Characteristics 

• Forward-moving, forward-thinking and articulate. Generalist who likes to know about many diverse subjects. 

• Plan for future possibilities and keep many options open. 

• Optimistic and energetic with the capacity to enjoy life. 

• Usually want to keep things light. 

• Good at expert consulting, clarifying ideas and problem-solving. 

• Skillful at inspiring and uplifting self and others. 

• Basic self-perception emphasises the need to be free to pursue life’s pleasures and own interests. 

• Want to avoid facing life’s difficulties. 

Strengths 

• Able to think ahead and plan for positive outcomes. Sees problems as opportunities and believes in maximising potentials. 

• Excellent communicator who can inspire, motivate and sell. Looks forward to contact with people and invites others to participate in conversation or shared activities. 

• Capable of conceptualising and initiating new projects, businesses or creative ideas; often considered visionary. 

• Can be very confident about their point of view or particular approach; not dependent on other people’s approval. 

• Able to see past obstacles or negative reactions and re-frame things into new perspectives. 

• Multi-talented, quick learner who may be good at many different things. 

• Usually adventurous and willing to try new things. 

• Able to move quickly through large amounts of data or information. Gets excited rather than overloaded by large amounts of stimulation or incoming data. 

Potential Problems 

• May go too fast to fully understand or absorb new material. 

• Have difficulty slowing down and exploring material in-depth. 

• May have trouble keeping a sustained focus or recognising personal and organisational limitations. 

• Have difficulty facing the painful aspects of life. 

• Can have trouble in working with other people consistently as part of a team. 

• Have difficulty in follow-through or bringing tasks to completion. 

• May find it hard to maintain commitment and responsibility to people and projects. 

• Tendency to use rationalisation to avoid criticism and honest self-appraisal or to work through conflicts. 

General Focus 

Always thinking ahead, moving towards better possibilities and more enjoyable experiences. This may lead to difficulty with commitment and follow-through. 

Application to Your Leadership Style 

Major Assets 

You bring a lively, fast-paced intelligence to your work with a good capacity for planning and visioning the best possible outcomes. You can be an excellent communicator and you know how to persuade and motivate other people in accomplishing goals or working together as a team. Your positive outlook supports optimism and enthusiasm in the workplace. 

Major Challenges 

While planning and good ideas come easily, it’s important to practice following tasks through to completion. The actual implementation of the work can be boring at times, can run into obstacles and demand your consistent and patient attention. Be careful not to let your planning get too far ahead of your resources; stay aware of the issues and limitations presented by time, money and other people. 

Preferred Learning Style 

• Want to be intellectually inspired and excited; low tolerance for boredom and slow pace. 

• Attention goes to multiple options and shifts from one plan to the next very quickly. 

• Capable of synthesising large amounts of data and including divergent points of view. 

• Like a combination of learning modes; fast-paced thinking, processing and experiencing. 

• Prefer a quick overview before jumping right in to new material; not dependent on approval for their safety. 

• Most comfortable with a synergistic and divergent approach. 

Suggestions for Your Professional Development 

• You have an abundance of ideas and are good at seeing multiple options; at times, however, it’s necessary to chart a direction and stick to it. Sometimes keeping your options open means decisions get made by default. 

• Your idealism and positive planning need to be balanced with attention to both problems and practicality. Hold the vision, but also prepare for setbacks, disappointments and conflict. 

• Make sure you have a good system of feedback about the consequences of your actions. Keep the channels of communication open so that you are hearing from other people about your performance and what’s working or not working. 

• Listen to other people’s needs and issues. Relationships may often seem confining and frustrating, especially when other people disagree with your ideas or have negative feedback for you. If you can give people the sense of being heard, they will often become your allies in the long run. 

• Even when you have the best of intentions, resist the tendency to talk too much or tell other people how things should be done (unless it’s your job to give direction). Invite other people to come forward with their ideas and opinions in order to enrol them in the project or task. 

• Be aware that you may have resistance to authority, preferring a more egalitarian approach. Watch out for displaying covert hostility, a superior attitude or uncooperative behaviour as your reaction to authority. 

• As a leader, exercise authority for others when the situation calls for it. Often, other people need more direction and structure than you might want in the situation. If people are not performing well, resist your tendency to avoid confrontation and work to provide constructive feedback. 

• Balance your divergent, creative thinking and talking with getting focused and staying on track when necessary. 

Suggestions for the Leader 

• Keep the presentation interesting and moving at a fast pace. To encourage synthesis, discuss a variety of topics in the non-linear sequence. 

• Don’t insist on a linear response; allow for associative thinking. 

• Give a lot of material to be creative with. 

• Be willing to regularly shift focus from the specifics to the overall view. 

• Make use of multiple learning modes in the single presentation. 

• Don’t spend much time or effort in creating safety or personal rapport. 

• Don’t expect consistent attention, but do allow them room to think independently. 

• Support them in having fun with the material. 

• Draw attention to positive outcomes. 

• Encourage staying with or returning to difficult material to learn it in-depth.