I recently went to a leadership training course where we took Myers-Briggs personality tests. I (yet again) tested as an ENTJ. Slight to moderate on the ENT and moderate to strong on the J. Apparently, less than 2% of the US population falls under the type ENTJ… so this is yet another confirmation that I'm weird. Or special. :-P

I thought the test was interesting, but not 100% accurate on my personality as compared to the expected behaviors. I still liked the reinforcement of some faults I might need to look out for. For instance, under stress and short deadlines, ENTJs can be critical and ignore other people's feelings. When work gets crazy, I can definitely see myself default to a mode where I'm executing and expecting others to execute without necessarily considering the impact on other people's emotions. On the other hand, some of the things they pointed out happen less often for me… for instance, ENTJs are at risk of withdrawing and wanting to be alone under extreme stress. Under extreme stress, I definitely fall to my support system and could really only see myself withdraw with just Quinn or another friend.

It looks like there are a ton of Myers-Briggs test online. Unfortunately mine was a closed test so I can't recommend one in particular, but I definitely thought this was an interesting exercise.

People keep joking that me not drinking Starbucks has impacted their bottom line. (I moved to decaf but kept up my schedule starting in May. Actually, I probably drank more, so that I could benefit from the small amount of caffeine in decaf coffee. In July, I stopped going to Starbucks altogether except for the rare iced tea.) Today I read on MSN that Starbucks is "feeling the pinch now." Of course, the article is referring to rising dairy prices and flattened store traffic. They blame the latter on fuel prices and the housing market, but I think we all know I'm no longer helping that number. :-)

I have a flight to Seattle today. That means if you sent email to me at work and I haven't responded yet, I'll likely get back to it from the plane. ;-) I'm in training all day Tuesday-Thursday, with some pretty long days. I'm typically excited about trainings when I schedule them, while I'm in them and after I've taken them. Today is the sweet spot where I'm just scared about the work I'll miss while I'm in training. Let's just hope the coordinators are kind and give us email breaks!

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