The CORE Types as Leaders
There is a common misperception that only those with Commander traits make good leaders. While it is true that Commanders are disproportionately represented at top management levels, it is mostly because Commanders seek to lead more than the other three types. As this report shows however, any type can be a good or bad leader depending on their level of development and emotional intelligence, and ability to cope.
Although most organizations seek to replicate the standard C/E or C/O leadership model an extensive study we conducted to determine the in-depth traits and development levels of Visionary Leaders make it clear that most organizations would greatly benefit by expanding their view of an effective leader.
In examining the Top 10 Competencies, it becomes clear that no one type has all the natural attributes to lead effectively. Every leader needs team leaders that complement his or her style. The ability to understand, measure and utilize the different leadership styles always results in a better functioning organization.
Below are descriptions of the leadership styles of each type when they are functioning from a positive place (well developed, non-reactionary and with a healthy EQ) and from a negative place (undeveloped, reactionary and with an unhealthy EQ).
The mid-zone or coping style, another important measure, is not represented in specific here, but can be understood to vacillate somewhere between positive and negative depending on the circumstance or situation. The dominant theme of a mid-zone type is that their behaviors are unpredictable because their behaviors are typically dictated by external circumstances.
Our goal is to help leaders and key employees develop around their natural style so they have more energy and enthusiasm, and are coping with day to day stressors well. The strongest predictors of success on every level are development of natural traits, emotional intelligence and coping ability. These are vital to leadership success as you will discover as you explore the difference between positive and negative leaders of the same type.
COMMANDER
True Commander (C/C) – Positive
True Commanders who are positive, well-developed and emotionally mature are dynamic leaders. They are decisive and capable, and can take charge of difficult situations with great efficiency. They lay out a plan and enlist individuals or teams to help them carry it out.
Because they tend to get right into the trenches with their people and lead them, urging them on to completion, they are also willing to take responsibility for the results produced. Positive Commanders are great problem-solvers. They are logical and forward thinking. They see the big picture and prefer working on a broad scale. They typically enlist others to help manage the details rather than doing the detail work themselves, although they are perfectly capable of handling details when necessary.
Positive Commanders delegate well in that they will fully hand off projects and tasks to be done, but keep close tabs on the progress. Rather than making assumptions, they ask questions to determine how the project manager is thinking and progressing, and offer non-judgmental feedback to ensure that the project manager understands the Commander’s vision and expectations, and stays on track.
Positive Commanders have learned to control the tendency to rush ahead without consulting others and to take for granted that they will get a positive result just by stating what they expect. They realize these tendencies are counter-productive and have taken specific measures to minimize these them. They have learned to stop and ask questions that will help them think things through and control their tendency to jump right-to-the-point in an effort to get to the bottom-line as quickly as possible. They realize that such responses leave others out of the loop and often fail to get the desired result.
Positive Commanders have also collared their tendency to be impatient with the questions of employees who aren’t as quick to leap into the future as they are. They realize that inquisitive employees need more information to do a good job and will find a way to provide the information either directly or indirectly through a referral to the right source.
The primary focus of positive Commanders is the long-term effectiveness of the company, but they know effectiveness comes from highly functioning people and they take the steps to ensure that their people have what they need to do the job in the best, most efficient way. Positive Commanders will do whatever it takes to ensure efficiency and productivity, including training, better equipment, motivation and rewards systems, or any other incentives and/or improvements deemed necessary to get the job done.
Positive Commanders understand the value of people in relation to achieving success and are determined to treat their people with dignity and respect. However, they have no problem dismissing troublesome employees for the good of the whole; it’s a bottom-line thing. Unless company policy or upper management insists upon it, positive Commanders will not suffer a difficult or uncooperative employee. They have no problem making tough, and even unpopular, decisions if they believe it is for the long-term good of the organization and the people in it.
True Commander (C/C) – Negative
Negative Commanders are another story. Where positive Commanders confidently lead, negative Commanders bully, threaten and cajole. They are most frequently described as intimidating, thoughtless, overbearing and mean. Tyrant is another frequently used descriptor. Their only goal is the bottom-line result and they alone decide what that bottom line will be and how it will be reached. It is an understatement to say that negative Commanders are not good team players.
