There are certain personality types that make great leaders, and other personality types that would really struggle if put into any sort of leadership role. But, what about an ESFJ? How would they handle being placed in a leadership role, would they thrive or would they just sink?

ESFJ do not have the traits needed to be a top leader. They are woeful at long-term planning. However, they are great at people management. So, if the leadership role requires little in the way of long-term planning, and the ESFJ doesn’t have to take too many risks, they can make tremendous leaders.

Let’s tell you how this all works. Throughout this page, we’ll let you know the strengths and weaknesses of an ESFJ leader. 

Can ESFJs Be Leaders?

All personality types can be leaders, and ESFJs are no exception to that rule. While this is not a personality type that will necessarily gravitate toward a leadership role, there are situations where an ESFJ can thrive, and we’ll talk about those throughout the rest of this page. 

Are ESFJs Good Leaders?

ESFJs make good leaders from a man management standpoint. They are fantastic at diplomacy. However, when it comes to long-term planning, they really do struggle. 

ESFJs will often find some parts of leadership tough. ESFJs tend to thrive on ensuring that absolutely everybody is kept happy, and this can often be to the detriment of the project.

So, while an ESFJ probably wouldn’t work that well when put in a top leadership role (i.e. running the whole project), they would work well as an assistant leader. They can help to ensure that people on the project remain happy, while their co-leader will be doing the vast majority of the planning.

What Leadership Style is ESFJ?

In this section, we want to take an in-depth look at the leadership style of an ESFJ. We’ll let you know both their strengths and weaknesses. This should give you a rough idea of how an ESFJ would work if placed in a leadership position.c

Short-Term Planning 

One thing that will never motivate an ESFJ is long-term goals. Give an ESFJ a long-term goal, and they will draw a blank. It literally means nothing to them. They can’t focus on the future, and ESFJs love to focus on the short-term.

This means that an ESFJ is rarely going to make a good leader if there are tasks that would take months, even years, to finish. They will give it a go, but they would prefer to have much smaller goals. Ones that they can hit as soon as possible and, believe us, if you give an ESFJ a good short-term goal, they are going to hit the deadline on it. Although, it may be a bit odd to see their working style (more on that part shortly).

One of the great things about an ESFJ is that while they will only ever focus on shorter-term goals, they are great at actually ‘planning’ the route to accomplish those goals. In fact, they thrive on it. They love the planning stages. However, because an ESFJ will always do factual research before planning, sometimes this can take a little bit longer. But, still. They’ll get there in the end 

People Management Skills

This is where ESFJs really thrive when it comes to leadership roles. They are excellent at people management. Everybody wants to be around an ESFJ, and they will know exactly how to motivate their staff. Trust us, if you have an ESFJ on your team, you’re going to feel cared about.

The people management skills are the reason why many ESFJs actually end up in leadership roles, even if they are not always suited for the position. A lot of businesses look purely for people who can motivate their staff, and you really, really cannot beat an ESFJ when it comes to that.

ESFJs won’t allow any conflict in their team. If there is even the slightest sniff of conflict, then ESFJ will step in and deal with the problem. 

There is a downside to this, though. Because ESFJs thrive on keeping everyone on their team pleased, they will often struggle with choice paralysis when making decisions for the good of the project. If they know that a certain decision will go against the suggestion of another person, they’ll struggle to make it. They don’t want to hurt anybody. This is why it is often ideal to have another decision-maker in a leadership position.

Struggle To Prioritize Tasks

When faced with a huge list of tasks to tackle, they’ll struggle. Many ESFJs struggle to know which task should be prioritized. So, it is often better to give an ESFJ a small task to accomplish, let them do this, and then do another one.

There is no better way to demotivate an ESFJ than giving them multiple jobs to complete. Trust us, if you do, they’ll probably end up focusing on the wrong thing.

Can Hit Deadlines

ESFJs are pleasers. They love to please as many people as possible, and they know how to hit deadlines. Even if the deadline is pretty tight, an ESFJ will know exactly how to hit that deadline (or come incredibly close to it),

There are some things that may cause a slip-up here, though. For example, if they are given too many tasks at once then they may struggle (hence why each task should have a separate deadline), or if completing the project quickly may be to the detriment of people on their team. 

Struggle to Delegate

ESFJs are not great at delegating. A major problem with ESFJs is that they will try to take on as much work as possible. Nobody will ever call them lazy, and they’ll often be one of the hardest-working people on the team.

That being said, the struggle to delegate can be a problem. An ESFJ will work insanely hard to reach a target, while the rest of their team will be sitting around, twiddling their thumbs. 

Project Issues? They’ll Think It’s Their Fault

Finally, ESFJs will not deal with criticism well. They are built to please, and any project failing will be their fault. Now, you may think this is a good thing, but it isn’t. ESFJs don’t react well to criticism at all.

It is not uncommon for an ESFJ to completely shut down in the face of criticism. It will demotivate them (in the same way as if somebody on their team wasn’t a fan of them), and this can hamper projects. So, if you have to be critical of an ESFJ, always make sure that you do it in a ‘nice’ way. 

Final Thoughts

ESFJs can make decent leaders, to an extent. An ESFJ is not really built for leadership roles where there is a long-term vision for a project. They do far better focusing on the immediate future. If the ‘deadline’ is more than a few months away, then an ESFJ is really going to struggle to pick up the motivation to do it.

ESFJs can make good people leaders, though. They are apt at motivating a team, and they’ll often work incredibly hard. ESFJs will make every one of their team members cared for, and they’ll do well dealing with any conflict in the team.

Because of these traits, ESFJs will often work best alongside another leader. The ESFJ is there to manage the team, while the other person will be there to maintain the project vision. 

Reference Sources

https://www.refreshleadership.com/index.php/2020/10/16-myers-briggs-leadership-types-part-3/ https://personality-central.com/personality_types/esfj-leadership/  psychologyjunkie.com/leadership-skills-every-myers-briggs-personality-type/#:~:text=ESFJs%20are%20often%20called%20“servant,lead%20with%20kindness%20and%20clarity.

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