9 Signs You’re Not An ENTJ

If you Google “signs that you’re an ENTJ”, you’ll find several articles dedicated to the subject. However, I prefer focusing on “negative” information, because I personally find it more useful for narrowing down one’s personality type. So, today, I’m going to write an article on the signs that you’re NOT an ENTJ. Bear in mind, the headers for each point are concise, by design. Ryan and I tried to make them as informative as possible, in spite of their succinct nature, but you have to read the explanation that goes with each. Personality theory doesn’t deal in absolutes (insert reference about the Sith). It’s not about specific actions, skillsets, or the surface level characteristics; it’s about the reasoning an individual uses for who they are and what they do. In other words, you may have a perfectly plausible reason, as an ENTJ, for demonstrating one of the “negative” signs listed below. Exceptions are allowed, as long they don’t contradict the way an ENTJ should be processing and reasoning.

Let’s get started.

9 Signs You’re Not An ENTJ (Te-Ni-Se-Fi)

1. You can’t get anywhere on time

An ENTJ’s dominant cognitive function is Extraverted Thinking (Te). Te is best thought of like objective logic, in the sense that it’s oriented to external systems, metrics, and facts. Te users prioritize the logical impact of their actions. As such, ENTJs tend to be good at tracking time cost. Obviously, stuff can happen that makes an ENTJ run late, or get waylaid. That’s life, right? But, on average, chronically running late is one of the signs that someone is not an ENTJ. ENTJs will be conscious of how long something is going to take, and thus will know how to manage their time effectively. Some typologists like to generally associate this trait with Judgers, but that’s actually inaccurate. FJs are more prone to running late, because their extraverted judging function is Fe rather than Te, which orients them to the social or emotional impact of their actions rather than the logical impact.

2. You’re naturally tuned into emotions

Let me start this point by saying that ENTJs can certainly be empathetic and caring, especially if they’re morally grounded and mature. However, emotions should be a trouble area for ENTJs. They certainly have them, and they’re certainly capable of caring about others, but they won’t naturally pick up on other people’s emotions. These aren’t the types that “feel” the emotions of their social environment. They may observe the emotions and strive to respond appropriately, but this won’t be an “intuitive” process for them. It’ll be observation-based and logically calculated. It may become more of an intuitive process for them, with someone they are intimately connected to, but for people in general, it’ll be more of a blind spot. ENTJs often prefer people state their thoughts and feelings directly rather than requiring them to pick up on unspoken cues. When it comes to their personal emotions, ENTJs typically know what they’re feeling (although some may not), but they excel at suppressing their emotions, in favor of what they’re trying to accomplish. Many ENTJs believe it’s an unproductive, waste of time to dwell on their feelings.

3. You dislike order, and think rules are unnecessary

ENTJs, as Te users, value structure. This is not to say that they’re perfect rule followers. Rather, these types (as with many other personality types) are willing to break rules, that they disagree with or that they feel are hindering progress. However, overall, ENTJs do value having structured environments, and they recognize the necessity for it. While ENTJs in particular don’t enjoy minutia, and tons of detailed procedures, they see the necessity for clearly established, objective standards to unite everyone under. This ensures efficiency, productivity, and acceptable results. On average, ENTJs do not think everyone should just do things their own subjective way, according to their own preferences. They’ll seek out the most objectively efficient, or most correct, way to do something, and will believe that others should adhere to that methodology. (The military is a good example of what Te looks like when taken to an extreme: everyone adhering to certain rules, conforming to certain standards, wearing certain uniforms, etc. Suppressing individuality for the sake of a well-oiled machine.) Like I mentioned earlier though, ENTJs won’t always agree with the rules in play, but they still see the necessity for them. They may strive to climb the ranks so they can escape the current structure by gaining enough authority to establish their own. ENTJs are not typically chaos monkeys, which makes this another one of the signs against being an ENTJ.

4. You prefer to plan on the go, rather than plotting things out in advance

For the record, ENTJs (as both extraverts and tertiary Se users) are oftentimes reasonably comfortable adjusting their plan on the go when it’s necessary. Sometimes they may even find it a bit thrilling, because it challenges them. However, their default preference is to have a plan prior to action. They don’t want to move forward aimlessly. ENTJs plan ahead, strategize their actions, and then move forward. They won’t sit in inaction for a longtime, because dominant Te will be eager to make progress, but they won’t want to launch forward unprepared either. It’s fairly common for ESXPs to mistype as Te doms when the ESXP is goal-oriented. But, it’s important to recognize that ESXPs are dominant Se users, which means that typically find that over-planning ruins things for them, so they’ll tend to plan on the go so they won’t have to overthink it. This will not be the case for an ENTJ. Rather, a Te dominant will prefer to do more legwork in the planning phase, to ensure or secure their desired results. An ESXP might know what they want and have a general goal in mind, but they typically haven’t plotted out how exactly they’re going to reach the goal. They just have a general direction, an idea, or a next step in mind, and of course, their envisioned endpoint. ENTJs should dive a bit deeper than that, doing more planning than improvising.

