Portrait of the Supervisors (eStJ)

Copyrighted © 1996 Prometheus Nemesis Book Company.

The Guardians called Supervisors are not only concrete in speech and cooperative in reaching their goals, but they are also directive and expressive in their social address-very directive and very expressive. Supervisors do not hesitate even for an instant to express their opinion of someone's performance, nor do they withhold their demand for improvement.

Supervisors see themselves as responsible for seeing to it that those in their charge do as they should. They feel proud of their responsibility and of their efforts in making others responsible. Representing from ten to twelve percent of the general population, eStJs can be counted on to do their duty no matter how difficult it may be, or what sacrifices it demands. And they can be tough-minded about others' derelictions of duty. Supervisors naturally gravitate to the role of supervisor in their relations with others, and feel especially responsible for making sure that people behave in keeping with agreed upon procedures and standards of conduct-or else face the consequences. Like a seasoned, stalwart umpire, they will set their jaw and point out mistakes and transgressions to anyone who steps out of line; they feel obligated to do so, and they're sometimes surprised when the culprit does not seem grateful for their reprimand.

Supervisors are gregarious and civic-minded, and are usually pillars of their community. They are generous with their time and energy, and very often belong to a variety of service clubs, lodges, and associations, supporting them through steady attendance, but also taking a vocal leadership role. Indeed, membership groups of all kinds attract ESTJs like magnets, perhaps because membership satisfies in some degree their need to maintain the stability of social institutions. Like all the SJs, ESTJs worry a good deal about society falling apart, morality decaying, standards being undermined, traditions being lost, and they do all they can to preserve and to extend the institutions that embody social order. Supervisors are so in tune with the established, time-honored institutions and ways of behaving within those institutions, that they have a hard time understanding those who might wish to abandon or radically change them.

A full description of the Supervisor is in Please Understand Me