ESTJ

You Are an Extraverted Thinker

You use your reasoning ability to take charge of as much of your life as you can. You are a born organizer of your environment: home and work, things and people alike. As much as possible, you run your life as a theatrical director guides the production of a play. You are most comfortable when a situation allows you to plan ahead, get the facts, set goals, lay out a time table, and organize the actors. You're more than willing to work diligently within the framework of a script written by someone else, but you reserve the right to make changes if the action doesn't conform to your idea of the way it should be done.

From your point of view, that kind of approach is the best way to achieve your objectives with the minimum of delay and wasted effort. And what are your objectives? In general they're things, people, and situations, not ideas and theories.

It seems reasonable to you that everyone's conduct should be guided by sensible rules, since you govern your own that way so far as you possibly can. Your own standards are clearly traceable to your basic judgments about how the world should work, what people ought to do. The only way you could be comfortable making a major change in your behavior is for you to decide that time or circumstance has actually changed the rules themselves: the logical order.

You have what it takes to be a good manager, director, or executive, and— when offered the chance to show your abilities—you pour your energy into the job. You enjoy being in charge of the show. You relish the opportunity to map out what needs to be done and to assign the right people to each task.

But they'd better be up to the challenge. You have little sympathy for ineffective or inefficient work, and confusion unnerves you. You have a clearcut view of what it means to do a job well, and after one warning or explanation, you're not likely to show a great deal of patience. When the situation calls for it, you won't hesitate to reprimand an employee, or fire a person who really can't be dealt with in any other way.

Being a judging type of person, you may ignore the value of perception. In any situation, business or social, that may be a serious mistake. Unless you take the time to slow down and attend to other people's points of view, you may judge too quickly, without all the facts at your fingertips, and without enough concern for what your friends and associates may think and feel.

You may have to seek out others' views actively, since people may not volunteer them. This is especially important if those people are under your control and feel that they can't talk back to you freely. This is seldom easy for you to do. But unless you can learn to do it, you may misjudge and antagonize. It's in your best interest to cultivate your ability to understand. It's not a sign of weakness, and you can develop it!

You are a thinker, first and foremost, and feeling is the direct rival of your dominant characteristic. You manage your feelings by suppressing and denying them, or by discharging them in ways which may be both inappropriate and destructive.

One approach, which will combine the development of your perception with the cultivation of your feeling side, is to learn how to appreciate other people's good qualities and worthwhile achievements. This may be more easily said than done. Appreciation doesn't come easily for you, since you're a natural critic—both of yourself and of others. But if you can develop the ability to recognize accomplishment, or at least effort, and you will find it a welcome asset, both on the job and in your personal relationships. Give it a try! Your Auxiliary Process As a judging person, it is your thinking capacity which forms your dominant process. Thinking guides your outer behavior and forms the part of you your friends know best. That's how you characteristically make the critical decisions of your life. Your perceptive side gains its knowledge of the world primarily through your sensory ability. Sensation, then is your nondominant, or auxiliary, process, and it directs your unconscious mind.

The combination of sensing and judging is at the cornerstone of your personality, your core temperament. Yours is the outlook of the traditionalist: the individual who believes in structure, responsibility and rules for living. That's why we call your temperament the LEGALIST.

But, whatever you call it, you sensing-judging people are the foundation of our society. You direct the educational process, preserve our institutions and values, create and enforce our legal system.

Sensing-judging extraverts have a charming quality which makes them easy to deal with—even when they are being most stubborn and closed-minded (yes, that may be a problem at times). You are very open and straightforward about your views, your preferences, your prejudices, your decisions.

When it comes to dealing with people like you, others may find your unvarnished personality refreshing. You are unlikely to hide your feelings behind a mask or say something just because you know someone wants to hear it. You are you and that is that. What you see is what you get. Diplomacy? Well, that's another matter entirely, and you'd rather not discuss it. Right?

You're not shy about letting people know your values. You almost feel obligated to do so, especially if you disagree with them. When it comes to family members—particularly as it relates to the rearing of children—you feel a sense of duty to pass on your view of reality and morality.

You have a strong sense of right and wrong, and you may tend to slip into a favorite habit of characterizing conflicts in black-white terms: bad guys vs. good guys. The fine-grained tweed of herringbone plaids, and the gray flannel reality of complex decisions are not your cup of tea. You prefer clear-cut choices and you are intolerant of ambiguous situations.

You enjoy the predictability of a well-laid out life. You have pretty clear-cut expectations of how your world should be, how others should interact within that world, and you do your best to make sure that your needs are met.

When it comes to your private life, you prefer conventional roles within the home. Wife-mother, husband-father, older and younger children, all have particular functions in your mind. You like a harmonious, orderly, routine home life, emphasizing traditional values.

