Kosciusko Leadership Academy class members met on Tuesday to learn about personality preferences and leadership using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
The session began with a group activity to demonstrate the importance of thinking about the type of teammates they would want on a community project.
After team choices were made, moderator Allyn Decker pointed out that people tend to want to work with those with similar attributes and naturally gravitate to them. He wrapped up the activity with the telling of an actual IKEA project in which the neighborhood’s feelings weren’t considered.
Due to huge resistance, the store was never built. Decker pointed out that feelings can bring a valuable aspect to a team and to consider what could be lost by removing one of the personality types from a team’s makeup.
An overview of the four opposite pairs of preferences was given and as each pair was discussed, class members were asked to select the preference that more closely reflected them.
Once the self-assessments were completed, they were asked to compare their session type results with the type results from an earlier MBTI questionnaire.
Students’ names were then placed in the appropriate type box on the MBTI wall chart and instructed to consider them when forming their project teams.
Decker ended the session telling the KLA class members that although people are initially drawn to those like themselves there is a lot of wisdom in seeking diversity in a team.
The next session will be Tuesday at the K-21 Health Services Pavilion, and will focus on human services in Kosciusko County.
