(re-post of recent LinkedIn post I wrote)
Okay, writing this article is a little out of character for me. You
see, I have a lot of big “D” in my business DNA, but only a little “t”. So what
the hell am I talking about? I’m talking about my own, personal DNA model for
assessing individuals’ business strengths and weaknesses. It’s really more of a
simplistic philosophy, and it certainly is not backed up by any credible
research - but it works for me.
So how does it work? Most of us – particularly if you have a lot of
years under your belt like me – have a tendency to “size-up” our professional
colleagues and associates. We may do this consciously or unconsciously, but we
all do it. You may think to yourself “that guy’s a jerk” or “she’s quite the
talker” or “that person really works their butt off.” In each of these cases,
you’re essentially assessing the strengths and weakness of the people with whom
you work.
I do the same thing, but sometimes my mind works in ways even I don’t
always understand. You see, I have developed a sort of simple and quick mental
philosophy for categorizing my business associates (and myself) across four
broad attributes:
·
“L” for a
great “leader.” Is this person a visionary? Is he or she inspirational or
motivational? Do people follow this individual and their beliefs?
·
“M” for
an effective “manager.” Is this person good at managing people? Are they
good at managing projects? Do they effectively manage a product or service
area?
·
“D” for a
hands-on “doer.” Is this person a worker? Do they roll-up their sleeves and
do actual work? Are they a work-horse? Can they perform a variety of
work-related tasks?
·
“T” for a
prolific “talker.” Does this person talk a lot? Are they an effective
speaker? Do they prefer verbal communication over written communication?
If you’re extremely capable in one of these four areas, I give you a
capital letter. If you’re moderately effective, I give you a small letter. If
you’re not at all capable, you get nothing (or an “x”). When you put all four together, that’s your business DNA –
well, according to me at least.
As an example, and in the interest of full-disclosure, I consider
myself to be l-M-D-t. This means I
am a moderately good leader, an effective manager, a roll-up-your-sleeves doer,
and a moderate talker. Pretty simplistic, but I think most people who know me
well would probably agree with that assessment.
As an additional example, here is how I would assess and contrast the
business DNA of the co-founders of Apple (based on what I know about them,
anyways):
·
Steve Jobs: L-m-x-T
… a visionary leader who spoke very effectively, but probably wasn’t the
greatest manager or doer of day-to-day work.
·
Steve Wozniak: L-x-D-t … a person that led others through the inspiration of the
things he was able to do; not by managing people or giving eloquent speeches.
In my model, if a business person has a high degree of L, M,
or D, they can be effective.
However, I have found that persons with a high degree of T, without moderate capabilities in the other three areas, are pretty
much worthless. You know the type of person I am talking about? Those obnoxious
people that can talk your ear off, but when it comes to actually getting work
done, managing a project, or showing some leadership – they fall completely on
their face. Unfortunately, I’ve worked with too many x-x-x-T’s in my career.
Conversely, I think people how are strong in only the L or D attributes can be very effective as long as they are well-placed.
Solid companies generally have a lot of x-x-D-x
people who come to work each day and work their butts off. Likewise, an L-x-x-x individual can be a great leader with the right vision and
personality. I am hesitant to say the
same about managers, however. I think an effective manager has to have a least
a little d in them (x-M-d-x) to be
moderately effective.
Although I’ve had my share of bad managers and leaders, I have also had
the opportunity to work with some great leaders in my career. When I first
started out in this business 25 years ago, I had an L-m-d-T boss and a, believe it or not, an L-M-D-T mentor as a colleague. It was the perfect way to launch my
career! (Now if I can only forget about all of those x-x-x-T’s).
So what do you think? Do you like this model or not? How would you rate
yourself? How would you rate the business DNA of other well-known business
people?
Scott G. Frederick
Marketing Professional & Hollywood Dad
Work Twitter: https://twitter.com/LogisticsPlus
Personal Twitter: https://twitter.com/hollywood_mktg
Family Blog: http://www.hollywood-four.blogspot.com/
