ESTJ Personality Type | The Producer | ESTJ A | ESTJ T
You might be an ESTJ if you:
- Enter into a flow state when engaged with challenging work and projects that push you to learn new skills and deliver higher results
- Feel equally fascinated and scared by the prospect of taking on responsibility and duties for the sake of your community
- Can sometimes jump from thing to thing and not commit to anything because it’s easy and provides easy stimulation and gratification.
- Become stressed and feel anxious to confront your own feelings and learn about yourself
The ESTJ personality type at their best is highly effective and productive and good at getting results. They can navigate challenging projects and overcome tough challenges that require quick problem solving. The challenge for this type is managing to manifest their personal identity in their work and being able to be original and unique in the things that they do, in a way that sets them apart from the main franchise.
ESTJs challenge themselves and go outside their comfort zone when they accept and take on long term commitments and responsibilities for the sake of the community or other people. Learning to hold themselves accountable, to show up on time, and deliver a consistent product is highly challenging for this type, but also gives them gratification and a sense of accomplishment. The risk is that they avoid these challenges because they are overly perfectionistic and worry about failing to meet commitment, even if they really want to. They can be hard on themselves here, and that can drive them to want to run away and not do it at all. Maybe it’s easier to just jump from thing to thing and never commit to anything. But that takes away meaning and value.
The ESTJ Eight Functions
Extroverted Thinking
Extroverted Thinking is the key to flow in an ESTJ. Challenge, projects, and tasks that push them to the limits of their ability and press them to think quickly on their feet. These things give you energy, motivation, and a sense of purpose.
Introverted Sensing
Introverted Sensing is the key to growth for an ESTJ. This function gets you out of your comfort zone and gives you responsibilities and duties that instill you with a sense of pride. It is however hard to use consistently and can feel scary.
Extroverted iNtuition
Extroverted iNtuition gives ESTJs a sense of escape when they need it. This function allows them relief from pressure and deadlines and a chance to do something different without any expectations. But it doesn’t provide any sense of meaning.
Introverted Feeling
This function stresses you to pursue your projects in a way that sets you apart from the mainstream, helping you find your own unique road. It can put a sense of stress on you. Are you doing something unique or just copying other people? Is this what you were made to do authentically?
Introverted Thinking
Introverted Thinking pushes you to think one second longer about things than you are used to. This drives you to consider and recognise problems you might otherwise miss. It can be important to do so in an efficient and critical manner, but also frustrating – and easy to just stick with something quick and dirty that just works.
Extroverted Sensing
Extroverted Sensing provides you with a sense of fun and excitement. It allows you to release your inner child and let go of your inner critic for a moment. It can be a way to engage in fun recreation and exploration without any intention or goal. Sometimes, you need to allow yourself to do things just to unwind, so this function can help you do that.
Introverted iNtuition
This function allows you to engage in a bigger vision and to think about the longer consequences and complex problems. It can help you consider alternative perspectives and viewpoints you would otherwise not. This can be scary – as it can threaten your existing belief system and beliefs. But it can be rewarding to do so once in a while, to avoid any blindspots in your personal program.
Extroverted Feeling
Sometimes it can be good to engage informally with people without pressure and to just talk and check in with peoples feelings. Doing this can help you manage other people and your work better. It can feel annoying and tedious and unnecessary to have to do this, but important and rewarding nonetheless.
The Dominant Subtype
The Dominant subtype ESTJ is one that is focused on executing big projects and accomplishing tough challenges and big goals. They do this in a manner that is authentic and original and sets them apart from other people, as it is a level beyond the mainstream. It is highly stressful to do so, but the dominant subtype has learnt to push through stress and achieve more.
The Creative Subtype
The Creative subtype ESTJ is able to accept responsibility and to push themselves to take on duties and to discipline themselves in a fun and creative manner. They use these goals to push quick growth and learning. This can make them uncomfortable and nervous at times, as they can be highly perfectionistic about this and want to do it the right way.
The Balanced Subtype
The balanced subtype ESTJ is one that will generally avoid external responsibilities because they worry they will not be able to follow through in the way they would like to. Instead, they’ll focus on quick and fun new projects that are free from commitment. This brings them comfort and stability, but less growth.
The Turbulent Subtype
This subtype is more careful and puts less challenges on themselves. They focus on easy projects and tasks and goals, and copy strategies and methods from other people, following trends and doing things that are less original. They’re afraid of setting themselves apart too much from the tribe or beating other people, and so hold back their strength and ambition.
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