I’m on a bit of a development roll at the moment as I prepare for personal and professional challenges ahead. I’ve just finished reading Thomas Erikson’s ‘Surrounded by Idiots’ which explains the four types of human behaviour the DISC profile tool explores. The four types, you may know, are Red-Dominant, Blue-Analytical, Yellow-Inspiring, and Green- Stable.
Thinking back on the various manager/leaders I’ve worked with, I compared two that I felt were dominated by Red/Blue and four dominated by Red/Yellow. One Red/Blue recognised a lack of empathy in their make up and attended courses, read books in an effort to be able relate more effectively to their colleague. Two of the Red/Yellow saw nothing wrong with what I perceived as domineering behaviour, two had some green as well and this made them popular leaders , not afraid to walk with their team through tough times. Note I said ‘with’ … this demonstrated their natural empathy.
This made me pause to think, self awareness is key to leadership. Understanding how you work, what drives you, how you relate to others, and where your shortfalls are that you need to work on, these are the foundations of leadership.
It was an interesting exercise reflecting on past leaders in this way. I thoroughly recommend this book for anyone interested in human behaviour. For anyone who’s interested… I think I am Yellow/Green… so will be working on developing more Blue/Red traits 😁
©Fiona Doney 2024
kanyini.co.uk 