Too often, people’s experience with MBTI type is comprised of taking the assessment, getting their type, doing a few fun activities – and then forgetting about type as soon as the workshop is over.  My workshops, in contrast, are focused on operationalizing MBTI type at work by illuminating specific, practical, and achievable tips and techniques that leaders and team can use to apply type right away.  That’s why, at the end of my workshops, I regularly hear: “We took the MBTI before, but this is the first time we’ve actually done it.”  And if even if you’ve done the MBTI before, you can continue to integrate type at work by doing a a “next level” workshop on a topic like type and change or type and stress.

Any way of describing a person – whether it be by their ethnicity, culture, age, generation, education level, or job title, to name a few – can tell us something about a person.  But not a single one of those descriptors tells us everything about that person.  And those same descriptors, when used properly, can help us get a better understanding of a person, or when misused, can limit or stereotype them.  Type works in the exact same way: it tells you something about people, not everything, and when used properly, it can foster a new understanding of differences, or when misused, can limit or stereotype people.  In the workshops I conduct, a constant theme throughout the content is the proper understanding and use of type: what it is and what it isn’t, and how it can be used and how it shouldn’t.

The “Four Layers of Diversity” model (Gardenswartz & Rowe) places personality at the center of diversity:

The MBTI framework provides leaders and team members with an additional lens for understanding and appreciating diversity.  With type as a common language, leaders and team members can identify the potential benefits of the type diversity on their teams, the potential drawbacks, and the specific actions that will bring out the best from all types and create an equitable and inclusive team environment.

When using assessments of any kind, an essential question to ask is, “What was the diversity of the sample that was used to test the questions on the assessment?”  The most recent version of the MBTI assessment, the Global version released in 2018, was created by testing every item on a global sample of 23 countries.  The U.S. sample, one of the 23, was gathered to mirror the most recent U.S. census data for ethnicity, binary gender, age, and education level.  The ethnicity data in the MBTI sample matched the census data almost to the percentage.

There’s no denying that there is a great deal of complexity to the theoretical underpinning of the MBTI assessment.  The mistake that many type consultants make, however, is bringing that complexity into their team building and leadership development workshops, over-complexifying the topic, and losing the utility and application of the MBTI assessment.  It is always top of mind to me that the leaders and team members who bring me in to work with them are already very busy, and that they need to apply type in a way that is as easy and seamless as possible.  As one workshop participant said in their evaluation, “He took a complex topic – people’s personalities – and made it easy to use.”    

Research on the most recent version of the MBTI assessment, the MBTI Global version released in 2018, shows that 84% of people have three or four preferences the same when they retake the assessment.

Why should we work with you? 

• Having used MBTI type for over 25 years as the sole focus of my business, I’ve developed an expertise, depth of knowledge and frequency of use in MBTI type that is unique among most consultants who deliver MBTI workshops. 
• As one of 12 faculty for the MBTI Certification Program, I’m familiar with the “nitty gritty” of the MBTI assessment and type theory, so can answer questions from even the most skeptical participants.
• The workshops I conduct aren’t only engaging and fun, they’re also practical, insightful and useful. Leaders and team members walk away with techniques they can put to practice as soon as they leave the workshop.

But the best reasons to work with me come from my workshop participants:

Excellent session! The best presentation of MBTI that I have ever heard. Really helped me understand why MBTI matters and how I can incorporate it in my work.

My favorite session. Clear, expert presentation to understand better than ever before with past experiences. Brought so much personal clarity and explanation for my behaviors that I have never had insight to understand.

Exercises were incredible. I’ve done testing several times, but never had such a clear explanation and demonstration of what it all meant.

This session stood out as outstanding. I witnessed an impressive transformation in the cohort where all personality types suddenly all felt valued and the process seemed to help everyone show up much more.

This was an outstandingly informative and engaging session, and, in my opinion, the most valuable part of the day! Patrick was highly effective as a speaker, provided useful information and techniques, engaged the audience, and kept things moving.