ISFJ Leadership

ISFJs are transactional and facilitative leaders. Being highly committed and conscientious leaders, ISFJ leaders have a good mix of task and people orientation; they are clear and specific in communicating goals and tasks to their reports, ensuring that they meet the objectives within specific conditions and deadlines.

At the same time, ISFJs are deeply concerned for those who are under their care, often going the extra mile for them.

ISFJ Leadership: Leading Self

ISFJs are task-oriented, organised and quietly persevering leaders. They have no problem completing tasks and staying disciplined to finish what they have started. Once they have set a schedule for their tasks, they will stick to that schedule and complete what they have started.

The challenge for self-leadership comes in not just being efficient, but being effective.

ISFJs are very adept at completing tasks given to them, but they often have trouble deciding which tasks to be done. This challenge often stems from a lack of a bigger vision in their lives; they are primarily concerned with the tasks today, and may not consider the ‘whys’ of particular tasks.

ISFJ Leadership: Setting the Vision

ISFJs are good at giving clear, specific instructions to their direct reports. Their instructions are easily understood because they are often specific and clear. The ISFJ’s staff will walk away from a meeting knowing what they have to accomplish.

The challenge for ISFJs comes in setting big goals. ISFJs only see and give instructions for what is tangible and foreseeable. Big dreams and visions are not their preferred language, and they find ideas without a clear plan of action to be too ambiguous. These may frustrate certain individuals in the team who need to understand the big picture to work effectively.

ISFJ Leadership: Connecting with Others

ISFJs are by nature the best servant leaders. ‘I live to serve’ could be the motto for all ISFJ leaders. They are concerned, caring and committed to the people who have been committed to their care. When someone needs help, they will more than willingly take the responsibility of making sure that they give it, even though the help needed may be out of the scope of their work.

They also deeply value work-family balance and will want their staff to have that same balance too.

They show this by allowing their staff to leave on time after work, and in the event of family emergencies, ISFJs have no problem allowing their staff to excuse themselves.

ISFJ Leadership: Accomplishing your Goals

Despite their people-oriented nature, ISFJs are very task-oriented when it comes to managing people and resources to accomplish their goals. They are detailed, cautious and conscientious, covering all grounds and ensuring that everything is done properly before a given deadline.

However, they may avoid confrontation even when it fosters quick execution of tasks. They may even go all out of the way to avoid it by doing the task themselves. In this respect, ISFJ leaders may take on too much sometimes. 

ISFJ Leadership: Developing your Leadership

Here are some tips for development:

HOLD YOUR TEAM ACCOUNTABLE

Don’t shy away from reprimanding and correcting your team when they have made a mistake or have not performed up to expectations. Such feedback is necessary for the growth and development of your team. The higher up you go into leadership or management, the more assertive you have to be in this area.

PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE

You probably prefer to work behind the spotlight and give the glory to someone else. That is good, but not advantageous when you need your influence within an organisation or in a community to make things happen. Learn to network more and meet more people and allow yourself to take credit for your good work.

CAST INSPIRING VISIONS FOR YOUR TEAM

Think about an ideal future that you can lead your team to. Share that ideal with them and then proceed to break it down into specific steps you must take to get there. Sometimes, winning people’s commitment is about winning their hearts to a humanistic vision. If you can do that, people are far more willing to sacrifice for the organisation.

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