PeopleSmart in Business eBook - The Platinum Rule

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Six: Leadership Styles
staff members. If a CEO doesn’t verbalize, clarify, and gather input
about what everyone is working toward, how can the company function
smoothly?
Who’s managing whom?
Managing Dominant Directors is no easy task because they want
to manage you! You can squelch them or you can encourage them to
take control of certain arenas. Why not work with the D’s strengths
by allowing him to take the reins, where qualifi ed, on particular projects?
His preference for change and innovation makes him the natural
choice for new frontier programs where he can implement his own
ideas. Make sure the Dominant Director understands he needs to
check with you at specifi c intervals, or he may demonstrate the renegade
syndrome—doing his own thing, without answering to anyone
but himself.
Getting Dominant Directors to decide
Dominant Directors tend to make autonomous, no-nonsense decisions.
If the decision will help them meet their goals, they go for it; if
not, they’ll typically say no. One of the few times this type will procrastinate
in reaching a conclusion is when it will take too much time
or eff ort to do the homework to determine the best alternative. You
can prevent this procrastination by simply providing a brief analysis
for each option you present to a Dominant Director.
Motivating Dominant Directors
Provide them with options and clearly describe the probabilities of
success in achieving goals. “Ross, here are four possibilities for developing
the Evans Estate. I’ve highlighted the key points for each
suggestion, and included costs and time projections on the bottom of
each one. Th e choice is yours.”