Leading Resilient ESTP (Entrepreneur) Personalities

Watch as Evan the ESTPs’ boss makes small tweaks in their leadership style to help Evan build more resilience (and turn quick ideas into valuable contributions)

Image from 16personalities.com

How to spot ESTPs (Entrepreneurs):

ESTPs (Entrepreneurs) share the Extraverted, Observant, Thinking, and Prospecting personality traits. 

They have a talent for thinking on their feet and finding workarounds when problems arise, relying on their resourcefulness to get back on track. However, their desire to move fast might cause them to brush past others’ concerns or repeat mistakes.

On the final day of our Developing Resilience Challenge, you met Evan the Explorer. He was having a not-so-very-good day at work, feeling unheard and undervalued by his boss. 

Three main factors contributed to his lack of resilience on that day:

1. Feeling like his attempts to share ideas and collaborate were consistently dismissed

2. Struggling with stifled creativity, leading to self-doubt and a reluctance to contribute ideas

3. Losing confidence and motivation when his enthusiasm and quick thinking were undervalued 

Today, we’re going to take a step back in time and explore how things might have unfolded if Evan and his boss had better interactions in these three key areas.

Explorers include four different personality types (ISTP | ISFP | ESTP | ESFP), but today, we’re going to narrow our focus and imagine Evan as an ESTP. Later this month, we’ll explore his perspective as if he were each of the other Explorer personalities, too. (Make sure you’re subscribed to participate in the full series.)

Story Time: Helping Evan the ESTP Develop Resilience

Let’s set the scene:

Evan the ESTP just had his augmented reality idea shot down by his boss due to a lack of detailed planning. 

It’s time to roll back the clock and see how this could have played out differently. 

*roll film*

“My attempts to collaborate are welcomed.”

Our team meeting started like any other, with everyone gathered around the conference room table, ready to discuss our upcoming product launch. As ideas were being tossed around, I felt that familiar spark of inspiration. “What if we use augmented reality to showcase the product features?” I blurted out, my mind already racing with possibilities.

My boss leaned forward with interest. “That’s an interesting concept, Evan,” he said. “Can you walk us through how you envision implementing it?” His response caught me off guard, but in the best way possible. As I began explaining my vision, I found myself addressing potential challenges and resource needs. The open-ended question made me feel encouraged to expand on my thoughts, and the team also engaged with my idea, asking questions and building upon it. 

By the end of the meeting, we had a rough outline for an augmented reality feature that everyone was excited about. I left the room feeling energized and valued, with a newfound resilience to face future challenges. Even if this idea didn’t work out, I now knew my contributions were appreciated, giving me the confidence to keep offering innovative solutions in the face of obstacles.

“My boss is encouraging my creativity.”