52 THE INVESTOR
“Finance and administration are very likely to be STJ depart-
ments.” (William Bridges, author)The implications for the industry are profound. In fact, some evi-
dence suggests that a major shift is occurring. Firms that are un-
aware of the shift may end up on the scrap heap of mutual funds.
First off, STJ personalities are very one-sided in their thinking,
based on the famous left–right brain hemisphere work done by
Roger Sperry. (He received the Nobel prize for his research and
discovery of the bicameral brain functions.) This means that STJ
types tend to be detail-oriented, logical, precise, efficient, decisive,
and organized. Sounds pretty powerful, right? Robert Moore, a
well-known Jungian analyst, thinks so. He calls these types “li-
ons.” They are typically very effective and powerful people. They
are “go-to” people who can get the job done. They have a take-no-
prisoners attitude and tend to rise to leadership positions. In fact,
as Figure 7.1 shows, most United States Presidents have been STJ
personalities.
So far, so good. Most investment leaders are lions, and lions
tend to be natural leaders. So what’s the problem?
Balance is the problem. The common theme running through-
out this book is the importance of the golden mean; nothing in
excess. Lions naturally favor the left brain. So, to bring the whole
brain into play, they need to compensate for this preference by
strengthening the right side. Herein lies the problem.
Consider a piece of research that I’ve conducted with groups.
I’ve divided the lions (left-brainers) and the jesters (right-brainers)
into their respective groups and asked them to discuss their strengths
and weaknesses. When they report back on strengths, the lions have
no trouble listing them: detail-oriented, logical, decisive, and so
on. The jesters usually report: creative, intuitive, open-minded,
adaptable, and so on. Both groups are then asked to consider their
weaknesses. The jesters come back with a long list: flaky, dreamy,
too sentimental, deadline-dysfunctional, and others. Now, here’s
the interesting finding: When the lions are supposed to report their07 ware 52 1/19/01, 1:09 PM