Thursday, September 20, 2012

Research Review: “Tools for supporting intuition” by James Pritchard (2009; Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice, 2, 37-43)


Special thanks to Brodie Gregory, PhD for preparing this piece


Pritchard discusses the added value that personality and other assessments bring to coaching engagements that can support intuitive impressions. Tools like the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI; Briggs Myers & Myers, 1980) and Leadership Development Framework (LDF; Fisher, Rooke, & Torbert, 2000) not only serve as useful conversation starters, but also help coaches gain a more holistic perspective on a client’s attitudes, preferences, and world-view. He notes that the MBTI provides insights into a client’s “natural preferences or personality style” (p. 37). He suggests that an individual’s personality is largely hard-wired, and that the preferences and attitudes captured by the MBTI are relatively consistent across different situations. The LDF provides a nice contrast, as it measures one’s world-view, which evolves over the lifespan with our experiences. In other words, unlike personality, it changes and develops with time and experience.

In addition to examining both assessments on their own, coaches can gain an even richer perspective on the client by using the results of one assessment as a lens through which to interpret the other. For example, the experience of one particular stage of development will be different for two clients who have very different personality profiles. Someone who is highly extroverted will experience a certain phase of life very differently than someone who is highly introverted.

Pritchard makes a compelling case for the value of objective tools and data for enhancing a coach’s understanding of the client as a whole person. In the article a case study is presented which evaluates how the MBTI and LDF were used with a client to assist in providing clarity around making informed decisions during a time of transition.

Assessments like the MBTI and LDF provide coaches with insights into a client’s present world-view and also his or her general preferences and attitudes. How do you validate your intuitive hunches? Do you incorporate objective tools and assessments into your coaching practice to help you to more thoroughly understand your clients’ preferences and perspective on the world?


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