Forums

 Hi, all:

I'm curious to hear from the high C managers in this forum as to what you think are the top 3 strategies that had made you succesful in your role as manager, i.e. in overcoming the negative traits of a high C, or in employing its strength to your advantage in your managerial role.

 

I'm a High C High D as far as DISC goes, and have been given multiple inputs (indirectly) to tone down my C-ness to be much more effective in my role. 

What I've done up until now:

1. Agree on a deadline - I find that to settle speediness issue with people who are faster (or dare I say.... reckless :)), a deadline is a good tool.  I would pinpoint a deadline that everybody agrees to and use that deadline as my time frame. When the deadline comes, I make a decision and let go. But before the deadline arrives, don't nag me to decide faster. 

2. Cut my own deadline by 1/3 - To make myself a little "speedier", before I state my required deadline, I would think about it and cut my original deadline by 1/3, and then state my deadline. I'm not always disciplined in doing this, but I try whenever I remember.

3. Decide what's most important, nag and drill down in detail on that one, but let go the rest at good enough, or drop them entirely. I felt that I have a tendency to nag and nitpick every single detail, because they are not thorough in my opinion.  I felt guilty, however, every time I do this, because I felt like I became quite annoying to others. To tone this down, I've been trying to decide what is most important, and give myself permission to nag on that particular thing(s), but let go of the rest or accept good enough.

I wonder what other strategies other high Cs are using to make themselves more effective.  Perhaps we can all "steal" those strategies and use them as well. 

 

aylim14's picture

 Same as you, im a high C and D as well. While i may still be at the beginning of my career (25), i definitely learned a lot my past few years - some definitley the hard way. To answer you 3 strateges, 

1. Top of the list is one of Hostman's Laws: The other way works just fine. Like you said, we think other people's rashness and not being thorough might drive us crazy but if it works, then just let it go. BIBOMO - breathe in, breathe out, move on. 

2. Next is definitely putting on the smile and eyebrow thing that Mark refers to. I find it greatly affecting, in a positive way, relationships around me. My direct (High I) and peers (mostly high S's). 

3. Lastly, always catching myself not to utter whatns wrong in what other people said, presented, etc. i know you know it, when we see or hear something, at the back of our minds we already know if that would work or not and what are the flaws. In behavior terms, while doing number 2, i let go of the negatives and say i agree or using the and-but rule. I admit, i didn't achieve 100% of this but i really saw the difference in the workplace. 

As one of the sayings in MT, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. 

dienkwik's picture

@AYLIM14:  BIBOMO :) That one's going into my dictionary...

mtietel's picture
Training Badge

I'm also a high-C high-D.

There are several pieces of advice I've received that have helped me.  Both are from previous bosses.

a - "I don't want to see you doing your old job."  As in,  now your job is to manage people, not do their work for them.

b - "If more than 80% of your decisions are right, you're not making decisions fast enough."

Personally, I've learned to channel more of my high-D.  I care a lot more that it is done on time rather than it being perfect but late...

 

 

 

 

 

leanne's picture
Licensee Badge

I'm also a D/C. I'm not a manager yet; I'm building a delta file. So take this with a grain of salt.

The problem I'm sharing that I've observed in high C managers is something I've taken to calling:

The Rules Say.

The Rules Say gets in the way of useful process change (as opposed to change for change's sake, which I do NOT think is good), AND it gets in the way of delegation. A lot.

For process change, the effect of The Rules Say is pretty obvious. Because The Rules (i.e. process docs) Say, the process Is This and Can't Be Changed. (Often, the process docs also say things like 'this process will be reviewed annually' or something like that...)

DELEGATION is the biggest problem it causes, I think. Mike, Mark, and Wendii have all talked about the perfectionism reason for high Cs not being willing to delegate. I think The Rules Say is another key element.

You see, The Rules Say that task X is the manager's job. So the manager has to do it and it can't be delegated.

And sometimes, that's true. (I do not recommend delegating writing your annual reviews...)

And sometimes...it's really not true.

Sometimes it's a grey area: Sometimes, part of a task CAN be delegated and part can't. In these cases, I recommend breaking it into two tasks and delegating the one that can be.

The Rules Say is not always conscious and can be subtle. I think a lot of high C front-line managers don't delegate because The Rules Say that their people are supposed to do X type of tasks. (E.g., software developers are supposed to, well, develop software.) So even if a task is something that 'can' be delegated, The Rules Say it can't be delegated to software developers because it's not developing software.

altadel's picture
Licensee Badge

I'm high-C, high-D (and was surprised by how much "D" I was!).

I try to use my high-C "details" nature to keep things from falling into the cracks (falling between the cracks doesn't make sense if you think about it), ask for agreement on dates of task (and reporting!) delivery and holding people to it, logical sequencing of tasks and ensuring critical-path tasks are front-of-mind for teams working on projects.

I try to use my high-D "General Patton" nature to rule MYSELF, avoiding perfectionism, ready-aim-aim-aim-aim, and the like. Pareto's (80/20) Law, Occam's Razor, "don't make perfect the enemy of good", all come under this umbrella. In reviewing my DISC results against my nature and the DISC podcasts, I see that I am more decisive than high-Cs are characterized as being; I tend to ask people who disagree to tell me what they see so I have more than one viewpoint and then I decide. I find if I use the D-nature to set high expectations for myself and then set my expectation of project members at 90% of what I expect of myself, I get results and project members who enjoy a sense of group accomplishment through the projects (some of which have been as long as 2.5 years).

I think a high-C manager delegates well when they see the time freed up for higher-value tasks that "only they can do" AND when they use the delegation model and have good reporting tied to the delegated work.

Scott Delinger

DISC: 5137