Negative Commanders are also poor delegators because they don’t trust anyone to do as good a job as they think they can do. As a result, they assign tasks, rather than projects, and are either continually breathing down the necks of those doing the tasks or completely ignoring what is being done until it’s time for the task to be completed or the project to be delivered.
Where there is continual monitoring, not only is there a lot of tension among employees, there is also lack of accomplishment from the “leader”. Micro-managing prevents everyone (employees and the managers) from getting anything of any real value done and negative Commanders are notorious micro-managers.
When they take the opposite approach and ignore the work of employees until it’s time for the work to be delivered, the result is often that the work is done poorly because negative Commanders are very impatient with the inquiries of employees and make it clear that they don’t want to be bothered with “trivial” questions. Employees come to fear asking questions and generally won’t unless things are really bad. Then when things fall apart the negative Commander rants, raves and complains about how “stupid” and “incompetent” his employees are and, if they have a superior, can often put on a good enough show to make the superiors believe the employees really are the problem. What the negative Commander perceives as incompetence in his/her employees induces him/her to further distrust employees, which leads to more micro-managing and/or frequent replacement of employees, which further exacerbates the problem.
Negative Commanders probably cost organizations more time, money, productivity and profit than all other types. That’s because they are ambitious and brutal enough to rise up the ranks, and the higher up the organizational ladder they go, the greater the havoc they wreak. It is not uncommon for shows of power to be mistaken for effectiveness in the business world and negative Commanders are masters at playing the power game.
Negative Commanders do not have the patience to train employees well and they do not have enough faith in the ability of employees they have labeled as “incompetent” to invest in outside training, as a rule. Rarely are they open to training for themselves either, because they are unwilling to consider that the problem may lie with them. Unless their job is threatened, they are very unlikely to change their tactics or try to learn new skills. Their employees are generally highly stressed and fearful, and more focused on watching their backs than on getting the job done. Generally, when a group is managed by a negative Commander, the primary source of the incompetence in that group is the manager.
Mid-zone Commander behaviors lie somewhere between those of the positive and negative types.
Commander/Organizer (C/O) – Positive
On the positive end of the scale, Organizer adds attention to detail and greater patience with working through data to the basic Commander style. Positive C/O’s can see the big picture, complete with all the details and can relay these to his/her employees with precision or, where necessary, can comfortably handle them him/herself. The approach of the positive C/O is the model upon which many American organizations are based. They take charge quickly, give advice directly and logically, and don’t let emotions get in the way of progress.
Commander/Organizer (C/O) – Negative
On the negative end of the scale, Organizer increases the tendency to be critical, overly analytical and under-considerate of others. Negative C/Os have all the negative attributes of the negative C/C plus they tend to be know-it-all’s who have very little patience for anyone they consider inferior to themselves, which is usually all of their employees and most of their peers. They are blunt and tactless. When things go wrong their only concern is who did it, why did it happen and how is it going to get fixed. They are often seen as tough, too driven, thoughtless, and heartless.
Commander/Entertainer (C/E) – Positive
On the positive end of the scale, Entertainer adds the ability to more easily interact with and inspire people. C/Es have a wonderful mix of logic (thinking) and compassion (feeling) that makes the positive ones real dynamos in almost every area of leadership. They are natural leaders who want to make their mark and have a positive impact, and they realize that to do that they need lots of loyal followers.
They are supportive of their employees, encourage and applaud independence and initiative, act as catalysts between people and systems, and are quick with compliments and praise, so gathering plenty of loyal followers is rarely a problem. Positive C/Es are skilled at generating enthusiasm for new projects and at making even the most cautious types feel better about innovation and change. Positive C/Es provide the tools and training necessary to ensure their people know their jobs and then trust them to deliver. As a result, positive C/Es tend to allow their employees a great deal of latitude and freedom in completing their tasks and projects. Like positive True Commanders, they keep tabs on employees only to the extent necessary to ensure quality work and timely completion of projects.
