Leadership Research & MBTI
Note: CEO statistics may vary from other researchers. The cited statistics come from William Q. Judge, PhD (1999) The Leader's Shadow: Exploring and Developing Executive Character.
SF Types: The Friendly Doers
- SFs constitute 31% of American Adults, but only about 10% of CEOs.
- Are practical, sensible, and like using concrete ways of being.
- Are very people-oriented, warm and friendly.
- Use 5 senses: little interest in abstract principles or theories.
- Few SFs are CEOs; theorizing and abstraction do not come easily to SFs.
- SF is the most common personality type for women.
ST Types: The Practical Thinkers
- STs constitute 37% of American Adults and 23% of CEOs.
- Use 5 senses: collecting data and processing it.
- Primary focus on facts (collected and verified through 5 senses; concrete thinkers).
- ST decision making is often through impersonal analysis.
- STs prefer the logical process of thinking through a step-by-step process.
- Loyal and dutiful people; work well within structured organizations (bureaucracies).
- Preoccupied with Cause and Effect thinking.
- Pays attention to detail. Very goal and task-oriented. Seen as Straightforward.
- Intellectually active while emotionally passive (tough minded decision-makers).
NF Types: The Imaginative Developers
- NFs constitute only 16% of American Adults (least common type in America), as well as 16% of CEOs.
- NFs look at the world and intuitively see complex possibilities.
- Focus on people and relationships, as well as connections and meaning in everything.
- Idealists: they work to make the world a better place. Complex analyzers.
- Excellent at innovating and directing their energy toward others to get things achieved.
- Very intuitive (perceptive) about people and the world.
- Value harmony and goodwill. Details & Practical Action may not be their strong suit.
- Struggle with balance between professional and personal worlds.
- Act based on deeply held principles that guide their interactions and decisions (actions).
- Find rules and regulations constricting.
- Value relationships based on depth, authenticity, true connection, and mutual growth.
NT Types: The Logical Theorists
- NTs constitute 16% of American Adults and 51% of CEOs (most common type of CEO).
- Gravitate toward rapid growth companies. Forté is abstraction and long-term forecasting.
- Broader view of the world (intuition) while dealing with issues objectively (thinking).
- Continually searching for underlying principles and logical structures.
- Value intelligence and competence.
- See inconsistencies and lack of logic quickly.
- Tolerant of a wide range of behaviors, until their principles get stepped on.
- Strong visions of what the company can become.
- Like to conceptualize insights and use these insights to relate one experience to another.
- Can come across as brash and blunt.