The Advocate
Reads people quickly, and wants to be worth their trust.
energised by depth, quiet and your own head
trusts patterns, implications and what could be
decides by values and effect on people
wants things settled, planned and closed
You form a picture of where something is heading -- a person, a conversation, a situation -- long before you can explain how. You are private about most things but intense about a few, and you would rather have three real conversations than thirty pleasant ones. The gap between the world you can see and the world as it is can wear you down if you do not manage it.
Strengths
- Unusually perceptive about people's real motives
- Holds a long-term vision and works toward it
- Warm without being indiscriminate
- Willing to act on principle at personal cost
Blind spots
- Withdraws completely rather than saying what is wrong
- Sets a standard nobody was told about, then judges against it
- Takes on other people's problems as their own
- Can cut someone off suddenly after tolerating too much for too long
Where to grow
- Say the difficult thing at the small stage, not the breaking point
- Accept that most people are not hiding a deeper meaning
- Let a relationship be good rather than perfect
In relationships
You go deep fast and expect the same in return, which is intoxicating for the right person and overwhelming for the wrong one. Your recurring risk is quietly deciding a relationship has failed before telling your partner there was a problem. Almost everything you need can be had by saying it earlier.
How INFJ actually thinks
The four letters are a label; this is the mechanism. The order matters — the first function is what you lead with and trust, the last is where you are least comfortable and most easily knocked off balance.
Converges on where things are heading; works from a single unfolding picture.
Tracks and tends the emotional state of the group.
Builds an internally consistent model and tests claims against it.
Reads the live situation and responds to it directly.