1. Build Team Chemistry Using MBTI
+ =
Team chemistry. An essential ingredient in success. Whether success is a record or an experience or both. It’s all about creating conditions where a diverse group – or a crazy cast of characters – can succeed.
Chemistry is when 1+1 = 3. It is a synergy that comes from releasing all the talent, energy, and pleasure you can from a diverse and motivated group.

2. Questions we will answer today!
What is MBTI and how does it help build chemistry?
What is my best-fit “type”?
What are some specific examples of how using MBTI contributes directly to better relationships and better results?
Where do I look to learn more?
Many concepts, diagrams, and pictures were taken from the MBTI Presenting Types in Organizations, developed by David Freeman, Linda Kirby, and Nancy Barger
Try to relate everything back to team chemistry, long-term personal benefit for team
Beauty about this is that it ultimately must be self-verified. You will determine what you are.

3. MBTI Quick Facts
A 93 question assessment used to determine innate preferences and assign a 4-letter personality type
(i.e. INTJ, ESFP, ENTP, ISFJ, etc.)
Used by most Fortune 100 companies
Over 2 Million administrations per year- translated into 30 languages, used in 70+ countries across industry
Based on Swiss psychologist Carl Jung’s ( ) type theory and shaped by Katherine Briggs and Isabell Briggs Myers until 1980, refined and tested since then
Most widely used reliable and valid tool for understanding personality differences
Does not predict behavior for any individual, but does accurately predict behavior for groups (note: that each team has a group profile!)
Globally recognized and refined language and structure to describe peoples personalities. Credible system that is used in education, business, all types of consulting. There are so many materials available – team building, stress, coaching, conflict management. Framework to address a number of problems that will arise on a team.
Goes beyond your court personality to who you really are. We talk to our team about their volleyball experience being not only about sport, but a four-year course in leadership. This opens them to a new level of empathy and engagement of people who are different then them.

4. MBTI Objectives -Creating Team Chemistry-
Enhance self-understanding for coaches and players
Natural strengths and blind spots
Potential areas for growth
Motivations and communication patterns
Distress signals and how stress affects you
Understand and appreciate (rather than just tolerate) diversity
Reduce tension & judgment, increase empathy and effective communication among team members and coaches
Embrace, utilize, and leverage different preferences to complete tasks, achieve goals, and confront adversity
Increase range and scope of communication
MBTI creates a framework and language for continued development in a team context and life long personal context
Chemistry is when 1+1 = 3. It is a synergy that comes from releasing all the talent, energy, and pleasure you can from a diverse and motivated group.

5. What do you mean by preference?
Write your name using your dominant hand:
_______________________________
Write your name using your NON-dominant hand:
________________________________
We can all use both hands for writing, but one is natural, comfortable, automatic
Where does this preference come from? How does the environment shape it? What is the benefit of executing this skill “in type” or “with preference”?

6. I Love the HOV Lane (your brain loves the easy way, too)
Everybody’s brain is wired a certain way. Neuroscience has the research to back up MBTI – everybody has neural pathways that are relatively more or less efficient. Your brain has preferences and patterns for how it treats information. IN FACT, there is another paradigm called ACTION TYPE that has connected MBTI to motor pattern preferences, body organization, coordination, and vision. The brain chemistry seems to be real.
There are ways your brain can process information that is more or less demanding of your psychic energy, and will make you feel more energized or more drained. Operating “in type” is like flying down the HOV lane during rush hour when you’ve got to get home. or maybe taking the “local route” home that only neighborhood people – insiders – know about. You feel great that you’re beating all those other “suckers” home, it’s enjoyable maybe even energizing, non-stressful, doesn’t require extra thought. Operating out of preference is like being in the rush hour jam and still trying to get home as quickly. Stress-inducing, annoying, and requires more focus if you’re trying to bob and weave or do anything but just sit there, static, not making any progress. Sure, anybody can drive in either situation and make it home (ultimately the goal). But one way gets you there faster, in a better mental place to hang out with your kids, and doesn’t contribute to chronic stress.

