Ferret INFP Discussions

[quote="fuzzynavelnot21"]Shay....I [i]think[/i] she thinks we inspire and motivate people and search for new experiences more than we champion a cause. So she wonders if we feel like the descriptive terms 'champion' and 'advocator' really fit who we are.

[quote="Perseus"] champion 2 A person who fights, argues, etc., behalf of another or for a cause. champion 2 Support the cause of; argue in favour of; defend. E19.
advocate A person who pleads, intercedes, or speaks for another. A person who speaks in favour of, for, a proposal etc.
Comment: I do not see either in this personality. I see visionary and motivator. I see an enquiring mind eager for new experiences.

Do you see your personality as an advocate. It is not my personality, but I may morph-shift this way. The merchants and thieves (ESFJ) want to protect their secrets from the Ferret.
It is the Guardians who see the Champion.[/quote]

I isolated the parts I feel apply to me and to Keirsey's definition. Motivating is the byproduct of advocating. Educators (Teachers- ENFJs) and Advisors (Counselors- INFJs) more often consciously try to motivate people.

The example has been used before that Advocators are like puppies. They sniff around, find something they feel is really important, and then bark loudly about it to tell others what they found. Does this usually motivate people to respond? Yes, it can. Sometimes people just want the puppy to shut up so they go look at the finding, say, oh...thats nice...and placate the puppy enough to get it to be quiet. A Teacher or Advisor is more like a dog that is standing at the front door guarding the house and a stranger walks up. The dog barks and growls and if the stranger refuses to leave...the dog will lunge forward and bite the stranger (lets call it a gentle bite)....thus the stranger is forced to do what is being asked. This is not to put the Teacher or the Advisor in a bad light. My example is flawed....so lets just pretend that say...the stranger would be in danger actually if they entered the house so the dog is really doing the stranger a favor by preventing it from entering the house. That is how the Teacher and Advisor would see it anyways....whether the person was ever really in danger or not....sometimes they are right, sometimes they are not.
This is not to say that Advocators never try to help people. But they do it in a different way....and maybe that is also a source of confusion for you. A much shorter example that describes the 'roles' that these types play I learned from Angela. (see the blog How Advisors diplomatically contend part two) Advocators stand beside you and work with you towards a goal. A Teacher or Advisor get in front of you and turn you around from a 'wrong' path, if thats how they see it. Or maybe not always 'wrong', but not as 'good' as the path they see for you.
What do you think about all of this?[/quote]

Yep, quite good, although I use the animal Ferret. When I am in this mood, I would do the motivating automatically (I do not need a role allocation, just a whim or a planned strategy, a whim more likely). I get very disillusioned by negativity.

They say when the Ferret bites (rarely) it never lets go. This is not my personality though. I would get bored by a Rabbit (not sure what animal, maybe ESXJ var.) hunt. The Mongoose variety can hunt Snakes (ENTP) and three of them onto one Snake could get the Snake to jestison its tail.

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