16 leadership styles according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
When we think about the leadership styles of the most important leaders worldwide, very specific physical or psychological characteristics often come to mind. We see them as staunch speakers, confident in their means, outgoing, with broad shoulders and out chested. However, our mental associations regarding this figure often differ from the reality of the facts.
In fact, being a leader is often confused with being a commander. Anyone can become a true leader, from a multinational manager to a first-year university student.
There are industry leaders with poor leadership skills and employees with better qualities in this aspect.
Each personality type has a unique leadership style, which differs from the others. Some have a better chance of emerging, while others prefer to lead behind the scenes.
Therefore, in this article, we will discover the leadership styles for each personality, according to the Myers-Briggs Type indicator and how it can manifest itself.
Leadership styles according to Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
INFJ (the The Counselor): the perceptive leader
The Counselor (INFJ) is insightful, understanding and visionary. INFJ leaders often do their best to help others, as in volunteering, for example.
His priority is to take care of his team, listen to every single component, motivate and encourage him.
The INFJ has a fixed gaze towards the goal and invents innovative ways to achieve it. Every decision is the result of hard inner work, which takes into account all possible scenarios.
Your Mission
The Counselor thinks big, aims for perfection and often risks becoming a slave to it. Furthermore, he may also have difficulty emerging into a verbal confrontation, given his introverted nature.
ENFJ (the Mentor): the empathic leader
The Mentor (ENJF) is an intuitive, disciplined and very diplomatic personality type. He loves team play and expresses his best within the dynamics of the team he leads.
The mentor is always there, does great motivational work and takes care of every member of his team. In short, he is a captain who is also willing to sink with his ship in order to try to save the rest of the troop.
Your Mission
ENFJ is a personality type with a very empathic leadership style. He feels a lot about his emotional part, and sometimes he may find it difficult to make decisions.
For example, he hates conflicts, and in order not to hurt anyone, he often tries to avoid the problem.
Furthermore, the mentor will have to try to separate from his own emotionality in some important decisions, in order to be able to evaluate them without impulsiveness.
INFP (the Mediator): the honest and sincere leader
The mediator (INFP) is also an empathic personality, as well as caring and compassionate.
His leadership style manifests itself in the struggle for what he believes in. Excellent listener, he encourages, supports, and conveys these feelings even without words.
The INFP personality type wishes to contribute to the world, to make it a better place. Before making a decision, he dwells on the possible consequences and how it aligns with his values.
Your Mission
Even the mediator does not like conflicts, especially those internal to the environment in which he lives or works. In fact, INFP tends to take criticism personally, rarely accepting it.
ENFP (the Transformer): the inspiring leader
The Transformer (ENFP) leads with passion and dedication, finding many innovative ways to make a difference.
The ENFP tends to accept the views of others. On the contrary, it encourages them and often holds meetings so that they emerge.
Moreover, he is a great inspirer, because he likes to share his ideas without overcoming those of others. In fact, before making decisions, he first makes sure that no one is affected.
Your Mission
Often the Transformer tends to accumulate too many ideas, ending up overloading the team with things to do. In fact, he often risks being so overwhelmed that he loses sight of some important details that can make a difference.
ENTP (the Originator): the innovative leader
The Originator (ENTP) is an enterprising, strategic and competitive personality who loves challenges, experimenting with new things. He sniffs out the problems in advance and does his utmost to work out the solutions in time.
He has a visionary leadership style and tries to inspire his team in dealing with situations with determination and effectiveness.
Your mission
The ENTP personality gets bored easily, risking starting new projects while leaving the previous ones unfinished.
Furthermore, he can be excessively competitive and argumentative even with his teammates, sometimes even appearing insensitive.
INTP (the Academic): the unconventional leader
The Academic (INTP) has an open mind, full of curiosity, to constantly increase his knowledge.
He is not a “dictator” leader, on the contrary, he strives to be democratic, listening to the opinions of his entire team, even against it.
The INTP often has an anticipatory vision of the future. In fact, he tries to direct the team in a very specific direction, also leaving freedom in deciding the type of path.
He doesn’t bother making bucking decisions as long as they can take him in the desired direction.
Your Mission
The Academic prefers to be more on his own, in close contact with very few people, he does not like very large groups.
In addition, he tries to delegate tasks as much as possible, often leaving out the small details, to quickly reach the goal.
ENTJ (the Warlord): the assertive leader
Charismatic, strategic and resolute personality. The Commander (ENTJ) is an ambitious leader who keeps his promises, even thinking big.
The ENTJ is always very sincere and honest, even if he has to resort to unkind methods.
His motivation is often a source of inspiration for others, who follow him admired and involved in his projects.
Your Mission
The Commander must work on himself to listen more to the needs of the team, their feelings and their ideas. He often does not consider those that are inconsistent with his way of thinking about him, and this can be a source of very heated comparisons.
INTJ (the Strategist): the planner leader
The Strategist (INTJ) is extremely rational, strategic, but also intuitive and visionary in solving problems.
The leader with the INTJ personality has no problem directing operations with determination, always maintaining strong self-control.
