order to support problem-solving and positive action.

GTC and GGC are great tools to both boost learning and application at the same time.

Chew On This:

• In what areas do you not have expert-level knowledge?  What could GTC/GCC do for those areas?

Ryan C. Bailey & Associates is an organizational effectiveness firm focused on equipping leaders to develop in-demand high-performing teams to increase the health and effectiveness of the greater organization.

*This blog is an amalgamation of a few different clients.  No client is being singled out.

7 Steps to Make the Most of Your Team Coaching Experience

Team coaching is a fantastic way for a team to build trust, grow faster, and far exceed team goals and higher-ups’ expectations.  To make the most of your team coaching experience, you’ll want to remember these 7 steps:

1. Clear your mind

Team coaching goes best when everyone on the team is fully present and engaged.  Before you get to your team coaching session, perform a brain dump (see step 1 of this article for instructions), turn off all distractions, leave someone in charge to handle anything, and give specific guidance on what constitutes an emergency worthy of pulling you out of the team coaching.  Everyone on the team is extremely valuable for the team coaching engagement to thrive.  So make sure you are all in.

2. Connect with your team before your session

As much as possible, show up early.  Connect to your other team members.  Use high EQ behaviors to foster positivity, a safe environment, and a creative space.  Humor often helps before the team coaching experience starts. Studies have shown that if a team can get into a positive frame of mind, they can come up with more alternative solutions than when they are in a negative space.

3. Hone in on the topic to discuss

Once your team coaching topic is set, you want to hone in.  The time is tight in team coaching, so rabbit trails can detract from the goal.  Plus, team coaching is a resource investment to your team.  You want to stay on topic so your team can receive multiples of their time and money investment.  

When you hone in, focus first on the part you play in resolving the issue, then see how you can add value to others’ parts.

4. Really contribute

Each person in the room is valuable.  So make sure you are contributing for the good of the whole.  That means: don’t dominate the discussion or interrupt people, don’t take up air time to sound smart, do speak up, do take risks, don’t hold back from saying things that may not be quite right but may help the team get closer to a solution.  You are there for a reason.  

5. Invite in the Introverts

Introverts take in more information than extroverts do, so they need more time to process.  They can’t always translate thought to speech as fast as some extroverts do.  That is not an excuse for them not to speak up.  But since they are also slower to interrupt, make sure you say something like, “Anyone else have something to contribute before we move on?”  

6. Brainstorm alternative solutions

Sometimes a solution may seem obvious.  That’s great.  However, you might want to explore alternatives.  So, “If you can’t do this solution, what could you do?”  Just see if elements from the alternative solutions may help with the original solution.  Many times, great ideas come from building on good ideas.

7. Commit to a plan of action

Once a plan is set, immediately commit by seeing what is the first step you need to do or what first step you can do - and do it as soon as possible.  I like to break my responsibility into meaningful steps that I can put on my calendar.  That helps me commit more.

Team coaching is fun, energizing, thought-provoking, stimulating, and effective.  The more you make the most of it, the faster you will see results.

Chew On This:

• What do you offer to your team that stands out?

Ryan C. Bailey & Associates is an organizational effectiveness firm focused on equipping leaders to develop in-demand high-performing teams to increase the health and effectiveness of the greater organization.

*This blog is an amalgamation of a few different clients.  No client is being singled out.

Blog Bite: "What Do We Talk About in a Team Coaching Session?"

In past blogs, we’ve talked about what Team Coaching is and the structure of Team Coaching.  Now we want to discuss how a team decides what to talk about in their Team Coaching sessions.

The first step is that the team needs to be really clear about what they are ultimately trying to achieve through all their team coaching sessions.  If you have not already done so, please create a SMART goal that the team wants to use.  For example, let's say your team’s SMART goal is to “improve the departments’ profits by 5% in 12 months.”

The next step is to spend some time in the first session of a team coaching engagement, creating a preliminary plan for how the team wants to reach that goal.  Let's say the team above decides the plan is to:

1. Understand where the department is right now: what’s working, what’s not working, where profits are being hurt, and where they can be grown

2. Understand how to better leverage each team members’ wiring and strengths to achieve greater profits

3. Hear how each team members is planning to increase their emotional intelligence

4. Develop plans for how to grow profits and/or how to reduce losses in their specific sections

Future sessions are then based on this initial plan.  Sessions also incorporate any refinements made to the plan as the team works to achieve their overall SMART goal.  

Celebrations happen as milestones are reached.  Team communication becomes more open and authentic as the team fights to achieve the goal.  Their level of collaboration goes up as each one gives the best of what they have to achieve the overall goal.  Conflicts are resolved by employing higher levels of emotional intelligence.  Trust levels go up as they see each person giving the best of what they have to accomplish the goal.

Chew On This:

• Have you ever worked in a team where everyone fought for the same vision?  If so, what was that like?  If not, what could be possible if your whole team were united today?

Ryan C. Bailey & Associates is an organizational effectiveness firm focused on equipping leaders to develop in-demand high-performing teams to increase the health and effectiveness of the greater organization.

*This blog is an amalgamation of a few different clients.  No client is being singled out.