ENTJ Personality profile: The Leader

ENTJs are confident and naturally take charge. They are friendly and caring but certainly not emotional or tactile and they will show they care by seeing what needs to happen, planning and pushing on with it. An ENTJ is almost entirely logical and so won’t really understand or ‘get’ emotions as they’d see it as irrational. An ENTJ once explained about someone being upset and said: “she cried at me!” So, there is a desire to help and care for people, but they don’t engage at an emotional level preferring to keep things in the realms of the logical and a desire to ‘sort it out’ rather than looking to understand and offer sympathy. They are action-oriented individuals and that permeates all aspects of their lives and so it is with relationships, ‘what’s the problem, right let’s sort it, now there’s nothing to be upset about!’

ENTJs are direct and open in how they communicate going always for clarity over subtlety, truthfulness over tact and diplomacy. Don’t ask an ENTJ if your slacks look too tight, unless you really want to know the answer, (in which case you probably knew already!) ENTJs will rarely deliberately try to cause offence or upset, it is just that they enjoy people interactions, banter, robust discussions, and they can take it as well as give it. But in relationships, if you’re more of a gentle soul, you might find an ENTJ a little brutal and raw but there only intention is to get things done and sort things out, their intent is always good, even if their execution comes across as a little harsh and unrelenting.

ENTJs do not prevaricate, they are decisive and, once they have a plan, they will want to push straight on with things. They can’t sit still or leave anything undone and to ‘just be’ would be an anathema to an ENTJ who will need to fill the unforgiving minute. In relationships this can be problematic in that sometimes people just want to be understood, to sound off, or someone to listen. But ENTJs are built to ‘do,’ and so saying ‘I’m a bit low,’ and just looking for some TLC might see the ‘problem’ analysed a solution worked out and the plan begun! This means they can project as a little bossy, but it is there way of caring, to sort it out, rather than just understand or empathise they need an answer, ‘the’ answer, the ENTJ solution, and right now, as it’s best.

ENTJs thrive on conflict, though they’d see this as interesting, robust discussions. An ENTJ can walk away from an interaction with a view that they’d had a good chat, with the other person reeling from what they saw as an argument. They have very strong opinions that they love to voice, and often. Again, the ENTJ intent is always with a good heart, to be helpful, but they can think they know best and be insistent on a course of action. This is difficult to argue against as the ENTJ will love an argument and also they will claim, and believe, that they’re doing it for your own good. The ENTJ is the ultimate believer in ‘taking your medicine’ and ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ when perhaps all you wanted was to quietly offload a problem. But if you do, it will be ‘right then here’s what you need to do,’ so be warned.

At work the ENTJ personality type will be the leader: the organiser, of materials, of people, of deadlines making sure tasks are planned and coordinated and that everyone is clear what is expected and what should happen next. The ENTJ will shape the way in which team effort is applied and direct attention to the setting of objectives. The ENTJ is challenging, pushy, task-focused, outgoing and dynamic. They will have high drive and a readiness to challenge inertia, ineffectiveness, complacency or self-deception but can be prone to irritation, provocation and impatience as their primary aim is change and getting things driven through.

ENTJs are highly motivated people with a lot of energy and a great need for achievement. They are assertive with strong drive and like to challenge others as their concern is for the team to win. They like to lead and to push others into action. If obstacles arise, they will find a way round. Headstrong and assertive, they tend to show strong emotional response to any form of disappointment or frustration. The ENTJ value to the team is to generate action and they love the pressure and the action. They are excellent at sparking life into a team and are very useful in groups where political complications are apt to slow things down as they help the team rise above problems of this kind and forge ahead regardless. They are well suited to making necessary changes and do not mind taking unpopular decisions. An ENTJ will love a challenge, the more difficult the challenge the greater the energy levels.

The ENTJ also likes conflict as a means to discuss and inform and get things done. They enjoy a good argument as a means to impart their views, think things through and gaining input, and they will be robust and strident in their views and will forget conflict as quickly as they enter into it. The ENTJ does not like anything preventing progress and they will make their views known on that directly and clearly. Their whole purpose is to make change happen and they do not like a slow pace. The ENTJ is extremely direct, and so and they may therefore not pick up on sensitivities, especially around the fact that other people may not enjoy conflict, and some may even fear it. The ENTJ will often think they have had a gentle discussion whilst the other person feels they have been in battle. Arguments are the way of getting clarity to the ENTJ and once it’s over, it is completely forgotten. The ENTJ is impatient, driven and with a strong desire to agree the strategy then drive relentlessly for closure. They will be superb at preventing complacency and giving pace to the team. If the ENTJ is not the elected leader they will still assume leadership, as their nature is to change things and make it happen now. At the centre of what’s happening and will relentlessly ensure a focus on goals.

Managing an ENTJ is about providing the right conditions to let them lead, whether people or a project or a task, to allow them the authority to do and occasionally pull them back to ensure people are with them. The ENTJ loves a goal, something to run at and they will excel at making sure other people are just as enthused and understand the need to get on and drive for closure. They will focus the team clearly and often. The ENTJ loves the complex and the big picture. They strategise and consider but they do this quickly and, once they are clear, it is all about getting to the end as fast as possible and when the plan is agreed - no more thinking.