ISTJ 1
Introverted Sensing Thinking Judging
1111
School of Masters in Executive Leadership, Liberty University
Author Note
1111
I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to 11111
Email:
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Abstract
In this paper, I will be discussing the breakdown of the Myers-Briggs Personality Test
Online that I have taken for project one. The temperament classification I fall into and how it is
correct to myself. I found a better understanding of my personality traits and why I do certain
things. There are plenty of aspects about myself that I already understand from strengths to my
weaknesses. I look forward to sharing my findings with you as I absorb an appreciation of how I
got my results.
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Introverted Sensing Thinking Judging
In this project, I have completed the Myers-Briggs Personality Test Online. Out of the
sixteen personality types, I have retrieved a four-letter type of ISTJ. ISTJ stands for Introverted,
Sensing, Thinking and Judging. This four-letter type also reveals my two-letter temperament of
SJ, known as Guardians. SJ description according to David Keirsey’s four temperaments is that I
value security, stability, I’m practical, well organized, I like to belong to some sort of institution,
I’m loyal, hard-working, always being careful to uphold and live by the established rules,
structures and traditions of those institutions (Cobb, 2017). I can agree 100% with that analyst of
my temperament. Drawing on psychological type theory, Keirsey and Bates (1978) proposed an
interpretive framework distinguishing between four temperaments characterized as SJ, SP, NT,
and NF. In the language shaped by Keirsey and Bates (1978), the Epimethean Temperament
characterizes the SJ profile, people who long to be dutiful and exist primarily to be useful to the
social units to which they belong (Francis, 2015).
The Epimethean Temperament (SJ) is styled ‘the conserving, serving pastor.’ SJ clergy
tend to be the most traditional of all clergy temperaments, bringing stability and
continuity to whatever situation they are called to serve. They proclaim a single and
straightforward faith, committed to down-to-earth rules for the Christian life. They serve
as protectors and conservers of the traditions inherited from the past. If change is to take
place, it emerges by evolution, not revolution. They excel at building community,
fostering a sense of loyalty, and belonging. They bring order and stability to their
congregations, creating plans, developing procedures, and formulating policies, and they
are keen that these procedures should be followed. They can be trusted for their
reliability, punctuality, and efficiency. They are effective pastors, showing particular
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concern for the young, the elderly, and the weak. They are realists who offer practical
and down-to-earth solutions to pastoral problems. (Francis, 2015).
These personality traits have me defined by my temperament of being a Military Man and
a son of God. I want to continue with going over these traits individually for a better
understanding of the material presented by the personality test taken.
I – Introverted
According to the Jung Typology Test, I have marginal or no preference of Introversion
over Extraversion (3%). This is a preference of my perception focusing on my own internal
world. I can see how I was labeled an introvert over an extravert. In social situations, I tend to
keep to myself unless I know everyone in the group. I do not particularly appreciate going to
places I do not know or have never been to before. Uncertainty does bother me at my core.
Being part of the military, I must stretch that hindrance for the completion of my job. In my
mind, I make it part of a mission; then, I have no problem executing the task before me.
Speaking in Infront of a large crowd makes me altogether nervous even if I know the audience. I
think it is because I am not too fond of inadvertent attention. It might be a weakness of mine, but
I have found ways to get around it. I have identified my shortfalls early in my career to allow it
not to hold me back from my career progression. I do feel that there is a plus side to being an
introvert because to tend to think and listen more than extraverts. My mother always told me as
a child, “You learn more by listening than by talking.” This could have just been her way to get
me to behave in the classroom environment, but I have remembered it and held it close to heart.
S – Sensing
According to the Jung Typology Test, I have a slight preference of Sensing over Intuition
(22%). The difference of sensing and intuition is that sensing is the information you receive
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directly from the external world, while intuition comes from an imaginative internal feeling. I
feel how I have a more significant percentage of sensing, for I trust in facts. I will always look
up information to get the factual foundation. In my career, my main job description is Aircraft
Maintenance, so I need to rely on accurate information. The questions I give myself when facing
a problem or an issue, “Who, What, Where, When and How.” Once I find the answers to those
questions, I can go through my technical books to see what lines up for those specific issues. It
does present itself as a misguiding factor when dealing with people and their own personal
problems. As a leader understanding why people might do things can make facts questionable
for the individual could be reacting from intuition. Being able to understand the human factor is
something we get taught through Professional Military Education. Every rank structure has a
different level of involvement to help better understand the people you lead. This education also
helps me as an individual to identify my strengths and weaknesses.
T – Thinking
According to the Jung Typology Test, I have a slight preference of Thinking over Feeling
(9%). I feel this goes in line with sensing from above. Yes, my decisions are made from logic
and facts. When I absorb all the information, I require for dealing with a situation, and I must
remind myself what the primary objective is. Is there a problem that requires factual information
to fix the issue to get to working resolution, an aircraft? Or is it an issue that involves empathy
to support a solution with proper guidance to resolve the problem. As a weakness, though I
might overthink instead of having feelings. I do think that maturity has a lot to do with how
reactions are carried out and circumstances.
