Leading Resilient ENTJ (Commander) Personalities

See how Alex the ENTJ becomes more resilient as his boss makes small leadership tweaks to help him face unwelcome challenges head-on

Image from 16personalities.com

How to spot ENTJs (Commanders):

ENTJs (Commanders) share the Extraverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Judging personality traits. 

They face problems head-on, and you might find them encouraging others to persevere through unwelcome challenges, too. However, their tendency to take control and push forward relentlessly may sometimes lead to overlooking valuable input from others.

A couple of weeks ago, you met Alex the Analyst when he had reached his breaking point and could no longer bounce back from the challenges he was facing at work. He was feeling misunderstood, undervalued, and disengaged. 

Then, we wound back the clock and played out an alternate version of this interaction with Alex the INTJ (Architect), where he and his boss had a more positive interaction. 

Today, we’re going to narrow our focus again and imagine Alex as a different Analyst personality: an ENTJ (Commander). 

If you recall, three main factors were contributing to Alex’s lack of resilience at work:

1. A need for innovation and intellectual stimulation

2. A desire for autonomy and the freedom to question existing systems

3. A preference for logical, fact-based decision-making over emotional considerations

Let’s see how things would play out for Alex the ENTJ if he and his boss had more positive interactions in these three areas, shall we? This will help you spot where you might adjust your approach to better support your ENTJ team members, making it easier for them to adapt to unwelcome challenges with greater resilience.

Story Time: Helping Alex the ENTJ Develop Resilience

Let’s set the scene:

Alex the ENTJ is standing in his boss’s office, having just proposed a procedural change to remove redundancy. 

*roll film*

“My boss values my ideas.”

I was ready for a dismissal, but instead, my boss surprised me with one simple question: “How does this align with our goals?”

Wow, okay, I wasn’t being shut down. I launched into an explanation of how my proposal would increase efficiency and drive us toward our quarterly targets. My boss listened, but ultimately, she didn’t implement my idea on the spot. That wasn’t what really mattered to me, though. What mattered was that she had acknowledged my strategic thinking and given me the chance to showcase it. That was progress. 

Even though my idea wasn’t immediately adopted, I no longer felt dismissed or undervalued. Instead, I felt challenged to think more critically about how my proposals fit into our overall strategy. This turned potential frustrations into opportunities for professional growth and strategic thinking. I started to see rejections as chances to refine my ideas and align them more closely with our organizational objectives to get my message across. 

“My boss gives me freedom.”