The line of action that the Strategist takes is always oriented towards rationality, adopting the most efficient and logical solutions.
Your Mission
The INTJ tends to focus little on the form, giving importance only to the content. Therefore, they are not experts in niceties towards their team. Resolve often turns into poor empathy towards others.
ISTJ (the Examiner): the meticulous leader
The Examiner (ISTJ) has an introverted and rational personality, oriented to details.
His leadership style is very quiet and attentive, consistent with his ideals and honest with his team.
The ISTJ personality likes to have a clear direction to take, through a detailed plan, drawn up with precision and accuracy. In fact, on every decision to be made, he examines all the pros and cons, trying to remain objective and impartial.
Your Mission
The Examiner takes details very seriously. Sometimes, so assiduously that I lose sight of the big picture. Therefore, they often leave aside empathy and the ways in which to relate to the rest of the team.
ESTJ (the Controller): the practical leader
The Controller (ESTJ) is also an honest, efficient and above all fair leader. His practicality and reasonableness make him logical and precise in making decisions, even difficult ones.
ESTJs love to organize the team to reach a specific goal, in the shortest possible time. For this reason, the results are always on the agenda.
Your Mission
The Controller must be careful not to overload his team with work. They focus so much on the concrete and practical aspects that sometimes they forget about people and their emotions. Not everything comes down to practicality and rationality, sometimes intuition also affects it.
ISFJ (the Defender): the conscientious leader
The Defender (ISFJ) is a personality who feels gratitude and understanding towards people. He is a conscientious, committed and precise leader who puts the team’s needs ahead of his own. In fact, it is very important for him to maintain a happy atmosphere within the group he leads.
In dealing with difficult decisions, he examines the practical details with rationality, but first deals with the implications for each member of the team.
Your Mission
In a situation of chaos, the Defender may have difficulty determining what priorities are. If a decision leads to negative consequences for someone, he may have difficulty making it. In fact, the big picture is often lost when a lot of importance is given to individuals.
ESFJ (the Ambassador): the expansive leader
The Role Model (ESFJ) is very empathetic and sociable, he is at ease in relating even with people he does not know.
The leader with an ESFJ personality is charismatic and conscientious towards his team. His priority is to achieve the shared goals in a timely and efficient manner. He is a caring leader, careful to take care of every single member of the team.
Your Mission
The Role Model is a born diplomat, and often this leads him to lose sight of the initial strategy and the overall vision. He is good at establishing practical roles in the short term, but the vision in the long term is difficult.
Unfortunately, the ESFJs often forget that it is not always possible to please everyone.
ISTP (the Experimenter): the resolute leader
The Experimenter (ISTP) is a silent, rational, experimenting personality. The leader in him acts mostly behind the scenes, skilled and cold in solving even the most pressing problems.
He loves to listen and experiment with all the theories that emerge from team meetings, leaving full freedom of action. His priority is to find practical and effective solutions for every situation, even getting his hands dirty.
Your Mission
The Experimenter is very introverted. He sometimes tends to forget that emotional people work alongside him. In addition, he prefers to work and develop solutions mostly alone. From this, it follows that he could easily detach himself from the working group if the values do not coincide with his own.
ESTP (the Entrepreneur): the fearless leader
The Entrepreneur (ESTP) is courageous, self-confident and very sociable. The leader in him transmits trust, thanks to his charismatic and inspiring style.
He often uses humour to alleviate the team’s difficulties, which he solves thanks to his stubbornness and his improvisation. The decision-making process takes place by rationally following all possible scenarios, finding the maximum result with minimum effort.
Your Mission
The ESTP personality loves to act immediately, but developing a long-term strategic plan can be difficult.
The entrepreneur knows how to seize all the opportunities that arise. On the other side, he easily tires of a work environment that is not in constant evolution.
In addition, he often leaves out the initial plan because he is easily distracted by various kinds of novelties and opportunities.
ISFP (the Experiencer): the sensitive leader
The Experiencer (ISFP) is not afraid to go against the trend, even alone. He is a kind leader, whom he loves to listen to. He only fights for causes he truly believes in. These causes often involve difficult situations. In fact, the ISFP likes to be on the side of the weakest, for which he fights with eager determination. His decisions must coincide with his values before they can be implemented.
Your Mission
The ISFP personality suffers from the pressures and expectations of others, in fact, it is difficult to communicate punitive decisions to their team.
It is difficult for him to make rational decisions because sometimes his values obscure other perspectives.
ESFP (the Entertainer): the charismatic leader
The Entertainer (ESFP) embodies sympathy, fun and enthusiasm at the same time. He finds himself in tune with his team’s needs and emotions very easily.
To get a job done, this personality is willing to immerse themselves with all of themselves. He is a born driver, who encourages the team, and wherever he goes he spreads positive energy.
Your Mission
The main difficulty of the Entertainer is to withstand the long-term commitments, which keep him subjugated for too long.
In addition, he is a free spirit, excellent at problem solving, but with poor long-term broad vision.
Conclusions
In this article, we have seen 16 different leadership styles, each with their own personality type characteristics, their strengths and weaknesses. What kind of leader are you? Find out through your Myers-Briggs personality.