15 INTJ Strengths & Weaknesses [+ Personal Growth Tips]

Getting to know more about your personality type—especially if you’re a rare and inimitable INTJ—can help you understand yourself better. By analyzing the good and bad sides of your character, you’ll gain a better insight into who you are and learn how to improve continuously.

If you want to learn more about INTJ strengths and weaknesses and discover the best ways to handle or overcome them, look no further!

We’ve prepared an in-depth guide that’ll help you find out everything about the positives and negatives of the INTJ personality type, including:

8 Prominent INTJ Strengths and Advantages
4 Best Tips to Magnify INTJ Strengths
7 Common INTJ Weaknesses and Personality Flaws
4 Effective Tips for Overcoming INTJ Personality Weaknesses

And much more!

Let’s start with positive things and check out the biggest strengths INTJ people tend to show:

INTJs are rather self-sufficient and don’t like the idea of depending on others. More likely than not, the main “culprit” for this is their introverted nature.

Because of their introversion, INTJ people often prefer doing things alone, without other people’s guidance or advice. They also know how capable they are and don’t need anyone to micro-manage or help them.

Thanks to this trait, INTJ people are usually rather motivated and hard-working, as they know their success depends only on them.

It’s no coincidence that people with the INTJ personality type are also known as “Masterminds.”

Thanks to Introverted Intuition (Ni), their dominant cognitive function, these individuals are gifted with amazing intellectual abilities and clarity of mind. They love exploring the hidden meanings of things and detecting diverse patterns in how the world works.

Because of this side of their personalities, INTJ people also love getting as much external information as possible and processing it in a unique way. They never get tired of acquiring new knowledge and skills and enjoy the process all the way.

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When an INTJ approaches a problem or a specific project, they will not rush to make moves.

Instead, they’ll use their auxiliary function, Extraverted Thinking (Te), to come up with the perfect strategy for the best results.

They also get inspired by setting exciting goals that require a solid plan, and find joy in organizing and assigning tasks. Once they have the ideal strategy, they won’t hesitate to take the initiative and implement it.

Once an INTJ person commits to someone or something, it stays that way. In other words, they are the type of people you can always rely on, knowing they’ll never let you down.

Naturally, they expect the same from the people they appreciate and care for, and get rather disappointed if they don’t get it.

If there’s any personality type that knows what they want, it's INTJ. They are naturally future-oriented and always strive to set long-term goals that can bring them numerous benefits.

These individuals don’t settle for regular things and want the best for themselves. Even if they have limited resources or if they lack information, they’ll still find a way to achieve what they want.

Do you need an expert that can think outside the box? Let an INTJ show you how it should be done!

Since they always explore new approaches and possibilities, INTJ people tend to brainstorm fresh ideas that no one else has come up with before.

What helps them along the way is their innate creativity and eagerness to invent something that’ll make the world a better place. This fascination with innovations has brought popularity to many INTJs, making them world-famous scientists and inventors.

Because of their analytical mind, people with the INTJ personality type find joy in solving puzzles and other problems. They feel useful when they get a chance to improve the way something works, simplify procedures, or unravel any type of mystery.

To do such things, they need to use their logical reasoning, which is another thing they enjoy and practice frequently. This is particularly useful when it comes to their careers and other challenges in life.

INTJ men and women are naturally intuitive and wise, and they know it. For this reason, they believe in themselves and don’t care what other people think about them.

They always know what they’re doing and never doubt themselves. This helps them quickly grow and prosper since they approach every action boldly and passionately.

So, once you know what your biggest strengths are, what’s the best way to boost them and become even better? Here are the answers:

Learn to accept people the way they are. You know you can be an amazing motivator and a huge help to your loved ones. Still, it’s crucial to learn how to acknowledge their own views and opinions without imposing yours. To broaden your horizons even more, you need to realize that not everyone is like you and recognize the importance of having different opinions.
Make meaningful connections with people. As an INTJ, you may not be too keen on forming bonds with others and fitting in with society. Still, if you look around and start communicating with people, you’ll realize that some of them can truly understand your personality without wanting to change you. Practice your social skills, and you may be more thrilled with the outcome than you’d expect.
Make room for improvisation. Not everything in life must be planned and anticipated. Sometimes, the beauty is in being creative and kissing the safe solutions goodbye. Don’t be afraid to experiment or improvise when it seems like there’s no solution—you might pleasantly surprise yourself.
Never stop learning. Gaining new knowledge is one of the biggest life goals for any INTJ. Define the fields you’re particularly interested in and develop your skills to the point of perfection, like a true representative of this personality type. This can only help you be even better at the things you’re already good at.

Even though INTJs tend to think they're perfect, they still have some flaws. Let’s find out what their biggest weaknesses are.

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INTJ people are usually quite aware of their enviable intellectual abilities. They know their value and what they’re capable of. This gives them a lot of self-confidence, which can easily make them believe they’re better or smarter than others.

