Personal Inventory Analysis
Personal Inventory Analysis
William T. Noel, Sr.
Virginia Commonwealth University
Personal Inventory Analysis
I have been in a number of interviews and inevitably the interviewer says, “Tell us
something about yourself that will let us get to know you.” Historically the interviewer would
have simply heard an audible rendering of what was on my resume, without ever hearing about
my personality, how I approach life, my strengths and/or weaknesses or basically who I am as a
person. Had I been armed with the self-awareness delivered by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI), the Learning Connections Inventory (LCI) and the Theory of the 5 Elements, the
interviewer would have received a profoundly deeper answer and truly gotten to know who I am.
The MBTI determined that I tend to show an introverted, sensing, thinking and judging
personality, which makes sense because most of my adult life, I have been the same regimented,
structured, fact-based, orderly and logical person. As an undergraduate student I majored in
Sociology, so I definitely believe I am a product of my environment. Perhaps I take this
military-like and fact-based approach to life because my home environment consisted of a man
who faithfully served for over 20 years in the United States Army and to a woman whose career I
followed and became a career educator?
Growing up in my household, with such strong role models definitely shaped who I am
and greatly affected the way I lead. For as long as I can remember, my parents stressed to my
older brothers and me the importance of education. This point was illustrated in a stanza from the
“I Am From” poems written last summer.
I Am From a home that drilled into my head that education was the great equalizer that
combated many of society’s obstacles.
Was not Malcolm X correct we he stated, “Education is the passport to the future, for
tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today”.
So I could not blame society . . . I could not blame the red states or the blue states,
if I discard my future because today I failed to prepare for tomorrow!
Personal Inventory Analysis
Many in our society, who did not have the privilege of receiving an education, were mistreated,
or worse faced years of discrimination. So it is by design that I stress to all students, but
particularly to minority students, that education can be the great equalizer. Education equips
individuals in our society with the weapons to fight the discriminatory ills that have long plagued
our society - to put it bluntly, education serves as a means to level a previously uneven playing
field.
It is very evident that the way I behave and/or lead is truly part of my genetic make up
and not contrived. There is little, if any, change to my behavior when I leave the professional
environment and enter the personal environment. Even though I fall under the zodiac sign of
Gemini, there has never been a noticeable difference in my actions/behavior from one setting to
the next.
When I think of the qualities of an effective leader, I think of the person who is caring,
disciplined, consistent, passionate, daring, honest, and is a visionary. If I took the qualities from
that list and compared them to what I learned about myself regarding the MBTI & the LCI, I
would have mixed feelings. On one of the two self-analysis instruments, it was determined that I
focus on the present and on concrete information gained from my senses. Admittedly, I am not
the most prolific visionary leader or risk-taker in public school education. On an earlier
assignment I mentioned that I do not always fully see the big picture because my strong sensing
quality may not allow me to look beyond the facts. Relying on the concrete facts does not propel
one to the bottom of the leadership totem pole, but granted it does stifle the full leadership
potential.
In order for any organizational or school team to function effectively and to thrive, it will
need a blending of different qualities. I envision an effective team like a good salad. If the lettuce
Personal Inventory Analysis
represented all of the people who think and act similarly as I, it would provide some
nourishment, but would not be very appetizing and may not meet the definition of a salad. In
order for my team to be the best possible team, it would need people with a different mindset or a
different way of looking at the same thing. Consequently, if I had to assemble a team it would
have people who do not necessarily think and act like me.
A team that has members who have the same MBTI personality type or scored similarly
on the LCI type index would be less effective than a team assembled with individuals possessing
different personality types and strengths. The person who sees the big picture, who asks “what
if” and takes risks, is definitely someone who would be an asset to a team I was creating. A team
must be balanced to maximize the desired results. The Law of Five Elements speaks heavily to
the importance of balance in our personal lives as well as in organizations. Under this theory, I
most closely relate to the qualities of metal, stable, structured, disciplined, and precise. Because
of this, I would want a wood person on my team, someone who was a great planner, who is able
to develop outstanding strategies and is big-picture oriented. Ideological balance is paramount
for any team to effectively lead a larger organization or school.
