# What type is my boss?



## LuxEterna (Feb 8, 2010)

I have a boss who is very strict. He goes by the book. 

He is very sharp. Powerful memory. Checks everything in details. 

He would make me sit with him while he goes through the report in detail.
And he would ask me if i know this or know that, have i done this , have i done that.
And if i answer "no, i haven't done this", he would look at me, look a bit upset and demand, "WHY?"
The nice thing is, he is never mean about it, but he would think it's bad thing. 
And he would talk at length about the work, the procedures, the workflow , yadayada and i could have fallen asleep. 
and to him, EVERYTHING is important. it's his favourite phrase, "this is important!"
He likes his subordinates to stay back late, if there's work to be done. He does not care for our work-life balance, because he does not seem to care about his.

He does not joke with me. He speaks seriously with me. but he often gives a warm friendly smile.
Sometimes when I look at him, I wonder if he is working himself to death. He has so much energy, but he does look tired sometimes.

He gets upset when I do things differently. Things must be done a certain way in office. He makes sure people do it. He is quite a driver. 

Maybe he takes things soo seriously, that's why he laughed at my mnemnic. He needed someone else to put humour into his life?


I notice he does not often engage in chitchats during work time. But he responded enthusiastically over lunch when I asked him about his trip back to France and his diving and his cooking.
When he is relaxed and chatty, he is expressive and has hand guestures just like typical french. 

He is impatient, works very fast. I have a hard time catching up with him. 



Very straight forward person. during meetings he speaks up strongly his opinions. but he has no intention to dominate the meeting. 

I feel that if he is so strict with his subdodinates, then he must be equally strict with himself. I suspect he may be overharsh on himself. 


he has messy hair. does not put effort into his physical appearance. His hair forever looks like he has just gotten out of bed. 


He is very energetic and his voice is loud. 



So what type do u think he is? 



I'm guessing ISFJ.


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## Adesi (Aug 9, 2011)

Sounds like ESTJ to me.

Energetic and Loud make me think Exxx. Are there other things that make you think he's an I?
STJs can be humorous though. They just focus first on the tasks at hand.


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## WickedQueen (Jun 1, 2009)

At first I thought he might be an ESTJ, but there are things that out of -what I call- 'ESTJ-ness', such as:
 

"He does not joke with me. He speaks seriously with me. But he often gives a warm friendly smile."
 "He does not often engage in chitchats during work time."
 "He has messy hair. Does not put effort into his physical appearance. His hair forever looks like he has just gotten out of bed."

Like other extroverts, ESTJ likes to throw jokes and entertain our friends as well as colleagues. We talk and laugh a lot, loudly. Wide smile. Enthusiastic. We are quite concern about our appearance. We 'dress for success'. Oh yeah, we also like to brag sometimes.

So he rings as ISTJ to me.


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## LuxEterna (Feb 8, 2010)

WickedQueen said:


> At first I thought he might be an ESTJ, but there are things that out of -what I call- 'ESTJ-ness', such as:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I think he is ESTJ or perhaps he is balanced. I have a ISTJ friend, this ISTJ is very calm and not very assertive, and become an account rather than manager. 

But my boss seems to be very ENTHUSIASTIC about things. Very action oriented. Always "ready to go" and on the move. He loves daily morning meetings. once i asked him for the scheduled discussion, "are you ready?" he replied, "always ready". 

He is always talkative and animated. If at work, he would speak to to me at length about work, procedures, policies..I listen to him talk, and he just wants to talk. he talks like the stuff he talks about is VERY IMPORTANT. 
If not at work, he'll talk animatedly about diving, cooking, etc. i guess i have very little chance to talk to him outside work situations. 
I think it's that he maintains clear lines, work and non-work. 
I was told ISTJ are not so striaghtfoward about themselves. My boss however broke into a big smile when i thanked him for the departmental lunch he initiated to welcome me. and he is a straightforward honest person. Told me straight about work problems right from the interview and i liked that honesty.
I'm guessing he may be very balanced between I and E ??


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## 480 (Jan 22, 2009)

That is ESTJ. 

If you look to the enneagram he seems like a self-preserving first variant. Probably a 6w5 with 8w9 or possibly 8w7 as part of his tri-type. Self-preserving first has little time for humor or chit-chat, and little tolerance for things that could be seen as time wasting, or anything that doesnt directly contribute to getting the job done. A social first ESTJ would share the vast majority of ESTJ specific traits but be a lot more open, to being social, chatty, humorous and trying to relate more closely to people in less of a "business first" fashion. Would place a higher value on people, and social interactions.


