What's Your Type? Gaining a Bird’s Eye View of Your Personality My first exposure to personality type indicators was during a retreat my company asked me to attend before I shifted from engineering to training and development. The facilitator asked us to use a Myer-Briggs Type Indicator. We spent about half a day doing it and discussing the results. I saw how the vast majority of participants were totally absorbed by the exercise, and totally fascinated with the results. Grown-up men and women shed their inhibitions and jumped up and down in amazement as they discovered their personality types. They compared notes and discussed the meaning of the results. For most, it was an eye opening experience and an exciting journey of self-discovery. Most experienced trainers know that people just love to use personality type indicators to find out about themselves in a training workshop or retreat. But why? What is it that makes people fascinated with these instruments and the results they reveal? And, more importantly for trainers, how do these tools help people develop professionally on the job? Perhaps for hundreds of years before Aristotle advised to “Know Thyself” people have been trying to know more about themselves. There seems to be an insatiable need to know about one's inner traits, strengths and weaknesses. Personality Type Indicators offer a very interesting way to help people do just that. We can confidently say that these tools offer us the following benefits:

The Benefits of Personality Type Indicators to Training They give us a bird's eye view of ourselves as perceived by us. They break down the mysterious personality whole into smaller and more definable parts. They categorize our mixed-up traits and preferences into identifiable categories that we can understand and relate to. This understanding makes it possible for us to change, adapt, and develop to reach a higher level of self-management. They provide us with linguistic tools to talk about aspects of our personality that we thought cannot be expressed in words. This facilitates the expression of our inner thoughts and the exchange of our deeper feelings with others. They give us an executive summary of ourselves, and others, reduced all the way to one or two words, or even a few letters (ISTJ, ISFJ, INFJ, etc..). This makes it seem easier for us to understand ourselves and others, and the relationship between the two, in a way that facilitates our interaction with people. This last point, in turn, enables people to work more effectively with others, which is one of the key values of these tools to the training professionals. The value of using personality types in training increases significantly with the kind of processing of the results people engage in after completing the activity. That’s why it is always recommended that the facilitator fully understands the instrument used and the meaning and application of its results. © Francois Basili, 2005 – Communication Ideas provides a number of personality types instruments with trainer's guides. See below. Get the Thank God It's Monday Newsletter Email: Send Page To a Friend

Looking for a Powerful Personality Type Profile? Use INSGHT Have you ever used Myers-Briggs in the past and are looking for something easier to use? Have you used the DISC or one of the quadrant systems and want something valid that doesn't label participants with a letter or technical acronym? If so, take a look at our Best Seller: INSIGHT Inventory. Consultants and trainers have come to appreciate the INSIGHT Inventory's ease of use combined with practical skill development. Unlike other instruments that require lengthy, expensive certification, or that apply classifications that stereotype users, INSIGHT's common sense format provides a balanced view of behavior.

Moving Quickly to Apply the Learning Self-scored within 15 minutes, INSIGHT moves quickly from developing a profile to applying the learning. Participants develop important behavior skills, including how to flex their style to manage conflict, and facilitate team work. The instrument's clarity and uncomplicated format allow you to integrate it into existing training, or make it the center piece of a program. Use INSIGHT for: Team Building Conflict and Stress Management Leadership Training Interpersonal Skills Sales, and Customer Service Negotiation skills training Now see how it compares to Myers-Briggs..

Myers-Briggs™ Type Indicator INSIGHT Inventory ® -- CLASSIFICATION -- Type Indicator: the Myers-Briggs provides type codes, i.e., ENFP, INTJ, INFJ, etc. Emphasis is on understanding the characteristics of the 16 different types. Types are seen as stable and non-changing. Trait Measure: Insight provides relative strength of behavior tendencies on four traits. The interpretation emphasizes the strength of each individual trait and what environments a behavior is displayed in. Traits are viewed as relatively enduring yet flexible and changeable based on environmental influences. -- RESULTS -- The 16 Type classifications based on extremes of four opposite indices: introversion-extroversion sensing-intuition thinking-feeling judging-perception The sixteen types: ISTJ, ISFJ, INFJ, INTJ, ISTP, ISFP, INFP, INTP, ESTP, ESFP, ENTP, ESTJ, ESFJ, ENFJ, ENTJ Two profiles, work style and personal style, are produced reflecting the interaction of the four personality traits and influences in each of the two environments. The four traits: getting your way (direct or indirect) responding to people (outgoing or reserved) pacing activity (steady or urgent) dealing with details (unstructured or precise) -- SYSTEM OF RATING -- Self-rating only: results reflect the test taker's view of him/herself. Both self-rating and 360° feedback from others. Important learning occurs when one compares the self-perception profile to feedback profiles that are generated from the perceptions of others. -- ADMINISTRATION TIME -- Form G: 94 items, 30 minutes to score and complete 6-8 minutes to complete 5-7 minutes to score and plot results   Now you can appreciate why thousands of trainers, managers, and professionals have used INSIGHT to learn about themselves and advance their professional development.

INSIGHT Training Manual: Deliver a Complete Training Module Using INSIGHT Deliver a Complete Training Module Using INSIGHT Training Manual with a Video and PowerPoint Slides: If you want to acquire better understanding that enables you to use INSIGHT for many people, get this INSIGHT Training Manual with 45-minute video and PowerPoint slide presentation. This is the best way to introduce and use INSIGHT in your training or retreat. It provides you with the background and concepts you need to deliver a more complete session using this powerful self-discovery inventory - Order the complete INSIGHT Training Manual with 45-minute video and PowerPoint slides, Includes one (1) each of: INSIGHT Inventory, Teaming with INSIGHT, and INSIGHT Other (360) - All for $295.00

Use INSIGHT for Self, for 360, or for the Entire Teams Use The INSIGHT Inventory for understanding self and others, as well as for understanding your entire team, in all kinds of training workshops, retreats, and interventions. FOR SELF: INSIGHT PROFILE A Pack of 5 INSIGHT Profiles for 5 users $59.75 FOR TEAMS: TEAMING WITH INSIGHT A Pack of 5 Teaming With Insight Profiles for 5 users $79.75 INSIGHT 360: Use it to get the views of others and learn how they see you - a very important step toward understanding yourself in relationship to others and how they relate to you. Pack of 5 INSIGHT 360 for $79.95

We Offer Many Other Assessments and Profiles in Specialized Skill Areas We offer assessments and profiles covering every key performance skill from communication, conflict resolution, creativity, and customer service and sales to management, team building, and leadership. Click here to review them Register below for new training ideas from our "Thank God It's Monday" newsletter. Get the Thank God It's Monday Newsletter Email: Send Page To a Friend