Your home is your castle. You want to know where things are and when things will happen. You'd just as soon not have any more change than absolutely necessary, especially rapid change, change which you don't see as necessary, or change which isn't an obvious improvement over familiar patterns.

Most sensing-judging folks have a strong feeling about family. Even if their ties with the extended family aren't especially nurturing or loving ones, the traditions of clan gatherings and family celebrations are likely to receive attention.

Perhaps as a logical extension of this "family feeling", people with your personality often represent an important component of civic and social groups. It is often the case that your attitude about attending meetings (on time!), participating in projects, and volunteering your services have a strong element of duty or loyalty to the group or the cause. You may join for fun, but you remain because you feel needed. Check the list of founders and officers of most organizations, and you'll see a number of sensing-judging people.

You value your possessions. Given a choice, you'll spend your money on useful things: major pieces that will see many years of service. You tend to take care of things (furniture, cars, tools, and such) and you like to see others do likewise. You are unsettled by waste and conspicuous consumption.

You are conservative financially, and you keep an eye on future comfort, at times to the compromise of present pleasure. You believe in saving, and a credit-card life is unsettling to you. You see borrowing money as borrowing trouble. And you believe in planning for financial catastrophe.

You may notice a sense of pessimism pervading your view of reality. I know. I know. You call it realism. Nonetheless, you'll probably concede that Murphy, the famous author of Murphy's Law(s) (i.e., "Whatever can go wrong, will, and in the most expensive and disastrous way possible!") was probably a sensing-judging person, not too unlike yourself.

As a general trend throughout all parts of your life, you have a need to feel useful, important to other people. Your sense of obligation and responsibility may well be a driving force, pushing you to take on more and more tasks for the benefit of others.

You use your actions to prove to others and to yourself that you are a worthy and capable human being. The only problem is that you don't really believe it yourself. You may be afflicted by a kind of chronic underestimation of your abilities and talents that often troubles sensing-judging types. You may take yourself for granted.

Sometimes, sensing-judging people fall into trap of lecturing or criticizing, then forgiving or bailing out the people closest to them. There's more than a bit of parent in this behavior: loving parent, scolding parent, back and forth. Your actions may stem from your own strong value system and loving the individual, but the signals can be misread, creating an environment of perpetual criticism. Sometimes this interaction can have the unwanted effect of creating irresponsibility on the part of a mate. After all, what's to be lost? There's no winning, no matter, so why not opt for a good time?

You produce and provide a lot for others, because you feel you should. You expect a lot from them, in return, because they should. When they don't respond in kind, without being asked, you get disappointed. You respond to this situation with resentment—silent and sullen at first—but soon expressed, and often in destructive ways.

Yours is a specific problem with assertive behavior. You need to learn to ask for what you want in a simple, positive, straightforward way. You need to practice optimism in your interactions with others. You need to ask for the things you consider obvious, the things you provide without a request. You need to believe that you can get what you want and need. You'll get the best results if you structure your expressions around phrases like: "I need...", "I want...", "I would like...", rather than "You don't...", "You used to...", "You ought to...", and "You shouldn't...". The difference may look subtle at the outset, but—in practice—it can mean the difference between an effective message, well-received, and a whining complaint or criticism that misses its target entirely, leaving your need unsatisfied.

As a sensing-type person, your perceptions of the world are firmly rooted in reality. Friends appreciate your ability to look at any situation in a practical, matter-of-fact, no-nonsense way. You may often find yourself called upon to serve as their sounding board for new projects.

In general, you are probably a good deal more curious about new things than new ideas. If asked to consider an idea, you prefer to see it translated into firm plans: facts and figures and such before you pour your time and energy into evaluating its worth.

In a problem-solving situation, you tend to apply and adapt past experience automatically, sometimes ignoring your own submerged intuitive ability, and often distrusting unusual approaches suggested by colleagues.

Your detractors may find you so focused on the "here and now" that you sometimes seem to lack imagination. If that is the case, you may consider developing your intuitive capacities by exploring neglected abilities in art, music, or writing.

The Extraverted Thinker in the World of Work

In the world of work, you'll find that your extraversion will arm you well to deal with both variety and action.

All other things being equal, you'll tend to work faster than your introverted co-workers. Depending on the job circumstances, that's a mixed blessing. In tasks that require quick decisions and quick action, you're supreme, but you must constantly be on guard not to act too quickly, particularly without thinking things through completely before you move. If the nature of the work itself is slow, or if it involves long-term projects, you may need to devise a few tricks to ward off boredom; otherwise, your efficiency may suffer.

As a judging-sensing-thinking extravert, your extraverted pitfalls may well be under control in the work place.

Your other features will temper the instability that may accompany extraversion, without affecting the outgoing nature which helps you function so effectively in a social setting.

You are interested in the results of your job, in getting it finished, and in comparing how other people tackle the same chore. While few people enjoy being a "small cog in the great wheel," passively performing some minor function that is swallowed up by a large complex operation, your personality type is especially distressed by losing touch with the over-all impact of your work.