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## LuxEterna (Feb 8, 2010)

Grim said:


> That is ESTJ.
> 
> If you look to the enneagram he seems like a self-preserving first variant. Probably a 6w5 with 8w9 or possibly 8w7 as part of his tri-type. Self-preserving first has little time for humor or chit-chat, and little tolerance for things that could be seen as time wasting, or anything that doesnt directly contribute to getting the job done. A social first ESTJ would share the vast majority of ESTJ specific traits but be a lot more open, to being social, chatty, humorous and trying to relate more closely to people in less of a "business first" fashion. Would place a higher value on people, and social interactions.


If we use eenneagram, then I would say that he is likely to be a ONE. He's strict and fastidious and impatient.


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## Promethea (Aug 24, 2009)

A ton of people already beat me to estj. Yep.


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## 480 (Jan 22, 2009)

LuxEterna said:


> If we use eenneagram, then I would say that he is likely to be a ONE. He's strict and fastidious and impatient.


Those descriptors could apply to several enneagram types. E1s have internal values that they hold with a religious reverence. This shouldn't be confused with simply have a strong work ethic. 



> I notice he does not often engage in chitchats during work time. But he responded enthusiastically over lunch when I asked him about his trip back to France and his diving and his cooking.
> When he is relaxed and chatty, he is expressive and has hand guestures just like typical french.


For an E1, those internal values are not situational. They're pervasive in every aspect of their life. An E1 isnt going to relax how they think they should behave just because they're not at work.


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## LuxEterna (Feb 8, 2010)

Grim said:


> Those descriptors could apply to several enneagram types. E1s have internal values that they hold with a religious reverence. This shouldn't be confused with simply have a strong work ethic.
> 
> 
> 
> For an E1, those internal values are not situational. They're pervasive in every aspect of their life. An E1 isnt going to relax how they think they should behave just because they're not at work.


i need to get more opportunities to observe him outside work environment to know. cos i have only lunched with him twice so far. 

a six worries a lot. is his workaholism and wanting to keep tab on everything a sign of Six? he does not seem to be a worryer to me, but he does like to keep tab on everything cos they are "important". a Six is loyal, and he has been with the same company for 12 years. 

I only know one Eight in my life. and he is a really powerful fearsome man. His anger can make a whole roomful of people silent. But my boss is not a scary guy even though he is determined and assertive and stands his ground. But certainly he is not fearful of conflicts.


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## WickedQueen (Jun 1, 2009)

LuxEterna said:


> I think he is ESTJ or perhaps he is balanced. I have a ISTJ friend, this ISTJ is very calm and not very assertive, and become an account rather than manager.
> 
> But my boss seems to be very ENTHUSIASTIC about things. Very action oriented. Always "ready to go" and on the move. He loves daily morning meetings. once i asked him for the scheduled discussion, "are you ready?" he replied, "always ready".
> 
> ...


Hmmm... I see. Yeah, he could be an ESTJ with balance Te-Si. I can relate with his work ethic, although I'm not so strict about work and non-work thingy. I usually treat my colleagues like my friends and we are pretty close at work. I also like to hang out with them on Friday night, just to drink coffee or watch movies. So maybe that part that make me a bit unsure about his type, because I don't relate with his strict line style.


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## 480 (Jan 22, 2009)

LuxEterna said:


> a six worries a lot.


It's not as simple as worrying a lot... the anxiety that drives the 6's processes can be deep in the background. They can come across as fairly confident people. A lot of times you'll see a very personable "pre-emptiveness" to the way they speak to me... things like...

I dont want to offend you, but....
I dont want you to take this personally....
I'm not trying to say you're stupid by any means, but I've noticed....

People might appreciate getting these disclaimers because they're worried about what the speaker thinks... and not recognize it for what it is... The speaker as some back-ground anxiety that you'll be offended, take something personally, or feel they're trying to be insulting... before they ever speak. It's that anxiety that causes them to prefix things like that. 



LuxEterna said:


> *is his workaholism and wanting to keep tab on everything a sign of Six?* he does not seem to be a worryer to me, but he does like to keep tab on everything cos they are "important". a Six is loyal, and he has been with the same company for 12 years.


