Simple_Complexity by Donaldson William;

Author:Donaldson, William; [William Donaldson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
Published: 2017-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

As a leader, you must consider your impact on the system and understand how your style, biases, and preferences color your view. Additionally, it is important to map out and understand these preferences in your individual employees and teams down through the organization.

There are many different assessment tools available to help you and your team understand the way you act and process information and how your team does so. Every brain is unique, and some are better adapted for certain tasks—risk tolerance, stress management, creativity, storytelling, goal setting, etc. The key is to understand your style, preferences, and those of your team because these shape your view and understanding of the system and its dynamics.

Assessment tools such as Myers-Briggs, Birkman, DISC, and others can be very powerful in revealing patterns of thought and action and blind spots in organizations. Means of thinking, such as DeBono’s different colored hats, are also helpful in assessing and shaping patterns of thought.75 Knowing your strengths and weaknesses and the style preferences of your teammates is critical to having effective communication and teamwork. Similar to, and in large part driven by, our left-brain/right-brain preference, each of us has a personality type and leadership style that colors the way we behave and the way we perceive things and react, particularly in times of crisis or stress.

Note from the Field

A company lost its VP of Engineering. It was fortunate to have a terrific internal candidate who had extensive experience in both engineering and product marketing. The CEO had never worked directly with him, but he was known throughout the company to be incredibly bright and well liked. After a brief search, the company elevated him to the VP position expecting great results. After some time, however, the CEO was unimpressed. It seemed the brilliance and certitude were gone. The CEO inquired of the VP of Human Resources if she had any thoughts or perspective. She asked if he had reviewed this individual’s preference assessment. The CEO had not done so since the employee was not a new hire and he had fit so well in the organization before. Upon reviewing the assessment, the CEO and VP of HR discovered the employee in question was at the highest level for introversion. It was only through sheer determination and training that he got himself through presentations and meetings, but it was exhausting. Conversely, the CEO’s style was highly extroverted. He had a habit of barging in on his staff and engaging them immediately. Exactly the behavior that would be challenging to an individual assessed as a strong introvert by the instrument they used. Upon seeing the report, the CEO modified his approach to this employee. Whenever possible, he sent an email in advance with his issues or questions and asked the VP to consider them. Within days, the brilliance was back. The VP’s preference was to gather the needed information, gather himself emotionally, and then address the task.

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