ESTJ - The Enforcer
Profile by Sandra Krebs Hirsch and Jean Kummerow
ESTJs are doers who roll up their sleeves, dig in, and proceed directly to get the job done. They use logic and analysis as guiding principles for their lives. They are quick to decide and set a plan of action. They marshall resources in an organized fashion, implement, and follow through. They like closure. They focus directly on tasks to accomplish and are able to anticipate the steps needed to complete an assignment. In doing so, they see what might go wrong and take the necessary preventive action. They monitor events continually and make sure that commitments, both their won and those of others, are honored and the job gets done. They are at their best in situations that have some structure to them and involve activity, not contemplation, and in which an end product is desired.
Living
ESTJ children want life to be logical, practical, organized, and fair. They are often responsible, reliable, and obedient - if the rules make sense. They may be upset by a change in rules or routine, particularly if the rationale for the change is not given. They like others to be clear about their decisions. ESTJs learn early on how to use set formulas to make their own firm decisions.
ESTJ children like results-oriented activities and are often busy in some type of sporting or organized group, such as scouts. They want to learn how to do things correctly and may take lessons that help accomplish this.
ESTJ teenagers may value the traditional things that teenagers do, such as team sports, band and class offices. They begin early to assume responsibility for themselves. They believe it is necessary to earn their keep and as teenagers they often have part-time jobs. Those jobs usually are for specific purposes, such as saving money for college or buying useful things such as cars or clothes.
As young adults, they focus on their goals, both personal and professional. They build on education and career goals set earlier in life and do all that they can to make these goals become reality. They seem to have less confusion or difficulty than some types in choosing a career or selecting a mate because they like focusing and making decisions.
In adult life, ESTJs are likely to take seriously their roles - such as parent, employer, employee, or church member - and to be committed to them and the responsibilities they represent. They are able to compartmentalize their lives and recognize discrete areas of responsibility, such as parenting, working and playing. ESTJs often gain the respect of others because of their dependability, follow-through, and task completion. They may be pillars of the family, community, church, or business world.
Learning and Working
ESTJs learn best in structured situations in which the objectives are clearly established. They like schedules or agendas so that they can plan ahead. It is important for them to know the time frames, the course content, the requirements, and when papers or projects are due. It is not sufficient to know that a short paper is a class requirement. The ESTJ wants to know things like an appropriate topic or two, the number of pages, and the due date. ESTJs like plenty of advance notice and dislike changes in class schedules. However, when the teacher's authority is established, these changes may be tolerated> Their idea of a good teacher is one who is consistent, fair, and applications oriented.
ESTJs may be good students when they put in the necessary time and effort. One of their main strengths is their ability to follow through and meet deadlines. They like learning activities such as field trips, experiments, and anything that gets them actively involved in the learning process. They sometimes get stuck when they concentrated only on the facts without putting them together into some kind of coherent whole.
When an organization wants a job done - on time, according to schedule, with strict specifications - ESTJs can deliver. They contribute their logical and orderly way of evaluating and monitoring programs. They are direct and decisive, especially when they see a flaw. They are especially adept at organizing the steps and the resources needed to get the job done. They follow through with a thoroughness focused on the actual, practical facts of the situation.
ESTJs prefer occupations that require an organized, logical, and practical bent that incorporates an effective use of time and resources. They pay attention to the organization's hierarchy and use policies and procedures to help them to move the tasks along. They like making decisions and dealing with concrete, specific facts.
Some occupations seem to be more attractive to ESTJs: government worker, insurance agent and underwriter, judge, manager, military personnel, nursing administrator, police officer, sales representative, supervisor, trade and technical teacher, and other occupations that allow ESTJs to see tasks accomplished.
Loving
For ESTJs, love means stability and steadfastness. However, when they first fall in love, they are much more likely to be spontaneous and open to the moment. They typically enjoy active pursuits, such as going to parties and sporting events, and taking walks together. ESTJs give and expect security and loyalty in relationships. When commitments are broken, ESTJs become upset because they hold others to the same standards of steadfastness to which they hold themselves.
