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When you’re told that you’re “not a team player” and a “micromanager”, what do you do?

High achievers and leaders come in all sorts of sizes and shapes, literally and figuratively. They are able to get things done in different ways and still be effective.

But what happens when you are told that “you’re not a team player” or “you’re a micromanager”? What do you do?You know that you are responsible for the outcome whether it is generating a positive P&L, reaching a revenue target, managing a team that gets projects done well and on time, or achieving other milestones AND you know that you cannot do it alone.

No matter how rich or poor, short or tall, elegant or clumsy, laid back or hard charging we are, as an individual we each only have 24 hours in a day. Given this inherent limitation, there is so much that one can do during that time period. To unlock more capacity within yourself or any organization, working through other people is a necessity but if others do not want to work with you then how can you achieve more? This is the chicken and egg question that “micromanagers” face.

To put this situation in perspective, I’m introducing 4 archetypes of high achievers. This archetype helps you see what are your motivations and the capacity you have for achievement.

On a high level the archetype is based on a two by two matrix that consists of:

  • Motivation on the x-axis. This is the fuel behind your drive; the why of what you do, whether it is past, current, or future endeavors.
  • Capacity on the y-axis. This is how you are playing to your strengths and limitations; how you are currently achieving or how you would like to do it differently.

When you juxtapose these two axis, you get the 4 archetypes of high achievers:

If you are being labeled as a “micromanager” or “not a team player” then you are likely a Charismatic Manager archetype. You have motivations that are fueled by Existence needs AND have strong Adaptive capacity. You have a strong need to create outcomes in a certain way and value control, order, effectiveness. These are the people who can get things done by powering through situations and people.

When you know who you currently are, what motivates you, and what capacity you have then you can decide: do I want to stay as is or change? Every archetype has its benefits and limitations. The idea is to be aware of what archetype you are and consciously choose to either continue or change your behavior to get to your goals.

Charismatic Managers can certainly get things done but it is in a certain way. So the goal is not to hide that – in fact let people and organizations know that you operate a certain way, what it takes to succeed with you, and let people choose if they want to work with you. It’s disingenuous to say you value collaboration and teamwork when control is important to you. Some people like to work in hierarchy, others abhor it. So when you authentically know and show who you are, other people can self-select what works for them. High self knowing and matching with others is the key.

If you want to know more about your archetype or any of these archetypes then message me. I wrote a 6 page white paper about this and am happy to share with you if you want to dive deeper.

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Coach who believes that it is possible to be authentic AND effective at whatever you want to do.

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