Myers Briggs is one of the most recognized personality assessments available and widely used to help people understand themselves and others better. I have used Myers Briggs to help marriages and organizations learn to communicate more effectively, build teamwork, and have stronger working relationships. Myers Briggs is a preference assessment, and while no assessment can typecast a person, it can be a very helpful tool.
I am consistently asked what my own Myers Briggs type is, so I decided to share it here. I am an INTJ on the Myers Briggs Preference Assessment. That means I am:
Introverted – I wrote about this previously HERE and HERE, but, I am energized through times of inner reflections. It’s not that I don’t like or enjoy people, but I am most comfortable talking to people after I know them than I am initiating small talk.
INtuition – I don’t need (or want) many details to make a decision. I see the big picture first, often with limited information. (I wrote more about that HERE.) This is great for casting vision and creative thoughts, but drives detailed people crazy. (My wife sometimes being one of those people!)
Thinking – I make rational decisions, based on reason and logic, as opposed to more emotional or values-based decisions. Even if the decision is against me, if it’s the right decision, I want to make it. Often this gets me in trouble, as I’m likely to use truth over tact in making decisions.
Judgment – I prefer life to have a sense of order and structure. I think life works better with closure of a situation, rather than just letting things happen as they will unplanned.
What’s your Myers Briggs type?
I’m an ISTJ. Very rare, but not as rare as INTJs!
Ha! Love to be rare!
I am also an INTJ but my I & N are both only slightly a preference, while the T & J are strong preferences. People are surprised at my I because I enjoy speaking in front of small & large groups of people – even hundreds. But I would much rather disseminate information to a crowd, rather than have individual conversations. (It's also less of a time commitment so I have more time for self-reflection!) This also means in ministry, I'm certainly more of a rancher than a shepherd.
The N is also usually a surprise because I'm a *very* detailed person. However, when it comes to making decisions, I go with my gut, regardless of what I can see or hear, hence the N over S.
I'm almost the opposite of others in our church leadership, which is both a good & very frustrating thing! 🙂
Thanks for sharing…I understand! I'm writing more about this tomorrow…
Yea, I'm a red tape despiser too!
Yea….I'm a red tape despiser too!
It's great that you recognize those tendencies
Had to take this for a leadership class: Introverted being 56%, Intuitive 25%, Thinking 38%, and perceiving 11%. I read on your explanation that INTJ tend to be perfectionist… I really don't see that pertaining to me. It is ultimately hard to see a project through- or has been for me in the past. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that I can't stand red tape and what I deem "useless" stuff that I just turn off to and forget about it. This is something that I HAVE to improve on in my leadership.
We are a great deal alike. I can't stand red tape either!
I'm an ENTP with strong Sensing tendencies so there are times that the intuitive and sensing sides duke it out with each other inside my head. I think it actually makes me more aware of my deficiencies in either direction, which is probably a good thing.
I believe the same. Understanding my personality helps me balance my strengths and weaknesses.
Mine is also INTJ! I received a motto from my course facilitator regarding my profile, “Everything has room for improvement”. This helped me so much to understand my obsession with improvement – this so frustrates my wife though 🙂
It's been a great help to me also. Thanks!
I'm an INFP. But I grew up in a strongly T and J environment, and operated in my family of origin as if I were an INTJ. Now I live most of the time as my true INFP self, but I can shift into T/J mode when needed, in certain environments.
That's great. I think many of us operate in forced environments at times.
I'm an INFP, but my N,F & P are very low – no higher than a 7. However, my I is VERY high. What's interesting to me is that when I took the MB as a freshman in college, I was a low E, but by the time I graduated, I was a very high I. (I'm part of a long-term study and now will take it once every 10 years for the rest of my life, along with a number of other personality and psychological tests and indicators. It's fun!)
Wow! That will be an interesting study
Ron, I'm an INFP with extroverted tendancies and my wife is an ENTJ with introverted tendencies. Needless to say the one thing we agree on is being with each other, everything else is an interesting "discussion." What is great is I push her to do more than she thought she could and she keeps me down to Earth. The better we work together the more we accomplish.
