Introduction

Source: https://www.16personalities.com/entj-personality

WHO IS A COMMANDER (ENTJ)?

A Commander (ENTJ) is someone with the Extraverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Judging personality traits. They are decisive people who love momentum and accomplishment. They gather information to construct their creative visions but rarely hesitate for long before acting on them.

"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." ~ STEVE JOBS

Commanders are natural-born leaders. People with this personality type embody the gifts of charisma and confidence, and project authority in a way that draws crowds together behind a common goal. However, Commanders are also characterized by an often-ruthless level of rationality, using their drive, determination and sharp minds to achieve whatever end they’ve set for themselves. Perhaps it is best that they make up only three percent of the population, lest they overwhelm the more timid and sensitive personality types that make up much of the rest of the world – but we have Commanders to thank for many of the businesses and institutions we take for granted every day.

Happiness Lies in the Joy of Achievement

If there’s anything Commanders 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 people with the Commander personality type 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 Commanders push their goals through with sheer willpower where others might give up and move on, and their Extraverted (E) nature means 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, Commanders are dominant, relentless, and unforgiving. This isn’t because they are cold-hearted or vicious per se – it’s more that Commander personalities genuinely enjoy the challenge, the battle of wits, the repartee that comes from this environment, and if the other side can’t keep up, that’s no reason for Commanders to fold on their own core tenet of ultimate victory.

If there’s anyone Commanders respect, it’s someone who is able to stand up to them intellectually, who is able to act with a precision and quality equal to their own. Commander personalities have a particular skill in recognizing the talents of others, and this helps in both their team-building efforts (since no one, no matter how brilliant, can do everything alone), and to keep Commanders from displaying too much arrogance and condescension. 

Cultivating the Science of Human Relationships

Commanders are true powerhouses, and they cultivate an image of being larger than life – and often enough they are. Even if they have to adopt a "fake it ‘til you make it" mentality, if Commanders 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 they can handle.

Commander Strengths

• Efficient – Commanders see inefficiency not just as a problem in its own right, but as something that pulls time and energy away from all their future goals, an elaborate sabotage consisting of irrationality and laziness. People with the Commander personality type will root out such behavior wherever they go.

• Energetic – Rather than finding this process taxing Commanders are energized by it, genuinely enjoying leading their teams forward as they implement their plans and goals.

• Self-Confident – Commanders couldn’t do this if they were plagued by self-doubt – they trust their abilities, make known their opinions, and believe in their capacities as leaders.

• Strong-Willed – Nor do they give up when the going gets tough – Commander personalities strive to achieve their goals, but really nothing is quite as satisfying to them as rising to the challenge of each obstacle in their run to the finish line.

• Strategic Thinkers – Commanders exemplify the difference between moment-to-moment crisis management and navigating the challenges and steps of a bigger plan, and are known for examining every angle of a problem and not just resolving momentary issues, but moving the whole project forward with their solutions.

• Charismatic and Inspiring – These qualities combine to create individuals who are able to inspire and invigorate others, who people actually want to be their leaders, and this in turn helps Commanders to accomplish their often-ambitious goals that could never be finished alone.

Career Paths

It is in the world of careers that Commanders’ boldness and drive are truly at their best. No other personality type is better suited than Commanders to be the respected leader of an organization or team, and no other personality type enjoys it quite so much. Combining their vision, intelligence and determination to push ideas through to completion no matter the obstacles, Commanders are a force to be reckoned with.

We All Go Up, or We All Go Down

In the world of business, the sometimes-overbearing level of self-confidence that Commanders (especially Assertive ones) too often mishandle in their personal relationships is transformed into an admirable authority, keeping people on track and getting things done. Naturally the best careers for people with the Commander personality type make the fullest use of these qualities, and many would describe executive positions and entrepreneurialism to be ideal lines of work – any position high enough that they can clearly see the horizon.

For Commanders, failure is not an option – they conceive a vision of the future, formulate a strategy to achieve that vision, and execute each step with ruthless precision.

Structure and order are key, and if someone gets sloppy, or holds things back with incompetence, laziness or inefficiency, Commanders will not hesitate to come down, hard. Commander personalities pursue their goals with singular vision and have strict standards for themselves and others that are designed above all else to be effective. This makes Commanders excellent corporate strategists, and their objectivity and clarity of thought make them respected lawyers and judges.

None of this could work if no one could understand what Commanders were thinking, and they have the good fortune of being clear and concise communicators, especially in person, making business administration a comfortable fit – so long as their tasks don’t stray too far into routine maintenance and upkeep. Commanders also have a thirst for knowledge, and they aren’t afraid to use a principle once they’ve grasped its underlying mechanisms. Combining this with their leadership makes Commanders trying, but effective, university professors.

