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What energizes and drains an ENFJ at work?

What energizes and drains an ENFJ at work?

By Donna Dunning

Here is a story from my website by a reader with ENFJ preferences. I find the story shows both what energizes and what drains her at work.

Personality Type: ENFJ

“I manage a college career centre and have done so for twenty years. People are often surprised that after all this time I’m doing the same job, but I know I’m still doing it because I’m perfectly suited for the work I do. Its not the same job because all of the people I work with are uniquely different and finding new possibilities for them excites me.

I am also energized by planning events, creative problem solving, strategic planning, and writing proposals. I am sometimes drained by budgeting, managing an extensive database, and personnel behavior issues. To remain successful I have learned to ask experts in my organization for help with the parts of my work I sometimes feel overwhelmed with. I enjoy teamwork.”

If you found this career story interesting or helpful, there is one other post you might like to read under Contributor Career Success Stories and Strategies.

What’s Your Story?

I would greatly appreciate more stories from people with preferences for ENFJ and ESFJ. If these are your preferences, please consider adding your own career story to the page. You don’t need to be a type professional or career counselor; the more diverse career paths represented the better!

My Narratives of Type: Contributors (ESFJs and ENFJs) page has additional quotes from people with these personality type preferences.

Looking for work that attracts ENFJs? Check out the Occupations that Attract Contributors page.

My ENFJs at Work post shares ideas of what ENFJs look for at work.

Not your type?

Check out the Personality Type tab at the top of the page to find more information on your personality type preferences.

An extensive discussion of personality type and career choice can be found in my book What’s Your Type of Career? 2nd edition.

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 29th, 2012 at 7:54 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 “What energizes and drains an ENFJ at work?”

  1. Kristy Powell says:

    I am an ENFJ (and an MBTI Practitioner) and have found that my ever-changing career has finally found its niche. I used to work in Finance and Administration (always for nonprofits, so I could have some meaning), and while the organization of it greatly appealed to me (writing manuals, keeping many details in check), I became bored and stifled at the lack of creativity and interaction.

    I finally dumped my whole career behind me to pursue medicine. I started training as a Medical Assistant (MA) and now am in school for my Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing (and possibly may become a Nurse Practitioner), while working as an MA at an Urgent Care center. I’m absolutely energized by the people I get to work with and the high level of interaction all day long; by the hands-on caring, comfort and compassion I am able to provide; by the close attention to detail (in everything from charting to medication administration); by the opportunity to take symptoms and connect them to the bigger picture; and the constant opportunity to learn and expand my knowledge. I love the Urgent Care setting because, while spontaneous (something I don’t have a preference for), there’s also a predictability in the flow: it’s only the types of illness or injury that vary, and I love the exposure to learning new things and getting to practice and hone skills.

    I’m sometimes drained by inconsiderate or rude patients; coworkers who don’t carry their own weight or follow through on something they say they’ll do; perceived inefficiency; and the rushed pace that sometimes does not allow me to connect with my patients from start to finish (or that doesn’t allow me to personally be the one to follow up with them on a return visit). I also get discouraged sometimes when I don’t do something perfect, or fail or make a mistake in front of a patient or a doctor. I know it’s all part of the learning curve, but there is little to no room for error in this profession (I suppose this could be a plus, too, depending on how you look at it) and I set very high standards for myself.

    But overall, I feel thrilled that I’ve finally found a career that suits me perfectly. There will always be room for me to grow and learn, to see tangible results in helping others, and to use my preferences for organization. Even though I’m finding this out when I am 35, at least I *did* figure it out! I love it so much that it doesn’t even feel like a job; it feels like a fully satisfying and wholly meaningful hobby.

  2. Luciane says:

    I think the Myers-Briggs is a valuable tool for helping us understand why we are the way we are and what motivates the personality types. Even more important is how they work together. In the workplace it can be of great assistance when putting together a team for a project. It’s also good to revisit the test if you see significant changes in yourself or co-workers. 15 years ago I was an ENTJ when I worked for a large corporation. Now I’m an entreprenuer and I tested out last year as an INFJ.

  3. Shard says:

    I agree with Luciane regarding the value the MBTI tool brings!! However, if you say that your type has changed – that seems to contradict what the theory preaches – type does not change, an individual can become more apt at using his/her less preferred functions over a period of time. Further, the concept of type development states that during one’s midlife – the latter part of one’s life – and this phase varies for everyone, an individual tried to use his less preferred functions more often than what one has been using during his early part of life. It seems that as an entreprenuer, you are into a work setting that allows you to get intensely involved in a task/project and work towards helping people realize their potential or evolve continously. What do you say?

  4. Donna Dunning says:

    Hi Shard, Thanks for your comment. Yes, personality type theory says your type does not change. The results on the MBTI (R) tool can change in response to how the questions are answered, which is what happened with Luciane. I like to think of the personality types as approaches- there are 16 approaches and we use all of them some of the time to adapt to our circumstances. However, the model says one approach is the most comfortable, energizing, and motivating. It is important to identify what the preferred approach is, since all adaptations and development flow from there.

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