Victoria, British Columbia, Phone: 250-744-1731

Narratives of Type: Explorers (ENTPs and ENFPs)

Narratives of Type: Explorers (ENTPs and ENFPs)

By Donna Dunning

Stories are as old as mankind but it seems we never get tired of hearing them. I’m always interested in hearing or reading authentic stories about people, their personality preferences, their careers, their strengths, and their challenges. From talking with people, writing books and facilitating courses I’ve learned that stories can communicate ideas that are otherwise difficult to explain.

It’s relatively easy to find descriptions of the 16 personality types, but more difficult to find websites that share the voices of people with different preferences. In this series of posts, I offer a few quotes from people who share specific personality types.

People who have preferences for ENTP or ENFP personality type share a common core process of Extraverted iNtuition, sometimes referred to as Ne; an expressive, creative, idea-generating approach. I call them Explorers and use the words Innovate and Initiate to describe their characteristic approach.

Some quotes have been taken from interviews used in my book, What’s Your Type of Career?. Others are segments of stories shared by readers on my website. I keep editing to a minimum when I post the stories that people share to retain the authentic voice of the Explorer, but I have shortened these quotes to include variety and brevity in this blog.

A career counselor who prefers ENTP – describing work strengths

“ I love relating to new people, building relationships, and helping my clients find their passions. The brainstorming and strategic planning of how to accomplish goals is fantastic and working with lots of people keeps the variety in place for satisfaction.”

A leader with ENFP preferences – about procrastination

“When I stopped to assess what was behind the procrastination I discovered I was avoiding all the things that I didn’t like to do that were basically counter to my type (report writing, budgets, more of the detailed, sensing activities). Of course I had sensing activities in my previous roles but it hadn’t been as much of an issue until I moved into leadership. One of the strategies that has never failed me (at work and at home) is “eating my vegetables before I get dessert”. For me, what that looks like is I line up my To Do List with all the activities I have to tackle (there is always a mix of those things I enjoy and the things I don’t). Then I dive into the ones I’m not crazy about FIRST and get them out of the way so that I can reward myself with the “fun activities”.

From an ENTP – on playing with ideas

I love to debate issues and brainstorm solutions. I feel that my strength is bringing together and integrating the input of the group members.

An ENFP – describing career development

I can’t imagine being bored. I have enough ideas to last at least three or four lifetimes. My greatest career challenge is choosing where to spend my time and energy.”

Sharing our stories helps us to understand each other and ourselves. If you have preferences for ENTP or ENFP please consider sharing your career story with my readers.

For the complete version of these success stories, look at the Explorer Career Success Stories and Strategies page.

If you would like more information, this site also describes preferences of Explorers at Work as well as a list of Occupations that Attract Explorers.

You can also search your four-letter type code or one of the names (ex. Explorer, Enhancer) to find more information relevant to your preferences. See the Introduction to the 8 Ways of Working to familiarize yourself with the personality type names I use.

Share
This entry was posted on Friday, July 15th, 2011 at 8:37 am and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “Narratives of Type: Explorers (ENTPs and ENFPs)”

  1. Dee Relyea says:

    Donna, Thanks so much for this great info. As an ENFP I always like to see others’ perspectives. It is also quite affirming to know there is a “tribe” out there that sees the world much the way I do.

  2. JeniRae says:

    Thank you for your post on Dominant Ne types. I have shared my story over on your “Explorer Careers” page.
    There are certainly times where I have cursed my Dominant process for making me appear to others as “air-headed” or “directionless,” but over the past decade, I have simply come to accept it as a part of me. And As I get older, I can more easily extert conscious control over my Auxiliary process to counter it.

    Thanks again!

  3. Donna Dunning says:

    Hi JeniRae, Thanks for your comment and for sharing your story. I appreciate your insightful discussion about the importance of understanding and applying type dynamics.

  4. Tamara says:

    I enjoy reading about personality type. I’m an entp and have been in the wrong career for a long time.

Leave a Reply


MBTI, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and Introduction to Type are registered trademarks of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Trust in the United States and other countries.