Characteristics 

• High standards for themselves and others. 

• Personal honesty and integrity are very important. 

• Want to do things right. 

• Able to adhere to and support the organisational structure. 

• Rules and principles determine behaviour in work and relationships. 

• Avoid getting directly angry. 

Strengths 

• Expect the best from themselves and other people; improvement-oriented and strive for excellence. 

• High internal standards in terms of honesty, integrity and responsibility. 

• Reliable and consistent in the context of organisation or a relationship, especially during stressful times. 

• Quality takes precedence over quantity, will perform a task thoroughly and competently. 

• At best, they can constructively channel criticalness; not afraid to provide criticism when necessary or to hear it when it’s fair. 

• Capable of providing solid authority and leadership and creating fair-minded rules and structure. 

• A practical sense of what works, combining strong values and ideals with common sense. 

Potential Problems 

• Can be overly critical or judgmental. 

• May have difficulty recognising own faults. 

• Insistence on perfectionism can impede productivity. 

• Can be inflexible in dealing with people or trying new methods. 

• Sometimes caught in rules or dogma when a more personal response is needed. 

• May have trouble knowing when wrong or acknowledging other valid points of view. 

• May not know when angry or upset; can be chronically resentful. 

General Focus 

Like being a good person/good worker and bringing things into complete order. This may lead to being overly critical, over-worked and resentful. 

Application to Your Leadership Style 

Major Assets 

You bring integrity, high standards and good judgement to your work and expect the best from yourself and others. You are able to see possibilities for continuous improvement and are guided by a practical sense of what works. You are seen by others as reliable and responsible and as someone who can deliver results. 

Major Challenges 

Strive to balance criticism with appreciation. Try to see how mistakes, problems and shortcomings can be turned into opportunities for learning and growth. Work on becoming adaptable and responsive to the need and context of each situation. 

Preferred Learning Style 

• Prefers clear directions with lots of definition and structure. 

• Needs to understand things thoroughly before moving on; new information should come in manageable pieces and at a steady pace. 

• Likes to narrow the focus and cover all the angles; often with open-ended material. 

• Wants to be able to learn/do things correctly, even if this means slowly. 

• Wants the instructor to be competent and socially correct. 

Suggestions for Your Professional Development 

• Be careful that your high standards don’t end up in perfectionism and setting unrealistic goals for yourself and others. 

• Your attention tends to go toward whatever is wrong or incorrect. Remember to pay attention to the positive aspects of a situation as well as what is in place and working. 

• Try to be realistic about other people’s capacities. Don’t spend too much time trying to fix people or make them different when your time and energy could best be applied elsewhere. 

• Don’t assume that everyone is as internally motivated as you are to do things correctly and precisely; allow for different approaches to work. Many people need more external reinforcement and structure. 

• Watch out for adopting a condemning or punitive attitude toward yourself or others. Remember that people (including you) grow professionally through appreciation, recognition and clear direction. 

• Be aware that although you may be comfortable with a high degree of criticalness, this attitude may intimidate or irritate other people and may at times keep them from doing their best work. 

• Give yourself permission to make mistakes. This will help you to take more risks when the situation or task calls for adapting and innovating. 

• There is often more than one right way to accomplish a task. If you are able to let go of control or preconceptions, other possibilities and solutions may emerge. 

• Watch out for slowing things down when a faster pace is important. Don’t get stuck in details or trying to perfect one part of a task at the expense of the bigger view or the bottom line. Sometimes quantity or timeliness is more important than quality. 

Suggestions for the Leader 

• Be well prepared and knowledgeable in your area of content. 

• When instructing or supervising, speak with authority and conviction. 

• Don’t take personally what may at first seem like a disapproving attitude. 

• Don’t expect on-the-spot decisions or quick adapting. 

• Give them time to think things over. 

• Don’t use too many open-ended questions or processes. 

• Encourage them to see other ways besides one right way. 

• Encourage them to allow themselves to make mistakes, especially in learning new material.