J – Judging
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According to the Jung Typology Test, I have a moderate preference of Judging over
Perceiving (28%). Now there is no drought in my mind that judging would be over perceiving. I
am a creature of habit. I love being organized, prepared, and planned ahead. I need a fixed
schedule in my life to give me the purpose of revolving everything around it. Having a military
schedule does not always help the situation because of the long hours and late nights. The one
thing that can be certain is that when I get off shift, I have at least twelve hours to myself. So, in
my mind, I start to prioritize, sleep, eat, shower, exercise, food shop, laundry, school, and
additional household items. I always have a plan, but then I still have a back-up plan as well.
This compensates for those late nights into early morning roll calls. I also tend to always prepare
for the worst. For example, I always bring enough food to work just in case I work a twelve-
hour shift. I tend not to make any plans on days I have work or might be working. I look at the
glass half empty because it needs to be filled in my eyes. Perceiving is meant for individuals that
are higher in the rank structure to find the ways of improvising and making better guidance.
Interfacing
The combination of all these traits combines very well together, in my opinion. I have
great success with capitalizing on my strengths and rolling with my weaknesses.
ISTJs have tremendous respect for facts. They hold a tremendous store of facts within
themselves, which they have gathered through their Sensing preference. They may have
difficulty understanding a theory or idea which is different from their own perspective.
However, if they are shown the importance or relevance of the idea to someone who they
respect or care about, the idea becomes a fact, which the ISTJ will internalize and
support. Once the ISTJ supports a cause or idea, he or she will stop at no lengths to
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ensure that they are doing their duty of giving support where support is needed. (Portrait
of an ISTJ, 2015)
Learning about the four temperaments, I can see why I am Guardian Inspector. In
the Portrait of the Guardian Inspector, I am reliable, straightforward, intuitional,
inspecting, standardizing, and conservative (Learn about the four temperaments). As a
military leader, I am falling right into place for my personality traits. My military career
will come to an end someday. With my given characteristics, I need to plan for the
future. This can lead to possible career choices of a Business Executive, Administrator,
or a Manager. In preparation for the future, that is one reason why I decided to pursue
my Master’s in Executive Leadership. Not only to strive on bettering myself but to also
hold that credential to allow me to prosper into my second career someday.
Step 2
I have learned a lot about myself from this personality test. Over the years, I have
learned many other aspects of becoming the leader I am today. This test helped identify a lot of
the key factors on why I do the things I do. In the book Type Talk at Work, I am titled Life’s
Natural Organizer.
ISTJ is a no-frills, work hard. Play-hard type. They are seen as compulsive, hard-
charging, capable, and true to their word. They live by the bottom line and can be very
cost-conscious. They can be slow to change, but once they see the practical value in
making a course correction, they can be quick to implement it and often become zealots
of the new way of thinking. (Kroeger, 2013)
Serving in the military has given me a broad perspective on the different personality traits
that I need to be able to work with. Even though ISTJ is found overwhelmingly in the military,
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the combined four branches are 58% introverted, 72% Sensing, 90% Thinking, and 80% Judging
(Kroeger, 2013). With the full understanding of my strengths and weakness, I have been able to
apply myself with great magnitude. Not just for just personal rewards but for the fulfillment of
being a better leader to most subordinates and also a peer that will work together. The leaders
before me will be able to notice the difference between an individual that can coincide with other
to get taskings done. In my own professional growth, I must learn both organizational change
and people issues. You cannot change an employee’s level of intelligence or remake an
employee’s personality. But you can help employees manage their attitudes and emotions
(Kinicki, 2021). As a frontline manager, I deal with this daily. For instance, I lead a
Maintenance section that is currently changing out the landing gear on a fighter jet. I put my
best three guys on the task. The one that is leading the group acts and thinks like me, so we have
no issues. The other two individuals have personal problems affecting the work. The only way I
can help these two out is by giving both a way to vent and get it out. Now their issues are
nothing that needs to be rectified, but we are all human beings, and stress can get to the best of
us. Now to focus on my mission, I need to keep their heads in the game. Once that is complete,
we can reattack these issues with some time-off or special duty.
In conclusion, there is plenty of aspects of my personality I already knew from years of
training. I have gone over the four personality traits and how I fit into all of them. I have
discussed how I fall into the Temperament of a Guardian. The overall Personality test allowed
me to understand better why I do the things I do. I highly suggest taking the test for anyone that
would like to understand themselves or others better if they are in a leadership or managerial
role. In the words of another SJ, “There’s no place like Home” Dorothy, The Wizard of OZ.
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References
Cobb, D. (2017, August 29). Keirsey Temperaments. Personality Club.
https://www.personalityclub.com/blog/keirsey-temperaments/.
Francis, L.J., Crea, G. (2015). Psychological Temperament and the Catholic Priesthood: An
Empirical Enquiry Among Priests in Italy. Pastoral Psychol 64, 827–837. https://doi-
org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1007/s11089-015-0661-5
Jung Typology Test™. Personality test based on C. Jung and I. Briggs Myers type theory.
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp.
Keirsey, D., & Bates, M. (1978). Please understand me. Del Mar: Prometheus Nemesis.
Kinicki, A. (2021). Organizational behavior: a practical, problem-solving approach Third
Edition. McGraw-Hill Education.
Kroeger, O., Thuesen, J., & Rutledge, H. (2013). Type Talk at Work (Revised): How the 16
Personality Types Determine Your Success on the Job: Vol. Unabridged. Delta.
Learn about the four temperaments. Keirsey Temperament Assessment.
https://keirsey.com/temperament-overview/.
Portrait of an ISTJ. (2015). http://www.personalitypage.com/html/ISTJ.html.
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