The Power of Introversion: What Personality Tests Say I bring to a Personal Learning Network

 

Susan Cain's Ted Talk: The Power of Introverts

Video Source: YouTube

Personality Tests & PLNs

Personality tests are controversial. Initially developed to determine whether someone was fit for military combat, they have since been used to determine, among other things,whether someone is a team player and a potential asset to a company.  These questionnaires ostensibly tease out correlations between our answers to questions such as "I seek out new contacts when I am in a social setting" with traits appreciated in the the corporate world such as "great team player, good at networking." However, as social science research methods insist, correlation does not equal causation--in other words, just because something occurs and changes together (introverted people tend to prefer to work alone) does not mean that one thing causes each other (our teams are underperforming because we hired too many introverted personality types).

Regardless of their scientific rigor or eventual practical uses, personality tests can give valuable insights into our understandings of how we operate, and organizations' understandings of who is, or should be, working for them. How, then, do they relate to Personal Learning Networks or PLNs? Personal Learning Networks are the connections we make with individuals, organizations, and other resources that support ongoing learning. In our digital age, these connections tend to be fostered through social media sites such as LinkedIn, X, GoodReads, Instagram, Facebook, and the like. They can also include membership in professional organizations, attendance and presentations at conferences, volunteer networks, etc. Developing a PLN is beneficial to educators for many reasons, not least of which because it opens windows into other worlds beyond our own classroom (or library) and connects us to like (or unlike) minded people also striving to create the best learning environments for their students. 

Taking personality tests can help us understand how we can best contribute to a personal learning network. According to Let's Grow Leaders, 4 types of people can be valuable to a PLN including an encourager, a challenger, an advocate, and a technical advisor. After taking a series of personality tests, I have a good idea under which of these 4 types I fall. Moreover, personality tests can encourage us to look more deeply inside our own selves and reveal how we flourish or not, and the areas we can work on. This will help in our own attempts to create a rewarding PLN for ourselves, and help us to be a valuable member of a PLN for others.

Who am I? What the Personality Tests Say

1. "My Personality Test--The Personality Type Indicator."

I am, apparently, an INFP: An Introverted Intuitive Feeling Perceiver.

Image Source: My Personality Test

"INFPs like yourself only make up about 7% of the population.

You are imaginative, warm, idealistic, and compassionate. You are usually open-minded and accepting unless someone is violating one of your values. Ultimately, you want to change the world in whatever way you can. You want to make the world a better place for others." 

Hm, this sounds pretty good! I am unique (only 7%!) and also I want to help others. But the picture is not entirely rosy: because I focus most on the touchy-feely, the conceptual and the abstract, I tend to ignore practical details and real world solutions. Moreover, my desire to save the world means I tend to neglect my own needs. And most interestingly: "You always aim to please others and will do anything to avoid conflict."

Ouch.

How accurate or valid are these results? 

Pretty uncomfortably accurate in some ways. You only have to look at what I chose and am choosing to study, where I have worked and volunteered, to know this test is onto something. I want to make a difference. In my case this means I want to make peoples' lives better, and cause the least amount of harm and the greatest good in doing so. My focus is on finding ways to improve literacy and better outcomes for more kids. So yes, accurate.

I think the idea that I tend to look big picture, conceptual, and theoretical is pretty accurate. However, I disagree that this makes my efforts less effectual or more impractical. Maybe because my training is in a practical field--city planning--I've strived to go from high ideals to implementable solutions.

Finally, and this will become a recurring theme, I avoid conflict. I like harmony, collaboration, and peace. I not only avoid conflict, I lack the tools to deal with conflict. Why this is the case is a tangent best unexplored but certainly can't be separated from a culture that values saving face and promoting harmony over discord. 

2. 16 Personalities

Image Source: 16 Personalities

"As an INFJ (Advocate), you possess a unique combination of idealism and insight that sets you apart in today’s world. Your rich inner life is characterized by complex emotions, vivid imagination, and a deep well of empathy that allows you to connect with others on a profound level. You have an unwavering commitment to your principles and an intense desire to make a positive impact on the world around you."

how accurate or valid are these results?

I have taken this test before, though not recently, but the label of "advocate" for my personality type is new to me and something I'd like to explore. Introverted is not a surprise, nor is the focus on empathy and the need to make a difference in the world. Another theme that appears to be resonating across tests is the need to avoid conflict:

Image Source: 16 Personalities

This weakness is brought up by the 16 Personalities folks under both personal and professional areas.  Is it possible, I wonder, that the desire to avoid conflict and the common trait of being introverted might be related? And what does this mean for developing, and being a part of a PLN?

3. Mind Tools' Leadership Style Test

Image Source: Mind Tools

In this test, my answers were correlated with the type of leader I might be. It concluded that I am more of a democratic, or participatory, type of leader. This is in contrast to the two other types of leaders: authoritarian and delegating or laissez faire leaders.

how accurate or valid are the results?

This feels spot on. When I was a professor, I taught classes in city planning with an emphasis on community participation. Without the active involvement of those who were to benefit or live with a plan, how could it be considered a net positive in a neighborhood? Today, when I run a group I tend to set the rules or parameters but let others be fully involved in its direction, trusting their skill sets. However, the concern raised by the previous two tests raises its head here again: "And, if you dislike disagreement or conflict, you might struggle with how people respond to consultation."

How might an INFP/ INFJ-T/Democratic Leader Function in a PLN?

As Susan Cain argues in her Ted Talk at the beginning of my blogpost and her 2013 book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking, being extroverted, highly networked, energized by social interactions and ready for the next verbal jousting is not the only, or even the most successful, way to exist professionally. Clearly, I fall within the category of an introvert professionally and personally. I knew that before taking these tests, and it appears to confirm the tests' accuracy that my answers support this label. Moreover, I not only thrive best in situations where I can work contemplatively and solo, when I do find myself working with others what I avoid is conflict. Is this detrimental to leadership, teamwork, and to being a part of a professional learning network?

