Continuing with last week’s topic, I will recap the openness and directness scale and the Director and Socializer personalities.

Then there are two personality styles that are more indirect and passive:

Thinker – the thinker is indirect and less open – they like working on their own. They like being immersed into complex projects and work on the same tasks for hours. They are really good at the details. Getting the right answer is important to them. They do not like to be rushed and find it risky to make a decision without having time to study it completely. To get along better with a thinker – be sure to give them lots of data and information. Also, instead of being enthusiatic, stay practical. Give them time to figure out that your solution is the best.

Relater – this is the personality type that is indirect and open. They are very approachable – in fact at the office, this person gets approached by everyone because they are such a good listener. Maintaining harmony is really important to this person. Unlike a Director, they will lose sleep when someone doesn’t like them. They could be accused of being the office gossip because everyone tells them lots of personal information. The challenge for Relaters is that even when other people do or say something that annoys them or hurts them, they won’t say anything. If you wrong a Relater, they will make a note in their little black book and stick the negative emotion into a sack. When their sack of supressed emotions gets full, it could burst, even over a relatively small thing. To get along better with relaters, be sure to take some time to discuss how they are feeling. When proposing an idea, say how it will make everyone happier and reduce complaints – relaters like that. They also like to know that lots have other people are already on board – so testimonials are important.

Both Relaters and Thinkers take a lot of time to make decisions and prefer to eliminate all risk. This makes it less likely for these personality styles to become managers where they are expected to make quick decisions without having all the information they need. Also, because some decisions will hurt the feelings of others, they will not want to make tough decisions. Remember that a large percentage of people fall into these more passive styles so a successful leader will need to learn how to bring them on board.

Now for the big announcement:

AM800 is going to present The Exceptional Leadership Seminar on Thursday, March 1st at the Caboto Club in Windsor. The seminar will be introduced by Mike and Lisa and be conducted by Greg Schinkel, the Leadership Wizard.

The seminar begins at 9 AM and ends at 3:30 PM.

Providing Windsor/Essex managers with the essential leadership skills they need to generate results in a challenging business environment. By registering yourself and key managers, supervisors and team leaders from your organization, you will receive this essential information:
- How to maintain a positive motivational climate in a challenging business environment
- The characteristics of an effective leader and how you match up
- The top three actions you can take as a leader to get best-ever performance from your team
- The most significant leadership pitfalls and how to avoid them
- What you think motivates employees and what really motivates them – surprising insights
- Tactics to attract and retain talented employees now and into the future
- Myths about getting the most from younger employees
- How to deal with employees who do not meet your expectations
- How to communicate with people so they do what you want… willingly

Normally, I would charge $247 for a seminar but for AM800 listeners, the investment will be $197+GST and lunch is included. We will be giving away two free registrations to two separate callers this morning. Listeners can visit LeadershipWizard.com and see all the details and register. Satisfaction is guaranteed – if you register and attend the seminar and don’t find it useful, you can get your money back at the end of the seminar.

http://www.leadershipwizard.com/seminar.htm

This week I thought we could look at different personalities at work.

There are two main observations you can make to determine a person’s dominant personality characteristics:

First – you can observe how open a person is – how readily do they share information, including personal information – are they open or self-contained? This is the easiest observation as you can begin immediately looking for clues from the handshake, to how easily it is to strike up a conversation.

Second – you can observe how direct they are – some people are very direct – they tell you what they think very directly- other people hint at what they want or always seem uncertain about their opinion. This takes a little bit longer than openness because you have to talk to the person and hear how they answer questions. Direct people move quickly, make fast directions and take risks. Indirect people move more slowly, take lots of time to make decisions and they move more slowly.

From these two sets of observations, let’s look at the two most dominant personality types and how you can adapt to them:

First lets look at the Socializer – very open and very direct – for this type of person – they readily express their ideas, they talk quickly, are quite sociable. They like to buy things impulsively, especially new gadgets. They like to stand out, be different and be recognized for their accomplishments. At work, these people want to be the centre of attention so give them lots of praise, ask them what’s new, and generally get more excited and enthusiatic and these people will warm up to you.

