Authentic Leadership, Not “Perfect Leaders”

By Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT

When you think of a “great leader,” who comes to your mind? Is it someone selfless and value-driven, like Nelson Mandela? Is it someone with exceptional charisma, like German Chancellor Angela Merkel? Or maybe it’s someone brilliant and driven - but sometimes lacking in people skills - like Steve Jobs? We may think there is a definitive set of traits that make a great leader, but when we look back at history, we realize that few “great leaders” possessed the same leadership strengths.

The same lesson applies to developing your own leadership skills. Rather than trying to fit the mold of the “perfect leader,” each person needs to develop their own leadership style based on his or her particular strengths and challenges in leadership. In this month’s Know How Network column, we’ll discuss the value of understanding your Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI) personality type to discover your unique strengths and challenges as a leader. Through this understanding, you’ll be well on your way to developing a leadership style that’s authentically you.

First, a quick summary of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®. The MBTI is a personality self-assessment that describes your personality along four dimensions, resulting in 16 possible personality types. As the creators of the MBTI put it, “The essence of the theory is that much seemingly random variation in the behavior is actually quite orderly and consistent, being due to basic differences in the ways individuals prefer to use their perception and judgment.”[1] At Cheetah Learning, we use MBTI personality types as a tool for understanding each student’s unique strengths in learning, negotiating, managing, and leading. You can find more information about taking the MBTI assessment on their website.

Once you know your MBTI type, you are in a good position to reflect on your own strengths and challenges as a leader. Take me, for example - I’m an “ENTP.” This stands for: Extraversion, Intuiting, Thinking, and Perceiving. I’m outgoing, bold, visionary, daring, and - at times - a bit disorganized. So what does all this mean for my skills as a leader?

As an ENTP, some of my likely natural strengths are:

• Charismatic leadership: Confidence in your abilities and excellent communications skills that enables you to communicate with enthusiasm and persuasiveness. Inspiring others to want to follow your lead or be part of your team and a rare ability to speak extemporaneously on many subjects.

• Creative problem solving: A talent for seeing possibilities, a facility to think outside-the-box, and a belief that all problems can be solved.

• High energy and variety of interests: Tremendous energy for projects you are intrigued by, a wide range of interests, and the ability to work well with different types of people.

• Detecting flaws in logic: An ability to analyze issues logically and dispassionately, and to persuasively point out flaws in logic. Unusual skill at playing "the devil's advocate."

• Natural curiosity: The result of an accumulation of knowledge about a wide range of subjects that allows you to bring a breadth of experience to discussions.

• Resourcefulness: A "can do," "where there's a will, there's a way" attitude that enables you to use your creativity to secure information or resources that you or your people need.

• Adaptability and flexibility: The ability to shift gears easily and change directions quickly as well as to juggle several projects at the same time.

At the same time, ENTPs likely will confront some challenges in leadership, such as:

• Maintaining focus.

• Self-discipline and following through.

• Being realistic and attentive to facts and details.

• Promising more than delivered.

• Being organized.

• Being overly confident.

Rather than thinking about how to the “perfect leader,” think about what unique strengths YOU bring to a leadership role, recognize what challenges you may face, and develop a plan for mitigating these challenges. As an ENTP, for instance, I often get carried away with “big ideas” and get bored by the menial tasks needed to get projects done. One strategy I’ve developed to deal with this is to consult with others who are more realistic, “grounded,” and naturally attentive to facts and details to provide me some balance. My natural charisma and extraversion make it easy for me to reach out to others and get them energized to do this work. By knowing your own strengths and challenges as a leader, you can cultivate a leadership style that works best for you.

Want to learn your unique strengths and challenges for leadership based on your MBTI type? Check out for our personality-based courses in leadership and Project Management to learn more, or give us a call at 855-286-9900.

About the Author:

Michelle LaBrosse, PMP, is an entrepreneurial powerhouse with a penchant for making success easy, fun, and fast. She is the founder of Cheetah Learning, the author of the Cheetah Success Series, and a prolific blogger whose mission is to bring Project Management to the masses.

Cheetah Learning is a virtual company with 100 employees, contractors, and licensees worldwide. To date, more than 50,000 people have become “Cheetahs” using Cheetah Learning’s innovative Project Management and accelerated learning techniques.

Michelle also developed the Cheetah Certified Project Manager (CCPM) program based on Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality profiling to help students master how to use their unique strengths for learning, doing projects, and negotiating. CCPM graduates are able to choose the right projects and complete those projects “cheetah fast” based on their personality. They also learn how to leverage others’ strengths which significantly improves overall project team performance. When an employer has a cadre of CCPMs on staff, they achieve whatever they set out to achieve in record time. This is why over 90% of Cheetah's clients experience an increase in both profitability and revenue within the first year of retaining Cheetah Learning for their Project Management training needs.

Honored by the Project Management Institute (PMI®), Cheetah Learning was named Professional Development Provider of the Year at the 2008 PMI® Global Congress. A dynamic keynote speaker and industry thought leader, Michelle is recognized by PMI as one of the 25 Most Influential Women in Project Management in the world.

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