ESTP – The Entrepreneur Personality Traits

ESTP – The Entrepreneur Personality Traits: Do you ever wonder about what’s going on inside Donald Trump’s head?

While we may not have all the answers, we can still give you a pretty good insight into some of his personality traits, his strengths and weaknesses, how he acts in relationships and so much more!

This is because Donald Trump, along with other well-known personalities such as Madonna or Meryl Streep belong to the ESTP personality type.

ESTP, or the Entrepreneur personality type, is from the Explorers group of the 16 personality test that is based on the Myers-Briggs Indicator and Carl Jung’s personality theory.

With a mindset to tackle the world as it comes to them, ESTPs are determined, playful, and enthusiastic people that add a little spice to the world.

They have this incredibly lively energy that commands a room as soon as they walk in it. And with a hawk-eyed vision when it comes to noticing people, they might even be a little intimidating to be around.

However, an ESTP will always be down for a party or up for an adventure no matter what time of the day it is, and more often than not, will just dive into situations without thinking twice!

Curious to know more? Let’s jump right in!

Personality aspects of an ESTP

Each letter in the acronym of a personality type (aka E S T P) describes a person’s preferences in 5 different aspects of life which essentially make up their personality.

These aspects are mind, energy, nature, tactics, and identity.

The mind trait describes how we engage and interact with our environment.

The energy trait describes how we view the world and process it.

The nature trait describes how we deal with our emotions and make decisions.

The tactic trait describes how we tackle our daily tasks and the identity trait describes our overall confidence in our abilities and decisions.

In ESTPs, the preferences are Extroverted (mind), Observant (energy), Thinking (nature), and Prospecting (tactics).

The identity trait can either be Assertive (A) or Turbulent (T) and varies in every individual.

Now let’s look into what each of these traits tells us about ESTPs.

Extroverted (E)

As extroverted people, ESTPs draw their energy by interacting with the outside world, unlike introverts who expel energy around others.

This makes ESTPs ‘get up and go!’ kind of people who struggle to spend time at home by themselves.

Observant (S)

This is the first trait that’s commonly shared by people of the Explorers group and it explains how ESTPs prefer to take the world in through their senses as it is, rather than trying to see patterns in things that may or may not be there.

This keeps them grounded in their life because they are actively living in every moment and experiencing it to the fullest; In comparison to Intuitive people who tend to get lost in their thoughts quite easily.

You’ll find an ESTP constantly engaging in activities that will fulfill this desire to experience everything around them.

You might find them trekking a mountain one day, skydiving the next, and touring Europe a week later. And as exhausting as that may sound, it’s what keeps an ESTP going.

Having such a vibrant presence is how ESTPs can relate very easily to the world around them, often without even trying.

Thinking (T)

Unlike ESFPs (who are the other extroverted personality in the explorers’ groups), ESTPs prefer to use objective thinking and logic when it comes to making decisions rather than their emotions.

Of course, this doesn’t imply that they don’t feel emotions; rather that they prefer to make a decision based on a pros and cons list rather than going with what they feel like.

Even though this is an important part of their personality, ESTPs don’t use this trait obsessively like those from the NT personality type.

Instead, it comes to them quite naturally, and over time they learn to balance feelings quite well with thinking.

Prospecting (P)

This trait refers to how ESTPs like to have a very flexible environment when they’re working in terms of deadlines and schedules.

Strengths of an ESTP

Honesty is the best policy

If there’s something that’s bothering an ESTP, they will let you know, almost immediately.

Whether you’re a colleague, a friend, a partner, or a family member, ESTPs believe in talking out your problems with complete honesty rather than holding them in.

But while you can say goodbye to any passive-aggressive behavior from an ESTP because you’ll always know where you stand with them; you might need to keep that sensitivity in check because sometimes their bluntness can be hurtful.

Can read between the lines

An ESTP understands that people talk just as much with their actions and body language as they do with words, which makes them great at determining all the unsaid things in a conversation.

Their understanding of this allows them to figure how well the conversation is going and can often make them seem a lot more empathetic than they are.

