Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

Introduction

“ Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.” Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

The Advocate personality type is very rare, making up less than one percent of the population, but they nonetheless leave their mark on the world. Advocates have an inborn sense of idealism and morality, but what sets them apart is that they are not idle dreamers. These individuals are capable of taking concrete steps to realize their goals and make a lasting positive impact.

People with this personality type tend to see helping others as their purpose in life. Advocates can often be found engaging in rescue efforts and doing charity work. However, their real passion is to get to the heart of the issue so that people need not be rescued at all.

Help Me Help You

Advocates indeed share a unique combination of traits. Though soft-spoken, they have very strong opinions and will fight tirelessly for an idea they believe in. They are decisive and strong-willed, but will rarely use that energy for personal gain.

Advocates will act with creativity, imagination, conviction, and sensitivity not to create an advantage, but to create balance. Egalitarianism and karma are very attractive ideas to Advocate personalities. These types tend to believe that nothing would help the world so much as using love and compassion to soften the hearts of tyrants.

Advocates find it easy to make connections with others. They have a talent for warm, sensitive language, speaking in human terms, rather than with pure logic and fact.

It makes sense that their friends and colleagues will come to think of them as quiet Extraverted personality types. However, they would all do well to remember that Advocates need time alone to decompress and recharge, and not to become too alarmed when they suddenly withdraw. Advocates take great care of others’ feelings, and they expect the favor to be returned – sometimes that means giving them the space they need for a few days.

Live to Fight Another Day

Really, though, it is most important for people with the Advocate personality type to remember to take care of themselves. The passion of their convictions is perfectly capable of carrying them past their breaking point. If their zeal gets out of hand, they can find themselves exhausted, unhealthy, and stressed.

This becomes especially apparent when Advocates find themselves up against conflict and criticism. Their sensitivity forces these personalities to do everything they can to evade these seemingly personal attacks. When the circumstances are unavoidable, however, they can fight back in highly irrational, unhelpful ways.

To Advocates, the world is a place full of inequity – but it doesn’t have to be. No other personality type is better suited to create a movement to right a wrong, no matter how big or small. Advocates just need to remember that while they’re busy taking care of the world, they need to take care of themselves, too.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Advocate Strengths

· Creative – Combining a vivid imagination with a strong sense of compassion, Advocates use their creativity to resolve not technical challenges, but human ones. People with the Advocate personality type enjoy finding the perfect solution for someone they care about. This strength makes them excellent counselors and advisors.

· Insightful – Seeing through dishonesty and disingenuous motives, Advocates step past manipulation and sales tactics and into a more honest discussion. Advocate personalities see how people and events are connected. They are then able to use that insight to get to the heart of the matter.

· Inspiring and Convincing – Speaking in human terms, not technical, Advocates have a fluid, inspirational writing style that appeals to the inner idealist in their audience. Advocates can even be astonishingly good orators, speaking with warmth and passion. This is especially true if they are proud of what they are speaking for.

· Decisive – Advocates’ creativity, insight, and inspiration are able to have a real impact on the world. This is because they are able to follow through on their ideas with conviction, willpower, and the planning necessary to see complex projects through to the end. People with the Advocate personality type don’t just see the way things ought to be; they act on those insights.

· Determined and Passionate – When Advocates come to believe that something is important, they pursue that goal with a conviction and energy that can catch others off-guard. Advocates will rock the boat if they must. Not everyone likes to see this, but their passion for their chosen cause is an inseparable part of the Advocate personality.

· Altruistic – These strengths are used for good. Advocates will not engage in any actions or promote beliefs just to benefit themselves. They have strong beliefs and take the actions that they do because they are trying to advance an idea that they truly believe will make the world a better place.

Advocate Weaknesses

· Sensitive – When someone challenges or criticizes Advocates’ principles or values, they are likely to receive an alarmingly strong response. People with the Advocate personality type are highly vulnerable to criticism and conflict. Questioning their motives is the quickest way to their bad side.

· Extremely Private – Advocates tend to present themselves as the culmination of an idea. This is partly because they believe in this idea, but also because Advocates are extremely private when it comes to their personal lives. They use this image to keep themselves from having to truly open up, even to close friends. Trusting a new friend can be even more challenging for Advocates.

· Perfectionistic – Advocate personalities are all but defined by their pursuit of ideals. While this is a wonderful quality in many ways, an ideal situation is not always possible – in politics, in business, in romance. Advocates, especially Turbulent ones, too often drop or ignore healthy and productive situations and relationships, always believing there might be a better option down the road.

