While we will soon discuss each of the above functions in greater depth, for now, we will turn our attention to ENTJs’ personality type development. So while ENTJs certainly like to work hard, they can also play hard. They are not opposed to luxury housing or extravagant vacations, just as long as these things are written into the Te budget. Despite their status as Intuitives, ENTJs love worldly things. This can be seen as deriving, at least in part, from their tertiary function, Extraverted Sensing (Se). Wealth and social status can also be motivating factors for ENTJs. ENTJs are commonly found among CEOs heading for-profit companies. This, in combination with their love for strategy and competition, can make ENTJs formidable strategists and executives. One of the hallmarks of Te is its need for everything to be clearly defined, measurable, and quantifiable. Therefore, like the INTJ, ENTJs are often drawn to science, or can at least appreciate the value of its standardized methods. As we will shortly explore in greater depth, Te seeks to impose order, rationality, and efficiency on the world and its operations. Their dominant function, Extraverted Thinking (Te), confers a strong work orientation. While ENTJs can be quite funny when the time is right, they are, on the whole, quite serious in their approach to life. Undeterred by conflict or controversy (they actually like being seen as edgy or provocative), they like to push the envelope, which at times can leave others feeling hurt or offended. ENTJs can be great showmen and storytellers. Instead, they rely on their sense of humor, fueled by their auxiliary function, Introverted Intuition (Ni), to ingratiate themselves to others. Unlike the ENFJ, ENTJs don’t enjoy ready access to the interpersonal benefits conferred by Extraverted Feeling. Of course, controlling the outside world is rarely an easy task, contributing to ENTJs’ propensity for restlessness and hypervigilance. Finding inner control elusive, they naturally turn their focus outwardly, hoping that achieving outer order and control will bring them inner calm and security. In fact, because their inner Judging function (Fi) is inferior, they may feel they have relatively little inner control. Despite outer confidence and imposing presence, they are, on the whole, no more inwardly secure nor sure of themselves than other types. At times, they may be seen as harsh, blunt, or insensitive. Like the ESTJ, ENTJs are firm, direct, and outwardly opinionated. In the presence of ENTJs, others may feel they are somehow being hurried or rushed, that the ENTJ wants them to “cut to the chase.”
They can become frustrated and impatient when things don’t unfold according to their expected plan or time frame, evoking notions of the “Type-A” personality. They are direct, assertive, and uninhibited.