Types / Interest types / Enterprising · The Persuader
EEnterprising interest · The Persuader
The Showrunner.
Energized by getting creative projects made and in front of people.
Enterprising first, Artistic second.
What drives the Showrunner
“We should play a real show sometime,” the drummer announces, the way people say they should learn Italian. His friend takes him at his word. By Monday she’s booked the back room of a coffee shop, designed the poster, and started a group chat to fill the seats. The drummer just met his Showrunner.
You get a vision moving.
This Enterprising–Artistic combination is at its best when an imaginative idea refuses to remain private for long. You want to give it a form, find its audience, and create the conditions in which it can become real.
At your best
You often bring together distinctive expression and the momentum needed to give it an audience.
The trade-off
You may start promoting, organizing, or improving an idea before you have decided what it needs. Attention, sales, or applause can begin to steer the work so strongly that you lose touch with the private reason you wanted to make it.
What gives it reach
The event, launch, or finished piece is part of the art, not a distraction from it. This pairing combines a desire to make something original with a desire to give it reach. You often want the work to carry a distinctive point of view, while also wanting people to encounter it, respond to it, and perhaps support what comes next. That can make you alert to both the quality of an idea and the conditions that will help it travel.
How you make it happen
Your Enterprising and Artistic sides together might look like running publicity for a theater, casting a show as a talent director, or launching a food truck with a menu you dreamed up. You often enjoy deciding what the project is, how it is presented, recruiting the right people, and making the deadline matter. You are not only asking whether something is good. You are also asking who needs to see it, how to create curiosity, and what will make the idea survive contact with the real world.
Who it is for
When you finish a canvas, your next question is probably who should see it, where, and for how much. That does not necessarily make the work less sincere. For you, an audience can complete the circuit between making and meaning. A project becomes more alive when it enters other people’s experience.
About this information
The hexagon places the interests Holland saw as most alike beside one another. Enterprising and Artistic are one step apart, with Social between them. All three are drawn toward people and possibility, but they express that pull differently.
Our take Built on O*NET’s descriptions of the work each interest describes[1]. It sketches a mix of interests, so expect some lines to fit you better than others—and use the activities to see what holds up in practice.
In O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor’s job database, Enterprising work involves “managing, negotiating, marketing, or selling…” For Artistic work, it lists “creating original visual artwork, performances, written works, food, or music…”[1].
How the two letters work together
One type between them on the hexagon
Holland arranged the six interests in a hexagon, placing the ones he considered most alike closest together. Your two interests have one other type between them. They’re related, but each brings something the other doesn’t, which may leave you looking for a role with both a familiar center and room to stretch.
- E
Enterprising · The Persuader Leading, influencing, persuading, and getting new ventures off the ground.
- A
Artistic · The Creator Open-ended work that makes room for self-expression, imagination, and original ideas.
When strengths overreach
Every strength solves a real problem. When it runs unchecked, the same strength can create a new one. The cards below name the turning point and the cost you may notice.
When your taste decides everything
You give a creative project a clear vision, and that direction can help a team finish. You may also protect the first idea so closely that the final version resembles your original more than the people who worked on it. A contributor may offer less when every unexpected choice feels like a threat to the concept. You may get the satisfaction of seeing your vision intact while missing the extra reach another person’s contribution could have given it.
Launch dates picked for the pitch
At the launch meeting, you have a date that gives the project energy and gives the pitch a clean ending. You may choose it before the people doing the work know what the final details require. When the deadline arrives, unfinished work can become a test of loyalty instead of a sign that the calendar was too tight. The team may deliver under pressure while quietly learning that a persuasive promise matters more than the work behind it.
No time to make things yourself
When running creative projects fills your calendar, you may have little time left to make anything without a client, launch plan, or audience attached. The work still looks creative from the outside, but your own curiosity can become another resource spent on delivery. You may feel restless without knowing why, especially when every new idea immediately becomes a product. Over time, the role of directing creative work can crowd out the pleasure that first drew you to it.
Working across interests
See how a strongest interest in Enterprising tends to affect the way you work alongside each of the six interests.
- R
Realistic · The Doer
- Where your styles complement each other
- You may make the case and line up the backing, while they may make it real.
- Where your styles may pull in different directions
- You might promise a finish date or result before they’ve seen what the job involves.
- I
Investigative · The Thinker
- Where your styles complement each other
- They may check whether an idea holds up, while you may get people behind the ones that do.
