CS 501: When Type doesn‟t explain everything –
Working with International Clients
Doris Füllgrabe, German ENFJ
www.buildingthelifeyouwant.com
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Myers-Briggs, MBTI, and
Introduction to Type are trademarks or registered trademarks of
the MBTI Trust, Inc., in the United States and other countries.

My journey so far…
 Germany
 Scotland BA w/ Honors
 England
 Cataluña, Spain
 Canary Islands
 Mexico Coaching
 Texas, USA
MBTI® Master Practitioner,
Neuroscience, Berens CORE™
FTWeekend„LondonGuide‟.
ByKyleBeanandVictoriaLing.

I use Type & Culture awareness to
help Expats get
from there…
Picture seen on www.iucn.org / unknown artist
to here…

Passion: Explore where Type and
Culture meet
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Myers-Briggs, MBTI, and Introduction to Type
are trademarks or registered trademarks of the MBTI Trust, Inc., in the United States and other countries.

What about…
Stereotypes?
 They‟re normal.
 They‟re an indication of what YOU think is strange.
 Culture has to be seen in context (interpersonal, historical,
sociological, anthropological, economical, political, systemic…).
It developed the way it did for a reason.
 It‟s ok to enquire what behaviors mean as long as you‟re
coming from a true spirit of curiosity and willingness to learn

Culture Warm-Up
How can you OFFEND someone
in your home country
in under 30 seconds?

What makes you, you?
You
Human
Nature
Type
Culture
Child-
hood
Edu-
cation
Exper-
iences
Skills
Context
Hobbies
“Do I contradict
myself?
Very well, then I
contradict myself,
I am large, I
contain.
multitudes”
Walt Whitman

What is Type?
Inborn
Dispositions
Aspects based on
habitual behavior &
attitudes; defense
mechanisms
reinforced over time
Single
experiences at
crucial times
 There is both stability
and development in type
preferences over a lifetime
 Not all stability is the product of
genes
 Cf plasticity paradox
 Cultural practice can lead
to biological changes.
 Asian students in USA learn
to pay more attention to detail

Type Preferences 101
Energy
Extraversion Introversion
Information Gathering
Sensing INtuiting
Se: Experiencing Si: Reviewing Ne: Interpreting Ni: Foreseeing

Type Preferences 101

We use our brains differently, e.g.:
EJ and IP types have
more left-side activity
q Give an explanation.
q Pick among options.
q Notice an error.
q Ignore distracting input.
q Focus on our own goals.
EP and IJ types have
more right-side activity
q Engage in brainstorming.
q Track a process.
q Freely express ourselves.
q Accept novel input.
q Focus on the group process.
Copyright Dario Nardi 2009, dnardi@ucla.edu

Awareness
is the foundation for personal and
professional development
We all use all eight
functions, but two
will come most
naturally to you.
What are your
preferences?

What is culture?

What is Culture?
“The Culture Cycle”
Hazel Rose Markus & Alana Conner
CultureI‟s
Interactions
Ideas
Institutions

Awareness
is the foundation for personal and
professional development
What are five
words to describe
your culture??

7 Cultural Dimensions Riding the Waves of
Culture,
by Fons Trompenaars & Charles Hampden-Turner
Universalism
Individualism
Affective
Specific
Achievement
Sequential
Internal
Particularism
Communitarianism
Neutral
Diffuse
Ascription
Synchronic
External

How consistently we apply rules
Would you lie for your friend?
Universalism Particularism
97 % 93 % 87 % 53 % 32 %
97 % of Swiss said No 68 % of Venezuelans said Yes

“How far we get involved”
free-extras.com
infobarrel.com
“Peaches” (e.g. USA) have a
wide, soft public space, they‟re
easy to get to know, and share
their lives in segments.
“Coconuts” (e.g. Germany) have
a narrow, hard public shell, they
are difficult to get to know, but
once you‟re in, they share
everything.