· Always Need to Have a Cause – Advocate personalities get so caught up in their pursuits that any of the cumbersome tasks that come between them and their ideal vision is deeply unwelcome. Advocates like to know that they are taking concrete steps toward their goals. If routine tasks feel like they are getting in the way – or worse yet, there is no goal at all – they will feel restless and disappointed.

· Can Burn Out Easily – Their passion, impatience for routine maintenance, idealism, and extreme privacy tend to leave Advocates with few options for letting off steam. People with this personality type are likely to exhaust themselves in short order if they don’t find a way to balance their ideals with the realities of day-to-day living.

Romantic Relationships

When it comes to romantic relationships, Advocates take the process of finding a partner seriously. Not ones for casual encounters, people with the Advocate personality type instead look for depth and meaning in their relationships.

Advocates will take the time necessary to find someone with whom they truly connect. Once they’ve found that someone, their relationships will reach a level of depth and sincerity of which most people can only dream.

When it comes to romantic relationships, Advocates take the process of finding a partner seriously. Not ones for casual encounters, people with the Advocate personality type instead look for depth and meaning in their relationships.

Advocates will take the time necessary to find someone with whom they truly connect. Once they’ve found that someone, their relationships will reach a level of depth and sincerity of which most people can only dream.

Getting to that point can sometimes be a challenge for potential partners, especially if they are impatient types, as Advocates are often perfectionistic and picky. People with this personality type aren’t easily talked into something they don’t want. If someone doesn’t pick up on that, they are unlikely to be forgiven, particularly in the early stages of dating.

Even worse is if their partner tries to resort to manipulation or lying, as Advocates will see right through it. If there’s anything they have a poor tolerance for in a relationship, it is a lack of authenticity.

Is This for Real?

Advocates will go out of their way to seek out people who share their desire for authenticity, and out of their way to avoid those who don’t, especially when looking for a partner. All that being said, people with the Advocate personality type often have the advantage of desirability. They are warm, friendly, caring, and insightful, seeing past facades and the obvious to understand others’ thoughts and emotions.

Advocate personalities are enthusiastic in their relationships. There is a sense of wisdom behind their spontaneity, allowing them to pleasantly surprise their partners again and again. These types aren’t afraid to show their love, and they feel it unconditionally.

Advocates create a depth to their relationships that can hardly be described in conventional terms. Relationships with Advocates are not for the uncommitted or the shallow.

When it comes to intimacy, Advocates look for a connection that goes beyond the physical. They prefer to embrace the emotional and even spiritual connection they have with their partners. People with this personality type are passionate partners.

Advocates see intimacy as a way to express their love and to make their partners happy. They cherish not just the act of being in a relationship, but what it means to become one with another person in mind, body, and soul.

Friendships

There is a running theme with Advocates, and that is a desire for authenticity and sincerity – in their activities, their romantic relationships, and their friendships. People with the Advocate personality type are unlikely to go for friendships of circumstance. They avoid situations like workplace social circles or chatting up their local baristas, where the only thing they really have in common is regular contact.

People with this personality type seek out others who share their passions, interests, and beliefs. They create friendships with people with whom they can explore philosophies and subjects that they believe are truly meaningful.

Closed Book and Speed Reader

From the start, it can be a challenge to get to know Advocates, as they are very private. Advocate personalities don’t readily share their thoughts and feelings, not unless they are comfortable and feel that those around them can be trusted. Since those thoughts and feelings are the basis for Advocate friendships, it can take time and patience to get to know them.

Meanwhile, Advocates are very insightful and have a particular knack for seeing beyond others’ disguises. They are able to interpret others’ intentions quickly and easily and weed out those who they deem incompatible.

Advocates are often perfectionistic, looking for ultimate compatibility. They also look for someone with whom they can grow and improve. Needless to say, this is a tall order, and Advocates should try to remember that they are a particularly rare personality type. Even if they find someone compatible in that sense, the odds that they will also share every interest are slim.

Advocates must learn to meet others halfway and recognize that the kind of self-improvement and depth they demand is simply exhausting for many types. Otherwise, they may end up abandoning healthy friendships in their infancy in search of more ideal compatibilities.

