HELPING LEADERS HARNESS DIVERSITY Using the MBTI to improve - - PDF document

HELPING LEADERS HARNESS DIVERSITY

Using the MBTI to improve leadership

Justin M. Deonarine I/O Psychologist

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ORGANIZATIONAL DIVERSITY

• A 2019 study claims that Canadian workplaces are the most welcoming in the
• world. (US follows as a close 2nd.)
• Higher female and ethnic representation at senior levels.
• More Canadian employees reported that their employers are actively

pursuing workplace diversity.

• Organizations pursue workplace diversity by:
• Leadership establishes strategic aims for the organization (e.g. identify,

remove and prevent barriers restricting diversity).

• Advisory groups within the organization promote inclusivity (e.g. create

events to boost the involvement of diverse groups in the organization, or connect with communities outside of the organization). 2

THE BENEFITS OF DIVERSITY

Why does diversity matter?

• Organizations with diverse boards generated returns on equity that were 53%

higher, on average, than less diverse boards.

• They also generated 14% higher earnings, on average.
• Organizations with women on the board displayed better average growth.

Why?

• Diverse groups perform better than homogenous groups when making decisions.
• Groups that are similar make decisions quicker and feel more confident in

their decision. This confidence can be misleading.

• Diverse groups take longer to make a decision, but consider more

perspectives. 3

THE CHALLENGE OF DIVERSITY

Does not encourage diversity 11% Neutral 29% Encourages diversity 60%

Leadership at my organization:

Does not demonstrate the importance

• f diversity

16% Neutral 38% Demonstrates the importance

• f diversity

46%

Management at my organization:

(Survey of over 300 organizations, Source: Psychometrics Canada’s People Trends Report 2020) The majority of leaders recognize these benefits and encourage diversity in their

• rganizations. However:
• Nearly a third of leaders are neutral in their encouragement of diversity, so the is

room to help organizations harness this benefit.

• While 60% of leaders encourage diversity, the actions of only 46% of management

appear to back this up. This creates a gap between what is preached and what is practiced.

• There is also a handful of organizations that do not encourage diversity or

demonstrate the importance. Their challenges may appear in the form of over- confidence, poor decision making, and lower overall effectiveness. Language to sell the importance of diversity within leadership teams:

• Better strategic decisions
• Higher earnings
• Greater organizational growth

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HARNESSING DIVERSITY

• Diversity doesn’t have to be just things like gender, age and ethnicity.
• Diversity can come in the form of individual differences in personality.

There is no “free lunch”: There will be challenges to implementing diversity using personality.

• It starts at the leadership level. Leaders will have to understand two different areas

to do this successfully: Themselves and their teams. How can you help leaders harness the benefits of diversity? Help them understand:

• How you make decisions (T/F)? What guides your team’s decisions?
• How do you organize information (J/P)? How does your team organize

information? 5

LEADERSHIP STYLES

TJ TP FJ FP

Planful Flexible Task-focused People-focused

• T/F = Task vs. people focused
• J/P = Organized or flexible

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LEADERSHIP STYLES Managers Innovators Consensus Builders Coaches

Planful Flexible Task-focused People-focused

When we consider these different pairs, they have different strengths and challenges.

• They will always have a starting point, which is described by the name I’ve given

them.

• This isn’t what they are limited to, this is just the natural starting point for them.

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LEADERSHIP STYLES Managers Innovators Consensus Builders Coaches

+ Organize and structure work, resources, and people to achieve goals. + Make decisions quickly and take quick action to implement them. + Take clear positions – people know where you stand.

• May decide too quickly and move to action before others are ready.
• May not see the impacts of decisions on others.

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LEADERSHIP STYLES Managers Innovators Consensus Builders Coaches

+ Seek out, analyze, and organize vast amounts of information. + Use a hands-off leadership approach, empowering others to act. + Flexible and tolerant of a diversity of workstyles and ideas.

• May not give others enough direction.
• May put off decisions for too long.

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LEADERSHIP STYLES Managers Innovators Consensus Builders Coaches

+ Strive for consensus and harmony. + Motivated by a vision that is based on values and the group’s mission. + Solicit information and ideas from others, and include them in decision-making.

• May focus on relationships to the detriment of task completion.
• May put off tough decisions and avoid confronting difficult people.

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LEADERSHIP STYLES Managers Innovators Consensus Builders Coaches

+ Coach, encourage, involve and energize others. + Seek out and gather lots of information. + Stay flexible and respond quickly to changing environments.

