Over the years, I’ve used a number of tools to help me understand my style of leadership. I have shared these with hundreds of clergy persons. You may wish to access valuable insights from these tools. I start this series of blogs with a tool used extensively over the past 40 years by Episcopal Clergy and Lay leaders.
The MBTI (Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator) was developed over four decades ago and is based on Jungian Psychology. I do not know how extensively it is used today but back in the 90s almost all our clergy knew their own MBTI type. This tool uses four dynamics that are measured on a scale for each person. The dynamics are:
Extrovert (E) - Introvert (I)
Intuitive (N) - Sensing (S)
Thinking (T) - Feeling (F)
Judging (J) - Perceiving (P)
There is extensive material available on the MBTI types and the test is readily available on the Internet. I first learned in the 80s that I am an INFP. Then as a parish priest, I learned the hard way the need I have to protect my introverted side. This understanding has continued to be valuable throughout my ministry.
When it comes to leadership, the MBTI identifies three main types of leaders: NFs, NTs, and SJs. Some teachers distinguish between STJs and SFJs. I have administered the MBTI to over 500 Episcopal clergy, and the majority of those I tested were Intuitive NFs or NTs. Most of our parishioners like most of the American population are SJs. I like to say that we NFs and NTs bring them meaning and insight.
Many large church rectors I have known were ESTJs. This is the classic profile of a leader with administrative skills. It was Bishop Payne’s profile. He was the best organized leader that I have ever known and also the best delegator too. Such leaders’ strong, clear, non-anxious, extroverted responses to emotional-filled individuals and situations are received as caring which they are. In a clergy group once, an ESTJ leader of a large congregation shared how he deals with people who are unhappy. He gave us this example.
A parishioner had recently approached him after the early service and said, “I really miss the Old Prayer Book. Why can’t we use it sometime?” We NFs and NTs in the room we amazed with his response. We would have made some attempt to tell why the newer one is better. He told us, “I just gave her a hug and said, “change is hard, I know.”
I found it helpful to know that the ENFJ profile is the ideal one for a parish with an attendance of 150 or less. Although I am an NF, I learned how to be more of an ENF on Sunday mornings. A clergy friend visited my parish, observed me, and stopped in my tracks with this feedback. “Kevin, stop telling people you are an introvert and stop acting that way on Sunday. Go to the door and greet people as they arrive. Trust me, it will help you.” And it did. As an introvert, it was difficult for me to greet people at the door at the end of a service. He suggested that I meet them at the door at the beginning of the service when I was less emotionally tired. I would still arrive home on Sunday afternoon and need a nap, but my members found me more personable and interactive meeting them before the service started.
Unlike me, my favorite ENFJ clergy friend would make a few visits with parishioners on the way home or visit his hospitalized members. I found that amazing. Many people who have heard me preach believe wrongly that I am a strong extrovert. I am driven to preach as an NF to communicate a message that connected on both a feeling and intellectual and feeling level. So, I appear to them like an extrovert. They are confused at times when they interact with me when I am my normal introverted self. Many times, they would ask me if I was okay. I learned to smile and give them a hug. Thank God we can learn from other types.
When I was called from a large and growing pastoral church to a program sized one, I immediately felt more at home. I had a team to work with and I delegated to my staff. I gave up the expectation to know everyone and gave my emotional energy to my lay leaders. I supported them and consequently, all went well.
I gave these examples to show you how to apply insight from the MBTI. What you should never do is use your profile as an excuse. People do not care what their rector’s profile is. As John Maxwell has famously repeated, “People don’t care what you know till they know that you care.” Even an NT or STJ can learn the tools of emotionally connecting with people.
In recent years, the MBTI has been criticized because much of the teaching and application that Elizabeth Meyers shared was based more on her strong intuitive nature rather than research. Whether intuition or research based, the fact is that using this tool has afforded many of us valuable insights about ourselves and others. I think MBTI’s greatest strength is for the leader to understand one’s own psyche. I do not use this tool for team building or understanding how people can lead better. I use it to help leaders understand and accept themselves better and to understand how they process information that they will use as a leader. I also use it to underscore that many people do not process information or experience the same way we do.
In my next blog, I will share two other tools I have used to help ordained leaders.
