Personality types and managerial styles: a phenomenological approach

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PurposeThe paper aims not only to provide evidence of the Jungian personality theory in the context of management through managers' lived experience but also to ask a deeper question of what this theory–practice coherence entails.Design/methodology/approachSituated as preliminary, this study used a phenomenological approach to detail managerial accounts across four managers in an Indonesian higher education institution. A survey of personality types using an online Jungian-based personality assessment tool was conducted, followed by an in-depth interview with selected managers.FindingsThe study provides the following evidence: the coherence between the perceived managerial practices and the theorized cognitive processes of each personality type and between the way the instrument measures personality types and the theorized cognitive processes.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the study faces an issue of data saturation, given the sample size, the study has conducted the process of triangulation by sampling managers with resembling cognitive processes as theorized (INTJ, with ENTJ; ISFJ with ESFJ). A broader implication is around the use of qualitative, phenomenological approach to the study of personality types and cognitive processes.Practical implicationsPromoting diverse ways of managing based on personality types, this paper includes implications specifically for developing managers in charge of core business processes in terms of flexibility when managing and leading a team.Originality/valueThis paper presents an account of how personality types (through their dominant cognitive functions) resonate with real-life managerial practices, connecting the descriptive nature of personality types and the normative nature of management.