Commander/Entertainer (C/E) – Negative
On the negative end of the scale, Entertainer adds a need for attention (egotism) and a tendency toward being scattered. Negative C/Es tend to overview when giving instructions and to adopt a “swim or sink” approach to training their staff, which can be a lethal combination when it comes to getting things done. Negative C/Es will generally give a big picture overview, point employees toward the end goal, leaving out lots of important details in the process, get impatient if employees ask “too many” questions, telling them to “just go do it”, and then optimistically expect everything will work out. When it doesn’t, they can become angry and belligerent, and are quick to express their disappointment. Negative C/Es tend to be neglectful of employees and of the details necessary to ensuring quality work.
ORGANIZER
True Organizer (O/O) – Positive
Although Organizers in general do not seek leadership roles, those who are positive, well-developed and emotionally mature can be excellent leaders. They prefer to lead through action and by setting a good example. They tend to work right along with their people in egalitarian fashion so there is rarely a perception of hierarchy in a Positive Organizer’s department. They are logical, methodical, thorough, and generally patient with giving their employees all the information they need to complete tasks. They are infinitely patient with explaining details and teaching employees how to complete assignments.
Once they believe their employees have the information and training needed, positive Organizers typically allow them to complete their work in their own way. They build a good, solid frame of reference to ensure that employees have what they need to do a good job and then allow them to work freely within that well-defined frame.
Employees quickly learn that they can depend on their leader to respond quickly when there is a problem to be solved, so they readily move ahead with their work. Positive Organizers hold employees to a high standard of excellence, timely completion of tasks, personal timeliness and dependability on the job, but otherwise allow them plenty of latitude. They gain the loyalty of their staff by treating them fairly and setting a good example.
Once Positive Organizers bond with their employees, they tend to be very loyal to them and to treat them as family, which deepens staff loyalty, though that is not generally the conscious intent of the O/O leader. Positive O/Os are excellent leaders for technical, financial and systems oriented people who tend to work best in structured environments where details are all clearly articulated and everything is planned out.
True Organizer (O/O) – Negative
Negative Organizers are to enthusiasm what a wet blanket is to a flame. Few things can douse a team’s enthusiasm faster than a negative Organizer, especially when he/she is in a leadership role. Negative Organizers are overly critical, nit-picky, too strict about everything, require that all employees follow all the rules all the time to the point of absurd, and leave no room for flexibility. They spend so much time poring over details and checking and double-checking every step of a process that they often create bottle-necks in production. Then, when the bottle-necks become a problem, negative Organizers simply increase their attendance to detail and their nit-picking, making it almost impossible for employees who would normally be productive to do their jobs.
When conflict arises, as it often does in high stress situations, negative Organizer tends to side-step it and complain about it to others, rather than face it directly and deal with it. As a result, negative Organizers frequently create an environment that is so oppressive that the better employees leave and the poor ones, who are too insecure to leave, become all but shut down. Productivity and performance are often low and stress high in departments run by negative Organizers.
Mid-zone Organizer behaviors lie somewhere between those of the positive and negative types.
Organizer/Commander (O/C) – Positive
On the positive end of the scale, Commander adds a degree of decisiveness, intuition and a greater ability to see the big picture and to convey the overall vision to the basic Organizer style. O/Cs tend to relate to others intellectually and based on their expertise, rather than on their status or position, and rather than on a personal level. However, they treat their people fairly and with professional dignity. Rather than getting into the trenches with their people as an O/O might, O/Cs are more likely to depend on organizational structure, logic, principles and the strength of their ideas to lead others. Positive O/C’s excel at managing technical, systems, and financial departments where their management style is both needed and appreciated.
Organizer/Commander (O/C) – Negative
On the negative end of the scale, Commander adds impatience, diminishes concern for people’s needs and increases the likelihood of open aggression. Negative O/Cs depend heavily on logic and rules and are quick to strictly enforce any rules they deem relevant. Protests from employees as to the unfairness or impossibility of such rules tend to fall on deaf ears and protestors are often punished in some way; extra work, requirement of stricter adherence to rules, more rules, critical evaluations, etc.