We Are Still in the Making

The only problem is, it takes time for Commanders’ skills to be recognized, and stagnating as low-level employees will have them bouncing off the walls and deeply unhappy. People with the Commander personality type crave leadership and responsibility, growth and opportunity, and genuinely enjoy managing others to get a job done. Commanders are visionaries and leaders, not grunts or day-to-day administrators. Getting that to be recognized is not always easy, but Commanders are probably up to the task.

Workplace Habits

For people with the Commander personality type, the workplace is all but a natural habitat. Commanders’ efficiency and clear communication are valued, their leadership is admired, and their ability to simply get things done is unrivaled. That being said, some situations are more appropriate for Commanders than others – these qualities all point to a managerial or executive role, making any position of comparative powerlessness highly undesirable.

Commander personality types are strident ones though, able to adapt themselves to just about any hierarchical relationship by doing what they do best: asserting their opinions, taking the initiative, and accomplishing feats that others thought impossible.

Commander Subordinates

Subordinate positions are challenging for Commanders, and it takes active management to ensure their satisfaction and engagement. Ever the high achievers, Commander subordinates set out to learn new skills and to seek out new challenges and responsibilities, eager to prove that nothing is impossible with a little hard work. If things get a little slow, Commander personalities may slip into periods of absentmindedness, but when they feel involved in the projects around them, they prove well organized and well prioritized.

Commanders hold themselves to very high standards, but a lot of what sets this tone is feedback from their environment – namely, criticism from their managers. Objective, rational statements about what is done right and what can be done better are helpful to Commanders, and far from resenting such criticisms, they appreciate them. Opportunities for growth keep people with the Commander personality type engaged and productive, and so long as their managers recognize this as their primary responsibility, it will be a fruitful and satisfying relationship.

Commander Colleagues

Among colleagues, Commanders are sociable and greatly enjoy sharing ideas and critiques in their frequent brainstorming sessions. Natural leaders that they are, Commanders tend to assert themselves into positions as representatives and project leads, considering their objectivity and charisma the perfect qualities for these roles. Commander personalities enjoy working with equals, but people must demonstrate that they are equals – anyone Commanders view as being less competent or driven will see only condescension and arrogance.

Commanders are strong-willed, even dominant, and though they enjoy inspiring and tutoring others, the energy they bring to the process can seem overbearing. When these roles are reversed, Commanders’ mentors should bear in mind that their students are very rational and respect firm confidence – handholding, emotional appeals or wavering indecision will likely burn the bridge then and there. In a partnership, what is best is what is most effective, and time wasted sugar-coating reality is just that – time wasted.

Commander Managers

Commander managers are confident, charismatic communicators, and they communicate but one vision: to get the job done as efficiently as possible, and to the highest standard of quality. All else is subordinate to that objective, but the means by which Commanders achieve it cause others to adopt this cause as their own. Commanders are natural leaders, and their ability to formulate a strategy and to identify the strengths of each member of their teams, incorporating those abilities into their plans so that each individual fills a unique and important role, makes them able motivators.

But while these efforts boost morale and satisfaction among Commanders’ likeminded subordinates, they are still crafted to achieve that ultimate goal of timely and exceptional work. Those seen as inefficient by their Commander managers, or who demonstrate themselves to be lazy or to produce shoddy work will know in no uncertain terms of their failure to impress. The only way to recover is to comply, the only alternative is to find a new manager to impress, somewhere else.

Conclusion

Armed with a powerful intellect and strategic thinking, Commanders can overcome or outmaneuver obstacles that seem unbeatable to most.  

CORE THEORY

Roles: Analysts

Shared personality traits: Intuitive (N) and Thinking (T)Thinkers, Not Robots

The personality types in the Analyst Role – Architects (INTJ), Logicians (INTP), Commanders (ENTJ), and Debaters (ENTP) – are known for their love of rationality. Because they share the Thinking trait, these types often aim to make decisions with their heads rather than their hearts. But Analysts are far from being robots. Their Intuitive personality trait energizes their imaginations, helping them to come up with creative strategies and motivating them to explore things deeply – whether that’s an intellectual pursuit, a new interest, or even a crazy scheme or thought experiment.

These personalities are driven to understand and create. They have no problem switching between speculative musing and tactical problem-solving. Of course, these broad abilities need to be honed – and, when appropriate, they need to lead to action. Otherwise, Analysts’ active minds can give them a false sense of accomplishment.

HEAD VS. HEART SURVEY
93% of Analysts say they listen to their heads rather than their hearts when making important decisions.

Driven by Curiosity
Analysts are innately curious. This helps them to ensure that their ideas are workable, rather than just clever. These personality types have a strong drive to learn, and they want to find out things for themselves rather than accept received wisdom. These types may be found stockpiling books, questioning teachers, spurring debates, or driving conversations in forums across the Internet.