Your outgoing personality prefers working with human companionship, so you may wish to think long and hard before accepting a job or work assignment which forces you to work in isolation.

Communication comes more easily to you than to your introverted associates. You're comfortable with words, and you communicate well. You may wish to consider ways to capitalize on this asset to further your career.

You're a thinker, and when you walk into the work place, everyone around you hears a computer switch on. When it comes to matters you assign to your thinking side, you are unemotional and you may seem to be uninterested in people's feelings. Feelings may almost embarrass you, strike you as a sign of weakness, not just in others, but in yourself as well.

It's not that you intend to be unkind, but—where work is concerned—you tend to make decisions on an impersonal, logical basis. You may inadvertently hurt people's feelings more times than you know.

You can reprimand people when necessary. You can even fire them, when you feel the situation really demands it. No one would deny that can be an asset: the ability to do what needs to be done, free from self-recrimination and guilt. You may be aware that you may crush people, from time to time, but, frankly speaking, you regard your ability to separate your personal views from your work personality as evidence of inner strength.

After all, you don't demand personal treatment yourself; you simply ask to be treated fairly. What's more, you understand that there may be adverse reactions to your impersonal stance, and you take some consolation in the fact that you are more capable than others of getting along without harmony.

But you may wish to examine this part of your personality. If you suspect that most of your associates candidly consider you to be hard-hearted and insensitive; and if you find believable sympathy only among other "thinkertype" workers, you may wish to invest some time and energy in considering alternative points of view.

Remember, there are no "rights" and "wrongs", "weaks" or "strongs" when it comes to personality. There are only differences. You may find added insight and sensitivity an asset, both in the practical and personal sense, when it comes to your co-workers.

Your judging tendency will have a major impact on your behavior in the work place. Be aware that your personality type tends to set up psychological blinders, and that they can function both to your advantage and disadvantage.

On the one hand, you are good at filtering out extraneous information, so that you can focus on the critical issues to formulate plans, settle conflicts and wrap up deals with a minimum of delay.

On the other hand, you may restrict the flow of information too closely to what you consider to be "the essentials," and, by so doing, commit yourself too early to a solution. Worse yet, your tendency to be satisfied with yourself once you have decided on any course of action may make it impossible for you to recognize at an early stage when a mistake in judgment has occurred.

It's not unusual for judging people to find it difficult to interfere with their own plans: to shift gears, to interrupt one project for a more urgent one which emerges. From time to time, this tendency may rear its head, as you fail to notice new things that need to be done, after you've already set your sights on some other objective.

You trust your senses. You're rooted in the real world, not fantasy, and—in the world of work—that translates to patience with familiar tasks, familiar skills, familiar routine.

You work steadily toward your goal, and—with much greater accuracy than the intuitive sorts—you have a good idea of how long it will take to reach the conclusion of the task at hand.

You are good at precise work, and you seldom make errors of fact. Those with less attention to detail, schedules, and precision strike you as unreliable.

While others may thrive on novelty, you are frankly uneasy with new problems until you settle on a sure way to solve them. You may become impatient if work becomes too complicated. Change not only makes you uneasy, but sometimes disagreeable, as well.

You have to admit that you sometimes drag your feet when someone turns the tables on you (new task, new technique, new schedule, new rules) after you were comfortably targeted on your original goal!

When you have to deal with intuitive sorts, you may find it difficult to trust their inspirations and adopt them as a basis for trying out changes. You may want to look at that resistance. On the one hand, your well-expressed objections to their flights of fancy may help keep them from taking off—and taking you off—on aimless joyrides. But, on the other hand, with their ideas and your ability to get things done, you may be able to accomplish great things as a team—if both of you give a little.

Blue-collar, white-collar, or professional, career choices for people with your personality are highly diversified. You accept rules, authority, and structure, and you are capable of functioning well in a bureaucratic working environment, so long as the principles are clearly laid out. You have a natural ability to be a manager, boss, director, legislator, official, teacher, rule-giver and care-taker.

Many people with your personality find their work in business, industry, production, and construction. Given a shot at administration, they find satisfaction in getting things organized, overseeing whole projects—start to finish.

In finance and commerce, law enforcement, and school administration, you'll be in familiar company. These fields are dominated by -TJs like yourself.

You have a good personality for an attorney's calling, also. Your outgoing, no-nonsense logic and your aggressive, decisive approach to everything in life combine powerfully in the reflexively hostile environment of courtroom law. In medical practice, too, you would function well in areas which satisfy your needs for structure, clear-cut situations and affirmative actions. The brutal decision-making which is often required in surgery comes easier to your type than to any other.

Whatever career field you choose, remember that it is your strength—as well as your undoing—to need to be in charge. Let that authoritative power contribute to your life, rather than detract from it.