“Don’t put me in a box”

This is without question the most common accusation levelled at personality profiling tools.

But MBTI doesn’t tell you who you are: it indicates your preferences. A very important distinction.

And whilst other personality tools attach complete importance to the online questionnaire you fill out and essentially say “this is your personality, Joe Bloggs, take it or leave it”, MBTI is far less prescriptive and recognises that the recipient is, ultimately, the best judge of who they are.

So after filling out the questionnaire, you have a chat with a licensed practitioner who guides you through the tool and helps you identify your preferences by means of anecdotes, questions and gentle challenging. Then it’s down to you to decide where you sit.

 A good way of thinking outside the box with MBTI is to imagine your preferred personality style as your favourite room in a large house. You’re not locked into this room – you have the keys and can get up and wonder around the house whenever you like. It just so happens that the further away you get from your favourite room, the less familiar and comfortable you feel. But the more regularly you move around, the more at ease you become.

The point being, we are all capable of turning our hand to all personality styles: it just comes down to which are natural and which can, with work, become second nature.