Not necessarily. If the four types of people you want in a PLN include encourager and advocate, I fit right in. A high degree of empathy will tip me into the encourager role--I am there to let you know "you got this" and remind you of your strengths. But the role I may fit the best is that of an advocate. According to the 16 Personalities quiz, that's my strength. As a professor, I often took on this role for students whether by writing recommendation letters, helping them understand how to write a scientific research paper, or introducing them to potential scholarships. As a student and a volunteer, I find it is others who have advocated for me including my mentor and fellow grad students. It's an important role in a PLN and one I'm eager to deepen and pursue.

The elephant in the room is conflict. Can someone who avoids conflict function decisively and efficiently in a professional network? I think the answer to that is yes. I think that rather than going against my own traits and trying to 'overcome' who I am, I can take a page from Cain's book and double down on the strengths this trait give me.

A 3 Step Action Plan 

If you want to be an advocate, you can not avoid conflict. Sometimes, something that seems straightforward--for example, advocating for more funding for school libraries and for them to be more equitably distributed throughout a school district-is fraught with politically sensitive elements you (I) may not have realized. I am seeking, then, the tools to engage with conflict while honoring my own personality traits. Here are my thoughts on how I can acquire these tools and the timeline to do so:

One: realize conflicts exist and are not necessarily bad

Conflict can come when multiple stakeholders are given a place at the table. This, inherently, is a good thing and jibes with my own desire to be a participatory, democratic leader. Working with people who come from different generations, professional backgrounds, work styles, personalities, and cultures means that different ways of approaching a task are inevitable. Instead of equating conflict to discord and fighting, it's possible to see it as a natural outgrowth of opening up to more voices.

TIMELINE: Research ways that conflict can be good in school classrooms, libraries, and the field of education. Collect articles and book suggestions and seek out videos and blogs on this topic. Fall 2024 to May 2025.

Two: seek ways to collaborate 

Is there an approach to a problem that can generate a win-win solution? Is there a way different parties can work together toward the same goal? Sometimes the answer will be no, of course. But I think in the case of education and school libraries in particular, the answer can be yes. For example, all will likely agree that school libraries make a difference in student outcomes. The conflict may come when trying to decide how to increase funding for them in the context of budget cuts, or how to maintain a library in a school with an increasing student population yet tight on space. In these situations, working collaboratively to seek a solution that takes into account various stakeholders' concerns is necessary. That doesn't mean that everyone will get 100% of what they desire; it means that those with like-minded goals (children's education) can find solutions that work toward those goals

TIMELINE: I am currently seeking ways to talk with and potentially collaborate with various stakeholders in the Chicago Public School System to understand which CPS students get access to school libraries, and how we can improve that distribution. September 2024-September 2025, including a conference presentation at the Association of Illinois School Library Educators (AISLE) conference in November 2024.

Three: when real conflict is unavoidable, fight

According to my 16 Personalities quiz, other INFJ (Advocates) include Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela. I am not sure if any of these great historical figures took personality quizzes, but it is interesting that they were considered introverted, intuitive, and maybe even conflict-avoidant. Yet when faced with a social injustice, clearly they fought and persisted in their work. I do not like conflict, may even be allergic to it. However, I am willing to fight if I see that collaboration and cooperation are not the best approach, if values and goals are mis-aligned. What might that look like in my field of study? It could mean running for a spot on a community's library or school board to prevent those spots going to those who advocate books bans. It could be researching and presenting about the inequitable distribution of school libraries in a community where they are being cut, especially in poorer neighborhoods.

TIMELINE: present day and onward

Final Thoughts

While personality tests are controversial and the science behind them unclear, taking these three tests and connecting the results to building a PLN has been revealing and useful to me. I am intrigued by the idea that my most natural role in a PLN can be as an Advocate. I am interested in learning more about my own, quiet power as an introvert and how I can collect tools for dealing with conflict on my own terms, using my own strengths. 

Sources

“A Brief History of Personality Tests.” Harvard Business Review, 14 July 2021, hbr.org/2017/03/a-brief-history-of-personality-tests. 

Cain, Susan. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. Broadway Books, 2013. 

Chen, Angus. “How Accurate Are Personality Tests?” Scientific American, Scientific American, 20 Feb. 2024, www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-accurate-are-personality-tests/. 

“Free Personality Test, Type Descriptions, Relationship and Career Advice.” 16Personalities, www.16personalities.com/. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024. 

“Free Personality Tests! Discover Yourself. Instant Results.” My Personality Test,  my-personality-test.com/. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024. 

Haynie, Sherrie. “Council Post: Why and How Innovative Organizations Welcome Conflict.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 13 Aug. 2024, www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2022/10/03/why-and-how-innovative-organizations-welcome-conflict/. 

“Home.” MindTools, www.mindtools.com/azr30oh/whats-your-leadership-style. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024. 

Hurt, Karin. “How to Build a Better Network of Peer Relationships.” Let’s Grow Leaders, 26 Dec. 2023, letsgrowleaders.com/2021/09/06/how-to-build-a-better-network-of-peer-relationships/. 

Martinez, Tania Otero. “Investing in School Libraries and Librarians to Improve Literacy Outcomes.” Center for American Progress, 29 July 2024, www.americanprogress.org/article/investing-in-school-libraries-and-librarians-to-improve-literacy-outcomes/. 

Ysanne, et al. “Step 1: What Is a PLN?” Courses & PD, teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/pln-define/. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.