The “Strategist” Personality Type

Have you heard of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)?

MBTI is an introspective self-report questionnaire which indicates different psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. It is based on four categories: Introversion/Extroversion, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling, Judging/Perception. Each individual is assumed to have one preferred quality from each category, producing 16 unique personality types (Myersbriggs.org, 2020).

Interesting right? Why not find out what personality type you are by clicking the link here: Personality Test

Now that we have learned more about our own personality type wouldn’t it be interesting to learn about the personality type of a strategist?

The INTJ Personality type has been nicknamed the “Strategist”. Introverted (I), Intuitive (N), Thinking (T), and Judging (J). INTJ’s tend to be private, independent and self-confident characters. They strive for perfection and achievement. They are talented strategists with analytical, conceptual and objective minds. They are flexible and will often make contingency plans (Personality Max, 2020).

Interesting Fact Alert !!!

INTJ’s make up only 1.5% of the 16 personality types in the world population. Even more interesting is that only 17% of INTJ’s are female and thus 83% of INTJ’s are male (Personality Max, 2020).

Typical Strengths and Weaknesses of an INTJ are as follows:

Typical Strengths

· Highly intelligent

· Takes criticism well

· Self-confident

· Honours Commitments

Possible Weaknesses

· Dislikes communicating feelings

· Insensitive

· Arrogant

· Unwilling to take blame

Does this remind you of anyone?

Armstrong is considered to be one of the “famous INTJ’s”, alongside many others such as Thomas Jefferson, Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Let us take a look at why Armstrong fits this personality type.

The INTJ is a thinker not a feeler and this characteristic can be seen in how Armstrong reacted to the public when he was caught for using performance-enhancing drugs. The public would have expected an apology showing emotion and explanation of how he was feeling but the INTJ does not operate that way. When interviewed Armstrong answered questions in a global context rather than focusing on his individual actions. As a result his answers became scientific and as if he was explaining a complex issue. This is in line with the analytical, strategic, controlled characteristics of an INTJ. It is evident that Armstrong did not regret his actions and constantly moved the focus towards the sport, the culture and the time, which shows lack of emotion and an unwillingness to take blame which is also typical of an INTJ (Prelude Character Analysis, 2020). Other INTJ characteristics include perfectionist, determined, disciplined and, intense. These are all words that come to mind when describing Armstrong’s career both before and after he was caught using performance enhancing drugs.

I hope you all enjoyed this week’s blog post and make sure to visit the blog next week to learn more about Armstrong and his strategy of deceit.

Eimear Ryan J

24/01/2020

Bibliography

· Myersbriggs.org. (2020). MBTI Basics. [online] Available at: https://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/home.htm?bhcp=1 [Accessed 26 Jan. 2020].

· Personality Max. (2020). INTJ Personality Type — “Strategist” Profile — Personality Max. [online] Available at: https://personalitymax.com/personality-types/intj-strategist/ [Accessed 26 Jan. 2020].

· Prelude Character Analysis. (2020). Lance Armstrong — the INTJ interview. [online] Available at: https://preludecharacteranalysis.com/blog/lance-armstrong-the-intj-interview [Accessed 26 Jan. 2020].