What is the Myers-Briggs assessment? Katherine Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Myers Briggs, developed the Myers-Briggs tool by combining their research with the work of Carl Jung, the Swiss psychotherapist, to help individuals understand their most basic preferences. Jung's research determined that each person has innate preferences that are shaped by such things as education and family upbringing. He believed that these preferences did not change over time, but what does change is how we use our preferences.

The Myers-Briggs tool looks only at our normal behavior, is made up of forced-choice questions with no right or wrong answers, and takes between 20 to 40 minutes to complete. When completed, you receive a written report detailing "your four letter type" with written feedback on how this type relates to you.

Why will the Myers-Briggs assessment will make you a better leader?  

The Myers-Briggs assessment can influence our management and leadership style in three ways:

1. On an individual level. It improves our understanding of where we focus our attention, the way we take in information, the way we make decisions, and our attitudes about the things around us.
2. On a manager/leader level.  It provides a foundation to understand the various styles of our direct reports and how, based on our own style, we should interact with our direct reports to attain results.
3. On a team level. It creates an atmosphere of understanding within a team that each person has a different type or style. In addition, it explains how to approach each person in the group to ensure clear communication and mutual respect.

Myers-Briggs is used globally by more than a million people every year for individual coaching, teambuilding, management training, and career development. From a personal perspective having completed the Myers-Briggs Certification Program last year, I am convinced this tool is a good indicator of my specific preferences. In addition, the various reports I received gave me great suggestions on how to address my own development needs.

More information regarding the Myers-Briggs assessment can be found at www.cpp.com or please contact me directly at jim.geier@hccpartners.com.

Challenges in Transformation: Aligning Business Processes with Strategy

As you think about your challenges for 2012, it's highly likely that you will need to transform your business to be able to compete now and in the future. 

As companies experience changes in their products, services, markets or customers, it is important that their business processes align with their overall strategy. Leaders need to analyze their organization's capability to deliver on the strategy both in the short-, mid- and long-term.

No business will be a success unless it has two critical elements: a sound business strategy and the right people with the right skills and competencies to achieve your strategies. 

Whether your organization is an established business or start up, public, not-for-profit or family-owned, there must be a seamless connection between the business strategy and the organization's capability driven by a sound human capital or people strategy.