After becoming more familiar with these indicators, I was reminded that I tend to be very
regimented and logical person who prefers to have things clearly and succinctly stated. Because I
know that I am not a fan of a great deal of unnecessary information, I must be aware that some
people may require that extra information in order to tackle or solve an issue. If I wish to
become a more effective team leader, I must therefore learn to accept the tendencies and what I
perceive as the illogical line of thinking others may take. This will not be a problem, as my score
of 17 on the Thinking & Feeling indicator on the MBTI suggests that although I think very
logically and objectively, I am also considerate of the values and concerns of others. No matter
Personal Inventory Analysis
how knowledgeable or compelling a leader may be, they will have an uphill battle leading a
group of people without clearly showing an appreciation for their ideas and/or contributions. It is
similar to a balancing act, a balancing act between making decisions based on the facts versus
feelings.
To be a more effective leader, I will have to find a delicate balance between my outward
Sensing strength and my hidden Intuitive blind spot. Another thing that would be particularly
beneficial to my leadership ability is if I moved from the “Use as Needed” column to the “Use
First” column regarding Confluence. It is somewhat embarrassing to disclose that the MBTI &
the LCI reminded me that I do not regularly take risks, think outside the box or push the
boundaries. I am not opposed to those who take risks, think outside the box or push the
boundaries, honestly I am rather envious, but I am better suited to think about an issue with a
logical and objective approach. Thankfully, my score on the LCI did not indicate that I avoid
using the big-picture, imaginative pattern. In order to grow, I will have to make a conscious
effort to more frequently take (calculated) risks, think outside the box as well as push the
boundaries. Imagine life without people who take risks, think outside the box and push the
boundaries, the chalkboard may still be the greatest educational tool to date.
It was mentioned earlier that even though I fall under the zodiac sign Gemini, I am the
same person at work as I am at home. That remains true, however, within each environment
there are subtle differences in my behavior. It has been well documented that I am a regimented,
structured, fact-based, orderly and logical person, the MBTI, the LCI and the Theory of the 5
Elements all have proven that to be true; however, none of the before mentioned descriptors truly
touch on my most notable contribution to the school, or addresses my most successfully used
Personal Inventory Analysis
leadership style. Without a doubt, my strengths and greatest contributions to my building are in
the capacity to build relationships with students, parents and staff.
It does not matters how versed I am in the field of education, how many scholarly words I
fit in one sentence, or whether or not I can quote the policy manual from cover-to-cover, if I
cannot and/or have not formed a genuine rapport with students, parents and staff, my ability to be
an effective leader will be greatly limited. The cultivation of relationships in leadership is so
important, Wilfred Drath discussed it in one of our summer readings, The Deep Blue Sea
Rethinking the Source of Leadership. Drath describes Karl Zoffner as someone who was the
brains of the company, but more importantly, in my opinion, as someone who was the heart &
soul of the company. Drath also described Mr. Zoffner as someone who cared about everyone
individually, who had countless times come to the rescue of an employee, had provided wise
counsel and emotional support. I have placed so much emphasis on the importance of
relationships regarding leadership, because I firmly believe they are more important than book
knowledge when leading. This belief is supported by the following quote, “Children don't care
how much you know until they know how much you care”.
Recapping my MBTI personality type and my LCI learning style, it was determined that I
am practical, matter-of-fact, and orderly. It was also determined that in a given situation, I
naturally use a regimented and clear-cut approach. I like to have as much information as possible
in order to make an informed decision when dealing with an issue. I agree with the MBTI grid
assessment in that I decide logically what should be done, follow those logical steps and work
toward it steadily, regardless of distractions. All of that would be called to the forefront on
Wednesday, March 23, 2011.
Personal Inventory Analysis
While standing at my post during class change, I was approached by a teacher who
nervously told me there was a bomb threat written on the wall of a restroom. As I walked into the
restroom, my initial thought was that a student was playing a joke, but then the serious and
responsible side of me emerged. When the note was read it had a specified time in which the
bomb was to detonate; now the joke was being taken as a serious threat. With our principal out
of the building, I took over as the acting leader, made the remaining members of the
administrative team aware of the situation and sent the principal a text message.
