Running head: PERSONAL MANAGEMENT STYLE

Personal Management Style

Melissa McLachlin
Dr. Charbonneau
LIS 7040

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Knowing yourself is one of the best ways to become an effective leader. Essentially,
anyone can become a leader, but not everyone can become a great one. In this essay, I will
examine approaches to management, my management/personality profile, and my strengths and
weaknesses to prepare me for one day becoming a leader.
There are many factors that contribute to running a successful organization, one of
which is the approach, or management style. In Evans & Alires Management Basics for
Information Professionals, eight different approaches are described. Of the eight, the
Administrative Approach (AA) created by Henri Fayol and Max Weber appeals to me the most.
The AA is based on the idea that worker motivation is the primary factor in effective productivity
(Evans, 2013, p.15). The AA is more structured and organized with a belief that it is the people
who run the organization that determine its success or failure. Social interaction and selfactualization in the workplace are important because they increase employee motivation thus
creating a positive workplace (Evans, 2013, p.15). Fayol published fourteen principles of
management (Evans, 2013, p.14) based on his ideas of what an effective manager is. A few
notable principles that appeal to me are:

Division of labor- workers with specializations. I think it is important to place

workers where they perform their best.

Unity of command- Knowing who is in charge helps to reduce confusion and

promotes uniformity.
Equity- All employees should be treated fairly.
Initiative- Leaders should encourage and motivate their employees to do their best

and also lead by example.

Esprit de corps- Creating high morale and inspiring team spirits should be the
focus of managers and leaders.

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My secondary approach that I prefer is the Behavioral Approach (BA). The BA was
founded by Hugo Munsterberg and it focuses on applying psychology to the workplace (Evans,
2013, p. 15). The BA stresses the importance of managers and their style in relation to
employees motivation and increasing quality work productivity. This approach also recognizes
that training and professional development are equally important to managers and workers. It is
based on the theory that if managers can understand human behavior, it can help in the
workplace to understand employee motivation, conflicts and goals. I would prefer to have the
Administrative and Behavioral Approaches combined because I feel that these two approaches
encompass my ideas of what an effective and successful leader should be; they should motivate
and inspire their employees while treating them fairly to increase work productivity.
I have taken the Myers-Briggs personality test before and I know that I have an INFJ
personality type. However, for this assignment I went to www.humanmetrics.com and took the
quiz again. On this website, the quiz is free and consists of seventy-two questions that require a
yes/no answer. Some examples of questions are: You are almost never late for your
appointments or You trust reason rather than feelings (Personality, 2015). At the end of the
quiz, I submitted my answers and received an INFJ score of: Introvert (78%) iNtuitive (25%)
Feeling (25%) Judging (56%). According to this quiz, INFJs are humanitarians, doers, and
dreamers. In Type Talk at Work: How the 16 Personality Types Determine Your Success on the
Job by Otto Kroeger, the INFJ is considered an inspiring leader and follower (Kroeger, 2002, p.
318). INFJs are meditative and deep thinkers; they see the world as full of opportunities and
promise and use their feelings to make decisions. They also prefer a structured, scheduled, and
ordered lifestyle (Kroeger, 2002, p. 318). Some of my strengths of being an INFJ are being able
hopeful in the present and in the future, having an imagination, and wanting to always help

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others in need. According to Kroeger, some of my weaknesses are being considered too gentle,
caring, and soft at work (Kroeger, 2002, p. 319). Also because INFJs place a great amount of
decision-making based on feelings, internalizing these feelings is also considered a weakness as
this intense concern internalized can become a heavy daily burden (Kroeger, 2002, p. 319).
Lastly, INFJs are introverts and do not like a lot of social interactions and prefer spending time
alone.
After taking this quiz and discovering my personality type, I have determined that I share
a few similarities and differences with the management style approaches I prefer. Regarding the
Administrative Approach, I have initiative and believe that people (employees) can work and be
their best if they are inspired to do so. I also lead a very structured and organized lifestyle and
prefer to work in such a place. However, I do not necessarily prefer social interactions and this
can be a problem for me as the AA places a high value on these type of interactions. In regards to
the Behavioral Approach, I share the similarity of wanting to encourage and develop training for
all employees; INFJs nonstop search for learning, self-growth, and development- and wishing
the same for everyone else-make them very reassuring to others (Kroeger, 2002, p. 320). As
with the AA, building relationships and being involved in social interactions is required for the
BA and this would be a struggle for an INFJ like myself.
Based on my management approaches that I have chosen, the AA and BA, and my
personality quiz which gave me the INFJ profile, I have discovered several strengths and
weaknesses as a manager. As an INFJ, my strengths are that I am imaginative, creative, and can
be a source of inspiration to everyone (Kroeger, 2002, p. 323). I have a positive outlook
regarding the future and think deeply about opportunities and plan out my goals accordingly. I
feel these strengths will make me a great manager because a great leader should lead by example

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and inspire others. My weaknesses are that I internalize things so much that they become a
burden. As an INFJ, I am very sensitive to those around me and sometimes take criticism
personally and this in turn makes me insecure and doubtful of myself. I cannot allow this
weakness to overcome me because if I want to become a leader, my employees cannot see me as
doubtful or they in turn will doubt me. Another weakness is that I am an introvert and I do not
enjoy prolonged social interactions. If I am to become a leader, I cannot have the office that is
shut away from my employees, but instead be open and willing to create and maintain
relationships with all of my staff. Sometimes it is so draining for me to be involved in or speak
before a large group, and I need to overcome this and get out of my comfort zone of being
alone and instead become involved. I have learned that while I believe that I have chosen the
right profession with my desire for knowledge and wanting to help others, I have a few obstacles
to overcome if I want to become a director one day. I have to learn how to be involved as a
leader and not internalize things that may and can go wrong. I have learned that I can be an
effective and inspiring leader, as my personality type proclaims, but I will have to overcome my
introversion to obtain my goal. I also learned that being a leader involves incorporating a
combination of management styles that best fit my personality and my workplace. INFJs are
the ones behind the scenes who make others look good, providing words, wit, and wisdom,
however, this assignment has taught me that as a leader, and I cannot be behind the scenes but
instead be at the front leading others (Kroeger, 2002, p. 323).

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6
References

Evans, G., & Alire, C. (2013).Management basics for information professionals. (Third
ed., pp. 14-15). New York: Neal-Schuman.
Kroeger, O., & Thuesen, J. (2002). Type talk at work: How 16 personality types
determine your success on the job (Rev. and updated. ed., pp. 318-323). New
York: Dell Pub.
Personality test based on C. Jung and I. Briggs Myers type theory. (2015, January 1).
Retrieved February 20, 2015, from http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgiwin/jtypes2.asp