Extraverted Thinking (Te)
By Michael T. Robinson
Founder
CareerPlanner.com Inc.
| Ni | Ne | Si | Se | Ti | Te | Fi | Fe | Overview |
Extraverted Thinking (Te) is one of your 8 cognitive functions. How you experience it and how useful it is for you depends on how well it is developed and that depends on mostly your age and what your 4 letter personality type is.
Click here for a simple explanation of cognitive functions
Extraverted Thinking is one of the 4 judging functions the brain uses to make decisions. The other 3 judging functions are Introverted Thinking, Extraverted Feeling and INtroverted Feeling.
With Extraverted Thinking, the judging is done based on facts and logic, rather than emotions and values.
Extraverted Thinkers are able to set aside how they feel about something, so they can separate out the objective facts from their emotions.
We all experience emotions when making decisions. In fact if you watch your thought process closely enough you will notice that when it's time to decide something, you first have a gut feel for what to do. But this gut feel is based on your emotions. What Extraverted Thinkers do is that they recognize the emotional content, but then they set it aside to focus on the facts.
Extraverted Thinkers tend to be logical, objective and fair.
For example, in a management role, when it comes time to review an employee, the Te manager will look at the measurable data and the facts. They will be fair with the employee even if they don't like them. They will set aside emotion and try to base their judgment on concrete results.
Because of this objective, fact based style, Extraverted Thinkers can look like they are cold and unfriendly. They also can appear to be bossy. However deep inside they may not really be cold, unfriendly and bossy.
Dominant Extraverted Thinkers tend to be very organized. Their thought process is focused on the external, real world, rather than the inner world as it is for Introverted Thinkers. Thus they try to arrange the real world to suit their needs.
They use their energy to make an impact in the real world. They are driven to achieve their goals and objectives.
Extraverted Thinkers can be so organized and so driven towards achieving results that they frequently end up being promoted to work in management. Once they have organized themselves, they are ready to organize everyone else around them.
The need to organize and achieve one's goals results in the Extraverted Thinker establishing procedures and protocols. They can easily create written instructions for others to follow.
If you wanted someone to help plan and organize a project, and to keep the project on schedule for you, you would want to ask someone with either a dominant or auxiliary Extraverted Thinking to help you. That's what their brains are wired to do.
Types where Extraverted Thinking is dominant are ENTJ and ESTJ.
Types where Extraverted Thinking is auxiliary are INTJ and ISTJ.
Examples of well known dominant Extraverted Thinking types are:
- Napoleon Bonaparte (ENTJ) Emperor of France
- Julius Caesar (ENTJ) Dictator of Rome
- Nancy Pelosi (ENTJ) US Speaker of the House (Democrat)
- Jack Welch (ENTJ) CEO of General Electric
- Dr. Phil (ESTJ) Psychologist and talk show host
- Martha Stewart (ESTJ) Business magnate
- Uma Thurman (ESTJ) Actress
- Judge Judy (ESTJ) Television judge and author
For more examples of famous people and their personality types, go to www.celebritytypes.com