That's a great balance for sure!
INFJ is my temperment type. Have been learning about this for years. N is out of sight high – which can create frustration when trying to explain something and others do not make the 'leap' with me. Have learned that I need to present events in a linking chain order so that others can follow. I used to test equally on T & F. It moved over into more F as God healed my brokenness. T can be a defense for a wounded F.
Great insight! Thanks
T as a defense for a wounded F…that is SO insightful. Clearly your N is very strong! I will definitely use that idea.
Awesome! Yes, strong N
ISFJ here – I'm a protector/guardian, melancholic type.
Another INTJ here!!
My profile is ENTJ. The T caused a real identity crisis when I found out what I was. I thought I would need to go to counseling. I took a course on learning styles and temperament assessments when doing my doctoral work. I presented the Myers Briggs and the Gregorc Style Delineator. I thought I would come out a strong F, but didn't. After a lot of soul searching I found I had been faking a bunch of stuff over the years.
Thanks for the post Ron.
Blessings,
Dave
That's funny Dave. Maybe it's not supposed to be, but the way you worded it was funny.
I'm also INTJ. One resource called us the Masterminds! I want things to make sense and like to figure things out. I also am willing to change directions if logic calls for it.
Yes! That’s me too!
OK. That's 2 ENTJs, 2 INTPs, 8 INTJs, 3 BLTs, 2 PBJs and all others just 1.
I'm INTJ – took it 3 times. We're supposed to be only 2% of the population – couldn't tell from this list! Makes you wonder if there's some connection with ministry inclinations…
Awesome! I'll take one of those BLT's!
INFP I have trouble finishing what I sta
That’s awesome. Made me chuckle
hahaha!!! I, too, am an INFP… we're GREAT starters!
Awesome!
INTP seems to fit me well.
Thanks for sharing!
ENTJ but my T and F are very close and I've migrated more to T as I've gotten older. And my career environements are very 'T' so that has something to do with it.
My wife is also an INTJ – a very unique personality…. 😉
Interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Ok, so I'll have the oddball profile, but I am ENFP. I tend to bounce around in conversations; have a rather large group of friends; don't enjoy the details; am very vision/idea driven; my heart goes into everything I do and I tend to be very impulsive. I love these qualities of myself. Things I am not so fond of: I have a tough time developing deep, intimate relationships; I am a people pleaser to the point of psychosis; I struggle with thinking things through to the end. My husband is my diametrical opposite: ISTJ — we make a great team!
Thanks Cameron for sharing. We have several ENFP's and ENTP's on our staff. Fun balance with me. I'm learning from you in this too on how to better work with them.
We have had our entire team take the Myers Briggs and the Strengths Finder and decided to post everyone's info beside their office so you see it as you enter to talk to them as a simple reminder. My MB is ESTJ.
That's awesome Jeff! I love it!
That is a BRILLIANT idea – posting the types to remind people and help them communicate better. I will absolutely implement that at some point.
I loved that idea too.
ISTJ – no surprise I work in IT. It was very insightful personally when I learned about MB/personality types. As an ISTJ, being relational with my wife and others takes work sometimes; it doesn’t come naturally. Knowing is half the battle as they say and I’ve learned to be more extroverted when necessary but as you point out Ron, I come home exhausted…and my extroverted 2 year old daugther talks non-stop and that’s a little challenging right now. 🙂
I'm totally with you on the relational aspect. One thing that may help is to see the purpose behind it. As a TJ you are very purpose-driven most likely. That's why you are extroverted when you need to be. Seeing the purpose behind the relational part makes it easier for me. It sounds mechanical, but it's no more than when I'm extroverted every Sunday at church because I love people and want to interact with them.
Same as yours 🙂
I wonder if mostly INTJ’s read my blog?
You can find more about your personality type here:http://typelogic.com. Including famous people with your personality type. Pretty interesting to read!
Thanks!
Oops, I mean here:http://typelogic.com/intp.html
Cool
INTJ as well. It drives people at work nuts since they're very much "feelers" 🙂
Ha! I know the “feeling”.
