Myers-Briggs Workshop with Diane Love

Written by: Kerri Long

The Entrepreneur Mentor Program was very pleased to participate in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Workshop given by Diane Love and her husband, Steve Love, at Friday’s EMP meeting. Diane’s enthusiasm and motivation for providing skills to the entrepreneurial journey clearly stood out and was inspirational. Diane is a world-class Accredited Executive Coach, leadership and team trainer, and author. Having an accomplished corporate career, she went on to found Successful Solutions, LLC in 1997. She is known for her research and work using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and establishing the protocol for linking personality type and experiential learning to professional business objectives. In the past she has worked with top executives as well as their teams in becoming “star performers” by designing and delivering a variety of Leadership, Team Building, and Self-Awareness workshops across North America and Europe.

Dr. Love reiterated her excitement in using the MBTI by stating multiple times, “I wish I had this when I was in college”. She identified the four categories of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: Energy, Gather Information, Make Decision, and Lifestyle. Each category representing a “shoes off self” personality type. We learned knowing your own personality type and other’s personality type is crucial in the business world, especially if you want to be capable of working well and communicating with others.

As an example, Energy explained the differences between an extrovert and introvert. These orientations set people on opposing sides of ways to communicate. Dr. Love gave an example of an extrovert who uses their arms and voice to accentuate their presence and thus revealing confidence. Introverts may be shyer and very humble about the way they posture in conversations. There is no right personality type, but learning to read people and identify certain traits will further make one’s communication skills successful. “Once I notice these traits, my antennas go up” claimed Dr. Love about studying people’s body language.

As Diane went further into her discussion, students were noticing aspects of themselves they had given little thought to. On multiple occasions, students divided into opposite sides of the room representing where they were on a trait scale demonstrating the versatile qualities of each person.

Many of the examples Diane gave were situations the students have dealt and struggled with. “No minute like the last minute” is what Diane proclaimed, making many of us reflect on the countless all-nighters we have pulled on term projects. Not only did this remind us of past experiences, but made the students realize how easy it could be to change to a different behavior.

Diane Love was motivational, informational, and relatable to everyone in the room. “By understanding yourself, you will be able to read traits of others and adapt”. We learned in business there are multiple personality types and everyone is different in their own “shoes off self”. Knowing this will broaden our professional development. Dr. Love’s workshop and discussion with the EMP students was extremely helpful and led fellow students to recognize these differences and take action. Thanks to her exceedingly high enthusiasm and positive outlook, we left determined to apply the MBTI to improve our communication with others.