T H E   S J   G U A R D I A N

Of all the temperaments, the SJ Guardian is the least complicated and difficult. Those with the Sensing Judging temperament live to serve.

ESSENTIALS

For Introverted SJs, this usually means personal service; Guardians of a predominantly Extraverted nature can often be found helping organizations run smoothly and efficiently. Either way, the point is to be of use, to avoid causing trouble or giving offense, to respect traditions, to protect the current state of things.

SJs are the pillars of their communities. In the home, they have set rules they expect to be followed; in public, they do their best to follow the rules of society as they understand those rules. SJs tend to believe wholeheartedly in order. The typical SJ can barely imagine what it would be like to stand outside of society, to not belong to something beyond him- or herself. For the Guardian, life is defined not by who you are inside, or by what you know, or even by what you do, but by the steadfastness of your relationships.

CHILDHOOD

SJs demonstrate this early in their lives by being "good" children, who try as hard as they can never to cause problems for their parents or for anyone else. Authority figures tend to appreciate the SJ child, primarily because they are usually tired and stressed out from dealing with the quirks of the other three temperaments. Not so with the SJ, who can be so quietly helpful that they are overlooked.

SCHOOL

The same pattern holds true when SJs enter school. Elementary school teachers have historically tended to be SJs, and this type finds SJ children a pleasure to have in their classrooms. SJ children don't break down crying at the slightest hint of disapproval as NF children sometimes do; SJ children don't pester a teacher to distraction by continually asking "Why? Why? Why?" the way NT children have a habit of doing; and SJ children (for which the SJ teacher breathes a prayer of thanks) don't bounce off the walls and stubbornly refuse to learn the way that SP children are inclined to do. SJ children, by contrast, tend to be biddable, attentive students who do their homework on time, follow all the rules, help wash the blackboard after class, and run for student office (and win) so that they can be of use to both the faculty and their fellow students.

WORK

Adult SJs take these habits with them into the workplace, where they are the backbone of any organization. While the Introverted SJs take care of the little details everyone else considers beneath them, the Extraverted SJs are quietly directing resources exactly where they are needed to meet the expectations of upper management. Careers that are often preferred by Guardians include accounting, secretarial work, shipping clerk or manager, administrative assistant, factory line worker, nursing, civil service, and teaching.

Managers often count themselves fortunate to have SJs on the payroll, because they know they can count on the SJ to get his or her job done with a minimum of fuss. SJ employees tend to be highly reliable; they truly enjoy doing a job well, even if it's only something as simple as making sure that all the pages of a photocopied document line up neatly. If an SJ notices that the printer has run out of paper, he or she will refill it without a second thought. Keeping things running smoothly is so natural to Guardians that they rarely consider whether or not there might be a better way to do things. For SJs, if it's not broken, it doesn't need fixing.

SJ managers are basically SJ employees with more responsibility. If a Guardian manager believes that those reporting to him or her need some guidance, a personal visit with each employee (as an NF manager might do) or an "all hands" meeting (favored by SP bosses) is unlikely. The SJ supervisor instead will almost inevitably choose to develop a new policy covering the issue in question, which will then be distributed in written form to each employee's in-box. While other temperaments might find this approach boring, they may miss the fact that it has the advantage of getting the job done--each employee now knows exactly what is expected. If the solution is a good one, the problem will not be repeated.

RELATIONSHIPS

SJs bring this same low-key approach to their personal relationships, where what mates see of the SJ is what they get. SJs don't pretend to be any more or less than they are. This clear-minded steadiness is often exactly what persons of other temperaments need most, and they know that the Guardian can always be counted upon to deliver. SJs may not demonstrate the rapt devotion of the NF, or the imaginative flights of the NT, or the unpredictable delights of the SP, but they don't need to do so. Very often, knowing that the SJ will be there like a safety net when he or she is needed is the one thing that gives the other temperaments the courage to shine.

CONCERNS

SJs, like the other temperaments, can create certain kinds of problems for themselves. One difficulty particular to SJs is the tendency to take their premonitions of imminent disaster to extremes. It is something of an understatement to say that most SJs tend to be concerned about the future. SJ parents are fond of warning their children to save their money, to be careful when driving, to avoid talking to strangers, to exercise caution in any of a hundred different ways. It is often the case that everything the SJ suggests is simple good sense; the problem is that it is so one-sided and so continuous. In extreme cases, SJs can become so pessimistic and full of dire "doom-and-gloom" warnings that no one will listen to them at all.

Another way SJs can lose out is when they allow others to take advantage of their service. The Guardian desire to work hard and take care of those who truly need help is seen by some as an invitation to cheat the SJ, or to take more than their fair share of the SJ's energy and time. For Introverted SJs in particular, if anyone needs help then the SJ counts it his or her duty to assist. SJs can work themselves into exhaustion this way.

But it's not only con artists who use SJs like this. SJs do so much, often without directly asking anything in return, that even their own families find it seductively simple to keep asking the SJ to do more and more and more. Some SJs at this point will begin to complain, which can become an ingrained habit if the situation does not change. Other SJs will internalize the strain, turning to alcohol or some other drug to try to ease the burden. Like the camel in the story, though, even an SJ has a limit. When that final straw is placed on the SJ's back, look out! From being calm and reasonable, SJs who have had enough can turn into raging dragons, flaming everything and everyone in their path with years of pent-up frustration.

SUMMARY

So it's wise for other temperaments to learn to appreciate the Guardian. SJs do so much that is necessary, and ask so little in return; they deserve as much respect as any of the other, flashier temperaments.

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