Organizer/Relater (O/R) - Positive
On the positive end of the scale, Relater adds relationship building skills, greater understanding of people and patience in dealing with them to the basic Organizer style. They maintain the Organizer preference toward task orientation, but people become more important in how tasks get done. Positive O/Rs rarely seek leadership roles, but are often recruited for them because they are reliable, stable and consistent employees. As leaders they call on their past experience and factual knowledge to guide their actions. They respect the hierarchy, follow the directives of their superiors and reward their subordinates for outstanding contributions. They seek fairness though, and are not opposed to bending rules slightly when they are seen as too extreme to ensure that their employees are treated fairly and that departmental objectives are met in the best way possible. O/Rs lead by modeling others they consider effective and, where such a model is absent, they tend to lead democratically, by trying to get consensus between their superiors and their employees.
Organizer/Relater (O/R) - Negative
On the negative end of the scale, Relater adds indecisiveness and a greater need for approval from both superiors and employees. Negative O/R tends to be overly concerned about what the boss thinks, to fret when employees are not following the rules laid out by the hierarchy, and to become overly concerned about keeping employees from violating any of the rules. They keep them in line by focusing on tasks and how those tasks are completed, and often fail to acknowledge the contributions of their employees because of the task focus.
Negative O/Rs lay out specific standards and procedures, based on the rules, and expect their employees to follow these dutifully. O/R’s tend to avoid conflict and to defer any discipline of employees to their superiors to the extent that superiors will allow it.
RELATER
True Relater (R/R) – Positive
Relaters who are positive, well-developed and emotionally mature are warm and authentic leaders who are highly effective at building team loyalty. Relaters, like Organizers, don’t actively seek leadership roles but can be very effective in such roles. They are typically assigned management positions as a result of their strong relationship and mediation skills and because of their willingness to faithfully follow organizational protocol when they see it as fair.
Positive Relaters keep employees motivated and committed by creating a deep sense of loyalty and true team spirit. They are gentle, caring and compassionate leaders who are genuinely loved by their employees. Positive Relaters work to build egalitarian teams rather than hierarchies and lead primarily by guiding, coaching, praising and encouraging employees.
When discipline is necessary, positive Relaters administer it gently, but firmly in a “tough love” manner. Gentle coaxing and coaching is Relater’s typical correctional style and it works well for them because their employees believe they are heard, that their needs are considered, and that they can trust their positive Relater boss to always be fair. The employees of a positive Relater boss are generally fiercely loyal and happy to do whatever they can to improve their behaviors and outcomes. Positive Relaters regularly get 110% from their employees, not because they demand it, but because they are so good at gently tapping into the best attributes and intentions of their employees that employees simply want to live up to the greatness their leader sees in them.
Positive Relaters tend to have a laid-back, easy-going approach as a rule, but when a crisis or emergency arises, they rise to meet the challenge, adapting and dealing with whatever is needed to return the department and their people to a place of equilibrium and harmony. They are willing to fight for the well-being and protection of their employees and the employees know it.
The positive Relater leadership style is described by employees as caring, helpful, cooperative, friendly, fair, service oriented, good at keeping things on an even keel and excellent at sheltering their people from the ill effects that permeate so many organizations.
When problems arise for Relater leaders, including the positive ones, it generally comes from Commander-dominated upper-management. When Commander executives cannot see the value in the Relater style, they frequently ride Relater managers to “get tough”. “Tough” is not the Relater style and in reality Relaters would get far less accomplished by trying to be tough. They instinctively know this and the positive ones resist moving into that style. Negative and mid-zone Relaters will sometimes try the tough approach to comply with their superior’s request, but quickly discover they aren’t effective at it.
Few leadership styles generate greater loyalty than the positive Relater style and loyalty translates to hard working employees more often than not. When Commander executives push for a tougher approach Relater managers often find themselves in a stressful situation, trying to appease their superiors while, at the same time, trying to protect and remain cooperative with their people. Acting as a filter between upper management and employee needs creates a great deal of stress in Relaters; so much so that sometimes Relater managers that would otherwise be positive move toward mid-zone or even negative behaviors purely out of stress.
