Section 4: Who am I?
Myers and Briggs (1917) believe there are 16 personality types that people can be categorised into. Based upon the four categories of Introversion/Extraversion, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling, Judging/Perceiving; a person is to have one quality from each.
After completing the 16personalities quiz, based on the Myers and Briggs theory, my results were ESFP – The Entertainer, an explorer personality type (see appendix 1). The quote associated with the ESFP is “I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you surely don’t deserve me at my best.” – Marilyn Monroe. As a passionate, bold person I know that sometimes this can be uncontrollable, and I don’t manage my ‘worst’ at times.
Within the workplace, ESFP thrive on changes and new ideas, typically disliking strict repetitive tasks. “Entertainer personalities’ managers find willing and able experimenters who can brainstorm, quickly grasp new methods, and actually put those methods to practical use”. I believe I think best when visualising my thoughts and ideas, usually beginning a new task with a brainstorm mind map or post-it notes. When goals and needs are to be met, freedom allows the ESFP to provide their best results. “Some Entertainers prefer to make people happy and excited by creating beauty instead. People with this personality type have plenty of creative energy, and many build fulfilling careers in music, fashion, photography, and interior design” (16personalities, 2020). An ESFP manager, is seen to be an energetic motivator that can bring fun into the workplace, whilst ESFP personalities love being the centre of attention, they enjoy feeling needed and appreciated. As an observant person, they can recognise moods and atmospheres, fitting well with a managerial role.
The Potentially Jungian personality quiz identified me as ENFJ (see appendix 2), only one out of four categories was the same as 16personalities. However, the detailed report showed that within each category I was heavily inbetween each quality. One weakness identified by both personality quizzes was being ‘conflict averse’, whilst I do prefer to avoid unnecessary conflict, I will stand for what I believe in and defend people who I feel empathetic towards. Whilst I resonate well with both personality types, it does reflect on my mood. The ENFJ, titled the giver, is seen to ‘become increasingly critical and finding fault with everything’ in stressful situations. This is something highlighted to me upon family feedback, that I can be extremely self-critical.
The Johari Window was developed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham (1961) as a model of awareness. The model is divided into 4 sections:
Arena: what I know, and others know.
Mask: what I know and what others don’t know.
Blind Spots: What others know, and what I don’t know.
Unconscious: what others and I don’t know.
I began sat with a peer group for first thoughts (see fig 6), this provided insights to my blind spots. I found this particularly interesting as the peer group have not known me for a long time. The casual conversation gave insights into first impressions as well.
However, the blind spots identified arguably are dependent on the relationship of the respondent. When blind spots were identified I was also able to relate with the trait. An online version of a Johari Window allows you to share a link for participants to select 5 words to describe you (see appendix 3). This begins with myself selecting 5 works about me, leading with the ‘Façade’, also known as the mask.
All words I identified with were selected by participants, resulting into an empty façade (see fig 7). As this could mean I know myself well, it can also be factored to the limitation of words. The 10 participants included peers, friends and family. Any words not selected were automatically classed as the ‘Unknown’ or unconscious. Upon reflection and discussions, I discovered my ‘Unknown’ which is I can be extreme or intense. This also relates to my personality type, particularly the ESFP.
After analysis of the data and feedback on the perceptions of me, I created a final Johari Window (see fig 8). Whilst there are many other words I resonate with; I created this window based on my personality type and primary research. Although I know I am confident and mostly extraverted; interestingly I identify myself overall as an ‘ambivert’. An ambivert is a person whom “lean more toward extroverted or introverted behaviour depending on the situation” (Goldman, 2018). As much as I enjoy socialising, being a life of a party and meeting new people, I am known to be reflective and value my alone time.