Betty Jo Gigot, Editor and Publisher

Now, Bill Jeffries does not look like the normal guy who gets up in front of a group of feedlot managers and commands their attention. The first hint that Jeffries isn’t your average ag speaker is his ponytail and clothes. Three minutes into his presentation, his audience had forgotten his appearance. They were enthralled. That is probably because he was an INTJ and most of them weren’t.

Jeffries provides counsel as an executive coach, consulting with senior leadership of numerous corporations and organizations, including Virgin Airlines, the Central Intelligence Agency, the U.S. Army, Hewlett Packard and the Food and Drug Administration.

Just that is your type?
Through the use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI) Jeffries provided managers attending the feedlot summit with a lot to think about in their management styles as well as some introspection on themselves.

Attendees had taken a profile test over the Internet before the summit, and their analysis was waiting for them when they arrived. After a few hours with Jeffries, not many doubted that Jeffries had a good idea of what they preferred on a day-to-day basis.

Based on the premise that there are four fundamental aspects of human personality, the questions become: How do we see reality? How do we judge our view of reality? Where do we get our energy for these activities? and How do other tend to see us?

Reality is seen by either sensing or intuition. Judgments are made by thinking or feeling. Energy comes from extraverts or introverts and others see us as scheduled, orderly, regulated or more open, spontaneous and adaptable.

Why examine type?
Jeffries listed the following as reasons to examine management types.

It leads to self-awareness, builds effective relationships, and provides teaching and training styles.

It leads to lifestyle choices (there were only four of “my type” in the room and the one I identified was also a reporter), effective problem solving, ways to lead and manage change, provides for innovation and creativity and helps with meeting customers and communications.

According to Jeffries, there is no good or bad type for any job and if anyone ever tries to tell you there is a good or bad type for any position or assignment, you have just found a charlatan. It is time to fire that person and move on.

The bottom line is that you can learn to identify preferences for yourself and others through simple, everyday behaviors and choices.

Using the information
You could tell some of the speakers were taking th eir personality evaluations personally when one told the group that he was rather surprised to find that one of the people who shared his type was Peppermint Patty. I did not hear anyone say they fit into the group with General Robert E. Lee, Mother Teresa and Jesus of Nazareth.

Jeffries explained that experts think your type is hard-wired at birth, and environment has little influence on it. He used an example of a number of sets of twins that were separated at birth, raised in an entirely different environment and still tested to type.

As for myself, I have had fleeting thoughts about many personal encounters, realizing that the other person was certainly coming from a different place, and realizing I was just as foreign to them. And yes, I am an ENFP. Advocate, energizer, discoverer and catalyst. And other high performers who share my type are Oprah Winfrey, William Jefferson Clinton and Snoopy. Hard to believe.