• May change direction so quickly that they appear inconsistent.
• May resist structure and not appreciate others’ need for systems and processes.

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TEAM DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY

ACTIVITY Team Distribution Analysis – Identify what working styles are present in the team, for the leader (and the team) to be mindful of:

• Over-represented groups will likely be accounted for.
• Under-represented groups may need to be considered.

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TEAM DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY

TJ 59% TP 23% FJ 12% FP 6%

Distribution of a team of consultants. Some strengths of this team

• There is representation of all styles. Though it’s not balanced, all roles are fulfilled

in some way.

• The team excels in implementing action plans. They (collectively) gather enough

information to proceed and move forward quickly, but in an organized manner. Challenges that this team may face

• Is consensus being built? Are there a lack of coaching opportunities?
• What happens when the plans don’t work? Is the team being flexible enough to

adapt to changing circumstances?

• Is enough information being gathered before the plans are implemented? They

think they are, but would they benefit from gathering just a little more information before moving forward?

• What happens when new information arises? Is it considered or does the team try

to stick to the original plan?

• Is this team moving forward before everyone is comfortable?

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LEADERS AND THEIR TEAMS

Managers Innovators

Consensus Builders

Coaches

Managers Innovators Consensus Builders Coaches

Challenge of diversity: Distribution of leaders and employees

• Leaders: TJ = ~50%, TP = ~25%, FJ and FP = ~12.5%
• Source: International research sample from The Myers-Briggs Company of

65,000 leaders

• Employees: ~25% in each group.
• Source: MBTI Form M normative sample

Each leader will have to adapt to a variety of styles that does not match their own.

• They may not understand their employee’s behaviours/choices, and their

employees may not understand theirs.

• They need to be able to understand and lead accordingly.

Given that we understand this, how can we help individual leaders get the best from those on their team?

• Provide them with strategies to lead those with different styles.
• We can’t always be there to guide them, so we have to give them to tools to stand
• n their own.

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GETTING THE BEST OF EACH STYLE Managers Innovators Consensus Builders Coaches

• They will define the scope of a task by an external measure (e.g. time or money).
• Allow them the time to scope out the challenge in front of them. It will

help them orient themselves.

• TJs will ask questions such as “What If?” and “Then what?”.
• Don’t take this as a challenge to your competence, they are just trying to
• rganize their approach to achieve the desired end result.

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GETTING THE BEST OF EACH STYLE Managers Innovators Consensus Builders Coaches

• They will consider all of the critical data and ensuring that all of the bases are
• covered. They’re not flip-flopping on their stance, they’re gathering insights.
• Allow them the time to think their way through the problem.
• You may hear something similar to “We don’t have to keep doing things this way

just because it’s been done this way forever.”

• Allow them to challenge the rules and processes those that don’t work, but

encourage them to stay within the guidelines that are important to the

• rganization.

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GETTING THE BEST OF EACH STYLE Managers Innovators Consensus Builders Coaches

• They will look to build relationships with others that they work with.
• They will try to get to know others personally to build these relationships,

so keep in mind that they aren’t just being nosy.

• They are open to sharing about themselves also, and much like the FPs, are
• pen to helping others in times of need.
• When they feel that they have built the foundation for the working relationship,

they will be most comfortable expressing differences in opinion.

• Allow them to build these relationships, as this is when they will be most

comfortable expressing opinions or views that can provide a different perspective. 17

GETTING THE BEST OF EACH STYLE Managers Innovators Consensus Builders Coaches

• They are guided by their personal values, and will be open about expressing these
• values. If these values are challenged, they may come across as stubborn (e.g.

doubling down on expressing their values).

• Check in with them to ensure that they are able to express their beliefs

sufficiently, without coming off as unbending.

• They will be insightful to internal disharmony shown by others, and will move to

try to help this individual.

• Similar to the FJs, they are not being nosy, they are trying to help.

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT

• When does your leadership style not work?
• How can you adjust your style to get the

best from your team?

• How do others perceive your style?

ACTIVITY – Starting the conversation about style differences

• How do others on your team perceive your approach/style?
• Are there gaps where your leadership style is not working? With whom? Why?

(Are they a different style?)

• How can you address these gaps when working with these individuals? How can

you adjust your style to get the best from them? 19

CONNECTING WITH US

jdeonarine@psychometrics.com Justin Deonarine Organizational Psychologist www.psychometrics.com @Psychometrics-Canada @PsychometricsCA @PsychometricsCanada

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