ENFJ

We all want to know and be known. That’s why doing good is so powerful when the focus is first and foremost the people and not the project.

Chris Marlow

Overview of “the Teacher”

ENFJs are Extroverted, iNtuitive, Feeling, and Judging.

  • Extroverted because they are energized by time spent with others and connect most with the outer world.
  • Intuitive because they explore a world of creative ideas and search for information about abstract concepts and new theories.
  • Feeling because they prioritize personal values and emotions when making decisions.
  • Judging because they prefer to have things organized and like control in their outer environment.

ENFJs are expressive people-lovers. They are dreamers who use their intuition to engage with people and navigate various social situations. Communicating with great passion, ENFJs can raise the excitement of a room with their charisma and infectious idealism. These types love teaching others and often learn themselves through the process of instructing someone else.

ENFJs consider people their highest priority and take genuine, one-on-one connection very seriously. They can often sniff out when someone is putting up a front or “being fake” and will try to avoid further contact with that person if they can help it. They take their personal and professional commitments very seriously and will be loyal to a fault. ENFJs have a strong set of values and will live and die by their convictions — they are reliable, bold, and purposefully driven.

Cognitive Functions

In the Myers-Briggs personality system there are eight cognitive functions. Your unique personality is a road map pointing to the four cognitive functions that you access consciously. Every personality will have two extroverted functions and two introverted functions. Every personality will also have one feeling function, one thinking function, one intuitive function, and one sensing function. For more help and practice identifying cognitive functions for the sixteen Myers-Briggs personality types check out this worksheet. All eight functions are as follows:

  • Extroverted Intuition
  • Introverted Intuition
  • Extroverted Sensing
  • Introverted Sensing
  • Extroverted Feeling
  • Introverted Feeling
  • Extroverted Thinking
  • Introverted Thinking

Fe (Extroverted Feeling) – Dominant

An ENFJ’s dominant cognitive function is Extroverted Feeling, abbreviated as Fe. Dominant cognitive functions are used approximately 80% of the time by an individual and are hardly noticed by the user. This function will feel like second nature and “drives” an ENFJ.

10 Signs You’re Fe-dominant

  1. You naturally keep the peace
  2. You like to talk out your decisions
  3. Naturally expressive and sincere
  4. You live your life based on your values
  5. You are a master-sympathizer
  6. Strong response to feedback (good or bad)
  7. Outwardly caring
  8. Susceptible to guilt
  9. Caught up in the emotional state of your environment
  10. Very sacrificial (almost to a fault)

Positives of Being Fe-dominant

  • Naturally peacekeeping
  • Expressiveness
  • Living out your values
  • Sympathizing with others

Struggles of Being Fe-dominant

  • Down talking yourself
  • Self-sacrificing to a fault
  • Feeling large amounts of guilt
  • Being caught up in other people’s emotions

A note to the ENFJs reading…

Ever wondered why you need to talk out your decisions and you learn better when you are verbally teaching others? That’s Fe. Have you ever noticed your consistent urge to socialize and wondered why other people seem content in isolation? That’s Fe. Ever sniff out a fake or dishonest person and want to run as far from them as humanly possible? That’s Fe.

Extroverted Feeling is the reason why you are so perceptive socially and feel at home with your friends. It’s why you love interacting with people and prize genuine, personal connection over large groups of indifferent followers. It can be your secret weapon and your Achilles heel if it isn’t properly balanced with the other cognitive functions.

Ni (Introverted Intuition) – Auxiliary

An ENFJ’s secondary function is Introverted Intuition/Ni. If someone is an extrovert, their dominant function will be extroverted and their auxiliary function will always be introverted. Balance is necessary — especially in the brain! Ni helps process the information brought to it by Fe.

10 Signs You’re Ni-auxiliary

  1. You are driven by inspiration
  2. You love abstract things
  3. Spend time day-dreaming
  4. Love hidden meanings and metaphors
  5. Strategizing is fun
  6. You are always asking “why”
  7. You have many insights and hunches
  8. Living in a world of ideas
  9. May have trouble focusing
  10. You try to “zoom out” and see the big picture

Ni takes a backseat to Fe. Because Fe is the driver, Ni responds to the information after Fe has already lived the experience. This is why ENFJs might have a gut instinct about someone that seems to come from thin air. Fe is interacting with people in the moment while Ni subconsciously processes information and later presents it to the ENFJ as an opinion.

ENFJs are some of the most extroverted of the extroverts but will often identify themselves as INFJs. This is because ENFJs love their alone time, not necessarily because it offers social isolation, but because it offers complete control of their outer world environment. Long drives in their car or time in their room gives them absolute peace as they choose the playlist, light candles, and set soft lightening. The smells, sounds, and sights offered to them during this solo time is a treat they do not usually have at a bar or party or ball game. While dominant introverts feel energized when they limit most outer-world interaction, dominant extroverts feel recharged after they experience ideal outer-world interaction.

Se (Extroverted Sensing) – Tertiary

An ENFJ’s tertiary cognitive function is Extroverted Sensing/Se. This position as third in the “cognitive stack” often means that FeNi is running the show the vast majority of the time. Because of this, Se is a bit underdeveloped and usually starts to show up in an ENFJ’s mid-20s. Tertiary functions usually have the maturity level of a ten-year-old child — they can serve as a strength or a weakness depending on how the user responds to it.

Tertiary Se is why ENFJs love connecting with the physical world. They tend to be quicker than most to notice details around them and they can spot subtle emotional shifts in their environment. This function helps explain why they usually have good taste in music and why they love walks in nature and experimenting with new physical activities like yoga or jogging. Se helps them stay engaged with the raw physical world while socially interacting with people around them. This function keeps them stay engaged in the moment and fascinated by adventure. For many ENFJs, they develop their tertiary function sooner than other types.

Ti (Introverted Thinking) – Inferior

An ENFJ’s inferior cognitive function is Introverted Thinking/Ti. This function is typically concerned with logic, reasoning, and objective data sets. Inferior functions usually develop in midlife. Because of this late-blooming, there will be many times Ti pops up in uncomfortable, weak, and even self-destructive ways.

Healthy Ti-inferior looks like

  • Logical reasoning
  • Breaking down a new concept
  • Taking an objective point of view
  • Having a well-rounded perspective

Unhealthy Ti-inferior looks like

  • Selective reasoning
  • Being suspicious of logic
  • Distrusting others who bring up undesirable facts
  • Resisting objective truths or facts that disturb the peace