THE COOL HEAD OF IMPASSIONED LEADERSHIP
A profit-driven company is a body that consists of a head (leaders), a heart (managers), and hands (rank-and-file employees). Some work can get done when one part isn’t operating well, but not for long. Without the cool head of impassioned leadership, for example, the heart still pumps hard and the hands are busy, but there is a great expense in the lack of coordination. The Talk to Me© system values each part equally and sets up a broadcasting system which enables the strengths of each player while disabling their weaknesses.
WHAT IS THE SEER LEADERSHIP SUBTYPE?
There are two communicator types (Empathizer vs. Instigator) and four leadership subtypes that can be identified during an interview or testing process, using the New Insights Communication Inventory–Leadership Scale or NICI-LS. If you are a SEER, you bring these strengths to the corporate or family communication table:
1. ABILITY TO “SEE” THE WRITING ON THE WALL. You are able to quickly see what new programs or directions will work for customers and which will automatically fail. You tell the truth and listen more than talk, to better know what’s really going on.
2. FAIRNESS FOR ALL. You are able to comprehend the fairness and equity of new decisions, as well as their impact on relationships, thereby avoiding costly mistakes. You dislike “I know best” or “I’m right and you’re wrong” ineffective leadership extremism. You care about people, not just about their money, and thus you can sleep at night.
3. UNCOMMON COMMON SENSE. You are able to live where the rubber meets the road, and you don’t fall for looking through “rosy pink colored glasses.” You may not have “book smarts” but you do have “street smarts.” Unlike many, you learn from life.
4. PREDICTIVE GENIUS. You are able to predict which strategies will fly or fail, based on your uncanny ability to look into the “crystal ball” of the future. An Achilles Heel for you, however, is that you get your knuckles bloodied trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
5. BREED CUSTOMER LOYALTY. You are able to command great respect and loyalty, not only because you put your customers’ needs first, but you also genuinely care about their satisfaction and frustration, over the long haul on the two-way communication highway.
5. FOCUS ON MEASURABLE RESULTS. You are able to take the pulse of team health and accurately measure how well things are going in the field, by how your customers and co-workers initially react to new programs or marketing ideas. You will give your weighty opinions and insights when asked, but too often you aren’t prudently consulted.
6. AUTOMATIC TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION. By anticipating how critical feedback might embarrass team members or force a reduction in their confidence, you are able to steer around many talk accidents and communication mistakes waiting to happen. You have uncanny relationship savvy.
7. OPPOSED TO DOING MORE OF WHAT ISN’T WORKING. You are able to see the target goals map, and when what is proposed or attempted isn’t working, you are open to the change of doing something different. You are confused and concerned when leaders stay stuck in the rut of doing more of what doesn’t work, thereby wasting time and money and cutting down team morale.
8. WISDOM EARNED THROUGH PAINFUL EXPERIENCES. You know through real life experiences, what “real people” like you will like and dislike, what they will pay for or despise. Therefore, you are an incredibly trusted adviser, one whose opinion is sought by the “average guy or gal” to decide if a product is worth the time and investment. Although humble, you do know best.
9. ROLE MODEL HOW TO GET ALONG WITH ANYONE. You are able to work things out when there is a conflict, and you are able to bring hidden agendas to the surface so they can be addressed. You know that just crunching numbers doesn’t inform you how people are going to respond or react.
10. SMART IS…AS SMART DOES. Forrest Gump, in the movie by the same name, is a Seer leader. Remember his uncanny wisdom in the phrase, “Stupid is, as stupid does!” Seers get what smart ideas are stupid communication moves. On the Talk Highway, stupid driving that chops down morale…cuts off top quality customer service…puts off vibes that don’t retain good employees.
A SEER leader shows respect to all levels, from the employee performing menial tasks, to the larger-than-life CEO.
SEERS TALKING
Seers, of course, have their weaknesses too. One weakness: to stay loyal to people who aren’t being loyal. The results-driven Talk to Me© system heals this Achilles Heel. A Seer leader recently told me:
How am I supposed to get all excited about something that’s not going to last, or doesn’t make sense, or has no qualities of being a good program? How am I supposed to sell what I don’t believe in? I have street smarts, but executive decisions are made on book smarts. Sometimes I think our core leadership can be too smart for their own good!
You can’t chop off the hands or legs of your team members and expect them to compete effectively in the race, either!
YOUR COMMUNICATOR SEER STYLE BY THE NUMBERS
How unique are you? 24.3% of all communicators in relationship to you (or leaders you interact with at work) are Empathizer-type extroverts or ETE’s. 7.4% of Seers are male, and 16.8% of Seers are female. Thank your lucky stars, Seers! Overall, about half of all communicators are Empathizer communicators, and half of all communicators you meet on Talk Road are Instigator communicators.
Lastly, don’t you find it astonishing that E- and I-type communicators are evenly divided between the sexes?! This sheds a whole new light on the brave new world of effective communication, and you give us all hope that equally men and women can relate more productively and effectively using new talk tools.
WISDOM BORN OF EXPERIENCE
If you’re a Seer, you have wisdom born of experience. You have uncommon common sense, and you are able to sense what customers will be attracted to and will pay for. Yes, you will scratch your head in frustration at why other team members or life partners can’t seem to see the writing on the wall as clearly as you. But no matter what, you must keep speaking up!
WHO IS COMMUNICATIONS PSYCHOLOGIST DENNIS E. O’GRADY, PSY.D.?
Dr. Dennis O’Grady is a Dayton Ohio relationship communication coach. Dennis is the developer of the innovative person- and results-driven Talk to Me© effective leadership and teamwork communication system, which is also a marital and relationship enhancement approach. For 30 years, Dr. O’Grady has focused on the areas of effective communication, constructive team relationships, and change management. Dennis can be reached at 937-428-0724.