ESTJ vs INFJ

ESTJ

The Supervisor

INFJ

The Confidant

ESTJ vs INFJ
Personality

ESTJ Outspoken and organised the ESTJ will take charge, bringing order, structure and focus to situations. Their desire to get things done may mean that they ignore the people issues, as they act on the facts and so are not so tuned in to peoples’ feelings. However everyone will know where they stand and they will use their vast store of knowledge and experience to plan and deliver.

INFJ Serious minded and caring, values are so important to the INFJ. Integrity is their watchword and they will be excellent listeners, supportive and with a strong desire to ‘do the right thing’ often the catalyst for making things better. The INFJ will work patiently long and hard behind the scenes to maintain harmony but they are also intensely independent of thought and spirit.

ESTJ vs INFJ
At Work

We all bring something different to the team and we all agree that difference and balance are good things. However when someone is different from us we might not understand them so well so in this section we allow you to compare the differences at work, how these might manifest themselves and how best to manage them.

Contribution to the team

ESTJ The ESTJ will be the organiser, of materials, of people, of deadlines and team, making sure tasks are planned and coordinated and that everyone is clear what is expected and what should happen next.

Contribution to the team

INFJ Although introverted, the INFJ has very strong opinions, honed over much private reflection and will voice these strongly, less concerned with self and ego than with the cause.

Leading

ESTJ ESTJs are conservative and predictable with great organisational ability, ensuring everyone is clear where they stand. They like a plan and like people to stick to the plan working towards the known.

Leading

INFJ INFJs can make inspiring leaders as followers will believe in them and want to ‘sign up’, having a devotion to the cause that borders on evangelical so people will have a crystal clear vision of what could be.

Being managed

ESTJ ESTJS need to know exactly where they stand and what is expected of them and then they will work long and hard to get it done. They dislike anything they perceive as woolly and will act on the facts.

Being managed

INFJ Meaning is at the heart of who the INFJ is and they would not be motivated by ‘doing a job’ but need a cause, something which is important to them, something to believe in.

Attention to detail / focus

ESTJ ESTJs have practical common sense and a good deal of self-control and discipline, they work hard and tackle problems in a systematic fashion moving in a straight line from beginning to end.

Attention to detail / focus

INFJ Strongly humanitarian, INFJs tend to be idealists, and because of their desire for closure and completion, they are generally ‘doers’ as well as dreamers, who take on a disproportionate amount of responsibility.

Creativity

ESTJ ESTJs have a practical, factual nature, and enjoy hard work, although they may lack flexibility and be unresponsive to new or unproven ideas, as the ESTJ prefers the known and rely on their experience.

Creativity

INFJ The INFJ is the innovator, coming up with genuinely radical and different ideas and solutions a great driver for the team, often taking on far too much but this is simply due to the INFJ desire to complete.

ESTJ vs INFJ
Conflict

Some people seek harmony, some see conflict as simply robust discussions, some people are emotional, some more factual. So there is no right or wrong about this and what we are trying to do is help two different people each understand how the other might deal with conflict and what it will mean for how they work together.

Initial response to conflict situations

ESTJ ESTJs are happy with conflict, as they are essentially impervious to their environment and so would see conflict as simply an element of getting things done, and may not ‘get’ others who are more sensitive.

Initial response to conflict situations

INFJ Deep and private the INFJ will keep their own counsel. Yet they have such deeply held beliefs that others may be surprised how forthright they can become to defend values or those they feel need support.

Issues they'll fight on

ESTJ The ESTJ wants to plan the work, work the plan in life as well as work. So if things are not moving forward, as agreed, they will be extremely vocal as driving for closure is what they’re built for.

Issues they'll fight on

INFJ Although the INFJ prefers and will create harmony, they have such strong and deeply held values, these honed over a long time and they will defend those values vigorously if they are transgressed.

Conflict style / communication

ESTJ Direct and factual the ESTJ may inadvertently upset others who are more feeling as they see honesty and incredible directness as the same thing and so may at times project an honesty that is brutal.

Conflict style / communication

INFJ Because the INFJ is basically private, they will fight only on issues that really mean something to them and thus they can switch from being quiet to incredibly crusading, assertive and stubborn.

How they feel after

ESTJ Conflict is all part of getting things done and so the ESTJ will not let it affect them nor harbour ill feelings. It needs to be said, it has been said, we’re all clear so now let’s move on would be their motto.

How they feel after

INFJ All interactions, given the nature of the INFJ as champion and supporter, will eventually deplete their energies and they will need to recharge on their own, thinking deeply about issues and connecting the dots.

ESTJ vs INFJ
Relationships

We all have different motivators, values and views on the world, in part driven by our personalities. The section below describes how each person is likely to engage with others, and how others may see them.

Being around them

ESTJ ESTJs are built to take charge, at work, at play and in relationships. They are essentially caring and traditional but they will express themselves with a directness that can at times be bone jarring.

Being around them

INFJ Although quite gentle, and preferring to be out of the limelight, the INFJ will work long and hard behind the scenes to maintain harmony but they are also intensely independent - both of thought and spirit.

Dealing with emotions

ESTJ The ESTJ doesn’t really get emotions or indeed anything they see as irrational and if someone is upset they will have to translate this into practical issues that they can then deal with factually and practically.

Dealing with emotions

INFJ This is a necessary escape valve for INFJs providing both time to rebuild their depleted energy and a filter to prevent the emotional overload to which they are so susceptible as inherent ‘givers.’

Openness and sharing feelings

ESTJ ESTJs are extremely open and direct but they don’t really truly ‘get’ or understand emotions. Everything is translated into facts and data and presented in a logical way that can leave people feeling processed.

Openness and sharing feelings

INFJ Although at times strident and outspoken, INFJs can only be emotionally open about themselves with a chosen few. At times INFJs will withdraw into themselves, shutting out even their close friends.

Drivers and values

ESTJ The ESTJ is built to get things done, taking charge, helping and making sure that the plan is stuck to. They may not demonstrate empathy but they will care in their way, which is practically.

Drivers and values

INFJ Values are at the heart of the INFJ and they will take relationships as seriously as they do their causes and their global outlook and big picture focus may mean that it is difficult to get on their wavelength.

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