Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Not So Much The Chief Anymore

I don't remember now where I found the link, but I took this personality test the other day. I have always been intrigued by these things, and I always find it interesting to learn about other people's personalities. Here is a quick summary of my personality preferences:



On extrovert versus introvert, I scored 89% extrovert.

On sensing versus intuition, I scored 53% intuition.

On thinking versus feeling, I scored 79% thinking.

On judging versus perceiving, I scored 68% judging.



This test says I have an intellectual temperament and my primary function is extroverted thinking. According to the research backing up this test, this group makes up 3% of the population (4.5% of males and just 1.5% of females.)



It calls my personality style ENJT or The "Chief" and describes me as:



"ENTJs are strategic, organized and possess natural leadership qualities. They are master coordinators that can effectively give direction to groups. They are able to understand complicated organizational situations and quick to develop intelligent solutions. ENTJs are outspoken and will not hesitate to speak of their plans for improvement. They are decisive and value knowledge, efficiency and competence."



And goes on to say:


"ENTJs are natural born leaders. They live in a world of possibilities where they see all sorts challenges to be surmounted, and they want to be the ones responsible for surmounting them. They have a drive for leadership, which is well-served by their quickness to grasp complexities, their ability to absorb a large amount of impersonal information, and their quick and decisive judgments."



It totally got me just right. And herein lies my problem now that I'm living in a foreign country! I have an instinctive nature to provide leadership and direction when I am involved in a group. Ever tried doing that in a foreign language and culture you don't quite understand completely? I am extremely extroverted. Any idea how difficult it is not to be able to express what you want to say? The list goes on and on.



It isn't that I just cannot be around people without being the boss. No. No matter what my three brothers or my husband might tell you, it isn't that at all. I have been the worker bee before and have been content enough just doing as the queen bee told me to do. But, I do have this overwhelming desire to improve things, to solve problems, to make things more effective and efficient, to make the decisions, and to share my many opinions. But my current situation generally doesn't make it acceptable and often times not even possible for these characteristics of my personality to present themselves.



Some days I find it to be the most difficult thing EVER. Other days I think about how this is actually probably really good for me. I know I need to do a better job of relinquishing control sometimes. And while I had never thought of it in terms of my personality type until reading over the results today, well, it does help me understand my frustrations. Oh yeah, I do think I am going to learn a lot more than just Portuguese living in Brasil for a while!



If there is anyone else who adores these things as much as I do, check yourself out at http://www.mypersonality.info/personality-types/.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jung rocks! It's my favorite in the "Psychology World"! hahaha!

I just wrote about "his" sandplay, it's something very interesting! :)

Take care,
Bia

Amanda said...

I am a "Supporter" :)
That sight was quite interesting. I was shocked at how much of the things they described in the "supporter" were just like me. HHMMMM........

Anonymous said...

I am a "strategist" - suggested professions, reseacher and professor. Gee, sounds about right.

About you frustration with leadership opportunities, there may be small ways to do this even with the limitations of language and culture (in your volunteer role at the American School, planning travel and parties, for example).