Higher Education IT Management
I have been functioning as an IT engineer, architect, and manager for over a decade in Nevada.
It has been both interesting and challenging. Often times insufficient budgets, high expectations, and a lack of formal business process and structure (ie: governance) presents extreme difficulty in meeting and continuously delivering quality services.
This type of chaotic environment has proven itself very rewarding to an INTP like myself, and it has offered unique opportunities of allowing me to be around some very brilliant, yet quirky, folks who need my help constructing, managing, and maintaining complicated IT systems.
For starters, from what I've read, most INTPs shy away from leadership positions. Generally, we simply have no interest in the doldrums of managing and tending to others. INTPs would prefer to tuck themselves away in their mind-palaces and focus their energy in short bursts on myriads of very high-complex problems, concepts, and philosophies. However, over time I have found that taking greater-organizational leadership roles has allowed me to further implement and refine my ideas on a much larger scale. I've actually found being a manager/supervisor to be a very rewarding experience because it has forced me to come out of my own head and become more supportive of others.
Earlier in my life, I struggled with communication issues. Working on teams and having to lead others has allowed me take those challenging past experiences and provide more flexibility and independence to others. It has done wonders for my listening skills and taught me the value of always considering others input. My daily responsibilities can be extremely draining, but the net gain is worth the hit on my energy reserves. As a leader, one has more influence on shaping your organization by letting others implement and assist with your vision.
Regardless of where I've lived and worked, I consistently experience a lack of willingness of others to take ownership of complicated problems. My tip to other INTPs, and introverts in general, is to worry less about what others may think of you and take on unclaimed/unsolved problems as an opportunity to shine.
Currently, I have 2 other INTPs on my staff and they both are senior-level engineers. It is awesome throwing a seemingly impossible task at them. When they take ownership and have the autonomy to research a solution, they never cease to amaze me with what they can accomplish. As an INTP, it is easy to feel that others are unwilling to listen or have difficulty understanding the ideas you are trying to articulate. In my career, I have been consistently rewarded for taking ownership of challenges when others are more comfortable to criticize and watch from the sidelines. Through action and accomplishment, you can earn the willingness of others to attempt to understand your ideas and vision.
