A lot of entrepreneurs naturally operate by brainstorming ideas and experimenting.
Many will instinctively look to change things up, even when processes are well established, and projects are already down the line.
And for many employees in companies run by risk-taking entrepreneurs, this can be a struggle. For some, it can even be downright frustrating.
But the answer is not to “fix” the Visionary in your company.
Because those risk-taking instincts are an incredible strength that will often pay off in astounding ways. They’re a good thing.
No, the real way to deal with a leader who naturally innovates is to let that leader lean into those strengths. Let them use those instincts to make magic happen.
Surround them with people whose strengths complement their own.
That Visionary may never work to stabilize, protect the status quo, or minimize chaos. But you don’t want them focused on that. It’s not a good use of their energy or the company’s time.
Instead, find the people to put around them who will naturally serve those important purposes, providing a check on the innovation, and minimizing risk and chaos.
This can be done by identifying the needs that are not being represented on your leadership team and throughout your organization, then putting the right people in the right seats.
Not all entrepreneurs are natural risk takers. Nor are all Visionaries wired to brainstorm first and ask questions later.
How you naturally operate is dictated by your instincts. And your MO (modus operandi) accounts for your natural strengths across 4 Action Modes™:
The Kolbe A™ Index measures these strengths and helps you identify your strengths in all 4 Modes, as well as with which strength you initiate action.
Often, entrepreneurs and Visionaries initiate in Quick Start. This is, of course, often not the case as well.
But the same rule applies for anyone in your leadership team (and beyond): Identify their natural strengths, let those strengths flourish, and surround them with others who will naturally do the things that are not the best and highest use of that leader’s mental energy.
Because that leader is not going to change how they naturally operate. And if they do, you’ll wish they didn’t. And they’ll really wish they didn’t.
As Oscar Wilde once said:
“Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.”
This applies to everyone in an organization, from the top down. And it most certainly applies to you.
Don’t try to be like that parent, mentor, guru who taught you the right way to do something. Do it your way, and you’ll be better off. Stop trying to fix yourself, whatever role you’re in, figure out how to keep track of who you are, what drives your success, and worry about the other stuff that you can change and fix.
We get told there’s a right way and a wrong way to do things, and we believe it so often, and we try to fit ourselves into that.
Some things will change. Your instincts won’t.
It’s not about avoiding hard work. It’s not about setting yourself up to take shortcuts and avoid the difficult things in life. It’s about setting yourself up for success.
Leading for lasting success is understanding who am I and what am I supposed to be doing here? What is that seat that I’m in? What are the responsibilities? It’s a long haul. This isn’t a sprint. So sure, you can do most anything for a little while.
Sure, you could buckle down and do something hard over the next quarter or even the next year. But what does that three-year vision look like? What’s the 10-year target? It’s about that big, audacious goal that you hope you’re going to reach, but it’s really hard. That’s when you get to sustainable success. And you don’t get there with a team working against their natural strengths.
We think that some of these preferences (pay, personality of the people we work with, commute, etc.) are going to be the biggest factors, and they’re certainly important, but really it is your instinctive strengths that need to be your top non-negotiable.
