The Non-Categorizable-INFJ

[Joe 94]

A lot of INFJ's feel helpless because they realize how limited the corporate world is. It doesn't give them room to express themselves fully, even though there are some careers that seem to fit better than others. And it's not as if all corporate jobs are evil; however the INFJ seems to pick up on the details of the repetitiveness and reacts to this mundane way of living more obviously than other personality-types.

So what can an INFJ do about it?

1) Don't worry about fitting in. The world is changing. Maybe we won't have the same kind of corporations 20 years from now. I've heard the economy may shake and things will be much more local. Geico is already advertising "we're local." I think INFJ's want to expend their energy to help others, but they also realize more than others how much energy is wasted on group-think and needless meetings. The INFJ has a grasp on his internal feelings, but can also see the big picture.


2) Build your own career. Career comes from the root-word, "car." A car is a vehicle. Anything that you use to move resources and support in your direction is a vehicle. For example I've written one book. This works for many INFJ's because they like writing.


3) Realize that your inner-self doesn't want to be categorized, and put less importance on fitting in. I realized my ego was constructing much of the resistance to taking a boring job. It's important to get in tune with how our emotions are driving us. Because many INFJ's have lots of emotions, and from studying marketing, I've realized our emotions drive a lot more of our actions and behavior than our logic. This applies to all personality-types (except maybe INTJ haha).

Wherever one puts excess-importance, there will be balanced-forces waiting to eliminate the excess-potential. This is a concept borrowed from the book, "Reality Transurfing." I love that book.

So, evaluate where your excess emotions are.

Personally, it just feels like I'm afraid of regular jobs because I don't want to be wrong. Maybe I'm a perfectionist, or I'm afraid of working with people. My emotions come up so fast and then I start blaming or judging the group or the leader and finding excuses not to be part of the group anymore.

What is it about corporate work that triggers the you? Can you process that fear/anger and get past it?

Hope this helps you in your career.

 

[David54]

I ended up in management. .seemed like a good idea at the time. One book I would recommend is:

it tells in fable style of how to become better at and ultimately win in the leadership game. almost turns it into a spiritual pursuit, and that is perhaps what drew me to it. The biggest problen I had was my tendency to rely on intuition to resolve issues. . the corporate world doesn't work on intuitions,even when you are right, which I always was. .

And welcome to the forum. .may you find something of worth in the words written here

 

[ReasonEnduring]

I want to get into management.

I'm a damn site smarter than the clowns I've worked under before.

I can talk 'management-ese' but also thoroughly likeable with the hoy-poloy. And I'm not afraid to make the hard decisions for the greater good (of the business).

English charm in an American Establishment might help as well.

Gonna make myself a King using the system, then I'll rule the Kingdom my way. Better, efficient. But above all, profitable.

 

[Ren]

I want to get into management.

I'm a damn site smarter than the clowns I've worked under before.

I can talk 'management-ese' but also thoroughly likeable with the hoy-poloy. And I'm not afraid to make the hard decisions for the greater good (of the business).

English charm in an American Establishment might help as well.

Gonna make myself a King using the system, then I'll rule the Kingdom my way. Better, efficient. But above all, profitable.

I understand where you're coming from, but aren't you afraid this kind of cynicism would work against genuinely good leadership?

 

[Sidney]

I understand where you're coming from, but aren't you afraid this kind of cynicism would work against genuinely good leadership?

I've come to find that I'm not suited for management and it's not because I'm not smart enough. As I've gotten older and presumably wiser, I've come to find that management positions aren't an advancement. They are just another type of job. More often than not, a manager ends up not only managing the day to day tasks of the business but everyone's egos and personalities and somehow making it all work to the benefit of the team or business. As an INFJ this already sounds exhausting and hopeless to me. Like trying to herd cats. It also entails having a certain type of personality and charisma that people will follow that I gather many introverts like myself just don't have. I've learned the hard way already but have come to realize that its ok. Management just isn't for everyone and its alright if you aren't good at it. Lots of other tasks out there in the world to succeed at.