CONTROVERSY SURVEY
88% of Analysts say they’re intrigued by things labeled as controversial.

Analysts are also relentless self-improvers. Once they’ve recognized a flaw, they apply all of their rationality, imagination, and desire for results to make it right. Especially when it’s balanced with self-understanding, this drive can enable Analyst personalities to push the boundaries of what’s possible – no matter what anyone else may think.

Socially Selective
Analysts can have a reputation for being lone wolves. These personality types don’t necessarily care about befriending everyone they meet, and they definitely don’t surround themselves with random people just for the sake of having some company.

These personality types are questioners, reluctant to take anything on faith. And “anything” includes what their teachers or bosses say.

Analysts tend to hold themselves to high standards, and they often hold the people around them (bosses and teachers included) to these high standards as well. In addition, Analyst personality types tend to care a great deal about learning and professional success. 85% of Analysts say they have a strong desire to be an important and successful person.

It makes sense, then, that these personality types hold their teachers and bosses to rigorous standards. After all, an Analyst with a poor teacher or boss may be less likely to become successful.   

Problems? What Problems?
You know who talks a lot about their problems? Not Analysts. In fact, 83% of Analysts say that most people complain too much about their problems. 

But that doesn’t mean that people with these personality types don’t think about their problems, and they certainly don’t shy away from challenges. 61% of Analysts say they’re excited by the idea of being responsible for solving problems, and 85% say they enjoy tackling difficult challenges.

A core strength of Analysts is their faith in their problem-solving abilities. Analyst personalities tend to express the highest intellectual self-confidence of any Role, and this gives them the willingness to try their hand at things that may be hard. As long as Analysts balance their intellectual self-assurance with their innate curiosity, these personality types can find success and even enjoyment in the face of challenges both large and small.

CORE THEORY

Strategies: People Mastery

Shared personality traits: Extraverted (E) and Assertive (-A) Bold and Confident

Personality types with the People Mastery Strategy are known for their ability to handle stress. This helps them to act boldly and maintain confidence, even in the face of challenges or criticism.

Thanks to this confidence, people with this Strategy feel energized and at ease in social situations. They seek social contact as well as stimulating and challenging experiences. These personalities like traveling to see things, people, and places, and trying something new – even things they don’t end up liking can be exciting for them.

AMBITION SURVEY
75% of People Masters say they’re good at executing their ideas – more than any other Strategy.

Nothing to Prove?
These personality types tend to be insulated against self-doubt and the need to prove themselves. By taking others into account, these personalities can actually help to draw other people out of their shells in a way that’s energizing and empowering.

Finding Balance
People Masters ideally embrace healthy ambition while finding social fulfillment and connection. Social interaction plays a big part in People Masters’ happiness. Although these personality types are self-confident, they still appreciate praise and recognition. They don’t need people’s approval, but they still crave friends and loved ones with whom to share their lives.

These types may be opinionated, but they don’t always worry about having others agree with them. This can help these personalities to be moderate even in disagreements because their ego and confidence aren’t at stake the way they often are for Turbulent Strategies. 

People Masters are not fond of grudges, and at heart, they want to bring people together to make things happen. These types often stand out for their charisma and self-assurance. As long as they don’t use their talents to steamroll or put down others, these personality traits can be quite appealing. These types have little fear of rejection, and they love including others. This can make these personalities wonderful friends, loved ones, and colleagues, who always aim to energize those around them.

Speaking Up
People Masters don’t tend to filter their opinions. These personality types say what they think, and they think what they say. As with nearly any trait, this can be a strength or a weakness. 

People Masters are often seen as straight-shooters who can be trusted to speak honestly. In academic and professional settings, many teachers, classmates, colleagues, and managers appreciate this quality. After all, if used appropriately, candor is a powerful way to connect with other people. The “what you see is what you get” nature of a People Master personality can be refreshing, whether in the classroom or the workplace.

People Masters can excel at dealing with awkward or tense interpersonal situations – whether that’s getting a group project back on track or delivering bad news to a customer in a straightforward but considerate way.

Going For It
79% of People Masters say they see problems as opportunities. These personality types trust themselves to tackle hard problems – and to gain insight and experience from the process. Ideally, this conviction becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, with People Masters taking on ever harder challenges and learning important lessons along the way.

What sets People Masters apart isn’t just their confidence, however. It’s also their willingness to team up with others. These personalities know that we tend to be more effective when we collaborate and ask for help. People Masters can be especially good at creating opportunities for the people around them to use their strengths. And that may just be one of the secrets to People Masters’ success.

To read the entire personality profile on my type, click the Full Profile button at the top. 

If you did make it to the end of this analysis, then you will have a great sense of who I am before we even meet. Hopefully you will have gained some great insight into who you may be hiring as coach or even collaborating with on some exciting business venture. 

Best Regards,

Coach James.