Based on the written detonation time, we had a brief window of time to meet & assess,
make the necessary calls to Central Office, and to the authorities. We discussed if this was a
credible threat or if a student was attempting to disrupt the school day. The decision was made to
take the note seriously and to govern ourselves accordingly, if we were going to err, let us err on
the side of caution and safety. Our SRO made his supervisor aware who then phone the bomb
unit of the Virginia State Police. We considered evacuating our kids to the middle school that is
next to our building, but learned they were having a similar crisis.
It was mutually decided that we would evacuate the building while the bomb dogs and
officers swept the building. Over the public address system, I made a short announcement for
the staff to quickly check their e-mail and to strictly follow the instructions. Below is the actual
e-mail I sent to the staff:
Teachers & Staff,
Due to a suspicious message found in the 400-hall restroom, we will be conducting a bomb-threat
assessment. The assessment will begin at the sound of the fire alarm. When you hear the alarm,
please exit the building as usual until further notice. Before exiting, take a quick look around your
room for any suspicious packages or for things out of place.
Please be sure to take your class rolls and carefully supervise your students. In order to not cause a
panic, please DO NOT relay this information to your students. Thank you in advance for your
patience & cooperation in this exercise.
Personal Inventory Analysis
The plan was for the dogs and officers to do an immediate sweep of the auditorium, old
& new gyms, and the cafeteria while the students were still on property. Once the students had
gone for the day, we were joined by the bomb unit of the Capitol Police where a much more
detailed search of the building would take place. Even though the e-mail was clear and concise,
we were well aware that it was likely that a teacher might reveal too much information to his or
her class, and spark a rash of text messages to parents. With that in mind, I contacted the
appropriate central office administrator to get some advice on whether our school should address
the public or if it should come from the county. We were not given a very definitive answer from
central office, so it was decided to wait until the initial search had concluded and then release
information regarding the earlier events. After both searches, no evidence of a bomb was found
and the students were safe, that was the good news, the bad news was the result of the
investigation did not end like I had envisioned.
The writer of the threatening note had a rather distinctive handwriting style in regards to
the formation of some of his letters, so we were quite confident this person’s English teacher
would be able to identify the writer. A photo of the note was taken, scanned and the distinct
letters e-mailed to the English teachers for review. After a few days of interviewing a number of
students, we were not able to identify the person or persons responsible for leaving the bomb
threat. Of course the safety of the students was priority number one but identifying the culprit
was absolutely a close second. I was satisfied with nearly every facet of the experience except
not catching the person. If I had to do it all over again, I more than likely would have made one
change to the e-mail I sent to the staff. Omitted from the e-mail would have been the line, “In
order to not cause a panic, please DO NOT relay this information to your students.” In
Personal Inventory Analysis
retrospect, I probably would have omitted it because I did not want to seem as if we were
keeping the student body misinformed.
Reflecting on my actions that day and applying the personal inventory descriptors, I have
a clearer picture of why I acted in such a take-charge manner. Taking my MBTI personality type
of ISTJ and breaking it down regarding this incident, the following conclusions would explain
my behavior. At no point did I get excited or nervous about what we were facing, but rather a
sense of calm was at all times projected to the members of the team. I was mindful to do this
because if they saw me nervously making decisions and looking unsure of the decisions made,
chances are they too would become unsettled and not perform like a smoothly running team.
When it was decided that the note was a credible threat, I was completely committed to giving
the issue my total attention and interest. The person who left the note used a series of words that
suggested to us that he was academically a fairly bright student, so logically we thought of male
students who fit that detail. That line of thinking gave us some rather good leads, but
unfortunately nothing solid derived from any of them.
The sensing component of my MBTI says that I am practical and that I pay attention to
details. As mentioned before, the writer of the note had a distinct way of forming some of his
letters, so that seemed like a perfectly logical place to start in attempting to identify the person.
Throughout the entire experience, my actions were professional and my thinking focused on
what do we need to do in order to make sure our students were free from harm.
