Recently, I asked one of the lawyers I work with, “What would you do if failure was not an option?”. She couldn’t answer right away. She said, “I’ve buried those parts of myself so far down, I don’t know. I need to think about that.”
You know the phrase: To your own self be true? Well, it’s hard to do if you don’t fully know yourself.
One thing that can help is standard assessments.
I love assessments. Usually, after reading the results I say, “Of course. That’s so me. Makes perfect sense.” Yet I didn’t understand it quite as fully until I read it in black-and-white.
Once you see the truth about yourself, then you can use it.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI, is the world’s most commonly used personality assessment. I’ve loved it for a long time and was delighted when I became a certified practitioner.
I’m sure you’ve heard people ask whether you are “an introvert or an extrovert”. If you can only shrug your shoulders, the MBTI can tell you.
Myers-Briggs has four dichotomous categories and yields a four-letter result.
The dichotomies are:
Extrovert/Introvert: where you get your energy
Sensing/INtuiting: the kind of information you like and trust
Thinking/Feeling: how you prefer to make decisions
Judging/Perceiving: how you prefer to interact with the world around you
It’s all about your preferences. Of course, we all think and feel, and do all these things, but Myers-Briggs helps us get to know how we prefer to do them.
Once you know – you can pay attention and grow what you prefer.
What we pay attention to grows.
For example, many who want to leave big law dislike its isolating nature. They would prefer more collaboration and team work. Once they clarify this, they can actively seek it out!
If you don’t know your MBTI, go do it now. Don’t answer for “who you are at work”. Answer with your truest preferences.
Action Steps:
- Go do it now take the quick (~10 minutes) free MBTI Assessment.
- Print out and as you read your results – highlight what rings true for you.
Then I’d love to hear in the comments, or if you want to do this privately, email me:
- What’s your 4-letter MBTI?
- How can knowing it be useful for you?
As for my client… well, she’s unearthed some true gems of possibilities. Knowing herself is helping her be true to herself.
If you like this post – please share! Have a friend or loved one do their MBTI too.
If you are a lawyer who wants more freedom, autonomy, and clarity about your next career steps, I would love to see if I could help you. Please reach out here.