People who don’t know me intimately are shocked to learn I am an introvert and a strongly expressed one at that. I score as an INFJ on the Myers-Briggs type indicator for those interested in even more detail.
My personality profile is often a surprise because I am sociable, love the sound of my own voice (maybe too much), speak confidently in public regularly, adore meeting new people, and take leadership roles when I feel I can make a difference for the better. No wonder people assume I am an extrovert.
I am a classic extroverted introvert to be precise. That means I am great with people — right up until the point I am not. While I am initially energized by personal engagement, after awhile I need solitude to recharge. Total isolation is probably more accurate than solitude.
My husband is over my shoulder and suggested that last sentence. He’s an extrovert. At the end of a social engagement he is pumped up and ready to deconstruct it verbally with me. Meanwhile, I’m pretending to listen and hoping he doesn’t change the subject to something I need to remember. Like which of us is taking our youngest son to school in the morning. Okay fine, I am also imagining him with a gag over his mouth. There I said it.
Considering the grueling schedule of a political campaign that by its very nature requires almost constant interaction with people, an introverted candidate might seem less than ideal. However, Al Gore and Barack Obama are also introverts and they seemed to have survived the experience intact. Eleanor Roosevelt, one of my idols, is presumed to be an INFJ like me.
According to 16personalities.com,“INFJs tend to see helping others as their purpose in life, but while people with this personality type can be found engaging rescue efforts and doing charity work, their real passion is to get to the heart of the issue so that people need not be rescued at all.”
I like to think that describes my attitude towards life and politics fairly well. It also points to a weakness that has come roaring to the fore since becoming a candidate. I am accustomed to being the one giving aid. I am terrible when it comes to accepting it. I can delegate like a champ at work, so micromanaging isn’t the problem. Helping someone else has never felt like an imposition, but receiving offers of help feels like I am imposing on others.
As I said in my first post, Two Weeks a Politician, “Don’t try to do it all yourself… Let people help you. Figure out a way to ask for help when you are used to being the one giving it instead of needing it.” I am still working on that!
In the meantime, I am trying to capitalize on the theoretical strengths of the INFJ. We are creative, insightful, inspiring, convincing, decisive, determined, passionate, and altruistic. In other words, I fully understand that our personal struggles have political implications. I genuinely care, and I want to turn that concern into action. I will make one heck of a representative for my district.
Even if it means I have to turn my guest room into an isolation chamber for decompression purposes. Sorry babe. You may have to wait for our second son to go to college before you get your man cave.
Ann Fuller for Florida House 52