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Mack Brown - ESFJ?

I'm going to go ahead and offer that. Emphatically. If you want to learn about the Myers-Briggs assessment. See if you agree:

(some of these made me chuckle)

The ESFJ takes their responsibilities very seriously, and is very dependable. They value security and stability, and have a strong focus on the details of life.

ESFJs are warm and energetic. They need approval from others to feel good about themselves. They are hurt by indifference and don't understand unkindness. They are very giving people, who get a lot of their personal satisfaction from the happiness of others. They want to be appreciated for who they are, and what they give. They're very sensitive to others, and freely give practical care. ESFJs are such caring individuals, that they sometimes have a hard time seeing or accepting a difficult truth about someone they care about.

They have a strong need to be liked, and to be in control. They are extremely good at reading others, and often change their own manner to be more pleasing to whoever they're with at the moment.

ESFJs are people persons - they love people. They are warmly interested in others. They use their Sensing and Judging characteristics to gather specific, detailed information about others, and turn this information into supportive judgments. They want to like people, and have a special skill at bringing out the best in others. They are extremely good at reading others, and understanding their point of view. The ESFJ's strong desire to be liked and for everything to be pleasant makes them highly supportive of others. People like to be around ESFJs, because the ESFJ has a special gift of invariably making people feel good about themselves.

All ESFJs have a natural tendency to want to control their environment. Their dominant function demands structure and organization, and seeks closure. ESFJs are most comfortable with structured environments. They're not likely to enjoy having to do things which involve abstract, theoretical concepts, or impersonal analysis. They do enjoy creating order and structure, and are very good at tasks which require these kinds of skills.

ESFJs respect and believe in the laws and rules of authority, and believe that others should do so as well. They're traditional, and prefer to do things in the established way, rather than venturing into unchartered territory. Their need for security drives their ready acceptance and adherence to the policies of the established system. This tendency may cause them to sometimes blindly accept rules without questioning or understanding them.

**

Read this description from TypeLogic:

All else being equal, ESFJs enjoy being in charge. ESFJs, as do most SJs, bear strong allegiance to rights of seniority.

ESFJs are easily wounded. And when wounded, their emotions will not be contained. They by nature "wear their hearts on their sleeves," often exuding warmth and bonhomie, but not infrequently boiling over with the vexation of their souls.

Strong, contradictory forces consume the ESFJ. Their sense of right and wrong wrestles with an overwhelming rescuing, 'mothering' drive. This sometimes results in swift, immediate action taken upon a transgressor, followed by stern reprimand; ultimately, however, the prodigal is wrested from the gallows of their folly, just as the noose tightens and all hope is lost, by the very executioner!

**

Finally, ESFJ on the job

Personal Growth

As with all types, the ESFJ can achieve personal growth by developing all functions that are not fully developed, through actions such as:

- learning to observe and accept the negative aspects of those people they admire
- trying to view people in a more independent and objective way
- establishing a long term goal, working towards it, but being prepared to modify it in the light of experience and developing circumstances
- listing options and undertaking a formal process of evaluation against criteria, including a cost benefit analysis

**

I used to give these MBTI assessments in a former corporate life and I got to be pretty accurate at guessing type on people I'd observed for some time. Are they just sophisticated horoscopes? Maybe.

I've taken the MBTI and I'm an ENTP - The Inventor. And it is embarrassingly accurate in its description.

The takeaway from this is that things some of us find temperamentally easy are a profound struggle for a man like Mack Brown. When you begin any criticism with "Logic dictates..." or "My detailed regression analysis shows..." you've already lost Mack. He starts with the heart and moves to the head. And he's not just a softy. Lie to him and you're done. Deceive him and it's over. Behave unpredictably and without consideration for others and it gets real uncomfortable. Disrespect hierarchy, convention, team harmony, and tradition at your peril.

Many ESFJs are women. Does that help?

By temperament, he is about celebrating outcomes, not dwelling in process. Taking care of details is about imposing structure, not opening up possibilities.

The guy has had to struggle against his natural inclinations and instincts by letting go half of his staff. He's just now starting to operate again with a sense of control and security. So if you're expecting these hires to progress rashly or impulsively, think again.

His SJ is in power and he's in Sensing and Judging mode. He had to turn off his Feeling and Perceiving to do the deed. This thing will be run like a German train schedule.

Here's a tip to prospective candidates: appeal to his organization, bring in a 90/120/180 day plan, detail how you'll attack the recruiting trail, how you go about quality control, and appeal to his current dominant mode concerned with task and detail. Then start weaving in your love of people, the players, your valuing of hierarchy, and emphasize harmony on a staff that supports each other. Then lean over and quote Joe Paterno. That's your close.


Bad armchair psychology? You'll find it here.