By: Joseph and Aila McPhail
Commanders (ENTJ) have Extraverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Judging personality traits. Famous ENTJs include Steve Jobs and Margaret Thatcher. They make great leaders because they are decisive, love accomplishing things, and are great at rallying others to join them in achieving their visions. Here we share common characteristics of commanders, their strengths and weaknesses, and what it’s like to be a commander’s friend.
Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, has the Commander personality type.
Commanders are natural leaders that see the world through logic instead of emotions. They are often charismatic and confident. This makes commanders charismatic which means they are good at influencing others and bringing people together to achieve their visions. Achievement is the primary goal of commanders which might explain why they are more likely to make more money and rise quicker in organizations where they work. But the commander’s focus on logic, reason, and achievement can sometimes be hard on their relationships. Commanders can be ruthless and unfeeling. They often perceive emotions as weakness. Their drive and determination can sometimes come at the expense of emotional sensitivity and understanding. As a result, commanders often struggle to express empathy and have patience with those that do not share their focus on achievement and growth.
Strengths and weaknesses of Commanders make them ideal entrepreneurs and leaders but not the best people to go to for emotional support or a patient ear. Commanders strengths include efficiency, high energy, self confidence, gift for strategic thinking, and their ability to inspire others. You almost never see commanders acting lazy or doing things inefficiently. Instead, commanders are constantly trying to root out inefficiencies and improve how things are done. But this relentless drive comes with a flip side. Commanders can sometimes come across as stubborn, have a tendency to dominate conversations, can be intolerant of sensitive and relaxed personalities. They can also be impatient, arrogant, ruthless, and show poor handling of emotions. These weaknesses can sometimes have friendships challenging.
Friendships can be a bit more challenging for Commanders in large part because they are anything but people pleasers. Commanders seek personal growth, inspiration, and accomplishment...and they do this with friendships as well. The ideal friends for commanders are those that share their desire for self-improvement, learning, and making their visions a reality. This approach to friendships stands in stark contrast to most other personality types that tend to build relationships around circumstance like being in the same neighborhood, same school, or same class. Commanders instead, choose friendships based on shared deep interests and with those they can have deep meaningful discussions. As a result, being a commander’s friend can take up a lot of energy and mental focus, but on the plus side it is rare for friendships with commanders to become dull or stale.
In summary, Commanders are natural leaders that strive for personal growth and achievement. They employ their high energy and vision to rally others around common goals. This makes them ideal entrepreneurs and business leaders. However, these qualities can also make it a bit harder to build and keep relationships. Commanders are not people pleasers. They seek from friendships what they seek in other aspects of their life which is personal growth, achievement, and shared deep interests with which to learn about and achieve. This relentless pursuit for growth and achievement can sometimes make Commanders come across as insensitive and arrogant. They can be especially impatient with more sensitive, relaxed, and less disciplined personality types. But without Commanders like Steve Jobs we would not have many of the businesses that employ our parents and technologies that make life more enjoyable.
Question 1: Which description most accurately reflects the Commander personality type?
A. Hard working and rational leaders that strive for personal growth and achievement.
B. Patient listeners that make for ideal friends, especially when we are sad.
C. Natural parents that enjoy taking care of babies.
D. Relaxed friends that love relaxing with whoever happens to be around.
Question 2: Which weaknesses are Commanders most likely to have?
A. Lack of patience for people that are very emotional
B. Lazy and lacking direction
C. Slow to act, timid, unassertive
D. People pleaser, needs approval of others
Question 3. What qualities do Commanders look for in friends?
A. Confident people with shared deep interests and a desire to grow and improve themselves.
B. Fun people that know how to kick back, relax, and enjoy themselves.
C. Soft and caring people that are careful not to upset anyone.
D. Anyone that happens to be around...Commanders are not picky.