5. You’re not hesitant or resistant to share half-baked ideas

Introverted Intuition, or Ni, is subjective intuition, which in a sense means that it’s personal to the individual. NJs, and even many SPs, need to mull over their intuitive ideas, perfecting and refining them before sharing them. Which means, on average, ENTJs are extraverting Te, not Ni. When the ideas are verbalized, they’re usually stated with more certainty, and already locked into the ENTJ’s mind as truth or fact. If an individual is tossing ideas out there, and then quickly dismissing them, retracting them, or moving on, that’s a sign of Ne, or Extraverted Intuition. NPs oftentimes like to brainstorm ideas, or toss ideas out into the open to see what sticks. They’ll allow other people to help refine or reject the idea. They’re not as personally tied to many of their ideas, because they haven’t fixated on them for as long. (ENTJs do something similar with Te, since that’s their extraverted function. They’re usually quick to adapt their methodology once a better method is brought to their attention.)

6. You’re very detailed in the way you communicate, leaving little open to interpretation

As NJs, ENTJs use an introverted perceiving function that deals with patterns rather than details. (See Ni vs. Si: Details and patterns). What this means is that these types don’t internalize all the details of a situation, but rather the framework or the overarching pattern. This makes it easier for them to derive insight from unfamiliar scenarios in the future because they don’t get as caught up on the implication of specific details. However, what this also means is that they aren’t always very detailed when they relay information, because the details don’t matter as much to them.

For instance, an ENTJ may have a goal or task they want accomplished with a few key parameters to fulfill, but they may not care how the task is completed beyond that. What this means is that they’re unlikely to mark out the path for someone or give a ton of guidance. (This can make them less nitpicky than, for instance, SJs, because they won’t be interested in micromanaging others or checking over every little thing.) But, some people may struggle because they don’t feel like the ENTJ provided enough information or guidance to actually complete the task. So, one of the signs someone is not an ENTJ is if they frequently give an overabundance of information, and never need to be probed for more details.

7. You don’t envision the future and try to figure out where it’s all going

Many NJs consider themselves living in the future, mentally speaking. (For the record, ISJs and NPs can also feel this way.) For NJs, this is because they are constantly paying attention to the future implications of everything that happens. They want to know where it’s all headed, how things will play out, etc. Ni wants to see the future, and navigate life in the most ideal way possible. ENTJs use Ni in service to Te, which means that their predictive tendencies are typically serving their goal or their established structure. For instance, ENTJs may eagerly adopt new technologies with the potential to aid what they’re trying to accomplish, especially if they perceive it’s integration into society as inevitable. Essentially, they might see themselves as getting ahead of the game, or proactively avoiding falling behind. An individual that feels uncomfortable thinking about the long term future, or on average, thinks little about the future is unlikely an ENTJ.

8. Inefficiency and incompetence don’t bother you

This one goes two directions. First, ENTJs will typically struggle watching inefficiency happen around them. Many ENTJs will find it difficult to watch someone do something if they know a far better way to accomplish that task. They may feel the urge to takeover and do it themselves. Because of this tendency, ENTJs may find it preferable to either do everything themselves, or stay completely uninvolved with other people’s tasks.

The second direction is a more personal one. Namely, ENTJs won’t want other people to see them as inefficient or incompetent. Remember, Te is focused on objective standards, so ENTJs are judging themselves against external standards for success (within whatever field or life path they’ve chosen). Being labelled as inefficient or incompetent may be perceived as an attack on their inferior Fi identity, or their self-esteem will take a hit because of their failure. In other words, ENTJs will be bothered if people don’t think they know what they’re doing.

9. You dismiss facts out of hand

For the record, this does not mean that ENTJs will agree with every supposed fact that’s out there, and this does not mean that they don’t think for themselves. Rather, these types will have adaptable logic, in the sense that they will readily adjust their thinking to what has been externally verified. Their internal understanding will quickly shift to account for the facts, because they’re not as personally attached to that internal framework. TPs, as introverted thinkers, will be the opposite. While obviously, an intelligent TP will take facts into consideration, TPs have more of an inclination to reject facts that don’t align with their current understanding, even if the fact is “supposedly” proven. Their instinct will be to reject anything that contradicts what they’ve rationalized to be true. This sometimes means that they rightfully ignore “facts” that end up being proven wrong, but it also means that they may ignore facts that are facts indeed. The gut instinct to reject new information that doesn’t immediately fit with what they already know tends to one of the tell-tale signs of a TP, rather than an ENTJ. Feelers may also try to invalidate a fact on the premise of it’s value-based implication.