ENFP
Extraverted Intuition with Feeling
People with ENFP preferences are enthusiastic innovators, always seeing
new possibilities and new ways of doing things. They have a lot of imagination
and initiative for starting projects, and a lot of impulsive energy for
carrying them out. They are stimulated by difficulties and are most ingenious
in solving them. ENFPs can get so interested in their newest project that
they have time for little else. Their energy comes from a succession of
new enthusiasms and their world is full of possible projects. Their enthusiasm
gets other people interested too.
They see so many possible projects that they sometimes
have difficulty picking those with the greatest potential. Their feeling
can be useful at this point to help select projects by weighing the values
of each. Their feeling judgment can also add depth to the insights supplied
by their intuition.
The ENFP's feeling preference shows in a concern
for people. They are skillful in handling people and often have remarkable
insight into the possibilities and development of others. They are extremely
perceptive about the attitudes of others, aiming to understand rather than
judge people. They are much drawn to counseling, and can be inspired and
inspiring teachers, particularly where they have freedom to innovate. With
talent, they can succeed in almost any field that captures their interest-art,
journalism, science, advertising, sales, the ministry, or writing, for
example.
A difficulty for ENFPs is that they hate uninspired
routine and find it remarkably hard to apply themselves to the sometimes
necessary detail unconnected with any major interest. Worse yet, they may
get bored with their own projects as soon as the main problems have been
solved or the initial challenge has been met. They may need to learn to
follow through and finish what they have begun, but are happiest and most
effective in jobs that permit one project after another, with somebody
else taking over as soon as the situation is well in hand.
Because ENFPs are always being drawn to the exciting
challenges of new possibilities, it is essential that they develop their
feeling judgment. If their judgment is undeveloped, they may commit
themselves to ill-chosen projects, fail to finish anything, and squander
their inspirations by not completing their tasks.