 

[Ren]

I've come to find that I'm not suited for management and it's not because I'm not smart enough. As I've gotten older and presumably wiser, I've come to find that management positions aren't an advancement. They are just another type of job. More often than not, a manager ends up not only managing the day to day tasks of the business but everyone's egos and personalities and somehow making it all work to the benefit of the team or business. As an INFJ this already sounds exhausting and hopeless to me. Like trying to herd cats. It also entails having a certain type of personality and charisma that people will follow that I gather many introverts like myself just don't have. I've learned the hard way already but have come to realize that its ok. Management just isn't for everyone and its alright if you aren't good at it. Lots of other tasks out there in the world to succeed at.

That's a very healthy level of self-awareness and self-acceptance, Sidney. I agree with you completely.

 

[Somnium]

Personally, it just feels like I'm afraid of regular jobs because I don't want to be wrong. Maybe I'm a perfectionist, or I'm afraid of working with people. My emotions come up so fast and then I start blaming or judging the group or the leader and finding excuses not to be part of the group anymore.

What is it about corporate work that triggers the you? Can you process that fear/anger and get past it?

Personally, I haven’t had a vast professional experience, but after working at the same area for a really long time I finally came to realize that I love what I do.
Education. It doesn’t have an strict hierarchy, neither a fixed job routine and I got to get out of my comfort zone, since I get to work with lots of people, at different ages.
At first, I was the only judgmental one and towards my own self, I’m a perfectionist myself, but I’ve set my own limits.

As for the effects of my job on me, it reassured my insecurities, even though it wasn’t the cause of them. However, after learning little by little with myself, I could become a better professional and consequently, a more satisfied one.
Since it may be interesting to others, I’ll mention a book highlight, which helped me not only with my own struggles but also when dealing with people:

 

[Joe 94]

Personally, I haven’t had a vast professional experience, but after working at the same area for a really long time I finally came to realize that I love what I do.
Education. It doesn’t have an strict hierarchy, neither a fixed job routine and I got to get out of my comfort zone, since I get to work with lots of people, at different ages.
At first, I was the only judgmental one and towards my own self, I’m a perfectionist myself, but I’ve set my own limits.

As for the effects of my job on me, it reassured my insecurities, even though it wasn’t the cause of them. However, after learning little by little with myself, I could become a better professional and consequently, a more satisfied one.
Since it may be interesting to others, I’ll mention a book highlight, which helped me not only with my own struggles but also when dealing with people:

Thanks for your thoughts. I've seen that book before. Glad you enjoy education.

 

[Joe 94]

I've come to find that I'm not suited for management and it's not because I'm not smart enough. As I've gotten older and presumably wiser, I've come to find that management positions aren't an advancement. They are just another type of job. More often than not, a manager ends up not only managing the day to day tasks of the business but everyone's egos and personalities and somehow making it all work to the benefit of the team or business. As an INFJ this already sounds exhausting and hopeless to me. Like trying to herd cats. It also entails having a certain type of personality and charisma that people will follow that I gather many introverts like myself just don't have. I've learned the hard way already but have come to realize that its ok. Management just isn't for everyone and its alright if you aren't good at it. Lots of other tasks out there in the world to succeed at.

I concur. Even Entrepreneurship can be a job, if the person is locked in to working and supervising people. "If I have to work for money, it's still a job" Robert Kiyosaki says. I studied business because I wanted to be... less busy with people. Lol it seems so simple and backward when I reduce it like that, but that's about the truth of it. I didn't want to be controlled by someone else's agenda or rules so I reacted by being a loner. Now I'm living in my mom's house and I need to get out again. Shhh don't tell anyone.

I realized recently that I was reacting to having a normal job because I grew up homeschooled, and played piano. I learned to put all my focus and importance on becoming the best pianist I could be. Once I lost faith in that, I still wanted to live and work a creative lifestyle but have felt stifled by the fear that it won't pay the bills.

