Personality and Leadership

I took both the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the DISC Assessment. Since I didn’t purchase the full versions, I relied on the summaries. I felt like the MBTI looked at a wider range of traits. According to the MBTI, I’m an INFJ, or “The Advocate” (MindScope, 2017). With the DISC Assessment, my highest score was in steadiness, although I actually related more to the influence description when I listened to the explanations (Pham, 2023). I can be chaotic and messy at times and a little hard to keep on topic, but I’m also optimistic and really enjoy working as part of a team.

Reading Kalogeratos et al. (2023) helped me put my results into perspective. They explain that no single personality type automatically makes someone a strong leader. What really matters is how those traits are used and adapted in different situations. That idea was reassuring to me.

The MBTI lists intuition, feeling, and judging as strengths. The DISC identified temperament as my main strength, which honestly surprised me. I live with bipolar disorder and don’t always feel levelheaded, so that result felt unexpected. But Kalogeratos et al. (2023) also point out that leadership traits aren’t fixed—they can grow and develop over time. That helped me see this result as potential rather than a contradiction.

The DISC highlighted dominance and influence as areas for growth. Dominance relates to assertiveness, and that definitely resonates. Advocating for myself causes me real anxiety, and I tend to avoid confrontation. At the same time, the MBTI identified “feeling” as a strength, and that feels very accurate. I’m deeply empathetic and always thinking about how my actions affect others. Emotional awareness and interpersonal sensitivity can actually strengthen leadership, especially in collaborative settings (Kalogeratos et al., 2023) and that sensitivity made me an effective caretaker for the last twenty years.

My main leadership style was collaborative, and my least prominent style was persuasive. As a new instructor, I’m still figuring out how well collaboration works in the classroom. I recently tried to make changes based on student feedback but was told I couldn’t adjust anything once the semester had started. That was a learning moment. I’m used to working in healthcare where teamwork and flexibility are constant, and I’m realizing the classroom operates differently. The article reinforced that leadership is situational, which means I’ll need to adapt rather than rely on one approach (Kalogeratos et al., 2023).

Three weeks ago, I attended the Leadership Academy sponsored by the Society for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging and it was a turning point for me. I made a conscious effort to speak up, and I gained so much more because I did. That experience showed me that while collaboration feels authentic, I also need to continue developing assertiveness. Growth may feel uncomfortable, but it’s necessary if I want to become a stronger leader for both myself and my students.

References:

Kalogeratos, G., Anastasopoulou, E., Stavrogiannopoulos, A., Tsagri, A., Tsogka, D., & Lourida, K. (2023). Personality types and leadership characteristics: A mini review. Technium Business and Management, 5(1), 69–78.

MindScope. (2017, March 29). Myers Briggs Personality Types Explained [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e4tlYOvI0I

Pham, E. (2023, June 10). How to understand personality types [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voYqexI8VwE