2
LEADERSHIP BY DESIGN by Kirk Narburgh, FAIA, ASLA, LEED AP BD+C CEO/Managing Partner, King + King Architects, LLP
O
ur design of educational environments Pre-K through 12 has been evolving for several decades as teaching methodologies have transformed to a focus on 21st Century learning that includes STEAM, CTE, and project-based collaborative environments. Over that same time-frame, architects and designers have lost some ground with leading the building team as owners and facility managers have looked to others, such as educational planners and program/construction managers to fill, at times, that leadership void. To regain some of those planning and visioning responsibilities we need to build trust through actions and results. Architects and designers generally complete their educational process and practice architecture with very little understanding of how their character preferences positively effect relationships with people that we need to work with in a productive way. Most importantly the soft skills related to emotional intelligence within our industry are often overlooked. Those who are naturally “in-tune” are better equipped to be truly strong leaders in our profession and with our clients.
very narrow range in 6 of the possible 16 character typologies. These same 6 types make up only 25% of the general population!
There is much statistical data available regarding Myers-Briggs character profiles and this is where it gets interesting for architects. Typically, there is a balanced distribution of character types for all people, taking the assessment, within the 16 possible profiles. The delta from the least populated type to the most is only 12 percentage points (1.8% to 13.8%). However, with architects this even distribution does not exist and what we find is that an astonishing 80% of all architects fit within a
One Myers-Briggs designation, ENTJ (Extraversion, Intuition, Thinking, Judging), is the least populated type at 1.8% (of the general population) but with architects it makes up 31%. ENTJ is known as the area in which “Life’s Natural Leaders” reside. I am an ENTJ and probably in one way or another explains why I am writing this piece as the Past-President of AIA New York State and CEO/Managing Partner of my firm. Besides a predisposition to architecture, what characteristics do ENTJ’s share?
PAGE 10 | JUNE 2021
