• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

Personality Compass

Eileen

New member
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
2,179
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
6?
Yesterday at staff development, my fellow staff members and I were asked to sort ourselves into "personality compass" types. As a MBTI hobbyist, I of course found it lacking in some dimensions, but it was reasonably useful for understanding certain leadership styles. I wish that I'd been paying attention more to who sorted themselves where outside of my group, but I always end up being the "recorder" and the "reporter" in group situations (actually, 3/4 of the people who ended up reporting info to staff in this activity were English teachers... that always happens), so I was otherwise occupied.

Anyway, so it was pretty cute and somewhat useful. There were four identified styles:

-North: North personalities are the "go getters." They hear that something needs to be done, and they do it immediately. (I'd probably connect this to extraversion and extraverted judgment)

-South: South personalities are the people who want to make sure that everybody's feelings are taken care of, that everybody gets a chance to say what they need to say. (Extraverted feeling, clearly... anything else?)

-East: East personalities are those who like to look at the big picture and make a comprehensive plan before acting. (This is probably intution... maybe introverted judgment?)

-West: West personalities are the nitty-gritty detail-oriented planners. (This would seem to be sensing-related, though my ENFJ friend associated herself with this type.)

I put myself in the East group. My INTJ friend did as well, as did the other INFJ English teacher (I think he's INFJ, anyway). Some loud folks kind of surprised me, but I suppose that you don't have to be quiet to be a big-picture person. ;)

I see some clear problems with this system, but I thought it was a pretty neat exercise.


Where would you put yourself as a cardinal direction? Why? What cognitive processes would you associate with these descriptions?

And for the heck of it, feel free to answer the questions we had to answer in our groups:

1. What are the strengths of your type?
2. What are the limitations of your type?
3. With which group do you find it most difficult to work?
4. What do other groups need to know about your type at work?
 

arcticangel02

To the top of the world
Joined
Oct 5, 2007
Messages
892
MBTI Type
eNFP
Hmm. Interesting. I'd have to say South, for me, but I don't feel like I'm so concerned with making sure absolutely everybody feels wonderful at any given moment. ;) Just a general consideration more.

In any case, I'm not East (I rarely stick to plans), West (detail is my bane), or very North (I'm not especially proactive). Thus there's only South left!



Oh, and I'd be curious to see how INTPs would categorise themselves - none of them seem to fit, from what I can tell.
 

Eileen

New member
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
2,179
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
6?
Hmm. Interesting. I'd have to say South, for me, but I don't feel like I'm so concerned with making sure absolutely everybody feels wonderful at any given moment. ;) Just a general consideration more.

In any case, I'm not East (I rarely stick to plans), West (detail is my bane), or very North (I'm not especially proactive). Thus there's only South left!



Oh, and I'd be curious to see how INTPs would categorise themselves - none of them seem to fit, from what I can tell.


Yeah, I kind of feel like INTPs (and INFPs of the less touchy-feely variety, as I am an INFJ) would have a hard time categorizing themselves.

East, though, I don't think is as much about sticking to plans (that's more a West thing, I'd expect) but about developing them.
 

Carebear

will make your day
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
1,449
MBTI Type
INFP
Hm... no good place for me there. I'd probably say south-east, but neither seem to fit all that well alone. Definitely not west or north though.
 

Mondo

Welcome to Sunnyside
Joined
Mar 1, 2008
Messages
1,992
MBTI Type
EsTP
Enneagram
6w7
I think I'd put myself in the Southeast somewhere..
 

Eileen

New member
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
2,179
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
6?
Despite my INFJ-ness, I think I'd identify more as a northeast than a southeast. In terms of WORK and making professional decisions, I tend to be very impatient with people who are excessively feelings-oriented... because damn it, we're at work. Don't take everything so personally! Just do the job!

(This may be somewhat a result of my hypersensitive department chair who is ALWAYS really worried about how people feel.)
 

Colors

The Destroyer
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
1,276
MBTI Type
ISTP
Enneagram
5w4
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
I have no idea... maybe East? But I don't usually follow the plan extensively- at least not consciously.
 

disregard

mrs
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
7,826
MBTI Type
INFP
Edit.. oh we are supposed to pick a direction, not a quadrant.. East. Pretty common of the NP.
 

Kiddo

Furry Critter with Claws
Joined
Sep 25, 2007
Messages
2,790
MBTI Type
OMNi
Southeast. Southwest on occasion.
 

cascadeco

New member
Joined
Oct 7, 2007
Messages
9,083
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
9w1
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
Despite my INFJ-ness, I think I'd identify more as a northeast than a southeast. In terms of WORK and making professional decisions, I tend to be very impatient with people who are excessively feelings-oriented... because damn it, we're at work. Don't take everything so personally! Just do the job!

(This may be somewhat a result of my hypersensitive department chair who is ALWAYS really worried about how people feel.)

No, I can totally relate!!:yes:

Out of those four, definitely East for me. And I'd say I'm more northeast than southeast.

When I'm at work, in meetings, I don't care about feelings ;-) (although that's not to say I'm rude/inconsiderate or anything!!!). I tend to cut to the chase, stick to the big picture, ensure there's clarity, and tend to be the person who takes in all the info and spits out what we really need to focus on -- and get rid of the fluff that isn't really the crux of the matter. I'd say those are my strengths, and I've been given that feedback as well -- when I had to get some peer feedback late last year, a coworker wrote: 'She knows how to 'get to the point'. When others can be bogged down in the details, she has the remarkable ability to see clearly and concisely what needs to be done. I saw her demonstrate this multiple times when decisions needed to be made to clarify......'.

The limitation is that I might come across as somewhat intimidating to some personality types while at work? I'm not sure. I'm just rarely questioned (which makes me wonder whether people might be 'scared' of me? haha) and people tend to trust my judgement, and some people might not know what to think about me because when I'm in work-mode, in meetings or whatever, I am pretty confident and probably come across as more of an NT, but when I'm not in meetings, I'm just not in that 'zone' and think I'm much more personable.
 

JustDave

New member
Joined
Jan 20, 2008
Messages
992
MBTI Type
xNTP
I'm probably north-west. Ambitious, detail-oriented and delicate as a freight train.
 

htb

New member
Joined
May 14, 2007
Messages
1,505
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
1w9
Magnetic north. "They hear that something needs to be done, and they do it immediately" is decisive. At work, I focus on requests, directives and problems as soon as they arrive; verbally apprising and, within reason, involving whomever is needed. What do you want, and when do you want it? Done. My GTD inbox-sorting -- fast and complete but, too, effective -- has become legendary.
 

bluebell

New member
Joined
Apr 30, 2007
Messages
1,485
MBTI Type
INTP
I'd say East, although 'comprehensive' seems to be overstating it a bit. I just like to know the general direction and prefer to work things out as we go along. I'm definitely big picture, though.

None of the other directions sound remotely like me.
 

Badlands

New member
Joined
Apr 5, 2008
Messages
98
MBTI Type
INTP
Yeah, the problem with the north-south thing is that it assumes you're either ambitious or feeling, which I don't consider myself to be too much of either. Even the east-west thing; I do a great deal of both details and big picture. So I can't say that would be helpful at all in describing me.
 
Top