Different Styles

A few weeks back I wrote about how frustrating it is to work with some folks. I have these types at work, and we just do NOT see eye to eye and it gets VERY frustrating. I think I wrote how I’ll sure that these people get frustrated trying to work with me too. I move too fast. I’m a “pace setting” type of leader and very independent and practical. I come up with an idea and just do. It’s Sua Sponte Leadership (see more HERE). 

But today, as a part of my self-authorship journal, I wrote a long post about this frustration. Just the other day, I had an idea to do a quick study of how our learners change their mindset (or not) about some of our training. Two of my employees have proposed this and it’s a great idea. I’m already thinking about how to go about capturing and analyzing the data. 

Being a good sport, I decided to bring this up to other leaders at the organization. What started as a one to one quick discussion became a larger and longer conversation than I wanted. And when I mentioned my intent about the study, the response was “Sure, let’s get everyone together for a meeting to discuss.”

So, first, I have no intention of “getting everyone together” for a meeting. I don’t have time for that, and truthfully, I don’t really care about their input. If they want to perform a study, they can feel free. But this study is going forward without the input of a much larger group. There isn’t a big enough risk to need more input from a larger group. 

Secondly, it irritates me some times that I’m here making a decision, sua sponte, right? And this other leader needs to build consensus even for something as small as this. 

What’s this have to do with self-authorship? Well, I realized that this isn’t done on purpose. It’s natural for me to move forward out front and set the pace and go. If it fails, it’s not that big a risk. If it yields valuable information and data, then good job team! No need for more than a quick strike group and an idea. We have both. What’s the hold up. 

Regardless, that’s natural to me, but consensus building is natural for this other leader. I shouldn’t expect them to not build consensus. That’s what they do. They see the world through consensus in the same way I see the world through sua sponte. 

What’s the end result? Well, I’m moving forward. If they want a consensus and a meeting, well they better hurry, the pace is being set. But, in terms of self authorship it was nice to realize it’s not being done to be a jerk, nor to get in the way, nor even as spite or a power play. It’s just what this person does. It’s how they see the world. What did I expect? I knew this about them. Adapt, adjust, overcome and go set the pace.