7. MBTI Preferences – 4 Dichotomies
Where you direct your energy
Extraversion vs Introversion
How you gather information
Sensing vs iNtuition
How you make decisions
Thinking vs Feeling
How you deal with the outside world
Judging vs Perceiving
There are two ways to answer each question – 1 is the HOV lane, 1 is the traffic jam

8. More about preferences…
Preferences are not measured on a spectrum – either you prefer this or you prefer that
Preferences do not change – they stay
the same over our lifetime.
What changes is how we use them, and the accuracy with which we can recognize and measure the clarity of our own preferences.
During the next few minutes we will go over each set of preferences. Please try to figure out which preference best describes you. Also think of examples on your team where a conflict or example of preference occurs. We will also talk about the implications for coaching different preferences.

9. How do you Direct your Energy?
Extraversion
Action
Outward
People
Interaction
Many
Expressive
Do-Think-Do
Introversion
Reflection
Inward
Privacy
Concentration
Few
Quiet
Think-Do-Think
Another way to think of E/I is where you go to recharge your battery? After a long day, do you re-energize by taking some alone time (i.e. reading a book, relaxing alone to music, taking a walk by yourself or with one other person that requires little energy from you). Or do you immediately call a friend, look to meet with another person or group of people? What is your view of “small talk” – is it a great way to learn about somebody and an interesting activity, or is it draining and “pointless”?
This is similar to the DISC “outgoing” vs “reserved” question – however this is asking your preference, regardless of context or social requirement.
We all do EXTRAVERTED and INTROVERTED things but
Usually we do NOT do them with equal comfort – most of us have a preference.
Extraverts also often speak to solidify their thoughts, and can usually be caught narrating their actions. Intorverts tend to think and finalize the thought before expressing it verbally and may be embarrased to speak off the cuff or if unprepared.

10. What do E’s and I’s look like and do?
Seek and value input from many Seek input from chosen few Respond to external expectations Focus on internal objectives Seek assistance actively Rely on inner resources Share things openly Keep things to themselves Seek group interaction Seek small group interaction Focus on breadth Focus on depth Start with actions Start with ideas
Examples:
Locker Room outbursts
How team meetings are structured – is there opportunity to prepare ahead of time? Is there group work?
Talking on the court/field – is it worth it given the energy expenditure?
Needing to do the action before understanding the concept
Recruiting match-ups

11. How do you take in information? What do you like? What do you trust?
Sensing
Facts
Realistic
Specific
Present
Keep
Practical
What is
Intuition
Ideas
Imaginative
General
Future
Change
Theoretical
What could be
People who prefer Sensing:
Prefer to take in information using their five senses— sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste
See and collect facts and details
Are practical and realistic
Start at the beginning and take one step at a time
Are specific and literal when speaking, writing, and listening
Live in the present, dealing with the here and now
Prefer reality to fantasy
Like to work with the parts to see the overall design
Like set procedures, established routines
Prefer practical, concrete problems and dislike theoretical or abstract problems
Can seem materialistic and too literal to Intuitive types
Need Intuition for balance
People who prefer Intuition:
Go beyond what is real or concrete and focus on meaning, associations, and relationships
See patterns, possibilities, connections, and meanings in information
Are conceptual and abstract
Start anywhere and may leap over basic steps
Speak and write in general, metaphorical terms
Live in the future—the possibilities
Prefer imagination and ingenuity to reality
Study the overall design to see how the parts fit
Thrive on change, new ideas, and variety
Prefer imaginative new solutions to problems and become impatient with details
Can seem impractical dreamers to Sensing types
Need Sensing for balance

12. What do S’s and N’s look like and do?
Enjoy practical conversations Enjoy clever conversations Use detailed description Use metaphorical descriptions Move sequentially Skip around Prize specifics and realism Prize hunches and insights Rely on and trust experience Rely on and trust inspiration Confidence grows from repetition Confidence from innovation Use accepted ways of leading Try new ways of leading Notice specifics/facts Notice subtleties/pattens

13. Look at this picture for 30 seconds and think about what you see.
S will see the colors and shapes before thinking “what does it mean”
N will see meaning and may overlook the actual colors and shapes that comprise their interpretation

