The first combination profile we would like to discuss is Leading. The people that we see as “typical” leaders often have elevations on the following scales: Ambition and Inquisitive (HPI), Bold (HDS), and Power (MVPI). First, from a values perspective, these individuals desire to be successful and have an intrinsic need to be in control (Power). When considering day-to-day tendencies, these individuals will be very driven, competitive, and results-oriented (Ambition). Additionally, they will tend to be idea generators that understand the bigger picture (Inquisitive). Lastly, these individuals will appear confident and willing to challenge others (Bold).While high scores on these scales indicate potential strengths for leaders, extreme scores on any of these scales may be problematic for leaders. Extremely high-scoring individuals are prone to displaying a strong sense of entitlement, may become demanding and overbearing, and tend to have problems generating loyalty from followers.
With the Leading combination, one of the challenges is that they set their goals and expectations quite high; sometimes so high that others have a hard time living up to them. Given this tendency and using the Start, Stop, Continue model, one Start tip could be to have them clearly define what their goals are and what expectations have they asked of their team. Then, with a trusted colleague, evaluate each goal and determine how those goals will be accomplished, who will be responsible and what the desired timeframe is. Then as a whole, determine if these goals can be achieved.
The Leading combination has a tendency to not want to back down from arguments especially if they feel they are in the right. This often is seen as being very defensive and not open to others’ opinions. One thing they should Stop doing is always ‘playing defense’. To do this, they will first need to identify what the trigger factors are for their high Bold score and what factors lead them to be defensive in the first place. This could be a person, situation or place where they tend to not want to back down. One tip could be to have them think about the last time they were really stressed/frustrated and felt the need to prove their point. What was it, when did it occur, was it a person’s particular opinion about a certain topic that caused them to automatically be on the defense. Once identified, work with the individual to create a visual or a word that they can use to diffuse the situation the next time they are in front of the trigger. This could be as simple as repeating the phrase “Let It Go”. Over time, this should help the individual appear less defensive, allowing others to share their side of the story or thoughts on a particular manner.
Another factor of this combination is that these individuals want to be seen as a leader and often take on leadership roles when they should let others take the reign. One thing they should Stop doing is always feeling the need to step in and take charge; Instead, they should step back and let someone else lead a discussion or project from time to time. In turn this might actually help the way others view them and strengthen their leading style.
Lastly, one of the strengths of this combination is that they are focused on achieving success and comfortable presenting their strategic ideas and business goals to others. As such, this is one of the characteristics that they should Continue to do.
The final message I would like to leave you with is this is a very generic look at a “leader” profile. There are many types of leaders and when we think about “leading” in general, we need to identify the type of leader first then determine how they will lead, and what strengths and challenges will they face as a leader.