- Where your styles may pull in different directions
- You might be ready to run with a convincing pitch while they’re still checking whether it’s true.
- A
Artistic · The Creator
- Where your styles complement each other
- They bring the original idea, and you find the people, resources, and backing it needs.
- Where your styles may pull in different directions
- Your push toward an outcome can feel like a box around their idea.
- S
Social · The Helper
- Where your styles complement each other
- You get things moving. They make sure the people involved are looked after.
- Where your styles may pull in different directions
- You might want to know whether you hit the number while they’re asking how everyone’s holding up.
- E
Enterprising · The Persuader
- Where your styles complement each other
- You both have energy for getting things moving and making decisions.
- Where your styles may pull in different directions
- Two people used to running the meeting can each assume they’re the one in charge.
- C
Conventional · The Organizer
- Where your styles complement each other
- You open up new plans and deals. They make sure whatever’s agreed gets done and written down.
- Where your styles may pull in different directions
- Your new ideas can add commitments to a system they already run.
These interests describe the kinds of work people are drawn to, not how anyone handles closeness or conflict.[2]
With other people
At work
What may feel easy
The Showrunner often works well with coworkers who can take a creative idea and give it a real place on the calendar. People whose interests lean toward Enterprising, Social, and Artistic may share your appetite for energy, expression, and an audience. You may all want the show to happen—and to happen in a way people remember.
Where friction may show up
Differences may appear most clearly with people whose interests lean toward Conventional, Realistic, or Investigative. They may want the budget, the build, or the evidence settled before you announce a launch date. You may see that delay as lost momentum; they may see your momentum as a promise made before anyone has checked what it will require.
What they might bring
A budget that works, a set that stands, and evidence that the idea reaches people beyond the excitement of the launch.
When you are much alike
Another Showrunner can bring a different kind of friction. Two people with a vivid vision may energize each other at first, then collide over whose taste, timing, or judgment gets the final say. Shared enthusiasm does not automatically create shared authority.
Research behind this panel
A meta-analysis of work groups found that conflict about each other, or about how the work gets done, went with worse group results, while disagreeing about the task itself was not strongly tied to worse performance[C22]. A team can challenge an idea without attacking a colleague. The distinction becomes harder to maintain when criticism is vague, personal, or tied to status.
People included in the research
Research on teams mixes real workplaces with student project groups, so treat it as a rough guide. A team is also influenced by its manager, incentives, workload, power differences, and whether people have room to work in their own way.
As a friend
What may feel easy
Friends who will join your film club, help with the band, or say yes to planning a holiday party may feel easy to be around. Shared enthusiasm gives the friendship motion, and you are often good at turning a vague wish to get together into an event people can actually attend.
Where friction may show up
A friend who prefers a quiet routine or a practical, already-tested plan may tire of the next big idea. You may experience their caution as a lack of fun, while they experience your energy as another commitment they did not ask for. Two Showrunners can also both want to host, leaving the friendship with plenty of invitations and too little room for someone else to simply enjoy the evening.
What they might bring
Calm, follow-through, and help carrying the chairs after the exciting part is over.
Research behind this panel
In two studies of new acquaintances, more hours together went with growing closer, and leisure time together went with closeness too[C23]. Familiarity creates opportunities for trust, but time alone is not magic: repeated contact is more likely to help when people feel welcomed rather than trapped, evaluated, or ignored.
People included in the research
Most friendship studies so far have looked at students. Friendships later in life can carry different pressures, histories, and choices about time, so treat these findings as a starting point rather than a complete picture.
In a relationship
What may feel easy
A partner who enjoys your big plans and brings some of their own may feel natural. You can encourage each other to make life larger, more expressive, and less governed by routine.
Where friction may show up
Someone who prefers a steady budget or a quiet weekend may find the next production exhausting. You may find their routine flat or overly cautious. With a partner who shares your appetite for projects, the relationship can become a contest between two directors: both imagining the ideal vacation, celebration, or future, and neither wanting to take the supporting role.
What they might bring
A quiet weekend, a budget you both trust, and enough room for the plan to belong to both of you.
Research behind this panel
In one study of couples, feeling grateful toward a partner went with both partners feeling more connected the next day[C16]. Gratitude may matter partly because it makes ordinary contributions visible: the errand, patience, explanation, or small act of consideration that can otherwise disappear into routine.
People included in the research
Most of this research studied married, heterosexual couples in Western countries. One study of the push-pull loop included lesbian and gay couples and found the same link[C12]. Use these findings as useful but incomplete clues, not as a definition of what a relationship should look like.
