eNFjs - Idealist Teacher

The Pygmalion Project: The Teacher

Copyright © 1989 Stephen Montgomery

The Idealist most committed to guiding others through the doors of life, or along the pathways of learning and understanding, is the type that Keirsey has named the Teacher (Myers's “ENFJ”).

Teachers are natural facilitators in all their relationships, encouraging those around them, urging their personal growth, and taking charge of others (particularly of groups) with an extraordinary enthusiasm and confidence.  Indeed, Teachers are so expressive and charismatic in their leadership – in a word, so inspiring – that they seem in some ways less coercive than the other Idealists.  Keirsey says that, though Teachers are both expressive and role-directive, they manage to “command without seeming to do so,”  not by means of explicit orders, nor through saintly patience, romantic longing, or mute withdrawal, but by kindling in their students and colleagues their own passion for self-exploration and development.  Teachers are masters of the art of positive expectation (or “front-loading”), and they communicate their belief in the evolution of the “self” with such a glow of promise that quite often, as Keirsey tells us, their optimism “induces action” in others, and the “desire to live up to [their] expectations.”

Teachers bring all this infectious energy to their intimate relationships as well, and they make passionate and delightfully creative companions.  However, at such close range the intensity of their wishes for their loved ones can create interpersonal conflict.  Teachers can overwhelm their loved ones with their exuberance, and with their Pygmalion presumption that everyone wants to be helped along the path of self-discovery.  Then, when their loved ones either resist their pressure or fail to meet their idealistic expectations, Teachers can feel frustrated, disillusioned, or even betrayed by the persons they care most about.

Re: eNFjs - Idealist Teacher

'when their loved ones either resist their pressure or fail to meet their idealistic expectations, Teachers can feel frustrated, disillusioned, or even betrayed by the persons they care most about.'

hitting the mark all the time

i am not a teacher in terms of the personality test
i don't think
nor in any great mystical sense either
just a plain old
boring old
teacher of kids

kids are great
they very often live up to expectations
because all i expect is a little trust
and a little risk

adults a little trickier
i have found…

Re: eNFjs - Idealist Teacher

hi
mu

been out of the loop a few weeks
and returning to zaads
i am surprised at the little uptake of your idealist pod

i would have thought it would have been very popular

can i ask for your honest opinion
based on your experience of course
: i have been trying to connect up with people through the net
to promote the idea of 2020worldpeace
sporadically i am sure
but there is some persistance involved
and
do you think that there is any growth
in trying to communicate with already established sites?

you see
i think the initial seed and trajectory of minds and thinking
dictate where the plant will grow
and so
it makes later additions a little tricky to influence
it is more a matter of joining in
rather than redirecting…
does this make sense….?

so
i am caught between starting my own thing and being alone
or contributing towards other projects that already have their own inertia

do you get the dilemma?

thanks for taking your time to read this
and i much appreciate your comments