14. How do you make decisions?
Thinking
Head
Distant
Things
Objective
Critique
Analyze
Firm but fair
Feeling
Heart
Personal
People
Subjective
Praise
Understand
Merciful
People who prefer Thinking:
Make their decisions based on impersonal, objective logic
Use logic to analyze the problem, assess pros and cons
Focus on the facts and the principles
Are good at analyzing a situation
Focus on problems and tasks—not relationships
May not include the impacts on people or people’s emotions in their decision making
Take a long-term view, seeing things as an onlooker
Are good at spotting flaws and inconsistencies and stating them clearly
When required, can reprimand or fire people
Believe fairness, justice, and equitability are very important
May seem cold and detached to Feeling types
Need Feeling for balance
People who prefer Feeling:
Make their decisions with a person-centered, values-based process
Use their personal values to understand the situation
Focus on the values of the group or organization
Are good at understanding people and their viewpoints
Concentrate on relationships and harmony
May overlook logical consequences of individual decisions
Take an immediate and personal view of situations
Like to show appreciation and caring for others
Have difficulty telling people unpleasant things
Believe fairness means treating each individual as a whole person
May seem overly emotional and irrational to Thinking types
Need Thinking for balance

15. What do T’s and F’s look like and do?
Start with a critique Start with praise Examine conflict to find truth Avoid conflict to maintain harmony Business-like Sociable Want feedback to improve Want support for efforts Apply policy consistently Make exceptions to policy Seek efficiency Seek dedication Results-based Consensus-based Objective analysis Subjective analysis

16. How do you deal with the outside world?
Judging
Organized
Decision
Control
Now
Closure
Deliberate
Plan
Perceiving
Flexible
Information
Experience
Later
Options
Spontaneous
Wait
People who prefer Judging:
Want the external world to be organized and orderly
Look at the world and see decisions that need to be made
Like to make plans and follow them
Like to get things settled and finished
Like environments with structure and clear limits
Enjoy being decisive and organizing others
Handle deadlines and time limits comfortably
Plan ahead to avoid last-minute rushes
Like rapidly getting to the bottom line and deciding
Dislike being interrupted on a project, even for a more urgent one
May make decisions too quickly, or cling to a plan
May not notice new things that need to be done
May seem rigid, demanding and inflexible to Perceiving types
Need Perceiving for balance
People who prefer Perceiving:
Seek to experience the world, not organize it
Look at the world and see options that need to be explored
Like to respond resourcefully to changing situations
Like to leave things open, gather more information
Like environments that are flexible; dislike rules and limits
May not like making decisions, even when pressed
Tend to think there is plenty of time to do things
Often have to rush to complete things at the last minute
Want to explore all the options before deciding
May start too many projects and have difficulty finishing them
May have trouble making decisions, or have no plan
May spontaneously change plans
May seem disorganized and irresponsible to Judging types
Need Judging for balance

17. What do J’s and P’s look like and do?
Use decisive words/fixed positions Use hedging words/tentative possibilities Dislike being sidetracked Being sidetracked is interesting Put work before play Combine work and play Value steadiness/thoroughness Value flexibility and adaptability Act on set priorities Respond to opportunities as they arise Prefer to have control Prefer to have freedom Make quick decisions Avoid making decisions

18. What is Your Type?

19. What is Your Team’s Type?

20. What are your preferences
What are your preferences? How do we see them play out in team chemistry issues?
What kind of communication do you expect during learning/in the game/in a team meeting?
How much detail and process goes into goal setting vs how much vision and big picture?
What constitutes fairness? Equal treatment or are there situational considerations? What if somebody arrives to practice late?
Is every minute of practice scheduled and posted in advance or do you play it by ear?
Understanding the demands you are putting on your team….is that draining them cognitively or energizing them?
When you are in a situation that requires you to act out of preference for a long time, STRESS WILL RESULT

21. Columbia Volleyball Accountability group assignments
What MBTI informs in our program…
What our players have to say…
Accountability group assignments
Matching mentors to freshmen
Individual player meetings and one-one communication
Maximum player engagement in team meetings
Locker room talk expectations and understanding
Court “energy” expectations
Individual and team motivation
Conflict management
Gives me confidence to give feedback and have more open communication. I know who I can be straightforward with and who to be gentle with (ENTJ)
Helps me connect with my teammates to make things better on the court by understanding how people might perceive the same thing differently (INFJ)
Helps with communication issues (ESTP)
Helps me understand the best way to approach, communicate, and motivate my teammates – we need to know what makes people open to discussion and what makes them closed off and defensive (ENTP and captain)

22. MBTI Objectives Questions we ask ourselves at Columbia
Enhance self-understanding and acceptance
How can I be the most productive, positive person? How can I derive the most pleasure from this experience?
What motivates each player: relationships, understanding, physical activity?
Do our players understand what triggers their own stress points and those of their teammates? Can they manage those triggers?
Understand and appreciate diversity
How do we discover the source of and manage intrapersonal conflict?
Do our rules, goals, and team communications address the needs of all types?
Increase range and scope of communication
Do our players have the skill and confidence to communicate with potential employers about their strengths and weaknesses? Do they feel better about recognizing what helps/hinders quality relationships? Do they have tools to problem solve and adapt to different types? Will they consider careers that play to their preferences?
Knowing that there are collateral, long-term benefits to using MBTI on our team helps keep our players engaged and invested in learning and applying MBTI.

