People with the ENTJ personality type (Commanders) are natural-born leaders. Embodying the gifts of charisma and confidence, ENTJs project authority in a way that draws crowds together behind a common goal. However, these personalities are also characterized by an often ruthless level of rationality, using their drive, determination, and sharp mind to achieve whatever objectives they’ve set for themselves. Their intensity might sometimes rub people the wrong way, but ultimately, ENTJs take pride in both their work ethic and their impressive level of self-discipline.
ENTJ personalities perceive themselves to be a strong positive influence on others.
Striving for Greatness
If there’s anything that people with this personality type love, it’s a good challenge, big or small, and they firmly believe that, given enough time and resources, they can achieve any goal. This quality makes ENTJs brilliant entrepreneurs, and their ability to think strategically and hold a long-term focus while executing each step of their plans with determination and precision makes them powerful business leaders.
This determination is often a self-fulfilling prophecy, as ENTJ personalities push their goals through with sheer willpower where others might give up and move on, and they are likely to push everyone else right along with them, achieving spectacular results in the process.
At the negotiating table, be it in a corporate environment or buying a car, ENTJs are dominant, unforgiving, and unyielding. This isn’t because they are coldhearted or vicious per se – it’s more that these personalities genuinely enjoy the challenge, the battle of wits, and the repartee that comes from this environment. If the other side can’t keep up, that’s no reason for them to fold on their own core tenet of ultimate victory.
The underlying thought running through an ENTJ’s mind might be something like “I don’t care if you call me an insensitive blank-ity blank***, as long as I remain an efficient blank-ity blank***.”
ENTJs respect those who can match them intellectually and also display precision and quality in their actions, equal to their own. These personalities have a particular skill in recognizing the talents of others, and this helps in their team-building efforts (since no one, no matter how brilliant, can do everything alone). However, they also have a particular skill in calling out others’ failures with a chilling degree of insensitivity, and this is where they really start to run into trouble.
A Worthy Challenge
Emotional expression isn’t the strong suit of any Analyst (NT) type, but ENTJs’ distance from their emotions is especially public and felt directly by a much broader swath of people. Especially in a professional environment, these personalities may inadvertently overlook the emotional sensitivity of individuals who they perceive as inefficient or lazy. To people with this personality type, emotional displays are generally displays of weakness, and it’s easy to make enemies with this approach – ENTJs will do well to remember that they absolutely depend on having a functioning team, not just to achieve their goals but for their validation and feedback as well, something that they are, curiously, very sensitive to.
ENTJ personalities are true powerhouses, and they cultivate an image of being larger than life – and often enough they are. They need to remember, though, that their stature comes not just from their own actions but from the actions of the team that props them up. It’s important for them to recognize the contributions, talents, and needs of their support network – especially from an emotional standpoint. Even if they have to adopt a “fake it ‘til you make it” mentality, if people with the ENTJ personality type are able to combine an emotionally healthy focus alongside their many strengths, they will be rewarded with deep, satisfying relationships and all the challenging victories that they can handle.