Be Better Than You Really Are
How to understand your personality type for leadership success
Sara is a divisional CIO who has decided she's not cut out for the top job. She doesn't think she has the full
complement of skills to be a good CIO. It's a shame because Sara is a seasoned IT professional who is strategic,
decisive, results-oriented and skilled at directing the activities of others. While it's true that she doesn't have all of
the broad and diverse skills required for the CIO job, it's also true that most people would fail to make the cut. Like
every leadership job, the CIO role is big—too big for one person. The good news is that you can improve yourself to
fill the space required by the CIO job.
CIOs, like other executives, often fail in their responsibilities because they don't have the self-awareness and
humility to mitigate their weaknesses and avoid overusing their strengths. Very few of us, in fact, are able to see
ourselves through the eyes of others. We require some kind of external feedback.
A useful tool in this regard is the familiar Myers-Briggs personality type indicator (known as MBTI®). Isabel
Briggs Myers explained that "each of us has a set of gifts, a set of mental tools that we have become comfortable
using and thus reach for in the everyday business of living" (from her book, Gifts Differing: Understanding
Personality Type). Most people know their MBTI®, but few can articulate how their type should organize resources
and approach their jobs.
Sara has a personality type common to many IT professionals and executives: She
is an INTJ (introverted, intuitive, thinking, judging). INTJs typically are
imaginative, determined innovators who are stimulated by difficulties and
attracted to bigger and bigger challenges. INTJ is also the most independent of all
personality types.
These tendencies have profound implications for what Sara needs to do to
succeed, both as a divisional CIO and as an aspirant for the top job. By examining
the CIO success criteria and understanding the implications of Sara's type, we can
learn how she can become better than she really is.
CIOs, like other
executives, often fail
in their
responsibilities
because they don't
have the selfawareness and
humility to mitigate
their weaknesses
and avoid overusing
their strengths.
INTJs and the Five Criteria for CIO Success
1. Defining and communicating a shared IT vision, strategy and tactical objectives. Sara's intuitive orientation
means that she has the insight to identify issues and patterns, and the inspiration and imagination to define a better
approach to IT. Unfortunately, her introverted nature means that she treats strategy making as a solitary pursuit.
Setting direction is a participative process; otherwise, the commitment necessary for action will be missing. To
guard against her natural tendencies, Sara must define a process that ensures the participation of key stakeholders
across the organization. She must then assign IT professionals who are intuitive extroverts (ENs, in the MyersBriggs shorthand) as key resources in the effort.
2. Delivering quality results on time and within budget. Sara's judgmental nature means she is comfortable with
planning and making decisions and is determined to get things done. She is stimulated by difficulties and loves to
solve problems. But since INTJs get bored with details and, at times, do not live in the world of facts, Sara needs to
refine her thinking process. She must ensure that her project and operational leaders are not people just like herself,
or there's a good chance that her IT organization won't deliver on time or meet the needs of the business. Unlikeminded people will act as "sensors" to keep the project grounded in reality.
3. Helping the business realize value from IT investments. IT value is a dual challenge: First, governance needs
to be established; second, business leaders need to be convinced that following the rules is in their best interest. Sara
has no problem defining what mechanisms are necessary to promote value realization, but she does not inherently
possess the gifts of persuasion to get the rest of the organization on board. To balance her strengths and shore up her
weaknesses, she will need extroverted thinkers (ETs) on her staff who feel comfortable with the collaborative
process of negotiation but who will not give in on key principles or avoid conflict just to make everybody happy.
4. Administering good relationships. Since Sara is more comfortable with ideas than with people, she tends to
make decisions without considering the feelings of others. She often approaches situations with her mind made up
and is surprised by the opposition that results. To be sure, quick-and-easy relationships will never be Sara's strong
suit, but she needs to at least neutralize her natural tendencies by forcing herself to interact with others—even
though, in her mind, there is no real purpose to it. She can force herself into business relationships by making it a
project (for example, defining whom she needs to talk with and scheduling regular interactions), improving her
cocktail party conversational skills (using reflective and active listening) and refining her negotiation skills (using
principled rather than positional negotiating).
Once again, Sara can use her staff to bolster her weaknesses. In this case, she can ensure that her client-facing
personnel includes an adequate number of extroverts.
5. Building and leading a credible IT organization. Executives also derail when they fail to staff correctly. Since
introverted thinkers (ITs) such as Sara connect to others through ideas rather than feelings, they don't get to know
people on a human level. Therefore, they have a tendency to appeal to the head and hands, but not the heart. Sara's
people are stimulated by her vision, clear direction and delegated authority, but they feel their personal needs are not
necessarily understood. Their assignments may not be relevant to their career aspirations. For Sara, the answer is to
carve out time to get to know others by asking questions about their goals, values, and perceived strengths and
weaknesses. Then she can apply her intuitive, thinking skills to define a development plan that will meet the needs
of both individuals and the organization.
Each of you shares Sara's predicament, if with a different mix of personality tendencies. Every day, your talents and
weaknesses fight each other for their chance in the spotlight. How well you fulfill your role with the necessary
skills—whether your skills or others'—defines how successful you are and how much you enjoy what you do.
Dust off your latest personality assessments and extract the insights necessary to become better than you really are.
The MBTI® isn't the only assessment, nor are such tools the only method of learning your strengths and
weaknesses. Make sure you work for a variety of bosses throughout your career. Sign up for the right kind of 360degree assessment, so that you are able to validate your progress.
Armed with self-knowledge and with their egos in check, executives such as Sara (and you) can use every resource
and tool to become better than they really are.
®The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the MBTI are registered trademarks of CPP Inc.
For reader questions and answers from Susan H. Cramm, go to www.cio.com/leadership/agenda.html. Cramm
(susan@valuedance.com) is the founder and president of Valuedance, an executive coaching firm in San Clemente,
Calif., and a former CIO and CFO.