Next let’s look at the Director – very direct, but not very open – they tell you what they think but don’t explain themselves fully. They are very demanding time wize and don’t like people to waste their time or be late. They are results focused and want you to get to the point quickly. They want to be in control and make decisions. To get along better with a Director personality, get to the point, give them options to choose from, focus on the bottom line and don’t waste their time. Also realize that this type of person can appear insensitive, abrasive and yet they are very unaware of how they frustrate others. Don’t hint – be direct and this person will respect you. This person smells uncertainty and can pounce on mistakes very quickly. If you do not react quick enough, they will assume you are weak and raise their voice even more.

We’ll look at two more personalities next week.

Remember if you are in Human Resouces, I will be speaking to the HR Professionals of Windsor this Thursday evening at Furlan Fogalar – visit www.leadershipwizard.com for the link.

Change is a problem at work because it disrupts existing habits. The subconscious mind memorizes routines we carry out regularly – this is why you can drive to work and not remember how you got there – your subconscious took over and memorized. This also explains why it is so difficult to quit smoking, change your eating habits and improve relationships.

Think of all the work routines you go through each day to see how repetitive they are. From meetings to getting your morning coffee or tea, to checking your email messages – you do most things in a routine. These habits are hard to break because you do them automatically. Think of how disruptive it can be when someone moves something, or changes something you are used to.

When we change something at work (or even at home) it requires our conscious mind to pay attention more – and this causes stress – until we repeat it often enough that our subconscious memorizes it as a new habit.

At work change is constant – new computer systems, changes in coworkers, a new manager, new procedures, a need to improve productivity, quality, get more sales – the list goes on and on. What we know is to change those results, we need to change the behaviours and most of those are habits run by the subconscious mind.

First, the leader/manager has to recognize that they are disrupting the subconscious habits of those around them. They need to explain why it is necessary – what the desired outcomes are and why they are better for the organization and the company. Next the managers needs to provide training and coaching to help people practice new skills and then encourage them to stick with it so they become proficient. The manager can then give praise for a job well done. Then the manager should remind people that even though they initially resisted the change, they were able to be successful.

Remember when you look back at changes in your life, most of them have turned out okay and you are likely better off and stronger because of it – so let’s be more open to change as it happens and realize that it is only a matter of time until the subconscious will memorize the new routine and make it less stressful to us.

I am speaking in Windsor:

Human Resources Professionals Association of Windsor – January 25th, 2007. It is a dinner
meeting at the Fogolar Furlan Club from 5:15 PM to 8 PM – Guests are welcome at $20 each. The topic is Increasing Your Persuasion and Influence as an HR Professional. For registration info, please visit LeadershipWizard.com and click the link for the event.

As the new year rolls around, most businesses start a new budget year, usually with targets even higher than last year’s numbers.

Many managers get a little anxious about how they can hit these targets.

So let’s look at some ways that managers can replace worry with strategy and make those impossible targets possible.

There are two different groups who need to be convinced – the first person that needs to be convinced is the manager themselves – the second group is the employees who must hit the targets.

First the manager – Realize that it is possible to hit even higher targets in the year ahead. Hopefully you have had a track record that has already been successful so you can do it. Visualize success – see yourself celebrating at the end of the year – having just surpassed those challenging targets and looking forward to even higher targets the following year.

Next ask yourself the question – what would have had to have happened for you to succussfully have reached or exceeded those targets? Break down the target to understand how it can be achieved – if it is a revenue target – which customer segments can grow? where can prices be increased? how many customer visits will be required? How will your suppliers have to step forward? What kind of help can they provide? How can costs be reduced and waste eliminated? How can productivity be improved?

Next it’s time to get the employees on side – after all they are going to make the numbers happen.

First sit down with key individuals, departments and groups – discuss the goals for the year ahead – acknowledge they will be difficult to achieve and that every contribution will be necessary to make it happen. Ask them for their ideas on how to make it happen – add in your own ideas. Get agreement and buy-in that they are ready to go for it. Then encourage them and offer praise when they start to make it happen.
Celebrate the success as it occurs – and get ready for the next year – you did it!

Join me for my next speaking date in Windsor:

Human Resources Professionals Association of Windsor – January 25th, 2007. It is a dinner meeting at the Fogolar Furlan Club from 5:15 PM to 8 PM – Guests are welcome at $20 each. The topic is Increasing Your Persuasion and Influence as an HR Professional. For registration info, please visit LeadershipWizard.com and click the link for the event.

http://www.leadershipwizard.com