Excellent negotiators

ESTPs understand that when it comes to convincing a room of people, you need to first grab their attention with something exciting before presenting them with the boring facts and figures.

This makes them curate their arguments to fit a specific crowd in such a convincing way that people are very likely to be swayed by their ideas.

This not only makes them great motivational speakers but also, excellent negotiators because they can easily reach a win-win solution for everyone.

Even in the day- to- day situations, ESTPs can figure out exactly the right thing to say to get people talking, which is a skill that comes in pretty handy in the business world.

Skilled at improvisation

In the excitement of getting caught up in the moment and with a tendency to forgo long- term plans, ESTPs are constantly jumping into situations without thinking.

However, this works out for them pretty well because luckily, they are great at fixing their mistakes and finding their way out of tricky situations by the power of improvisation.

Social butterflies

ESTPs are social butterflies. They find it very easy to start a conversation with anyone that walks into their life. They often end up creating quite an impressive social circle for themselves.

ESTPs are the kind of people to walk in a room with their bright, bubbly energy and immediately start walking around from person to person.

With their fast-paced, light-hearted, and energetic conversations, they can easily become the life of the party as they’ll be found engaging every person in the room rather than sticking to a single conversation with one person.

Masters of the moment

ESTPs love living in the present, taking everything in. From the views to the smell of the air and the general vibe. They are attracted to anything that simply makes them feel alive.

As a result, ESTPs often end up putting themselves in situations where they will be required to act at the moment.

They prefer to do things that will have immediate consequences rather than those which will have consequences in the long term instead.

This draws them towards engaging activities such as sports.

Weaknesses of an ESTP

“I can definitely do this better!”

ESTPs tend to get overconfident and very arrogant in their abilities.

They fail to see where they actually stand on the performance scale and often overestimate their skills, especially in comparison to professionals.

While this isn’t always the worst thing in the world, it does mean that they have a habit of stepping on people’s toes who are more skilled and experienced than them, simply because an ESTP thinks they are better.

However, this can lead to some pretty fun moments because an ESTP with zero dance skills will have no problem walking out on the dance floor with full confidence and breaking down into a dance.

All the while being under the false impression that they’re doing a great job.

Rules have got to go!

ESTPs have a very love-hate relationship with rules; (that usually tips over to the ‘hate’ end of the scale).

An ESTP loves to hate rules, simply because they are rules that are restricting how they can act and behave.

Even when they do appreciate rules, they’ll act like the rules don’t apply to them. If they need to, they’ll find loopholes and bend these rules for their benefit.

“Why is everything moving so slowly?”

ESTPs tend to be very impatient people because they have a constant desire to preoccupy themselves with a sensory stimulus; which means that they don’t do well with tasks that require more attention.

To an ESTP, there’s absolutely nothing exciting about sitting at a desk for hours trying to learn something at school that they could probably teach themselves better at home. Or waiting for people to do something they can do much quicker by themselves.

This can make ESTPs a little frustrating to be around because if you don’t match their pace, more often than not, they’ll get pretty annoyed at you for not being able to keep up.

“I don’t want to do this anymore!”

ESTPs tend to have a lot of commitment issues in relationships.

Entertainers love their freedom and one of the major reasons why they show a lack of commitment to their potential partners is because they are scared of giving up this freedom.

If they feel like they’re trapped in a relationship where they don’t feel free to express themselves or do what they want to, they’ll want out.

“Why think about the future when you can focus on the present?”

ESTPs are easily bored and prefer working on projects that will be over soon. ESTPs often fail to see the bigger picture and they tend to steer clear of tasks that will need extra effort from them.

Even if there is a bigger task at hand that needs to be tackled, they’ll most probably let someone else take the wheel for figuring out the long- term plan and prefer to tackle whatever they can do at the moment to contribute.

ESTPs in Relationships

ESTPs in relationships are probably some of the most energetic and adventurous people you’ll ever meet. They will constantly be on the go and keep you on your toes!

