The shadow side of high achievers and the risky business of accidental managers.
Deadline-driven, confident and highly competitive, people with Type A personality traits are real go-getters. But as with all strengths, you can have too much of a good thing.
The cracks start to show when Type As get the inevitable reward of running a team. They have an authoritative, JFDI, style which doesn’t go down well. They are intolerant of Steady Eddies and anyone less robust. They push for results now and are often deaf to bad news or concerns that could slow things down. They resent time away from the sharp end of the business and run out of time for strategic thinking. All this is to the obvious long-term detriment of the business.
A red flag of Type A behaviour is the impatient manager who keeps looking at their phone during your one to ones. Multi-tasking they’d say. You might say it’s just plain rude.
All this was happening with my very nice but struggling client, who we’ll call Mark. He was put in charge of a newly formed function. Mark was to be rewarded on his whole team’s performance, not his own, but you wouldn’t think that from the way he operated.
Everything was urgent and last minute. His team knocked in the results by the skin of their teeth, but there was no clear direction, collaboration or support. Mark’s 24/7 pace and lack of thoughtfulness was stressing everyone out. The grumbles were heard. His enlightened CEO told him that he was a poor role model and that he had to sort it out.
It wasn’t an option for Mark to return to an individual contributor role. He had to dramatically change his leadership style or his career would derail.
Here’s the questions he worked through, to switch from old-school dominating and demanding, to contemporary inspiring and developing.
1. What are we all doing and why does it matter? We worked on leadership essentials. Mark had to let go of the reins and build accountability: easier said than done. He had to set a compelling vision and clarify purpose, then get buy in. Next, he had to ensure that his team were competent and motivated to deliver. That old cliché of getting everyone on the bus, in the right seat.
2. How do I trust them? Mark was constantly ‘checking up’ but not adding any value: people felt micro-managed. He worked with his team to create plans with clear performance standards. Setting RACIs and milestones helped Mark to feel more in control when relying on others to get results. He knew what was happening, even a couple of levels down, without breathing down their necks.
3. How can I make them better? Mark grasped the concept of growth mindset and realised that people’s ability to learn isn’t fixed. Instead of searching externally for mythical golden gooses to add to his team, he realised that he had plenty of potential in his existing people and his job was to nurture it. They weren’t snowflakes, just human. He prioritised coaching and developing, and trained his Team Leaders to do the same for their reports.
4. How do I stop taking over? With some difficulty, he stopped dominating meetings and interrupting others: a common gripe in the feedback I got on him. He designed participative agendas. He listened to feedback and followed through on some suggestions.
5. How can I still use my strengths? We didn’t throw the baby out with the bath water; Mark had exceptional influencing skills. He found some external speaking and networking opportunities and this raised his profile across the business.
6. How do I stay sane? If you are hoping that next for Mark was a daily meditative practice, I’m afraid that would be one step too far. However, he found a healthy outlet for his natural competitiveness in his local running club.
Please note that Mark was on a full twelve-month leadership programme. The real world is more complicated than this snapshot. Miracles don’t happen easily or overnight: but they do happen.
Coach yourself:
- What’s your greatest strength?
- What happens when it goes into overdrive? Does it become a problem?
- What can you do about it?
How can I help you?
Do you have ‘accidental managers’? A staggering 82% of people in management roles have no formal training, with obvious damaging consequences.
The people who need the most support are probably working for someone who doesn’t know how to give it.