ESTPs are big-thinking, action-oriented entrepreneurs - bold go-getters who go for what they want with great confidence in themselves. They have an uncanny ability to size up a situation and either leave it or get what they want from it. Flexible and pragmatic, ESTPs typically see little need to do things "by the book" - especially not if doing things "outside of the book" will get greater results. Unconventional, alert, and extremely adaptable, ESTPs are good at thinking on their feet and even better at convincing others to get behind their solution to a problem. In situations where others have to sit down and think to come up with a solution, the ESTP can often shake out an answer by simply looking at the problem.
Of all the 16 types, ESTPs are perhaps the most observant and discerning realists. As first movers with an eye for innovation, they are frequently attuned to what the "next big thing" will be before others have even noticed it. For this reason, ESTPs may sometimes seem as if they have an eerie ability to always be in the right place at the right time. When a golden opportunity arises, the ESTPs of this world are usually among the first to notice it, seize it, and to make use of it for their own ends.
ESTPs are at their best when they have the freedom to call their own shots. Their creativity and ability to make the most of a new situation is wasted in menial and routine jobs, where they are stifled by bureaucratic procedures that only serve to curb their boldness and hamper their ingenuity. ESTPs want bold new things to happen in the world, while bureaucratic managers are often more concerned with consolidating what they already have.
ESTPs tend to have a relaxed and open attitude and they often have a strong charisma. They tend to have a way with people where they are extremely shrewd at connecting with them and convincing them of their plans. One can often find an ESTP at the center of a large network of friends and business connections, which the ESTP can draw on for making his latest plan come true. And like the
ESTJ, the ESTP is often acutely realistic with regards to sizing up the capabilities and possible contributions of the people around them - knowing in advance what they can and cannot do.
When propositioning others to get in on their ideas, ESTPs are naturally gifted with the ability to think in win-win scenarios. They promptly see where
both parties stand to gain and they naturally emphasize that. Their directness and ease of expression makes them appear self-confident and convincing in the eyes of others. Colorful and compelling, ESTPs are in many ways equipped with that extra savvy which allows them to do well in business as well as in life. They are ambitious adventurers who are resilient and unlikely to be knocked out by a setback - if one avenue of success doesn't work out, another one will.
Underneath their charming exterior, ESTPs are usually tough-minded and coolly pragmatic. When making a decision about whether to include someone in a given opportunity or scheme they will lucidly weigh the pros and cons of that person's abilities with respect to their own objectives. Ever the pragmatists, ESTPs will typically not see the need to inform people of their slights and most of the people around them are therefore bound to be unaware that they are being weighed and measured in this manner. Telling people about their faults rarely accomplishes anything anyway, and what most ESTPs care about is bringing people together to innovate and create real-world results on a grand scale - not to play therapist and counselor to one another.
ESTPs usually don't have a lot of time for moralizing and they tend to turn a deaf ear to people who lecture them on their "responsibilities." For this reason, ESTPs are sometimes seen as opportunistic and cynical by others. In reality, though, most ESTPs are both principled and loyal, but they tend to approach their responsibilities differently than other types: If a commitment is to be genuine on their part, they must be free to assume it entirely of their own accord and not be pressured or persuaded into doing it. If an ESTP is going to assume such responsibilities, it is going to be because he
wants to, not because he
has to. If others try to pressure them into commitment, ESTPs will often feel justified in taking whatever countermeasures that they deem appropriate to escape these attempts at constricting them and reigning them in.
With their undaunted attitude, supreme realism, and eye for the bottom line, ESTPs are in many ways natural leaders of men. They have an effortless understanding of what others want and they have a tendency to work
with people rather than
against them, as the
INTJand
ENTJ types are sometimes wont to do. Unlike the NTJ types, ESTPs have a nimble and flexible attitude that keeps things moving and they don't get locked down in confrontation. ESTPs think in win-win scenarios where they do not have to have everything their own way - if major results can be achieved by glossing over a few disagreements and making a compromise here and there then so be it - what matters are the results.
