INTjs and leadership

[RSV3]

I was wondering what experiences LIIs here have had in leadership roles. More specifically, what did you perceive your strengths and weaknesses were in terms of leadership skill or potential. Also, if anyone has observed an LII in a leadership role I'd be interested in hearing your observations and conclusions about how well or poorly he/she performed (strengths and weaknesses).

[tcaudilllg]

Meeting people to lead. Biggest issue by far.

[electric sheep]

leadership is a very basic task, there isn't a lot of complexity imo. It's very hard to be a good leader, but only because it's so hard to master the basics. Whenever I find myself in anything close to a leadership position, I lose patience very quickly because I don't want to spend time on the basic issues of leadership, I want to work on more mentally challenging things--especially because people can have so much trouble on those things. So usually I try to make someone else handle the basic leadership stuff so I can work on my own thing. Honestly, I don't think my talents are put to good use as a leader.

[kensi]

I was wondering what experiences LIIs here have had in leadership roles. More specifically, what did you perceive your strengths and weaknesses were in terms of leadership skill or potential. Also, if anyone has observed an LII in a leadership role I'd be interested in hearing your observations and conclusions about how well or poorly he/she performed (strengths and weaknesses).

hey RSV3,

i got a few but the best example i can think of is Steve Mariuchi-- the analyst for the NFL Network. When he is telecasted with 3 or 4 members of the nfl panel, a lot of times he is up against former players who think they have more relevant things to say (pershaps more Se experience embeded in their psyches to some relevant extent) than he does. In the weeks preceeding the Superbowl, i though he exhibited a lot of really solid INTj leadership characteristics that i havnt noticed that much before from INTjs. With 3 or 4 other commentators buying for airtime, he had to be sharp and quick at the same time. Putting all Se jargon aside, I could tell he got the respect of the panel and became the leader in those times he was featured on air. If you;re interested in this you might want to google him and see what u get for videos. I know for fact that i watched the episodes because of the interesting and somewhat confrontational personality dynamic that had emerged there and how Mariuchi always held his ground.

[Froody Blue Gem]

I'm not the best leader in the world, and am uncomfortable with giving others orders. If people need help or no one is taking initiative, I will take it upon myself to be the one to do so. It's a matter of meeting people's needs, but being firm. When there's a group of people, there will be people in the group who want contradicting things. I also have my limits in being relied on and listening to other people's problems, and it gets to a point where I perceive it as being dumped on, and resentment builds up. I get overwhelmed when there are a lot of people relying on me and I know that there is a chance I'll let them down. I am also awkward with interacting with people.

I have been told that I have leadership potential and qualities, and when I find groups I'm comfortable in, that I'm the "social glue" that holds it together. It's just a matter of tapping into those qualities and working on them. I'm not really a leader, nor a blind follower, somewhere in the middle.

[Hot Scalding Gayser]

LIIs seem too nerdy and weak to lead, and with Se polr they would make poor leaders.

Sorry I know I'm being harsh and hypocritical. IEIs have weak Se too, and are also nerdy and weak, but IEIs still make better leaders I think because we are ethical types and are better at using Fe & Fi manipulation with others. I am often promoted to minor authority positions in real life but never really as the head boss. I am very intelligent and wise and I emotionally understand others well & I have very good insight, but my natural shyness and introversion does get in the way. (also I just don't 'give a fuck' often enough lol) LIIs in my experience do not try to understand others emotionally well enough to be leaders, their emotional understanding of others seems way too simplistic and one dimensional. LIIs are much better at mechanical know-how than IEIs are in my experience. But society doesn't really make the mechanic the leader.

I also think leading others requires seeing them outside of the Ti box... but almost any introvert being a leader seems problematic to me.

[ouronis]

I have no problems giving orders and making sure people stay on task but the second I had a disrespectful or unruly employee I would need to fire them because I can't deal with those situations rationally.

I am also pretty low energy and would not give effective speeches or consistently develop good rapport with all of my employees.

[FreelancePoliceman]

I take the lead if no one else seems capable of it. I don’t think I’m particularly bad at “leading” per se, but I tend to be bad with people, especially in groups of more than 5 or so. So, in medium-large groups I prefer to defer to someone I trust is competent.

[The Reality Denialist]

It probably boils down to the configuration of the system. I suppose if LII has someone who does the dirty work for him/her and I think this is probably the way many organizations work.

