Why Should Anyone be Led by You? Coaching Insights May 2006
We're sorry you've received our May newsletter in June - this was due to a technical hitch which has now been rectified.
Welcome to May’s newsletter. If you enjoy this newsletter, please forward it to others who may also be interested. This month:
Why should anyone be led by you?
Are you only promoting people who think like you? How managers' Myers Briggs profiles differ from the typical population and why you might be interested.
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NLP Practitioner Course for Coaches September 2006
Wow...what a question...Why should anyone be led by YOU? Take a few minutes to ponder it's importance. Then maybe you'd like to try answering it? I’ve only just gotten round to reading this book and I’m glad that I did. Here are some additional questions to help you with your answers:
Which personal differences could form the basis of your leadership capability? Hint: Think about your values, your personal vision for those you are leading, focus on differences that have the potential to excite others.
How authentic are you? Hint: authenticity and skill together are a great combination. Take a look at the following diagram also taken from the same book.
Which personal weaknesses do you reveal to those you are leading? Hint: Nobody’s perfect; and don’t reveal all your weaknesses. Be human, not needy.
How able are you to read different contexts (that require different styles and behaviours)? Hint: How sensitive are you to subtle changes in others behaviours? Can you bring forward different facets of your real self to suit different situations?
Do you conform (just) enough? Hint: It’s a balance to maintain your authenticity whilst also conforming enough to connect to others.
How well do you manage social distance? Hint: consider how close you are and need to be to those that impact on you and your career. How adept are you at adapting, i.e. getting closer, moving further away when necessary.
Do you have a good sense of time? Hint: Do you know when to speed up; and when to take time and care with someone or something?
How well do you communicate? Hint: Consider how well you communicate the tough stuff – your values, your vision and your weaknesses. When are you communicating at your best; and how can you leverage those occasions?
"I am very impressed by Kim. It was very important how she handled the personal relationship and this was done in a very professional way; she trod that line very well. The way she interpreted the results of the self assessments was brilliant; and she made all the theory relevant … far more than you would ever get from books at Waterstones! Kim practices what she preaches and she adopts a coaching leadership style; she was very adept at that". Divisional Manager, Public Sector
2. Are You (only) Promoting People who Think Like You?
Ashridge Business School has recently published some research on managers and Myers Briggs (MBTI). They referred to the profiles of over 8,000 managers attending development programmes at Ashridge over the last 3 years and found that:
Managers tended to fall into only 4 of the 16 different types – ESTJ, ISTJ, ENTP, and ENTJ. The general population also tends to fall into 4 types (two are the same, two are different) – ISTJ, ISFJ, ESFJ and ESTJ.
Biggest area of difference was in the decision making dimension (Thinking / Feeling)
- Nearly all of the managers (85%) were “T”, making decisions on the basis of logical objective analysis.
- A minority (15%) of managers were “F”, making their decisions based on their values.
- Less than half of non-managers (45%) were “T”, the majority (55%) were therefore “F”.
Female Managers were also more “T” than “F”, i.e. closer to their male managerial colleagues than they were to their female non-managerial colleagues.
This might suggest:
Directors and managers might be recruiting people “like them” and not seeking to renew the mix when they have the opportunity to introduce some different styles and preferences.
Directors and managers are encouraging / rewarding like-minded thinking and decision making processes and not nurturing a diverse culture.
Women (and naturally “F” men) are choosing to adjust their styles to conform to the apparently more acceptable “T” style of decision making.
Why might this be important to you?
Take a look at your own team and ask yourself what MBTI types you’re gathering around you. Greater “bunching” of certain types can result in conveniently quick decision-making…and a risk that everyone misses the important different perspective.
Ask yourself how you’re encouraging different styles.
Consider how you might explicitly or implicitly being intolerant of new or different approaches.
Ray Charlton is running a 6 day NLP Practitioner course running from September 2006. The cost will be £600+VAT and is specially designed for coaches. Participants need to have completed the NLP Introductory Course (with any provider). If you want more information please contact Ray at
rayc@transitionpartnerships.com
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