The Protagonist Personality

Alyssa J. Huguley

“The Protagonist”

ENFJ- A

Career Nirvana: Entrepreneur/CEO/Psychologist

ENFJ’s make up one of the 16 personalities broken down by the Myer’s-Brigg’s Type Indicator (MBTI) personality inventory. It is a distinct and introspective questionnaire that breaks down psychological differences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. I found the indicator to be very precise and thorough. Of course there are anomalies and certain personalities that are interchangeable with another-so no person will exactly fit into one personality indicator over another. The key is to finding where your personality lies the most and understanding your strengths and weaknesses.

ENFJ Makeup

E- Extroverted : This means that ENFJ’s draw energy from being around and in community with people, they are curious and intrigued by people and like to be an influential part of other’s lives.

N- Intuitive: This means that ENFJ’s read between the lines, they are very good at reading people and often pick up on what is not spoken.

F- Feeling: ENFJ’s are feeling oriented and this allows them amazingly to be super in tune to other’s feelings and innately understand them. This being said, ENFJ’s have tendencies to function from feeling rather than fact.

J- Judging: This refers to how ENFJ’s see the world and make decisions. They usually prefer to have things decided on rather than waiting and thinking about a certain opportunity, or consequences of a decision, etc.

ENFJ’s are described by many describing labels- such as “The Diplomatic, Teacher, Giver, and Protagonist.” These describing labels provide an articulate perspective of how ENFJ’s create and add value to those around them, and how leadership, idealism, and charity embody this personality. ENFJ’s are warm, empathetic, confident, and influential. ENFJ’s makeup 2-3% of the population

ENFJ Strength’s and Weaknesses

Strengths

1. Tolerant: ENFJ’s enjoy listening to others and realize the importance of tolerance in creating a harmonious environment. They admit that they don’t have all the answers and for the most part are open to constructive criticism.
2. Reliable: ENFJ’s can always be counted on and a lot of their identity is surrounded around not letting anyone down.
3. Charismatic: ENFJ’s are the king’s and queen’s of charm and popularity. They know how to work a room, capture an audience, and pick up on mood and motivation.
4. Altruistic: ENFJ’s care deeply about others. They believe if they can bring people together that they can do a whole lot of good.
5. Natural Leaders: A fully functioning ENFJ is a true leader. They usually fall into leadership roles naturally.

Weaknesses

1. Overly Idealistic: ENFJ’s many times can have the idea that people will follow their ideas, or principles that they have adopted- but realize that people often fight against them or deny them- thus earning them the reputation of being too naive.
2. Too Selfless: ENFJ’s can oftentimes wear other people’s problems thinking that it is their responsibility to fix it and that they owe it to others to be involved.
3. Too Sensitive: While ENFJ’s appreciate and can be receptive to some criticism- they often take it to heart. And because of this sensitivity ENFJ’s try to fix things that they can’t fix and worry if they are doing enough.
4. Fluctuating Self-Esteem: Because ENFJ’s often find their identity in whether or not they can live up to their ideals, if a goal is not met or someone they said they’d help it is an instant self-esteem plummet.
5. Struggle to Make Tough Decisions: ENFJ’s particularly have a hard time making decisions especially those involving others and humanitarian efforts. They think of all the consequences and possibilities that their decisions may cause. Those thoughts may cause them to be caught between a rock and a hard place.

Because ENFJ’s value social interaction and creating value in other’s lives some careers that suit the ENFJ personality are primarily humanitarian in focus.

Careers Suitable for ENFJ’s

1. Education
2. Community and Social Work
3. Business, Management, and Sales
4. Media Jobs
5. Legal Positions
6. Healthcare work
7. Finance and Accounting Jobs

This list, of course, is not a comprehensive list, and many ENFJ’s will find interests outside of what is listed. As a general rule of thumb though, ENFJ’s tend to be attracted to leadership roles and thrive in environments where they can add their own natural talents. ENFJ’s appreciate teamwork and strive for cooperation and a harmonious working environment.

I originally took this test three years ago and found out that I was an ENFJ. I was shocked at how accurate the complied personality inventory was. I took the quiz again recently to see if I had changed with maturity and found that at the core I was still an ENFJ but my E (Extrovert) had changed to I (Introvert)- making me also an INFJ at times in varying environments.

This change simply meant that I now felt more comfortable taking time to myself and enjoying the time that I had away from others. This test has helped me understand the “why” to my strengths and weaknesses and why I appreciate humanitarian efforts over others.

Now, having this wealth of knowledge in my toolkit and knowing what my tendencies are- I can focus on my ultimate expression of my talents and gifts and see how its translates into my career life. At the moment I have not reached the peak of all that I could learn- it’s truly a learning process. If I were to be at my ultimate peak in my career life I would be an Entrepreneur. I would start my own business- humanitarian of course- and be the best CEO that I could be, taking into account my strengths and weaknesses.

Another career that I would choose if I were at my peak would be a Psychologist. I know according to my personality indicator that I feel most alive helping people- so why not match my career to my personality? It makes the most sense to be devoted to a career field that you love and that you know you can create value for. I personally found the personality indicator very helpful and I would highly recommend it to anyone who needs some help understanding themselves or what they want career wise.