1.5 - About University

Some Implications of Personal Preferences✔✔✔✔You, as a leader, have preferences on each of the four scales. Their combined effectgreatly influences how you like to work. Use the application tool to gain insights intoyour own preferences.Each person with whom you interact also has personal preferences. How much thesepreferences coincide with or differ from your own can be a source of clicking, of seeingthings the same way, or of conflict.These conflicts can actually be beneficial. For example, if you are a strong T and dependon thinking to draw conclusions, you can benefit greatly from hearing an F perspective,if you can work together.Any strength on one side of a preference pair corresponds to a flat spot on the otherside for which you could use assistance.H OW TO USE THIS LEADERSHIP TOOL“It’s strange, but wherever I take my eyes, they always see things from my point of view.”—Ashleigh BrilliantAs a leader, you have a natural inclination to do things in a particular way, and also to assumethat others should do things in the same way. Your personal approach is assumed to be right.Yet what seems rational and natural to one person can seem bizarre and counterproductive toanother! The twofold trick to using the preferences approach is:• First, understand your own strengths and blind spots as a leader.• Second, appreciate the differing perspectives of others, not as sources of affliction orconflict, but as sources for complementing (rounding out) your own personal preferences.Step 1: Assess your own personal preferences: Read the description lists for each pair of preferences.In the space provided here, rate how strongly you identify with these descriptors, with+5 representing a strong preference for a given pole, and 0 representing no particular preferencefor either pole.IENSTFPJ+5 | | | | 0 | | | | +5+5 | | | | 0 | | | | +5+5 | | | | 0 | | | | +5+5 | | | | 0 | | | | +5Step 2: Assess the personal preferences of another person: Next, assess the personal preferencesof another person (perhaps a person you are having difficulty understanding or working with).Note that these assessments are provisional in nature; they represent a static and descriptivesnapshot at a given point in time. They should not be used to pysch out another person’sbehavior. Use this tool to help you deal more effectively with others, but never use it to forcefitother people into rigid stereotypes or categories.Step 3: Assess how you might improve your working relationship with the other person: To get youstarted, here are some common differences and their impacts.448 SECTION 14 TOOLS FOR LEARNING