Characteristics 

• Wants to adopt secure roles at home and at work with clear rules and responsibilities. 

• Very important to understand other people’s intentions and discern if there are hidden motives or bias behind their presentation. 

• Attention moves to authority and power issues often with tension between inner and outer authority. 

• Needs to figure things out before taking action. 

• Counterphobic type emphasises strength and approaches life as  a warrior. 

• Basic self-perception emphasises the need to be loyal. 

• Wants to avoid being seen as disloyal. 

Strengths 

• Strategic thinking and informed decision-making before taking action. Able to anticipate problems and plan solutions. 

• Well developed thinking and analysis, often capable of intellectual brilliance. 

• Capable of sharp focus and insight, looking for the truth of the matter, not deceived by outer appearances. 

• Can function well with clearly defined settings and tasks. Appreciative of order and stability. 

• Able to question authority at times as well as accept authority when appropriate. 

• Demonstrates warmth and reliability in relationships, showing interdependence and cooperation. 

• Capable of courage, strength and discipline in pursuit of beliefs or physical prowess. 

• Demonstrates perseverance and dedication to friends, co-workers or the cause. 

Potential Problems 

• Finds it difficult to handle ambiguity or adapt to changing rules or environment. 

• May get caught in scanning for threats and lose sight of the task at hand. May misinterpret other people’s signals. 

• Can become overly complaining or overly rebellious or alternate between the two. 

• Often procrastinates or has trouble completing tasks. 

• Can magnify dangers out of proportion and create extreme personal limitations. 

• May be considered stiff or braced, may create unnecessary conflict or endanger self through physical feats. 

• Loyalty can be misplaced, preventing critical thinking or dissent. 

• Can have difficulty asserting own position. 

General Focus 

Uses perception and intellect to understand the world and to figure out whether other people are friendly or hostile. This may lead to chronic ambivalence and delayed action. 

Application to Your Leadership Style 

Major Assets 

You are able to combine perception and analysis with hard work and productivity. You have the ability to see and address all the important issues especially problem areas. You have the capacity for thoughtfulness, personal loyalty, precise attention and clear communication. You can excel at creating structure and safety for other people or the organisation. 

Major Challenges 

Remember to balance your orientation toward problems and what can go wrong with a positive vision of what is possible. Try to combine a focus on technical details and structures with attention to interpersonal dynamics and human needs. Share your concerns and invite a collaborative response rather than solely relying on control to get what you want. 

Preferred Learning Style 

• Likes to compare and contrast, analytical. 

• Suspicious of surface image, interested in underlying content or meaning. 

• Wants to know premise and bias of the instructor; helped by clear statement of goals and intentions. 

• Prefers orientation and warm up to build rapport, then willing to move quickly into content. 

• Doesn’t want to be pushed; pacing is important, stops and starts are useful. 

• Modelling is important, doesn’t want to jump in immediately. 

• May challenge authority in the classroom, either directly or by making mistakes. 

Suggestions for Your Professional Development 

• In a leadership role you may tend to be over-directive or under-directive. Learn to develop flexibility in the exercise of authority; give strong direction when necessary and allow room for individual style, autonomy and initiative when appropriate. 

• You may have a very strong sense of responsibility. This can be a great strength but it can also be misapplied. You may take on too much responsibility and feel burdened and resentful. This may also interfere with good decision-making. 

• Your leadership can appear to be crisis- or reaction-oriented. Emphasise planning and consistency, keeping in mind the larger perspective as well as the problem or the moment. 

• Remember that people are suggestible. Your tone and personal style as well as your expectations of others have a big impact on the results. Watch out for a grim tone or accusatory attitude. Try to expect the best from others. Even people who initially seem hostile or unresponsive can, at times, be brought into cooperation. 

• When addressing problems, create confidence in finding solutions. Remember that other people may become overly alarmed and discouraged without a positive vision. Be willing to take some risks in trying new things. 

• Encourage feedback, even if it seems critical. Bring people into dialogue. Don’t wait until situations deteriorate before communicating your concerns and listening to those of others. 

• You may tend to become threatened and defensive when people don’t agree with you. Accept other people’s different points of view while remaining friendly and work toward establishing common ground. 

• If you are primarily people-oriented, work to balance your loyalty and need for agreement with taking your own position and tolerating conflict. 

• If you are primarily concept-oriented, work on valuing relationships, creating alliances and good teamwork. 

Suggestions for the Leader 

• Explain your own point of view or bias in the opening presentation. 

• Be clear about parameters of the material including both the possibilities and the limitations. 

• Allow for opposing viewpoints in both your presentation and in interactions. 

• Be willing to play ‘devil’s advocate’ with your own material and allow this in participant responses. 

• Accept and stay friendly through what may seem like aggressive questions. 

• Don’t expect risk-taking or personal engagement too quickly. 

• Take time to build a safe learning environment. 

• Be clear about the rules of the situation.