Why You Need to Know Your Personality Type 

Firstly, it’s important to understand that personality typing is not designed to pigeonhole a person or to say that one personality is better than another. Each personality has its characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses. An empowering personal development tool, personality typing will help you to:   

• Understand your thoughts, feelings, and motivations 
• Identify your strengths and weaknesses  
• Make smarter education and career choices  
• Be confident in a job interview
• Become more productive at work  
• Maintain happy and healthy relationships  

Introduction to Personality Typology  

Based on Carl Jung’s psychological typology, Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Briggs created the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), The MBTI identifies 16 different personalities and it’s one of the most popular methods of personality typing today.  

To explain how people differ in the way they use their cognitive functions/preferences, Myers and Briggs use the following preferences. 

1. Introversion (I) or Extraversion (E). Where you draw your energy from. Do you draw your energy from your internal world or the external world? 
2. Sensing (S) or Intuition (N). How you receive information. Do you prefer to use your senses to receive information from your surroundings, or intuition to interpret and add your meaning? 
3. Thinking (T) or Feeling (F). How you make decisions. Do you take a logical approach, or prefer to look at people and circumstances before deciding? 
4. Judging (J) or Perceiving (P): How you interact with the outside world. Do you prefer to have things decided and organized or like to remain open to new information and options? 

The letters that are assigned to each of the above preferences make up a four-letter code for each of the 16 personality types. This simple coding system shows you how each of the four preferences interact, and which one you tend to use first.  

How you use these preferences can change over time and some of these preferences may be used more often than others.  

For example, the ESTJ personality uses the following preferences in this order: extraversion, sensing, thinking, and judging.  

Personality Profile of the ESTJ 

ESTJs are extroverts, so they draw energy from the external world, and they like to be around lots of people.  

Extroverts are easy to spot as they are friendly, cheerful, talkative, and energetic. Wherever there is a party, an extrovert will be there making everyone laugh with their jokes and stories. Despite their constant cheerfulness and light-heartedness, ESTJs are deeply committed to their closest relationships. 

Personality Profile of the ESTJ 

The ESTJ personality is one of the most common personalities like the ISTJ and the ISFJ, and about 12% of the US population have this personality type.  

ESTJs are also called “The Director”, “The Supervisor”, and “The Persuader” because these types of people are organized, methodical, stable, and dependable, and they have excellent people skills. They like to follow established traditions, rules, and laws.  

Logic is important to them, so they have no interest in abstract ideas or theories but prefer concrete facts and objective information. Living an ethical life is important to ESTJs. They highly value honesty, fairness, truth, and justice, and they can be critical of others who don’t uphold the same values as they do.  

ESTJs are very charismatic people whose enthusiasm for life is contagious. Whether it’s a social event or meeting, an ESTJ will take control and ensure that everything runs smoothly from start to finish. 

100% dedicated goal-setters, ESTJs know what they want in life, and they accomplish their goals. However, they need to be careful when their eyes are firmly fixed on their prize because they can miss out on opportunities that are outside of their original plan.  

ESTJs have perfectionistic nature, you can rely on them to produce exceptional results. They tend to set unrealistically high expectations for themselves, which can make it difficult for others to meet their expectations.  

While they are good at making fast and decisive choices, ESTJs tend to make snap judgments before considering all the information first. If someone challenges them on this, they can be harsh or dismissive, and they don’t tolerate negativity.  

Director/Supervisor types believe their way is the best way so they can come across as rigid, unyielding, and stubborn. However, ESTJs are not just interested in being the best, but they motivate others to be their best too. 

Cognitive functions 

Sensing  

ESTJs use their senses to receive information, so they take in a lot of information from their surroundings. They are highly observant and will often pick up on the little details that other people miss.  

While they are primarily focused on the present, ESTJs have an amazing ability to retain vivid memories from the past and retain a large amount of knowledge, which helps them to plan more effectively for the future. 

Thinking  

The thinking preference is very important for ESTJs as they rely on their sharp, logical, analytical mind to make the right decisions and remember important events.  

Their decision-making will be based on objective data rather than personal feelings, so they are good mediators. They like to consider all the facts before they decide on a course of action and prefer to look for rational explanations for events.   

Judging  

ESTJs use their judging function to help them interact with the external world and make decisions. Stability and order are of prime importance to them, so their careful judgments help them live the orderly life they desire.  

When things are out of control, ESTJs can get anxious, but when their life is well-organized, things are settled, and they have closure in their relationships, they are at ease with the world.   

They maintain their highly prized ordered life by avoiding hasty decision-making and rushing before a deadline. They stay calm, stick to a schedule, make a list, and once their work is completed, they can relax.  

In the workplace 

ESTJs are happiest when they are working in a large team in a structured, ordered environment. While they work well on their own, they are great team players. They are optimistic, hardworking, conscientious, and efficient people who get their work done on time. 

In a workplace leadership position, ESTJs flourish. Their intelligence, managerial abilities, and social skills build a cohesive team. To complete a project, an ESTJ will follow a detailed plan, implement easy-to-follow procedures, and provide clear deadlines so the team knows exactly what is expected of them.