Posted on Aug 1, 2017
Is there a place in the military for Type B personalities?
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Everyone knows of the alpha male or Type A personality that runs rampant through the ranks. But is there a place for the Type B beta male types anywhere in the military?
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Define what you believe Type A and Type B personalities to be for the purpose of this discussion.
Not everybody fits squarely in either of these two classical definitions. In fact, people can shift back and forth between the two or may have aspects of both definitions.
Neither personality type is considered detrimental (well, except for certain studies which show Type A personalities to be more prone to coronary heart disease due to the effects of stress).
And try getting a room full of strictly Type A personalities to work together.
The truth is it takes all kinds of people to run things.
It's kind of like saying there are two types of people: leaders and followers, then asking if you can do without one or the other. A leader is useless as a leader without followers, and not everybody can be a leader at the same time...or act as a leader under some circumstances.
So yes...there's a place in the military for Type B personalities. In fact, there's a place for the 16 Myers-Briggs personality types, too.
https://www.opp.com/en/tools/MBTI/MBTI-personality-Types
Not everybody fits squarely in either of these two classical definitions. In fact, people can shift back and forth between the two or may have aspects of both definitions.
Neither personality type is considered detrimental (well, except for certain studies which show Type A personalities to be more prone to coronary heart disease due to the effects of stress).
And try getting a room full of strictly Type A personalities to work together.
The truth is it takes all kinds of people to run things.
It's kind of like saying there are two types of people: leaders and followers, then asking if you can do without one or the other. A leader is useless as a leader without followers, and not everybody can be a leader at the same time...or act as a leader under some circumstances.
So yes...there's a place in the military for Type B personalities. In fact, there's a place for the 16 Myers-Briggs personality types, too.
https://www.opp.com/en/tools/MBTI/MBTI-personality-Types
Myers-Briggs personality types (MBTI) – Personality profiles | OPP
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) can help you to understand your personality type. Read about your strengths and weaknesses.
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It seems to me we have all types throughout the ranks. Haven't you ever served with the driver, loader or M-60 gunner that would be more than happy doing that role for their entire career??? I knew some reserve Soldiers that retired as E-5E-6 and even an E-4 (National Guard) with 20 years in glad they served and happy with their accomplishments.
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MAJ (Join to see)
I had a couple 20 year spec 4s in my first unit and a 20 year E5, all were content at those ranks (except the E5 who retired because he didn't want the added responsibility). I honestly think the army should bring back the specialist ranks up through E7 to allow Soldiers to be subject matter experts but not leaders.
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