Like Finding a Needle in a Haystack

Further complicating things is Advocates’ ability to passionately and clearly express themselves. These traits can lead to a lot of (unwanted) attention and popularity. Their quiet, determined idealism naturally draws influence. Advocate personalities, however, tend to avoid seeking power over others – and the people who are drawn to that type of power.

Advocates will find themselves more sought after than they’d ever care to be. This makes it even more difficult for them to find someone with whom they truly have an affinity. Really, the only way to be counted among Advocates’ true friends is to be authentic and to have that authenticity naturally reflect their own.

Once a common thread is found, though, people with the Advocate personality type make loyal and supportive companions. People with this personality type encourage growth and life-enriching experiences with warmth, excitement, and care.

Additionally, as trust grows, Advocates will share more of what lies beneath the surface. If those ideas and motives are mutual, it’s the sort of friendship that will transcend time and distance, lasting a lifetime.

Advocate personalities don’t require a great deal of day-to-day attention. For them, quality trumps quantity every time. Over the years they will likely end up with just a few true friendships, built on a richness of mutual understanding that forges an enduring link between them.

Parenthood

As parents, Advocates will tend to look at their relationships with their children as opportunities to learn and grow with someone they care about. They will also work to achieve another important goal – raising their children to be independent and all-around good people.

These types are devoted and loving toward their children throughout the parenting relationship. However, what Advocates really look forward to is being able to communicate and relate to the people they helped to raise, as equals.

Be Unique, Just Like Me

As their children grow, Advocates will likely try to project a great deal of their own beliefs onto them. They will demand the same sort of integrity and honesty that they demand from themselves. Advocates may even find themselves “guilting” their children into following their path in their weaker moments. Despite this, Advocate personalities will also push their children to think independently, make their own choices, and develop their own beliefs.

If all this independence is taken to heart, it can cause some trouble for Advocate parents as their children move into the more rebellious phase of adolescence. This is especially true if their children choose beliefs that go against what their Advocate parents hoped they would believe. In this case, Advocates are likely to feel like their children are pointing out their flaws by following another path, a hurtful thing to such a sensitive personality type.

A Job Well Done

Ultimately, though, Advocate parents will realize that these conflicting beliefs aren’t a sign of their failure. Rather, they are a sign of their success in raising someone who learned to form their own ideals. As they grow, Advocates’ children will also come to appreciate the combination of independence and integrity with which they were raised.

Advocates strive to make sure that their children grow up with a firm understanding of the difference between right and wrong. Parents with this personality type encourage their children to fight for a cause they believe in, striving to be the best they can be. If they feel that they have accomplished this goal, Advocate parents will be satisfied with what they’ve accomplished together with their children.

Career Paths

Advocates are likely to find that most corporate career paths are not designed for them, but for those focused on their status and material gain. However, people with this personality are able to find work that suits them in just about any field.

In fact, Advocates are likely to face the opposite problem. Many struggle to begin a career early on because they see ten wildly different paths forward, each with its own set of rewards. This can be appealing but also heartbreaking, because picking just one means letting go of so much else.

Truth, Beauty, Purpose

Advocate personalities need to find meaning in their work and to know that they are helping and connecting with people. An Advocate working as a Ferrari salesperson, for example, is highly unlikely.

Their desire to help and connect makes careers in healthcare – especially the more holistic varieties – very rewarding for Advocates. Roles as counselors, psychologists, doctors, life coaches, and spiritual guides are all attractive options.

Advocates’ needs don’t end at meaning, though – any productive work can be meaningful, as any productive work helps someone, somewhere. Advocate personalities crave creativity, too. They strive to use their insight to connect events and situations, creating real change in others’ lives.

Two Roads Diverged In a Yellow Wood

These needs are hard to meet in a corporate environment, where Advocates will be forced to manage someone else’s policies alongside their own. For this reason, people with the Advocate personality type are more likely to find independence in a leadership position, or by simply creating their own business.

If they choose to go the independent route, they will focus on applying their personal touch, creativity, and altruism to everything they do. This can be the most rewarding option for Advocate personalities. When they step out of the overly humble supporting and noncompetitive roles they are often drawn to, they can move into positions where they can grow and make a difference.

Advocates often pursue expressive careers such as writing, effective communicators that they are, and author many popular blogs, stories, and screenplays. Music, photography, design, and art are viable options too, and they all can focus on deeper themes of personal growth, morality, and spirituality.

