Any advice for Fi-Dom leaders? Do you think they can be successful at leading people?
Yes, there’s a large amount of Fi-dom and high Fi leaders in technology, non-profits, social work, health care, and academia.
For INFP and ISFP leaders, the top 3 issues to be aware of:
1. Unwillingness to lead: The first obstacle is that Fi-doms have the tendency to completely avoid leadership positions. A few reasons include:
Wanting to do their own thing all the time without having to deal with other people’s shit (which is a valid point, carry on)
Viewing organizations (especially businesses) as corrupt, oppressive, and greedy machines who emphasize profitability at the expense of other human beings so avoiding these environments entirely
Associating being a leader with being bossy, imposing, harsh, oppressive, naggy, and overall unpleasant to other people
But for those interested, one piece of advice:
Flip your perspective on the nature of leadership, it’s not a burden– it’s an opportunity. It’s an opportunity for you to collaborate with other people who share your values to recognize a vision. Many systems in this world are unfair and broken, if you’re ever in a position of power and influence, this is your chance to finally fix those mistakes, create something new, and make a difference. Seize it. The upside of leadership is much larger than the potential downside.
2. Oversensitivity: For Fi-doms, constructive criticism can be a challenge and they can take negative feedback of their leadership skills or style as a personal attack resulting in stress, self-doubt, and defensiveness. Here’s the reality: leaders have always had, and will always have, a giant bullseye on their backs because people have opinions. And that’s okay. Their opinions can sometimes provide crucial feedback to your performance, growth, and development because a team that always agrees with everything you say or do has no value.
When receiving constructive criticism, focus on how it impacts the goal instead of how it makes you feel. If someone tells you that painting the delivery room at a children’s hospital in black paint is a bad idea then analyze why the color black isn’t a great choice for kids– focus on the impact of your decisions on the people you’re serving and the goal you’re striving for– hold that feedback outside of yourself and analyze it closely.
Ask: What was the implications of my actions? What are potential solutions? Who is the main priority in this situation? What would achieve the best outcome for that person/cause/goal?
3. Disorganization: Fi-doms encourage independence, creativity, individuality, and novel ways of doing things. Sounds great– what’s the issue here? If everyone is doing something different, in a different way, and at a different time this causes issues resulting in lack of cohesion, lack of accountability, and disorganization.
Set expectations and goals early, clearly, and consistently. It’s okay to let the team work using their own styles and on their own schedules if that work is funneled towards a common cause. You don’t need to flip a switch and go into dictator mode, you can still give people freedom, but make sure they’re moving in the same direction as everyone else.
Create systems, not cages, by providing examples or templates so that the team has a baseline or idea of where to start. This helps with standardization while still allowing flexibility to customize.
Hold people accountable for their actions and lack of results. Give them opportunities to improve, gather feedback, reassign them to roles they’re better suited for, but don’t let low performance and unreliability slide. This will make the team suffer.