Because they are logical, they expect logically that relationships will have ups and downs. They firmly believe that with a proper foundation, their relationships will survive expected down times. Because they expect this, they may ignore helping their partner or examining their relationship during those down times. In some cases, this inaction can be detrimental to their relationship, and in some cases, not.
When scorned, they may not quickly acknowledge their feelings of hurt. They are, however, supersensitive to being reflected, but they may not readily share that hurt with others. They continue to go about their tasks acting as if nothing had happened when, in fact, much has changed.
Profile by David Keirsey
ESTJ'S are very much in touch with the external environment. They know their community and usually are pillars of strength. The best adjective to describe ESTJs would be responsible. They represent about 13 percent of the general population.
ESTJs are outstanding at organizing orderly procedures and in detailing rules and regulations. They like to see things done correctly. They tend to be impatient with those who do not carry out procedures with sufficient attention to those details, prescribed by those with the most experience, that will get the job done right.
ESTJs are comfortable in evaluating others and tend to judge how a person is doing in terms of standard operating procedures. They may, at times, be abrupt with those who do not follow rules correctly. ESTJs are realistic, matter-of-fact, and more curious about new devices and processes than about new principles and theories.
Career
ESTJ's generally are loyal to their institutions, work, and community and make excellent, faithful mates and parents. They see where their duty lies and are not likely to shirk the doing of that duty, even when this requires considerable sacrifice on their part. They frequently rise to positions of responsibility in their jobs, in the community, and in their religious affiliations. They very often belong to several civic clubs, and support them both through steady attendance and through their spoken attitudes. ESTJs themselves are punctual and expect others to be also.
ESTJs may not always be responsive to points of view and emotions of others and may have a tendency to jump to conclusions too quickly at times. They may not always be willing to listen patiently to opposing views; they are especially vulnerable to this tendency when in positions of authority. They may need to make special effort to remain open to input from others who are dependent on them-their children, spouses, and employees.
ESTJs are so in tune with the established, time-honored institutions and ways of behaving within those institutions that they cannot understand those who might wish to abandon or radically change those institutions. They follow routines well at home and at work, tending to have a place for everything and wanting everything in its place. They are usually neat and orderly at work and at play.
Home
They approach human relations through traditions and rituals, promoting harmony and contentment in their relationships through creating well worked out routines and procedures. Family traditions have meaning for ISFJs, and they willingly participate in observing these. They enjoy opportunities to see friends, former colleagues, and relatives at functions such as retirement dinners, annual picnics, Thanksgiving gatherings, and weddings. ISFJs are relatively easy to get to know; they do not tend to confuse people by sending double messages. They are dependable and consistent, and what they seem to be is what they are.
Midlife
At midlife ESTJs may find new challenge in concentrating on better understanding the emotional reaction of others. If they do not develop this sensitivity, they can become bad-tempered and highly impatient with others as the years pass. They probably have been holding a tight rein over their emotions in the service of their careers and family; now a freer expression of these emotions, especially the positive ones, might be exercised. Travel to new places should have particular appeal if the ESTJs make special effort to absorb different cultures and lifestyles.
Mates
To preserve the establishment, to keep it healthy, steady, balanced, well insured, that's what is enjoyable and satisfying to the ESTJ. Yet the ESTJ is attracted to the disestablishmentarian, the ISFP! Does he hope to redo this bucolic spirit in his own image? Seemingly not. Perhaps he sees in this person's extreme laissez-faire a respite from the great responsibilities he manages to accumulate.
He can and sometimes does find another sort of complementary opposite, the INFP "monastic." This is very infrequent, there being 15 ESTJs for every INFP. It is doubtful if the ESTJ finds any rest in the INFP, because underneath the monastic is a fierce crusader-hardly what he bargained for. He may soon find himself asked to increase the "depth" and the "meaningfulness" of the relationship without being given even the slightest clue on how to proceed. His renewed efforts to "stabilize" and "solidify" the relationship will only be taken as signs of superficiality and/or meaninglessness.