23. What about you, coach?
Understanding your own type, as well as the “TYPE” of job you do, and the types of people around you can help you tailor your world to create a better fit for you, and a different perspective about what doesn’t fit very well… it can help you keep your PASSION and ENTHUSIASM for the job you do.

24. What types of workshops can you do with MBTI and your team?
Team Building
Conflict Management
Communication Style
Stress Management
Career Development
Type and Change
Type and Organizations
Innovation
Functions and Temperaments
Decision Making Style
Leadership Style
Type Dynamics and Development
Emotional Intelligence
Types and Teams
Types and Selling
Types and Coaching
Project Management
The materials and workshops for these topics are available and proven, have been through multiple iterations and widely used already
Team building: icebreaker activities, activities to reinforce learning of type, activities to help others understand how different types approach communication, team culture, leadership, change, problem solving, and managing stress
Can use MBTI to help your players develop as leaders, help them search for the career that will best suit them and in which they are likley to be most happy
Consulting is also available for coaches – learn how to coach to each type

25. Where do I look to learn more?
Visit for a full listing of reports, resources, products, and services. Visit or for more information about becoming a certified MBTI practitioner. Visit for more history and information about the assessment and available products and services. Google MBTI consultants to find one in your area – also, most sports and other psychologists are MBTI trained. Contact me for any way I can help:
Brie Katz,

26. MBTI exercises to try with your team

27. E/I Splitting Question:
What are some of the
observable behavioral differences
you notice between Extraverts and Introverts?
Write/Discuss responses
Extraverts are more talkative, energetic, and overtly enthusiastic about the task.
Introverts are more reflective, may not show their enthusiasm outwardly.
Extraverts answer questions immediately.
Introverts are quiet when first asked a question.
Extraverts interrupt one another.
Introverts wait to see who will answer.
Extraverts may sit closer to each other.
Introverts may keep more physical distance.

28. S/N Exercise
To determine who may be an S and who may be an N, have your team look at the following slide (or any abstract picture) for 1 ½ minutes silently and either have them write down what they see, or be prepared to share with the group what they think they’ve been looking at.
Describe what they literally see:
Physical attributes of the picture (color, shapes, artist’s name, size)
Then try to make sense out of the shapes—object sense
Others can usually agree with the interpretations of the shapes

30. People who prefer sensing:
Describe what they literally see:
Physical attributes of the picture (color, shapes, artist’s name, size)
Then try to make sense out of the shapes— object sense
Others can usually agree with the interpretations of the shapes

31. People who prefer Intuition:
Interpret the picture, seeing possibilities and meanings that are highly personalized
Often make up a story about the picture
May come up with a big-picture interpretation of the meaning

32. What are the implications and applications of this exercise?
We must remember that we all trust our own perceptions, while knowing that there are many other ways of seeing the same object/situation.

33. T/F Splitting:
Imagine that you have been invited to a party with your partner or a close friend.
Your partner/friend arrives, ready for the party. You look at what the person is wearing and say to yourself, “Oh no! Is he/she really going to wear that?”
What do you do and say in this situation? Discuss in your groups.

34. What will come up in discussion:
Thinking types concentrate on achieving their desired outcome—the partner/friend changes clothes or they don’t go.
Feeling types often say they don’t care what the person is wearing.
Thinking types are frank and to-the-point in stating their views about the clothing.
Feeling types are often concerned about embarrassing the person, take a tactful, indirect approach.

35. J/P Splitting: Assuming that you are all friends,
plan a social picnic for your group. Break into groups and discuss.
Judging types plan everything to the nth degree, liking to cover every contingency.
Perceiving types leave things open, desiring flexibility.
What are the implications and applications of
this exercise?
Judging types form a poor opinion of Perceiving types.
Perceiving types have to look like Judging types if they are to succeed in organizational settings.
Judging types pay a price for their need to organize everything—continuous low-grade stress.