While this can be true, their arrogant attitude and tendency to look down on people they consider inferior can irritate or even hurt others.

In proportion to the effort they put into each idea or project they work on, INTJs expect the outcome to always be positive. They often set ambitious and hard-to-achieve goals, only expecting the best.

Realizing that their plan is not working is worse for them than anything in the world. Because of this, their reactions to failure can be extremely tumultuous and untypical of their signature calm demeanor.

Even though their Ni usually allows them to perceive things unerringly, INTJs are prone to judging people and situations too quickly, which can lead them to make mistakes.

People with this personality type tend to rely on their first impressions, which are often accurate. Yet, they also tend to jump to conclusions without realizing that sometimes they must pay more attention to details.

Due to this, INTJs can also be rather critical toward others or give harsh comments when asked for an opinion, which, again, can hurt their loved ones.

INTJs aren’t your typical touchy-feely friends, lovers, or colleagues—they'd rather maintain their cold, reserved attitude regardless of how they feel about you.

For INTJs, letting other people see their emotions means instant vulnerability that leads to weakness. And, since they like being strong and invincible, they won’t let anyone see when they’re sad, in love, or stressed.

The INTJs’ struggle to accept their feelings can cause conflicts with their close people, as others may feel neglected or less loved due to this trait of theirs.

As you already know, INTJ people worship order, but they prefer to make it on their own. They don’t like following other people’s advice or orders and will rather make decisions by themselves.

For this reason, they can come across as rebellious, which often leads them to experience issues in the workplace.

INTJs have a hard time connecting with others. They aren’t particularly interested in communicating with people unless they consider these individuals smart and interesting enough. Due to their emotional detachment issues, they also tend to look down on people prone to emotional outbursts or drama.

INTJs’ misanthropic attitude may also partially come from their resentment towards individuals who blindly follow the rules society imposes. People with this personality type like thinking for themselves and consider everyone who doesn’t do it weak and incompetent.

People with the INTJ personality type have highly active minds. When facing a specific issue or question, they’ll delve deeply into the matter to answer every “why” along the way. Still, overanalyzing each and every detail can be rather tiring and stressful.

INTJs examine their emotions and actions to the point of exhaustion. Even worse—they are usually unable to switch this habit off and let their minds rest. This can cause intense anxiety, which is why it’s crucial to work on this flaw and learn how to relax and let it be.

To avoid their strengths getting overshadowed by their weaknesses, INTJ people must learn how to work on their flaws. Here are the best ways to do it:

Seek input from other people. It’s well-known that, as an introvert, you tend to process everything internally. Yet, if you totally withdraw into your own world and ideas, you can miss out on important details or lose touch with reality, which can be dangerous. Don’t be afraid to share your perspective with others and do your best to acknowledge theirs.
Learn to accept occasional failures. It’s okay, you’re human. It happens. No matter how ambitious you are, there will always be times when things go wrong, and that’s perfectly fine. Work on discovering the best techniques for comforting yourself when things go south, and decide when it’s best to go on or give up.
Do some self-reflection. Even though you’re prone to analyzing everything and everyone, as an INTJ, you’re likely to forget to analyze yourself. This can lead to blaming others for your actions or decisions, as you’re unaware of how they affect people around you. The best solution to this is to introspect more deeply and gradually change your views.
Embrace your feelings. Expressing your emotions and letting others know how you feel isn’t a shame. It’s beneficial for your mind and spirit and helps you stay sane. Try to accept this part of yourself by opening up to your loved ones when emotions strike and developing warmer ways of letting people know you care for them.

Due to their Ni function, INTJ people are quite observant and can spot things other people usually don’t see. Besides this trait, they also have organized thoughts, fantastic strategic planning skills, a solid memory, and a laser-like focus!

INTJs are masters of many skills, but they aren’t particularly good at acknowledging other people’s emotions and concerns. This also makes it difficult for them to relate to others, which can lead to conflicts in relationships and friendships.

People with the INTJ personality type are ambitious and hard-working and don’t like to leave their work incomplete. They’ll do everything in their power to finish their tasks on time and leave no room for mistakes, which is one of the biggest INTJ strengths in the workplace. However, due to their coldness and aloof attitude, they may have difficulties getting along with their colleagues.

What INTJ people fear most is failure. They put so much effort into everything they do that they find it really hard to accept bad results. Some other things they’re afraid of include old age, ignorance, and getting hurt in a relationship.

And, that’s a wrap! You now know everything about INTJ strengths and weaknesses and the way they affect the lives of people with this personality type.

Now, let’s see what we learned by making a quick summary of this guide:

INTJ people, or Masterminds, are well-known for their ambition, self-confidence, intelligence, determination, among other positive traits.
However, their characters also have a dark side; they often get emotionally detached, arrogant, misanthropic, or even anxious due to constant overthinking.
If an INTJ wants to improve their life and behavior, they must learn to accept both sides of their personality. This means they should further develop their good sides while working on overcoming their flaws and weaknesses.

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