An ESTJ personality type is someone who shows Extraverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging traits and is often referred to as the Manager. They prefer tradition and order and are valued as people who can provide clear advice and guidance. They are always ready to take on even the harshest challenge.
Living by their own values, ESTJs are honest and dedicated, so building trust with others comes naturally as a result. They often use this trust to bring people together and can frequently be found as community organizers. They like to work within established laws and rules, preferring tradition to innovation. They also lead by example, displaying those deeply held values in a visible way to encourage others. This kind of emotional intelligence is extremely valuable, and ESTJs tend to gravitate to leadership positions, but what does it mean in the team environment?

ESTJs in the Workplace

Decisive and logical, ESTJs possess an emotional intelligence that can really benefit the team environment, with a natural ability to bring people together. They do this through a high-energy approach to working with others, always pushing for results while challenging those around them to be always at their best.

They tend to be quite blunt, saying what they think about ideas, solutions, and opinions in a very direct way, and in discussions, they will focus on what is practical to achieve. They always look at the end result as the most important part of any process. That bluntness can cause friction, though, and for some team members, it can feel too forceful and lead to them stepping back rather than providing valuable input, which in turn can mean good ideas are never evaluated.

That focus on results throughout is also a potential issue, with a failure to pay attention to the process introducing weaknesses into any plan or response to difficulties. Within a team, a constant push to only value outcomes can be draining for others, and the neglect of normal pleasantries could be an issue with some personality types.

ESTJs are often seen as leaders, with a high number of US presidents falling into this type, and when placed into a leadership role, their emotional intelligence does stand out. As leaders, the ESTJ seeks to bring people into the discussion, always looking for input from others while providing direction for the analysis to ensure the solutions are found to deliver the desired outcomes. ESTJs are also exceptional in defining roles, matching each individual’s talent with appropriate responsibilities so that each individual understands their objectives.

But this can seem like micromanaging to some, and it is easy for ESTJs to stray from providing direction to dictating where things head, with some team members viewing them as overbearing. Their love of traditional structures and approaches can also stifle innovation, so when adopting leadership roles, it is important for ESTJs to be more flexible and give others space to find new solutions.

Emotional intelligence can shape how we react to setbacks, and in challenging times or under stressful situations, ESTJs can provide essential support to others. They can provide the logical structure that helps the team identify an issue and then develop a solution, providing a realistic critique of both as they go. This gives the team the guidelines they need to work on issues as a unit and develop plans that leverage the skills and capabilities of the whole team. ESTJs need to learn to praise the positives when analyzing solutions, though, as only finding the faults can quickly become demoralizing for the other team members. The ESTJ is energetic and dependable, and these can be valuable qualities when the team is struggling under stress, helping others to manage the situation more effectively. Because ESTJs are results-focused, commitment to completing tasks can also be beneficial when stress is high too. However, their dislike of innovation and desire for structure can be an issue. Under stress, finding new solutions can be a great outlet for some, but ESTJs stifle such approaches, using their energy and determination to dominate discussions and crowding out any idea that strays from what they consider correct.

This affects change, too, where the ESTJ will instinctively look for order and structure during any change. They are willing to take on the difficult tasks within the change process, but again the rigidity of the method means innovation is discarded. However, it can be transformational in the change process. In general, ESTJs find changes difficult because, at times, it is somewhat chaotic by the very nature of change, going against that need for structure and predictability.
Practical, energetic, responsible, and fair, ESTJs are natural leaders, but their need for structure and dominant personalities can stifle input and innovation. Here their emotional intelligence can be worked on, and with some moderation and recognition of the need to be flexible, it can have an extremely positive impact on any team.