 

[sakizkiz]

A regular job sounds frightening for me. I studied Business as well. In my last year I noticed that's an unalterable huge mistake. It's not because of I cannot do. I don't want to spend my life in a meaningless job. My mom is not an ambitious woman. She makes do with what life brings. When I was a child, she always told me I was living in a dream world and I believed her and stopped dreaming. I understood this is wrong after my graduation (2019 June). I told myself "Girl, you can't change the past but your future will be consequence of your decisions." Then I started to work as a Barista. People around me got shocked because my university and department are great to find a corporate job but I asked myself what I want to be and where I want to be.
Still I do not know... Sometimes to get the answer you should eliminate what would not you do. Then I've decided to do masters degree in abroad and to make it happen I should learn a back up job. According to my plan I will get close to my best possible option. Due to Corona, I have started questioning myself again.
To sum up, I took a huge risk for me. If I fail, proudly I will say at least you tried and I will make a new plan. I have learnt that being perfectionist is mostly heaviness for our souls. Maybe can be sounds impossible but trying to unloose that boss can make our lives easier. We should listen our instincts.

 

[dragulagu]

Personally, I haven’t had a vast professional experience, but after working at the same area for a really long time I finally came to realize that I love what I do.
Education. It doesn’t have an strict hierarchy, neither a fixed job routine and I got to get out of my comfort zone, since I get to work with lots of people, at different ages.
At first, I was the only judgmental one and towards my own self, I’m a perfectionist myself, but I’ve set my own limits.

As for the effects of my job on me, it reassured my insecurities, even though it wasn’t the cause of them. However, after learning little by little with myself, I could become a better professional and consequently, a more satisfied one.
Since it may be interesting to others, I’ll mention a book highlight, which helped me not only with my own struggles but also when dealing with people:

+1 good book

Thanks for your thoughts. I've seen that book before. Glad you enjoy education.

She also did a TED presentation if I recall:

 

[noisebloom]

I understand where you're coming from, but aren't you afraid this kind of cynicism would work against genuinely good leadership?

I can see where he's coming from... All those swell human flaws like biases, hesitation, selfishness get in people's way on the path to becoming a strong leader. We're left with management that doesn't really give a damn about the big picture or the people that work under them. Someone that is willing to come in and declare the status quo bullshit is an opportunity for positive change... it doesn't necessarily ensure it, but at least it gets people talking and trying to provide solutions to problems that were previously ignored.

Gonna make myself a King using the system, then I'll rule the Kingdom my way.

Unfortunately, I think being the "King" in this case is more like being the president. You have to be willing to get blamed for anything, and you can be impeached if they don't like you (much easier to do to a manager than the president, so the analogy kind of fails).

It's not hard to be liked by management, but when you actually lead and are accountable for things pretty much out of your control, it can feel like you're less in charge than if you weren't a leader at all... just my opinion/experience.

 

[Ren]

I can see where he's coming from... All those swell human flaws like biases, hesitation, selfishness get in people's way on the path to becoming a strong leader. We're left with management that doesn't really give a damn about the big picture or the people that work under them. Someone that is willing to come in and declare the status quo bullshit is an opportunity for positive change... it doesn't necessarily ensure it, but at least it gets people talking and trying to provide solutions to problems that were previously ignored.

I agree with you, but that's not what I intuited from RE's post. He refers to the people that work under managers as the "hoi polloi", which is more or less equivalent to "the plebs". It seems to me this is a replication of the problems you highlight in your post rather than a rejection of it. If you think you're good at interacting with "the plebs", well, you still think they're plebs, and that's not a good basis to start from.

 

[Roses In The Vineyard]

This is one of those things that isn't going to last forever as it is like a house of cards but more so being one built on shifting sand. These sort of jobs are not only soul draining they are proving to be unsustainable as nearly 40 million people over the last couple of months have learned the hard way. This fall going into winter and into 2021 is going to be one to remember.