I dont think the part in bold points to any one type or another, many types can be industrious. The part about him keeping tabs on everything "important" could point toward 6 though... depends on what he considers important, and why he feels he has to keep his finger on things.

As for 6s being loyal... it's a word on a profile... by putting too much weight on that word and it's meaning it causes you to look at something like 12 years with a company as potentially being a type 6s trait... it could be... however, any type can have longevity. 6s being loyal doesn't mean other types are not... there's a lot of significance as to *why* 6s are loyal. 



LuxEterna said:


> I only know one Eight in my life. and he is a really powerful fearsome man. His anger can make a whole roomful of people silent. But my boss is not a scary guy even though he is determined and assertive and stands his ground. But certainly he is not fearful of conflicts.


Typing someone based on a second-hand description can be hit or miss... I've got this guy at work that is one of the most over-reactive, animated, loud, and openly aggressive people I've ever seen. Just a hyper bundle of activity. He can be extremely sensitive, going as far as to hit someone if they make him feel like he looks foolish.

Some of the younger guys at work who are intimidated by him have described him as Scar from Lion King, or even Darth Vader from Star Wars. Both of those characters are 8w9... the guy at work is a counter-shame type 3. Absolutely nothing like the inert 8w9.

What one person finds fearsome, another may find as no big deal... if you went off what the guys who fear this person at work said... you'd get a very wrong idea about him.


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## Juan M (Mar 11, 2011)

ESFJ maybe?


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## Owfin (Oct 15, 2011)

I'm a type six with a five wing, so perhaps I can add some insight. It's not so much that I'm anxious, as that my brain is always on. Even when I'm observing from afar, my mind is running constantly. If I can know what is going on in a situation, I can feel safe. I always doubt myself because I don't want to get things wrong and I need to re-evaluate to check with the present situation. Push and pull, push and pull. There are few people or things that I trust, but if I trust anything, betrayal is the worst thing that could ever happen. If I feel like I can't trust anything, I become paranoid and self centered. My whole worldview is about what you can or can trust, and what you can be loyal to.

Does that sound a little like your boss?


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## LuxEterna (Feb 8, 2010)

Owfin said:


> I'm a type six with a five wing, so perhaps I can add some insight. It's not so much that I'm anxious, as that my brain is always on. Even when I'm observing from afar, my mind is running constantly. If I can know what is going on in a situation, I can feel safe. I always doubt myself because I don't want to get things wrong and I need to re-evaluate to check with the present situation. Push and pull, push and pull. There are few people or things that I trust, but if I trust anything, betrayal is the worst thing that could ever happen. If I feel like I can't trust anything, I become paranoid and self centered. My whole worldview is about what you can or can trust, and what you can be loyal to.
> 
> Does that sound a little like your boss?



yes kinda.

i can sense he has a lot of nervous energy. it's as if disorder is a beast to be slayed. it's like a Fight or die response. 

he can be stubborn. 

and when things are not going according to his expectations, his reaction can be quite ... dramatic.


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## LuxEterna (Feb 8, 2010)

Juan M said:


> ESFJ maybe?


possible.

cos today, i saw a dramatic reaction from him, when something didn't go as he planned and he reacted strongly and upsetly at a colleague. my colleagues told me that he can behve like that to any of his suboridnates.

and they said that it appears as if he wants to rouse anxiety into his subordinates to make them work more. 

when i heard that i said to myself, "uh oh, he may not be a T after all. only F's will do that!" 

so yah, perhaps he is ESFJ. and he's a ESFJ who is not very diplomatic, and who does not know how to build relations.

i tought he was "T" cos he is very task oriented and neglects relationship-building with customers and colleagues. he is super workaholic.


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## WickedQueen (Jun 1, 2009)

LuxEterna said:


> possible.
> 
> cos today, i saw a dramatic reaction from him, when something didn't go as he planned and he reacted strongly and upsetly at a colleague. my colleagues told me that he can behve like that to any of his suboridnates.
> 
> ...


Uhm... that's actually my immediate reaction when someone made a mistake that's ruin my work/effort. Usually I just blow off spontaneously. Once I got calmed down, I forgot about my anger and things are back to neutral again. You may say that it's a perfectionist side of me. I really hate it when someone ruin my perfect work for something 'stupid', like forgot to do things even though I had warned him/her several times.

This is an example of my anger at work:
http://personalitycafe.com/venting/42903-f-g-morons.html


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