It’s my first time managing people with my new role at work. There’s a lot to learn and grow from it, and hopefully with as little office politics as possible. I’m already seeing quite a lot. There was already a heated conversation between INTP colleague and ESFJ secretary/consultant that I was caught in the middle of, with both sides sending me screenshots of the conversation and griping to me. I think I handled the situation pretty well; I composed a well thought-out message to said INTP that was on par with dealing with a fellow NT, and sent a screenshot of my message to the ESFJ to show how I’d dealt with it, to which she responded with a slew of 😍🥰😘 heart emojis. But time will tell and I’ll see how this situation unfolds. They could have just blatantly given me Fe responses for all I know. And granted, all this occurred over text, where I could process it slowly, on my own, and in my own time and space.
Along with my new role, I’ve been given access to view the feedback from students (collated from surveys) and — oh my gosh — it’s so validating and motivating reading what my students have said about me for over the past year or more. Many described me as “friendly” and “patient”, which I find surprising. ESTP and ISTP boss duo don’t quite understand the gravity of relaying these feedback to us teachers, of how uplifting it can be.
I recently went out to dinner with an ESTP student (who was intrigued by my knowledge of the MBTI). We’re about the same age and she keeps telling me that I’m really smart and unique, that I have all this knowledge trapped inside of me. At one point, she asked if I’m the sort to evaluate people’s level of intelligence, to which I smirked and gave a nod, and she gasped and burst out laughing, saying that she’s afraid to ask then (about what I thought of her). I gave her the diplomatic response, that there are so many types of intelligences and that different people value different ones. She also brought up the topic of love languages and said that hers was, first and foremost, physical touch, and I shared that mine was purely just (and pretty much only) quality time. Towards the end when we were saying our goodbyes, she opened her arms for a hug and I squirmed and shook my head. She said, “I know,” and we both burst out laughing.
I introduced you to my Beginners class recently. I’m not sure why I decided to do that as a lead-in to an activity. It’s a way to feel as though I still have you with me, I suppose. I’m still reading our conversations, riding the highs and lows, and am nearing the end of it. I’ll probably reread it again after I’m done, just perhaps not immediately. I’ll search for parts of you in games and such first, before coming back to our conversations. I still think about you every day, and I hope things are going well for you, because you deserve it.