One-size-fits-all doesn’t work when it comes to managing the human side of an organization. People come in different personality types, some requiring a specific leadership approach. Who deserves continued investment and who doesn’t? Can you turn someone’s performance around? Here’s the danger: if you don’t know how to deal differently with different kinds of people—especially the difficult ones—they can derail your entire vision. Drawing on the wisdom of 20 years of coaching top business and church leaders, Dr. Cloud presents concepts that can expand your capacity for accurately assessing and managing each person on your team. “These leadership concepts,” says Bill Hybels, “have forever changed the way I lead.”
Notes
- In my conversation with leaders, they almost always turns to a discussion about “that guy”
- Wherever you are God has called you to be a steward over a vision.
- Are you going to allow “that guy” to stop this vision?
- What does a person do when reality hits them?
- Feedback is not that easy to hear sometimes.
- You make an assumption as a leader. You’re a kind, responsible person. You hear feedback & adjust. You think other are people are like you.
- Not everybody is the same, therefore you cannot deal with every person the same.
- You’ve got to diagnose who you’re talking to and then deal with them appropriately.
- We’re going to give you 3 categories of people: wise, fools, bad
- All of us have all of these parts, it’s just that some people make a career out of one of them.
Wise person
- When the truth comes to them, the person adjusts themself to match the truth.
- When you confront them, they thank you.
- When leading a wise person, you talk to them, coach them, give them feedback.
- With a wise person the challenge is to make sure they are a match for what you want them to do.
- Give them good feedback & coaching
- Keep them challenged.
Foolish person
- Could be the smartest, most gifted person at the table.
- The fool… when the light shows up, they adjust the light. They try to dim it, adjust the truth.
- Or they shoot the messenger.
- They deny, minimize. They get angry.
- They can’t own it.
- As a leader, when you get hopeless about a fool receiving feedback, it’s a good thing.
- Do not confront or correct a fool, lest you incite insults upon yourself.
- Stop talking!
- Limit your exposure to the problem.
- Ask, “What is it about this that makes it hard to receive?”
- What will we do if this happens again? Predetermine consequences.
- Fools change when they must feel and camp out in truth… forced to change.
- They want to inflict pain. Destruction is in their heart.
- It’s hard for an optimistic person to believe that there really are bad people.
- Reject a divisive person after a second warning. Have nothing to do with them.
Such a difficult topic for leaders to address. Love this approach which makes total sense.
Thanks Zach! I agree. Bery insightful and practical.
Learned so much the past two days. It was an amazing event.