Myers Briggs® MBTI Test ESTJ Personality Types and Leadership

Just like runners stretch their hamstrings to ultimately increase their speed and agility, you as a leader need to stretch beyond your comfort zone and into your growth zone to increase your leadership skills. Identifying and understanding your Myers Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) personality type can help you do this to become a stronger, more versatile leader. This week, we will focus on how Extraverted-Sensing-Thinking-Judging (ESTJ) MBTI test types can identify their personality strengths and stretch them by 10%.

In future weeks, we will continue with our theme from this week and last week, and will consider how different Myers Briggs® test types can capitalize on their strengths to become even more effective leaders. By keeping up with our blog, you will be able to become more aware of your own and others’ attributes, and also how to offer specific, relevant feedback to help other members of your team improve their efficiency as they continue to grow.

According to the text, “Introduction To Type and Leadership”, Richmond notes that in order to capitalize on their strengths, leaders need to be aware of their innate qualities and how they function in particular situations or contexts (Richmond, 2008. CPP). This suggests that leaders need to adapt their fortes depending on the contexts in which they find themselves working. Richmond stresses that this can involve a “10% stretch.” In other words, leaders should first identify their strengths and then make a focused effort to diversify them. In diversifying your strengths just the right amount (but not into the “Danger Zone”) you can take control of your own success as a leader (Richmond, 2008. CPP). For instance, MBTI test ESTJ personality types tend to make decisions quickly and efficiently, and are very detail-oriented. They are practical and realistic, and are able to follow detailed directions very closely. However, they may face challenges in collaborating effectively with others or demoralizing colleagues by giving more negative feedback than positive.

As you can see, the challenges ESTJ types tend to face can at times undermine their leadership qualities. No matter how reliable, hard-working, or dependable they may be, or how much they actually enjoy working within teams, ESTJ’s tendencies to micromanage or be impatient with team members who may require more time to function, may actually distance them from the same members they enjoy working with so much and hold in high regard. Having an intimate understanding of your personality type can help you identify these issues before you alienate yourself by over criticizing others, as well as helping you avoid such pitfalls.

With this said, it is in this degree that Richmond (2008) suggests the 10% stretch. In order to capitalize on their leadership gifts, ESTJ’s also need to move beyond their comfort zone and not only capitalize on their leadership qualities, but also bolster their less natural personality preferences.  To do this, Richards suggests that ESTJ’s look for opportunities to promote collaboration, for instance, by consciously giving others time to process the conclusions that you may have reached, and by making a concerted effort to balance positive and negative feedback to ensure that team members maintain a positive outlook.

At the same time, while a major strength of ESTJ types is their focus on detail and their careful clarification of roles, resources, due dates, and so on, Richards (2008) suggests that MBTI test ESTJ types may also need to take the time to imagine the ideal, big picture of a project rather than focusing on the practical implementation.

As mentioned last week with the ISTP personality type, as ESTJ’s support and mentor others, they also need to make an effort to find other groups or individuals who will provide them with detailed and constructive criticisms to continue to progress as leaders. If you are an ESTJ, you may need to encourage others to provide you with such feedback regarding your communication style and leadership challenges so that you may improve on the way you come across to others, especially in group situations, since you may often enough appear to be overly domineering. Don’t forget that this can be one of your greatest assets, if you can present and communicate in a way that others can take your input to heart!

The best way to capitalize on your personality type assets as an ESTJ is to better understand how you and other members of your team function. If you can take the time to build effective relationships, others will come to recognize your qualities as well.

               

References

Introduction to Type and Leadership (Richmond, S. CPP. 2008)

Learn More About the MBTI ESTJ Personality Type

• Explore our MBTI ESTJ Personality Type Page

ESTJ Careers

Click on one of these corresponding popular ESTJ Careers for detailed information including Career Stats, Income Stats, Daily Tasks and Required Education: Auditor, Commercial Pilot, Computer, ATM, Office Machine Repairer, Construction Manager, Correctional Officer & Jailer, Criminal Investigator, Home Health Aide, Personal Financial Advisor, Police & Fire & Ambulance Dispatcher, Sheriff & Deputy Sheriff.

Explore additional information that delves deeper into the ESTJ Personality Type by examining various personality and career based subjects:

• How the MBTI ESTJ Type relates to Innovation
• How the MBTI ESTJ Type relates to Project Management
• How the MBTI ESTJ Type relates to Emotional Intelligence
• How the MBTI ESTJ Type relates to Communication
• How the MBTI ESTJ Type relates to Decision-Making

Click On Your Personality Type Below & Read About Your Leadership Style:

ISTJ	ISFJ	ESTP	ESFP
ISTP	ISFP	ESTJ	ESFJ
INFJ	INTJ	ENFP	ENTP
INFP	INTP	ENFJ	ENTJ

Click on a link below to read more about different MBTI Personality Types

ISTJ	ISFJ	INFJ	INTJ	ESTP	ESFP	ENFP	ENTP
ISTP	ISFP	INFP	INTP	ESTJ	ESFJ	ENFJ	ENTJ