About MBTI and the SLMS Course
Since its inception, the Scientific Leadership and Management course has used the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment as a tool to help course participants develop awareness of their personal habits and preferences, and reflect on how those preferences may impact their leadership style.
We believe the MBTI assessment is a powerful starting point for self-reflection. At the same time, we recognize that any assessment tool can be misused or misinterpreted. As such, we employ the following as ground rules for our use of MBTI throughout the course:
Teams need all MBTI personality types. We believe that all types are equally valuable, and that teams and projects benefit from having different preferences and points of view represented.
MBTI personality type should not be used to limit anyone. No preference is "good" or "bad," and preferences do not predict skill, nor success at any task or in any role.
People are more than their type. People are complex and multi-faceted. Personality type is part of who we are, not all of who we are; nor do all people of the same type behave the same way.
These ground rules are aligned with the Myers-Briggs Foundation’s guidelines for ethical use of MBTI, which also specify that participation in MBTI assessments should be voluntary, confidential, and should not be used in hiring decisions.
Facilitators will remind participants to keep these ground rules in mind throughout the course, and we ask participants to let a facilitator or site leader know if you have any concerns.