Yay for us INTJs! 'Cause we're awesome and we know it! 🙂 Actually, a nice thing about being an INTJ is that when you ARE awesome, you DO know it. And when you're not awesome, you know to delegate to someone who IS awesome. I think INTJs can be prone to depression, though, probably either because we sequester ourselves from our loved ones a little too much, or because we don't do it enough and we need more quiet time.
If you haven't read "Gifts Differing" by Isabel Briggs Myers, I highly recommend it. I get most of my books from the library, but when I read the library's copy of this, I turned around and bought my own.
I agree with this perception! Completely!
Wow, that's spot on! It would sound arrogant… if we were not so awesome! 🙂
And to think I was just telling a friend yesterday, that my "type" (INTJ) was a bit more prone to depression and moodiness than you might expect compared to other unflappable engineers.
I think it comes from our ability to perceive the gap between what IS and what COULD BE ('J'), which of course can make you depressed. Thanks for the book idea, I'll try to find a copy.
Good insight
ENTJ, I do like being in charge…
Ha! I bet you do!
Another INTJ here!
We seem to be around.
i'm INFJ & I tend to drive everyone nuts including myself!
Ha!
I'm an INFJ, and I drive myself crazy too. All of the INFJs I know feel that way. It seems to be one of the hardest types to be – the emotional intuition and empathy and depth of feeling make life seem emotionally overwhelming at times.
thank you so much Becky! I sometimes feel alone in the fact that things overwelm me so intinsly & so often, I have been dignosed with borderline persanalty disorder, & reading how they describe INFJs I wonder if there kinde of sympatico? or one in the same? thanks again for helping me not be the lone one. 🙂
I love when my blog comments connect/encourage people!
That sounds very normal for INFJs. You're in good company.
Interesting. Never thought about that dynamic.
thats me! always making conections in ways others don't contimplate, makes me a creative problem solver but is also one of the main reasons I drive people batty!
That’s me!
INTP.though I slide back and forth on I and E. Maybe I’m just picky on from whom I receive support. I still have trouble with decisiveness and I probably like details more than you do. For me the biggest difference between N and S is whether the person focuses on the sensations of life or how things interrelate.
That's good insight Tricia.
One more INTJ here. I took the MB years ago, but I don’t think much has changed.
This is interesting though. You and I are not even close when comparing top five Strengthfinder results. I understand the difference in the profiling method and type between the tests but its still interesting.
Thanks. I am finding many uses in combining the two assessments
I'm an ENFP. It's true, you people drive me nuts! LOL…it's okay though, us ENFP's drive you all insane, too!
Ha! We can drive each other insane together. It's the spice of life!
Famous ENFPs:
Franz Joseph Haydn
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)
Will Rogers
Buster Keaton
Theodor "Dr." Seuss Geisel (The Cat in the Hat)
Mickey Rooney
James Dobson ("Focus on the Family")
Andy Rooney
Carol Burnett
Paul Harvey
Elizabeth Montgomery (Bewitched)
Bill Cosby (Ghost Dad)
Dom Delouise, actor
Dave Thomas, owner of Wendy's hamburger chain
Lewis Grizzard, newspaper columnist
I. King Jordan, past president of Gallaudet University
Martin Short, actor-comedian
Meg Ryan, actor (When Harry Met Sally)
Robin Williams, actor, comedian (Dead Poet's Society, Mrs. Doubtfire)
Sandra Bullock, actor (Speed, While You Were Sleeping)
Robert Downey (Heart and Souls)
Alicia Silverstone (Clueless)
Sinbad
Andy Kaufman
Regis Philbin
Will Smith
Barack Obama
Look up famous INTJ's here:http://typelogic.com/enfp.html Pretty neat to read!
That’s awesome!
Same here. Seems like a higher fraction of INTJ’s are aware of their type and feel a bond with others who share that 🙂
BTW, been praying for you since your post yesterday. I’m glad God has given you a SHAPE well suited to what you’re facing (He’s good at that!) – be careful not to let that be an excuse to not take the downtime and rest you need to do well *long term*!
Yea! INTJ’s!
The type has worked for me! (So far…)