Admittedly, I did think twice about evacuating the building for fear there might be
someone in the woods with a rifle, and the bomb threat was a ploy to get the students out in the
open. Following a very brief discussion, the team, Central Office and I felt that evacuating the
building was the best course of action given the details of the note. It was determined by the
Personal Inventory Analysis
MBTI that my temperament was a SJ, which helps explain why I quickly decided what we
should do to address this bomb-threat. We who have the SJ temperament ask “What?”, we are
structured, orderly, duty-driven, stable, and we make decisions by using the five senses.
Hindsight revealed to me that all of my actions that day were not flawless. Trying to do
everyone’s role in this ordeal is a behavior I would alter if again faced with a similar problem.
One negative characteristic of an ISTJ that almost emerged in this situation was that I wanted to
do everything rather than delegate assignments to the rest of the administrative team. During any
type of crisis at school, I have to suppress what Dr. Martin Luther King called the drum-major
instinct, a natural desire to be first, to take charge, a natural desire to lead. In these situations,
there is no conscious thought of what to do next; it just makes logical sense to follow these steps
or act a certain way based on the circumstances given.
Analyzing this same bomb-threat incident using the LCI self-assessment instrument,
would illustrate a very similar outcome, as did the MBTI. The first of my three “Use First”
patterns of the LCI is Sequence, which sheds an incredible amount of light on why a series of
steps were methodically followed in dealing with the safety threat. The number one priority was
the safety of our students, so what is the first thing we must do to get them away from the
potential danger – evacuate. Before arriving at a decision or determining what step is next, I like
to have as much information as possible about the situation. Precision was one of two LCI
patterns with a “Use First” score of 28. Stated in a summer assignment, it is not shocking that
when dealing with a personal or professional endeavor, I like to have as much information as
possible to help me make a well-informed decision. After the teacher gave me the news about the
note, I asked the staff member on restroom duty if they had any information that might be helpful
to us. After the building searches had ended, we asked our teachers to think about who was out
Personal Inventory Analysis
of their classrooms around the time the threatening note was discovered. Both attempts at
gathering information were useless. As a result, it is now practice for our teachers make note of
who is out of the class, also our students are required to sign a log before entering the restrooms.
Having our teachers more aware of student movement and creating the log sheet were
ways we attempted to solve the problem. Technical Reasoning was my second score of 28 on the
LCI, so it is no surprise that a plan was set in motion to figure out how we could be better
prepared to deal with a similar issue. According to the worksheet on the LML Advanced
Learning System, charging in and solving real problems is what someone does who has a “Use
First” in Technical Reasoning. I am pleased that I was able to effectively step in and be the
leading part of a team that devised a plan to ensure the safety of our students and staff. It is worth
mentioning again that the safety of our students and staff was priority number one, and because
of this, I would not take a risk and not evacuate. The only “Use As Needed” pattern on the LCI
was Confluence. When I learned about the bomb threat, my first thought was that this was a joke
and we would proceed with the normal school day, but almost instantly I thought of the adage,
“it is better to be safe than sorry”. Not being afraid to fail is an affectation of Confluence, and
normally I am not afraid to fail or make a wrong decision, but if I was going to fail or make the
wrong decision in this bomb-threat scenario, it was going to be with safety of students and staff
in mind.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Learning Connections Inventory both indicated
the same things regarding my personality. Being an ISTJ, I tend to behave in a regimented,
factual and logical manner. My LCI results illustrated that following steps to solve a problem,
gathering as much information as possible and charging in to solve a problem are all “Use First”
patterns. After reflecting and writing this personal inventory analysis, I have concluded that I
Personal Inventory Analysis
did not take command of this situation simply because the principal was out of the building; but
rather I took command because that is truly who I am as a person. So, the next time an
interviewer says, “Tell us something about yourself that will let us get to know you.”, I will have
a great deal more to share than what is on my resume.
Personal Inventory Analysis
References
Drath, Wilfred. (2001). The Deep Blue Sea: Rethinking the Source of Leadership. Center for
Creative Leadership, 1.