Orientation to Self and Others
“Quality of Life will improve if everyone
has maximum freedom and
opportunity for self-development.”
Individualism Communitarianism
89 % 69 % 63 % 53 % 32 %
89 % of Israelis agree 68 % of Mexicans disagree

How to work with international
clients:
Ask them about their VALUES.
What is important to them can often
be traced back to cultural
preferences.

Underlying Values
 Specific
 Competition
 Mobility
 Particularism
 Flexibility
 Relationships
 Diffuse
 Collaboration
 Loyalty
 Communitarianism
 Interdependence
 Affiliations
 Individualism
 Independence
 Attributes
 Universalism
 Consistency
 Structure

Culture Follow-Up
How to ENGAGE someone
from another country
Knowing what you know now, how can you flex your
behavior to suit the other culture‟s preferences?

How Type preferences influence
cultural adaptation in expats
www.buildingthelifeyouwant.com/research
 What‟s your confirmed best-fit
MBTI® Type result?
 What‟s your home country?
 What are 5 words or phrases
you would use to describe your
home culture?
 Where have you moved to?
 What are 5 words or phrases
you would use to describe your
new host culture?
 I prepared for this international
move by…
 I realized I was in a different /
new country when…
 What‟s causing me the most
stress…
 What‟s helping me through the
difficult times…
 The main differences between
my home and host cultures
are…
 What I never knew but learned
about myself is…
 What advice would you give
someone else who‟s also
moving to your new host
country?

First Inklings
Culture is
values-driven
Fi gives
meaning to
values
Position of Fi
may indicate
values
awareness
Language /
Descriptors are
key
Step II facets can
be interpreted
through Type &
Culture lenses
Germans easily
identify with
Theorist™
Temperament
Culture Shock
= Brain Shock
4th Function
helps clarify
stress triggers
3rd Function
helps indicate
release
options

Words to describe the USA –
Type & Regional Differences
 ENTP –
grew up in North East
 Education, work hard, do your
best, fairness, justice
 ENFJ –
grew up in Manhattan
 Freedom-loving, Important to
protect rights of the Individual,
Success is what you do, Land
of Opportunity, Spiritual Poverty
 ENFP –
grew up in the Midwest
 Reliable, responsible, solid,
guarded, “old suburban”
 INTP –
grew up in the Midwest
 “Pioneer values”, helping
neighbors, very friendly but stays
at the surface, honest, “we don‟t
do the stuff that you hear on
Oprah”

Please participate!
If you know your Type and have
lived abroad for at least 12 months,
please add your voice:
www.buildingthelifeyouwant.com/res
earch

Resources
 Gifts Differing – Isabel Briggs
Myers with Peter B. Myers, CPP
1980
 8 Keys to Self-Leadership –
Dario Nardi, Ph.D., Unite
Business Press 2005
 Neuroscience of Personality –
Dario Nardi, Ph.D., Radiance
House 2011
 Introduction to the 4
Temperaments – Linda Berens,
Ph.D., Radiance House 2010
 Introduction to Interaction Styles -
Linda Berens, Ph.D., Radiance
House 2008
 www.aptinternational.org
 www.cpp.org
 Clash! 8 Cultural Conflicts That
Make Us Who We are – Hazel Rose
Markus, PhD & Alana Conner, PhD,
2013
 The Art of Crossing Cultures and Cross-
Cultural Dialogues, Craig Storti, 2004
and 1994
 Coaching Across Cultures,
Philippe Rosinski, 2003
 Riding the Waves of Culture, Fons
Trompenaars & Charles Hampden-
Turner, 1997
 Beyond Culture, Edward T. Hall, 1976
 www.theexpatcoachassociation.com
 www.sietarusa.org
 The Brain that Changes Itself, Dr. Normal Doidge, Scribe Publications, 2007
 A Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective, Denise C. Park & Chih-Mao Huang, 2010

Connect
doris@buildingthelifeyouwant.com
www.linkedin.com/in/coachdorisfuellgrabe
www.twitter.com/expats_MBTI
www.facebook.com/buildingthelifeyouwantllc
www.pinterest.com/expatsmbti
972-757-5591