How a third letter can shade it
A full interest code has three letters. The third is a supporting interest, something to hold on to alongside EA. It may not lead your choices, but it can influence the setting, problems, or people that make the work feel worthwhile.
-
EAREAR
Realistic third
Hands-on, practical, or outdoor work—and something tangible to show for it when you’re done.
-
EAIEAI
Investigative third
Room to investigate why things work, follow the evidence, and get the facts right before acting.
-
EASEAS
Social third
Time spent directly with people, whether that’s teaching, helping, encouraging, or looking after someone.
-
EACEAC
Conventional third
Clear plans, tidy systems, and dependable follow-through, so everyone knows what’s happening and who’s doing what.
Where EA tends to fit
Here are example jobs with this mix of interests, from O*NET[1]. They are possibilities to investigate, not recommendations. A title can fit your interests while the daily setting, training path, pay, or demands do not fit your life. Each link opens the occupation’s page on O*NET OnLine, where you can explore the work in more detail.
O*NET lists no occupations whose interest code is exactly EA. The list beside this one shows the closest examples, not a verdict about what you can do.
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Nomigram has modified all or some of this information: scores are rounded and only some fields are kept. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Credits and licenses
The other Enterprising types
All 30 interest types →- EREnterprising
The Pioneer
Ready to turn a workable idea into something real—and make it pay its way.
- EIEnterprising
The Navigator
Ready to take the lead once the evidence checks out.
- ESEnterprising
The Ambassador
energized by turning shared energy into movement—especially when the goal matters to people, not just to you.
- ECEnterprising
The Director
Comfortable with a budget in one hand and a plan in the other.
Take the Career assessment and find your type
Rate 30 work activities to identify your interest type. Then see what draws or drains you at work, which jobs to explore, and where a strong interest can narrow what you consider.
Questions
What makes two people easy to be around?
Similarity is less powerful than most compatibility charts suggest. In national studies of married couples in three countries, the resemblance between two people’s personalities explained less than half a percent of relationship satisfaction after each person’s own traits were counted[C1]. Two studies of friends found a similar pattern[C5][C6]. Being alike may make recognition easier, but it does not automatically create trust, care, or a workable daily life.
What each person brings mattered more. Warmth, reliability, and staying steady under stress were linked with the other person’s greater satisfaction[C1][C2]. And the relationship people were actively creating mattered most. Across 43 studies that followed couples for between 2 months and 4 years, feeling appreciated by a partner and believing that partner was committed predicted how the relationship was going better than any personality trait did[C3]. A trait may influence a tendency; repeated responses teach the other person what it is safe to expect.
So read what follows as a set of places to look, not a verdict about a bond. Notice what feels natural, what gets misread, and what each person has to learn to make visible. People also change. In long-term studies in two countries, being in a first serious relationship went with becoming calmer over the years[C33][C34]. A relationship is not only a meeting of two finished personalities; it is also an environment in which habits can strengthen or soften.
Can this tell whether two people will get along?
No. Assessments cannot yet predict whether two people will get along, fall for each other, or last. In two speed-dating studies, more than 100 answers given beforehand could not predict who would be drawn to whom in particular[C7]. A report can offer language for a conversation, but it cannot account for timing, shared circumstances, attraction, repair after conflict, or the many small choices that make someone feel valued.
Can I read this about someone I know?
You can, but treat it as a set of possibilities rather than a description you can assign from a distance. A type page describes a mix of scores, and the person may experience that mix differently from how it looks to you. Ask what fits, what does not, and what you may have been interpreting too quickly.
Where does this come from?
The numbered sources match the table on our method page. The personality statements come from the public-domain International Personality Item Pool, and the percentiles compare your answers with a published open data set of several hundred thousand people. The ones marked C are the studies behind “With other people.”
- 1 O*NET OnLine, U.S. Department of Labor. Career interest definitions and occupation interest codes.
- 2 Nauta, M. M. (2010). The development, evolution, and status of Holland’s theory of vocational personalities. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 57(1), 11–22.
- 6 Nye, C. D., Su, R., Rounds, J., & Drasgow, F. (2017). Interest congruence and performance: Revisiting recent meta-analytic findings. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 98, 138–151.
- 8 Hoff, K. A., Song, Q. C., Wee, C. J. M., Phan, W. M. J., & Rounds, J. (2020). Interest fit and job satisfaction: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 123, 103503.
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