ESTJ Profile of Interests - The Manager Personality Type

The ESTJ personality type is the Overseer. About 10 percent of people (in the U.S.) are ESTJs. Being an ESTJ means that you have the personality profile

(E)xtraverted
(S)ensing
(T)hinking
(J)udging

You (E)xtravert your attention and focus on your outer world and you desire variety, action and having people around. You are energized and stimulated by things and people in your environment.

By your (S)ensing you take in concrete facts, details, and focus on experiences that occur in the present.

(T)hinking means you are conscientious and your decisions are based on logical analysis and objectivity. Some may think your observations are quite knowledgeable.

You exhibit your (J)udging through your orderliness and your desire to promptly settle or complete things. You like to bring things to a conclusion and are always looking for a way to make that happen.

Is This Your Personality Type?

Are you a familiar ESTJ? Have you ever had employee screening and taken a "personality type" test or other tests for employees? If not and you want to know what your Myers-Briggs^® personality type is, here's a free place to start.

7 Recommended Job Parameters for the ESTJ Employee

ESTJs find work more satisfying where you have these parameters included in your job.

1. Work with a variety of projects and people, with clear goals for positive impact on others
2. Use your ability to bring structure, order and logic to a situation
3. Increase your knowledge and leadership skills working on new challenges and problems
4. Have some freedom to express your own opinions where your experience is respected
5. Hold a high level of responsibility, where decisions can be delegated
6. Be free to choose when to take initiative, as sometimes you may prefer that others take it
7. Work some alone and some with others, one-on-one or small groups

These parameters are based on the ESTJ personality's natural abilities and interests. Go here for some job hunting tips.

Some Natural Abilities of ESTJs

Natural abilities that ESTJs use to achieve job satisfaction, and which define your natural strengths, are like the following. You would be more effective in jobs that incorporate these abilities (listed in alphabetical order).

ESTJs Love to "Just Do"

ESTJs are invigorated by being actively involved in the now; whatever is going on. Rather than being told the "why", you simply want to know what needs doing and what resources you have, and then you'll go and get it done.

You often enjoy enabling others to take part and contribute to making a new idea happen. You are thorough about facts, and are direct and frank about how something can be worked out, working hard to meet expectations. What you find satisfying is where your efforts result in a positive impact on and for others.

3 Interest Areas of ESTJs

In another article I explain six areas of interest and those compatible to the ESTJ personality usually involve Social, Enterprising and Conventional (or SEC). The combination of the three interests can be expressed as "serve others by efficiently leading them to a goal". Social interests are expressed in your desire to help have a positive impact on others. You are motivated to engage people in making the positive impact happen. Your Enterprising interests are expressed in your desire and ability to organize things and motivate people towards a goal. Your Conventional interest can be seen in a desire for the goal to be something practical as well as carefully and methodically done.

You ESTJs thrive on order and continuity and find most satisfying a role that involves organization of people.

Caution!

You ESTJs can be straightforward, confident and unassuming, yet you may at times seem rather rigid in style and your frank opinions a bit harsh, even though this is not your intention. However, you normally seek to work things out in order to have the best impact on others, and so what may be needed is to take time to communicate these intentions and the fact that you really are not seeking complete control.

What's worse is you will exhibit a pattern of anxiety symptoms particular to the ESTJ personality. Your balanced approach of being logical, fair and controlled can get knocked out of balance when hit with accountability issues, others' display of emotion or a violation of your values. Your response when this happens may be bad enough to then leave you with regret in being "too harsh".

This isn't too bad if you can manage to get relief from these stressors and get back into balance, however, if relief is not found, it gets worse! You ESTJs then go extreme by harping on one-sided opinions with little data, while carrying on internal arguments with yourself. Out of character you may also become hypersensitive to your inner state or other's emotions, pushing down feelings of being unappreciated or used, and then display outbursts of emotion resulting in being afraid of feeling, anything! By that point (if not before) you ESTJs must take drastic measures to get back into balance. You must go get some silent support from others for your deep feelings; talking to someone you trust.

Return to Balance

BUT, you ESTJs do want to return to active involvement in getting things done, so you will regain your balanced unassuming selves once again. Doing is your motivation. So much so, that you ESTJs enjoy mobilizing people according to your own theories and tactically based agendas, while also content to enforce "the rules" (often dictated by tradition or handed down from a higher authority).

We need a lot of these ESTJ people. The trick for you ESTJs, though, is to keep yourselves in balance and well paced -- so that the people you manage don't have total tire tracks on their backs for being slower than ESTJ speed.