The Campaigner Personality
Theodore Luciano
The Campaigner
ENFP-T
Career Nirvana: Pastor/Pilot/Platform Builder
“If there’s a challenge Campaigners (ENFPs) face when selecting a career, it isn’t that they lack talent or options or drive, it’s that there are so many things out there that are just cool.”
This isn’t just true for the career choice of a Campaigner. As an ENFP, my life has not been filled with trying to find something I want to do. Actually, it’s been quite the opposite. It’s a battle to stay focused on one area because everything feels like it’s a possibility. I don’t ever want to put myself in a box. I find myself opening every “door” I see and closing far less.
Along with a fluky interest in a large number of things comes the other side of that. It’s easy to lose interest just as quickly. It can be easy to get discouraged if met with opposition. Often the biggest opponent of me achieving my goals…. is myself. I tell myself that what I’m pursuing is too hard, or not worth it, or not something that can be maintained. In reality, most of my ideas and interests are things that are worth pursuing. Just not all at the same time.
I tend to make things harder and more complicated than they need to be. That’s because ENFPs are highly emotional, and I see that in myself. While understanding the emotional side of a situation is a very good thing, sometimes an emotional response is not something that is ideal, and that can happen a lot.
Campaigners do well when allowed to use their creativity, people skills, energy, and often magnetic personas. They know when it’s time to relax, and understand when a little shot of enthusiasm can change a whole mood for the better. Strong relationships and conversations are often the way Campaigners get their ideas across, as they are excellent communicators and are generally friendly and popular people. On the other side, they tend to get caught up in overthinking, proclivity to stress, lack of focus, and a sometimes unprecedented sense of independence.
A generally true statement for Campaigners, aka ENFP, is that they are free spirits with a deep desire to connect with others. I say generally because I do not believe that any personality test truly encompasses the wonder of the human personality, in all its uniqueness. While the personality test seeks to come close to finding out what makes you and I tick, it will never be exactly accurate. For example, Campaigners are supposed to be some of the most independent of all. But personally, I do very well with rules and structure. I find comfort in relying on others for direction at times.
So absolutely, use personality tests to help you learn more about yourself and what makes you YOU! But don’t put yourself in a box…. There’s only one of you, and trust me, there’s a lot more to you than four letters.
Personality is a factor that makes some more likely to succeed at certain jobs than others. The question I’d like to answer here is which of the four business roles(Customer Success, Sales, Marketing, Operations) would be best suited for a Campaigner.
In the workplace, a Campaigner’s caring attributes certainly are evident. As subordinates, they do well because generally, they are excellent listeners and capable of analyzing and understanding other people’s perspectives easily. They are not appreciative of micro-management. Campaigners expect that because they understand what their goal is, they should be allowed the freedom to get there in their own way. A violation of this could lead to a stressed and frustrated subordinate. There is a level of oversight that is required however, for as I mentioned before, ENFP’s tend to get distracted easily. This tendency can lead to them moving on from a project before it’s truly complete. “The grass is always greener on the other side” is something that Campaigners deal with quite often.
With colleagues, Campaigners’ personalities shine through strongest. They view coworkers as friends and treat them that way. Conflict in the workplace can be hard because of this reason. A disagreement at work could feel the same to them as a disagreement between them and any other good friend. But their tendency to see the best in people and general likeability does well to assuage conflict that may arise.
With these factors in mind, what is the ideal role for a Campaigner? First of all, with their adaptability, it is possible to do well in any of the four roles. But looking at the personality traits, and then the general aspects of what a job within these roles entails, I would say that Campaigners would be best suited for an opportunity in Sales or Operations.
Sales is all about relationships, and so are Campaigners. A Campaigner would find a great deal in this role that would cater to their strengths. Always looking for new connections and able to communicate well, they would fit right in. Another factor that would give them an edge is their friendliness and popularity. Customers would be likely to feel quite at ease while interacting with an ENFP. The biggest hurdle I could see other ENFP’s like me having to get over would be the fear of getting rejected. This happens a lot in sales and is not something a Campaigner would respond very well to. With our desire for good relationships, and a tendency to infuse emotion in most situations, Campaigners take rejection as an attack against them personally, and it can be hard to overcome. Aside from that, sales provides the opportunities needed for a Campaigner to be the best they can.
Operations is a rather diverse role, as it covers many different areas. Campaigners would be less likely to feel locked into the same routine, day after day. Operations is all about improving systems and building new ones. Sometimes, people in these roles tend to put the system over the people it is supposed to be helping. ENFP’s would be very good at maintaining that balance, as they would think of the people and try to do what’s best for them. Those in other departments would not worry with a Campaigner supporting them in operations.
Don’t feel like you’re doing something wrong if your interests do not fall into these roles. Personally, I am most interested in marketing and operations. Like I said before, four letters do not make up the entirety of a personality. I hope this helps give you an idea of where you may be strongest, but stay true to yourself and your goals. Honestly, that’s what us Campaigners do.
So that was a starting point. What next? What are you most equipped to pursue as a long term goal or status? I can’t begin to try to tell you what you should do. But, I see some passions and interests in my own life, and I hope they will translate to my fellow Campaigners.
I am severely attracted to the idea of sharing a message that can change people’s lives for the better. As a Christian, the most important message to me is the Gospel as told in the Bible, but I understand that’s not true for everybody. In your case, maybe you have a different message that has changed your life. Something that you can’t bear keeping to yourself. You would do well in life to share that message with others.
Campaigners will do best if they are able to use their people skills, pursue their creative ideas, and influence and impact others. That sounds pretty accurate of my own goals in life. I would find great fulfillment in some type of pastoral position, where I can combine the particular message I want to share with the factors of a successful Campaigner.
I also have a thorough interest in being a pilot. I hesitate to draw exact parallels between this and my personality because being a pilot is certainly not only achievable by ENFP’s, so instead, I look to what excites me about it. I feel a connection between the creativity side and flying. There are rules to follow for sure, but when you’re in the air, things just seem easier. You’ve entered a scape where few people spend more the required time, and it is exhilarating. I could see a Campaigner doing best in a career that allows a change of scenery quite often, and that is literally every moment for a pilot. Campaigners do not react well to getting locked into a boring routine, and to me, flying would never be boring.
I hope more than anything, you feel the passion behind my words. It is a fool’s errand to me to expect to know what you would be best at or would bring you fulfillment. But I hope that this helps you see the mind of a fellow Campaigner and the driving forces behind him. I hope you feel that within you, and can use this to further find who you are and who you will be.
With that, all of you intuitive, feeling, perceiving extroverts(which is what ENFP literally means)…. Let’s go conquer the world!
