Leadership Bedford Uses MBTI to Enhance Leadership Skills

UT CIS was honored to conduct a class for two Leadership Bedford programs, targeting adult and youth leaders throughout the county. The program’s mission is to develop local leaders by equipping them with leadership skills, to provide information on community issues, and to evoke community action – with the goal of a creating a better Bedford County.

Martha Kelley, a Performance Improvement Consultant with UT CIS, led two sessions on November 17, focusing on using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, where participants can better understand their strengths, blind spots, and preferences. A key component to leadership is understanding yourself before you can effectively lead others.

Participants in both groups learned to understand how personality characteristics associated with the 4 letter MBTI types can lead to greater self-awareness and awareness of others. They identified ways to use personality differences constructively to improve personal interactions and team performance. Then, they dug a little deeper with their Step II results, and discovered how they scored on twenty facets of personality characteristics; how they uniquely expressed their type.

Finally, both groups participated in exercises focused on applying their newfound knowledge and learned how to use personality differences to make better decisions, as well as to become more competent leaders.