[WinnieW]

It's almost certain that I was incapable to fulfill the role of a leader of groups the time I was younger. Nowadays, I'm older and I'm capable to lead people but most of the time I lack desire or motivation to do so.
But I guess this is the case for nearly all people of the Alpha quadra, Alpha NT and Alpha SF, because no type of this quadra values or ... both functions play an important role in leadership positions.
The excessive use of unvalued functions isn't a satisfying expierence, I'd say.

[Adam Strange]

The military has two kinds of officers; line officers who lead men in the field, and staff officers who ensure that everything (men and materials) is available, and the procedures are in place, with reports, to accomplish the mission.

LII's are staff officers.

If they find themselves in positions, often arrived at because they did a great job organizing something on paper, where they have to use personal force to get people to do things, they either apply too little or too much force, and both actions tend to alienate their people.

I'm sure there are exceptions to this behavior, but I haven't seen any in my entire life.

[Northstar]

It probably boils down to the configuration of the system. I suppose if LII has someone who does the dirty work for him/her and I think this is probably the way many organizations work.

The military has two kinds of officers; line officers who lead men in the field, and staff officers who ensure that everything (men and materials) is available, and the procedures are in place, with reports, to accomplish the mission.

LII's are staff officers.

If they find themselves in positions, often arrived at because they did a great job organizing something on paper, where they have to use personal force to get people to do things, they either apply too little or too much force, and both actions tend to alienate their people.

I'm sure there are exceptions to this behavior, but I haven't seen any in my entire life.

Spot on. LII make good project managers except when there is a need to push people. Usually no force at all, or in rare cases completely disproportionate use that only causes problems.

[Nobody]

I think I'm LII and I think an ideal leadership position for me would be a project manager where everybody already knows their roles, but I'm there to facilitate and help in whatever way I can to design the best product that we can, given the constraints. Almost like a consultant. But if we're under pressure to meet unrealistic deadlines and I'm expected to act as an authority figure and micromanage people or tell them what I think they should be doing or motivate them or I'm expected to deal with personal issues between employees, I would hate it. That literally takes all the fun out of working.

[Rebelondeck]

I have been in leadership roles my entire career and this started in childhood though I preferred it when others were in charge. However, even when someone else was frontman, I seemed to run the projects. My strengths were that I always seemed to know what to do and how it should be done; and I was lucky in that everyone else seemed to accept that I knew what I was doing. I was fair and didn't take things personally, and people seem to think that I must have a very thick skin because of the personal betrayal that I've experienced. My weakness was in my personal relations; I never had anyone that I could really count on - most likely because I remained detached and never allowed them to really get to know me. Detachment is a double edged sword: I could see and understand things and capabilities very clearly without bias but most everyone viewed me as overly remote. I found it odd that acquaintances and staff would confide in me their deepest, darkest secrets because I doubt that they saw me as a friend; I was likely viewed as a trustworthy professional.

a.k.a. I/O

[Nobody]

I found it odd that acquaintances and staff would confide in me their deepest, darkest secrets because I doubt that they saw me as a friend; I was likely viewed as a trustworthy professional.

I get the same thing.
Why is that?

[Great]

I get the same thing.
Why is that?

Who would you tell?

[Rebelondeck]

I get the same thing.
Why is that?

When I'm alone I think a lot about myself: my past, my future, current situations, my successes and most of all, my failures. When I'm with people socially, I don't want to talk about myself and I'm monosyllabic if asked about myself; however, I'm often very interested in the opinions of others so I tend to ask very relevant, poignant questions, for which I wait patiently and if necessary, probe further for complete replies. Unlike many who simply are looking for opportunities to talk about themselves and their issues, my focus is usually totally outward when engaging my senses. However, those people or their issues have to be interesting to me or relevant to work; otherwise, I'll withdraw into myself and lose most of the conversation.

a.k.a. I/O

[Nobody]

Who would you tell?

I'm not comfortable playing that game.

[Great]

I'm not comfortable playing that game.

That's kinda my point. You don't play social games. I think people would pick up on that and, along with what Rebelondeck said ("I'm often very interested in the opinions of others so I tend to ask very relevant, poignant questions"), LIIs can make a good ear. At least that's what I think. I know when I was questioned by an LII when I was upset, my emotions were dowsed.