At the start of a relationship, an ESTP will probably act like they don’t care much about you (and they probably won’t either!) but if you matter (even slightly), they will start evaluating everything; from how much they’re thinking about you, to how you act around everyone and how they feel around you.

A lot of the time, you need to take it nice and slow with an ESTP and move at their pace. They get spooked very easily and if you bombard them with too much attention and emotion too soon, they’ll bolt.

However, as much as they like to slow things down with the feelings, they’re the complete opposite when it comes to action.

They want to go on adventures with you, try new restaurants, go on a hike in a different location, and do all the fun stuff that makes you appreciate life.

ESTPs usually start the relationship off with an exit strategy but once they are in it, you become a major part of their lives and they start to care for you as they would for themselves which is really sweet!

As they get closer to you, they’ll be very interested in everything going on in your life and will genuinely enjoy hearing about all of the hot tea about everyone in your life.

Because they value freedom so much, an ESTP will let you do your own thing in a relationship and expect you to do the same.

However, another thing they value is honesty and direct communication. They’ll say it as they see it with no apologies.

This does mean that sometimes they tend to be a little too blunt and insensitive but you need to let them know when they hurt your feelings

Sadly, you’ll know it’s over when an ESTP  starts to distance themselves from you; verbally, emotionally, and physically.

And once an ESTP gets out of a relationship and decides that something is over, it’s over!

ESTPs as Friends

ESTPs are the type of people to have a very large social circle of friends from different areas in life.

People are drawn to them because they off give a genuinely warm vibe. Generally, ESTPs have no problem fitting in with a crowd and carrying a conversation with anyone they’re introduced to.

Life with an ESTP friend will always be fun, interesting, and adventure-filled. There’ll always be a new story to tell and they will most likely never run out of things to talk about.

They’ll encourage you to try new things without forcing you. However, the chances of you developing a closer friendship with an ESTP are increased if you’re prepared to try new things with them.

It’s very easy for them to spot how they can use the social connections that their friends might have for their benefit if needed.

As with relationships, they like to keep the communication quite honest and open. If you’ve got a problem with what they’ve done or said, you need to let them know!

ESTPs as parents

As parents, ESTPs give their kids the freedom to do what they want but will also be very actively involved in all aspects of their lives.

They can figure out when something is up with their kids because they can easily spot changes in the behavior of their kids.

They’ll inquire and try to help in whatever practical way that they can, however, if their kid expresses that they need emotional support, ESTPs might struggle to provide that.

Over time, if an ESTP doesn’t work on this, it might cause a strain on their relationships with their kids, especially those with the feelings trait.

Since ESTPs aren’t the biggest fans of rules or routines, they often struggle to teach their kids the importance of time management and other similar skills.

However, what they do excel in is helping their kids grow and learn to be communicative, adventurous, and smart- working individuals.

ESTPs at work

ESTPs bring the vigor and excitement of life into their work environment as well.

They prefer working in an environment that gives them the flexibility to do what they want.

They are great problem solvers, especially those that require immediate attention. ESTPs are quick, efficient, and logical thinkers who will figure their way out of tricky situations with whatever resources they have on hand.

They bring a motivational energy to their workspace and are usually well-liked by their colleagues because of their ability to get along with everyone.

However, their patience with others can run a little thin if people don’t hold up their end of the bargain in group tasks and fail to contribute as they were supposed to.

ESTPs can often butt heads with their bosses or authority figures because they aren’t afraid to voice their opinions, even when it might not be appropriate.

However, if that leads to them getting fired, it won’t be long before you find an ESTP working in another field that makes use of one of the many skills that they’ve mediocrely practiced during their life.

They are not afraid to use the power of networking to their full advantage and take calculated risks when it comes to starting new business ventures.

Some of the careers best suited for this personality type include journalism, acting, managers, detectives, and police officers.

Conclusion

If you know an ESTP in your life, you know how much they can brighten up your life!

And for those moments where they get a little frustrating to deal with, simply let them know once things calm down a little, and they’ll probably try and make sure it doesn’t happen again. (Although, it most definitely will!)

How many ESTPs do you know? Try to see if you can find similarities amongst all of them!