“Who will tell whether one happy moment of love or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air, is not worht all the suffering and effort which life implies.”
Erich Fromm – ENFJ
The ENFJs
are known for their unique ability to inspire people and bring about positive change in communities and cultures. They are intensely insightful about the human condition and have a knack for seeing into each individual’s unique potential. They are often called The Givers because they believe so strongly in compassionately serving the human race and improving the world. ENFJs use a combination of Extraverted Feeling (Fe) to empathize and relate to others, as well as Introverted Intuition (Ni) to form insights about the future and the human condition. If you look up many of our great motivational leaders and teachers you will find a host of ENFJs; people like Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and even Oprah Winfrey!
What Does ENFJ Stand For?
E = Extrovert. ENFJs gain energy from the people and things around them. They look to the outer world before looking inward to reflections and subjective ideas.
N = iNtuition. ENFJs focus more on the abstract or potential of something than the concrete or existing reality.
F = Feeling. ENFJs apply personal values and empathize in order to make a decision. They want what is best for the group or humanity as a whole.
J = Judging. ENFJs like having things settled, decided and structured. They are typically work-before-play people.
ENFJ Motivations and Weaknesses:
- Driving Force: To understand and work with people to create unified direction and harmonious, shared values.
- Backup Strength: To understand the “dance of the universe.” To see the underlying meaning of all things and predict the future.
- Weaknesses: Can sabotage themselves by looking to others’ needs before their own. May disregard logic in favor of maintaining good connections with people. Can lose touch with details and surface realities by looking for a deeper meaning.
- Stressors: Lack of positive interactions, too much time alone, chaos, procrastination in themselves or others, having to focus on nitty-gritty detailed work, conflict, or criticism.
ENFJ Personality Traits:
While people vary based on their background and their Enneagram type, ENFJs often have the following characteristics:
- They are friendly and persuasive
- They are big-picture thinkers
- They readily empathize with others
- They easily notice societal expectations and standards
- They enjoy discussing philosophical, meaningful, even controversial subjects
- They are scheduled and prefer having a plan to “winging it”
- They crave regular social interactions
- They are skilled at anticipating the future effects of current experiences.
- They can read people easily
- They are intellectually curious
- They read between the lines
- They are good at organizing people for overall harmony and unity
ENFJ Careers:
For ENFJs, job satisfaction means getting three things: Variety, Creativity, and Teamwork. They thrive when they are able to develop creative solutions to problems that people face. Whether they’re counseling, inspiring, or comforting, they want their work to benefit others in some way. They crave frequent exposure to new ideas, challenges, and perspectives. Juggling several projects at once is exciting to them as long as they have a supportive team at their side and a sense of order and control. They want to feel like they’re being a catalyst and improving the world, one person at a time. Regular feedback is important to them.
Career Suggestions: Public Relations Expert, Journalist, Life Coach, Guidance Counselor, Teacher, Sociologist, Holistic Health Practitioner, Eco-tourism specialist, Travel consultant, Religious Teacher, Therapist.
Famous ENFJs:
Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Johann von Goethe, Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau, Tony Blair, Daniel Goleman, Alfred Adler, Erich Fromm, Maya Angelou, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Oprah Winfrey, Bono, Kate Winslet, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Dakota Fanning, Emma Stone, AnnaSophia Robb, Dr. Drew, Rashida Jones.
Your Important ENFJ Links:
24 Signs That You’re an ENFJ, the Mentor Personality Type
7 Ways That ENFJs Make an Impact
What ENFJs Do When They Get Really Stressed Out
The Top 7 Gift Ideas for ENFJs
10 Things You Should Never Say to an ENFJ
ENFJs, INFJs and Empathy Burnout
What Responsibility Means to Each Myers-Briggs® Personality Type
The Myers-Briggs® Personality Types of the Fullmetal Alchemist Characters
The Surprising Contradiction of Each Myers-Briggs® Personality Type
What is Extraverted Feeling?