Where Advocates struggle is in work that doesn’t take personal needs into consideration, is overly repetitious, or promotes conflict. Jobs with these traits will leave Advocate personality types frustrated and unfulfilled. They can also struggle under the criticism and pressure that comes with jobs in corporate politics or sales.

Advocate personalities are clever and can do well in any of these fields. To be truly happy, however, they need to be able to work in a way that aligns with their values and allows them some independence. They need opportunities to learn and grow alongside the people they are helping and contribute to the well-being of humanity on a personal level.

Workplace Habits

Advocates have pretty tall demands when it comes to a satisfying work environment. Not only do those with this personality type need to be able to express their creativity and insight, they also need to know that what they are doing has meaning.

People with this personality type need to know that their work helps people and promotes their own personal growth. Their work must be in line with their values, principles, and beliefs all the way.

Oftentimes, the best way for Advocate personalities to achieve this is not to have to answer to others’ rules at all. Instead, they should strive to be their own boss, neither above nor below anyone else, just directly interacting with the people and ideas that are important to them.

All that being said, Advocates are a clever and inspired group. With a few of the right conditions, almost any position can be made to work for them.

Advocate Subordinates

As subordinates, Advocates are likely to do poorly with strict rules, formal structures, and routine tasks. People with the Advocate personality type value cooperation and sensitivity. The more open-minded and personal their manager’s style is, and the more they feel their personal input is considered, the happier they’ll be.

Advocates act on their convictions, so when they do something, it’s something that has meaning to them. If those actions come under criticism, especially the unwarranted kind, their morale is likely to tank spectacularly.

A manager’s values need to be in line with the Advocate’s for both sides to work well together. Though usually idealistic, if their work environment does not line up with their values, people with the Advocate personality type can become angry and bitter. But if it’s a balance they can handle, with a little encouragement every now and then, Advocates will work hard and thrive. People with this personality type are more than capable of handling tasks and workplace relationships.

Advocate Colleagues

As colleagues, Advocate personalities are likely to become quite popular. They are likely to be seen as positive, eloquent, and capable friends. Among their greatest strengths is the ability to identify others’ motives and defuse conflicts and tension before anyone else even senses a disturbance.

Advocates are likely to place more importance on working together over efficiency, encouraging hard work, and helping others when needed. While this is usually a strength, there is a risk that others will take advantage of Advocates’ desire to get things done. Coworkers may do this – on purpose or without realizing it – by shifting their tasks onto their more dedicated Advocate coworkers’ desks.

It should also be remembered that, at the end of the day, Advocates are still Introverts, and this kind of popularity isn’t always welcome. They will need to step back and act the lone wolf from time to time, pursuing their own goals in their own ways. An unhealthy version of this tendency may pop up if Advocates sense that their values are being compromised by a more ethically relaxed colleague.

Advocate Managers

As managers, Advocates often dislike using their power. Individuals with this personality type prefer to see those who work under them as equals. They do this by focusing on coordinating tasks and supervising people, leaving the facts and details to others. They work hard to encourage others, not to crack the whip.

That’s not to say that people with the Advocate personality type have low standards – far from it. The Advocates’ sense of equality means that they expect their subordinates to be as competent, motivated, and reliable as the Advocates themselves.

Advocate managers are sensitive, understanding, and fair, able to appreciate individual styles and to make accurate judgments about others’ motivations. However, if an employee’s actions or attitude undermines an Advocate manager’s ethics or values, they will find little comfort in these qualities.

People with this personality type have no tolerance for lapses in reliability or morality. But, so long as no such lapse occurs, Advocates will work tirelessly to ensure that their subordinates feel valued and happy.

Conclusion

Few personality types are as passionate and mysterious as Advocates. As someone with this personality type, your imagination and empathy make you someone who cherishes their integrity and deeply held principles. Unlike many other idealistic types, however, you are also capable of turning those ideals into plans and executing them.

Yet Advocates can be easily tripped up in areas where their idealism and determination are more of a liability than an asset. There are many areas in life where you may face challenges that, at times, can even make you question who you really are. Anything from navigating interpersonal conflicts, confronting unpleasant facts, pursuing self-realization, or finding a career path that aligns well with your inner core can cause internal frustration.

What you have read so far is just an introduction – and less than five percent of what we can tell you about the Advocate personality type. You may have muttered to yourself, “Wow, this is so accurate it’s creepy,” or, “They know more about me than people I’m closest to.” You may even be a little uncomfortable because you are really not used to being understood.