True Relater (R/R) – Negative
Negative Relaters rarely move into leadership roles because they present themselves as too indecisive and needy. If offered a leadership position, most negative Relaters would be highly unlikely to accept the position. The only exception would be if they were pressured into taking the position because no one else was available and they were too weak to say “no”. Under such conditions, negative Relaters quickly crash and burn, or a more bold and directed employee takes over and calls the shots becoming an unofficial leader of the team. The negative Relater then comes to rely heavily on the one who has adopted the leadership role, which ultimately results in resentment from the unofficial leader and, sometimes, sabotage in an effort to get the negative Relater removed from the position. Negative Relaters are generally happy to relinquish a management position if it can be done in a face-saving manner.
Mid-zone Relater behaviors lie somewhere between those of the positive and negative types.
Mid-zone Relaters are more frequently placed into management positions than negative ones (also usually against their will). As with positive Relaters, their primary concern is for their people, but they have not generally developed the decision-making skills of the positive Relater and are often seen by their employees as too easily run over and taken advantage of, which the employees are quick to do (especially the Commanders).
Employees generally report mid-zone Relaters as wishy-washy, easily taken advantage of, weak and indecisive. They state that they don’t respect mid-zone Relater managers enough to follow them confidently even though they may like them on a personal level.
Negative Relaters are seen as too pathetic to even be likeable.
Relater/Organizer (R/O) – Positive
On the positive end of the scale, Organizer adds attention to detail, follow through, logic, and conscientiousness as it relates to systems, to the basic Relater style. R/Os are dutiful and have a strong sense of loyalty and responsibility to the organization they work for. They don’t typically seek leadership roles, but will accept them for the good of their organization and the people in their department.
They accept and enjoy organizational structure, guidelines, procedures and protocol and use these to guide their management decisions. Positive R/Os are team players who will rarely ask an employee to do anything they will not do themselves. They are good at keeping track of details, but prefer to focus their energies on achieving practical results for their people, their department and the organization. They are more relationship than task oriented, but attend to tasks easily and can feel disappointed (mostly with themselves) if a task is not completed well and on time. R/Os want harmony in their department and will work diligently to ensure it.
Relater/Organizer (R/O) – Negative
On the negative end of the scale, Organizer diminishes the concern for people and increases the need to get things right. Negative R/Os like negative Relaters, are rarely put into leadership roles, but when they are a negative Organizer influence results in their being even more remote and uncommunicative than a negative Relater might be, and more difficult to be around due to their nit-picking over the most trivial of things.
Relater/Entertainer (R/E) – Positive
On the positive end of the scale, Entertainer adds boldness and the ability to speak up easier, especially in group settings, to the basic Relater style. The leadership style of positive R/Es is gentle, inclusive, subtle, caring and often has a touch of fun. They encourage creativity and innovation, and support a flexible, friendly work environment.
They are persistent in trying to get things done through their people, but are never aggressive unless pushed very far. Positive R/Es are values-based leaders who facilitate, rather than dictate, and encourage performance through praise and genuine appreciation.
Critiquing others does not come easily to positive R/Es, but they will critique as necessary using a gentle and kind approach that encourages improved performance. R/Es are not as quick to follow rules and regulations as true Relaters and Relater/Organizers, but they are not rebellious of rules either. They are more likely to bend them for the sake of their people, but the results they usually get are so good that no one interested in improving the bottom line is likely to complain.
Relater/Entertainer (R/E) – Negative
On the negative end of the scale, Entertainer dilutes Relater’s ability to focus which results in a tendency to be scattered. It also adds a greater need to be appreciated, which often translates to being even more indirect and working harder at avoiding conflict. Negative R/Es have a head-in-the-sand approach to problem-solving, preferring to look the other way and wait for a situation to work itself out rather than confront it head on. They tend to wait out situations that are not going the way they should be, hoping that the people involved can work it out themselves.
Negative R/E managers are seen not only as ineffective but also as confusing and exasperating. The inability to lead and the tendency to create confusion rather than any semblance of real leadership often results in one or more of the negative E/R’s employees taking the unofficial lead and actually running the show.
ENTERTAINER
True Entertainer (E/E) – Positive
Entertainers who are positive, well-developed and emotionally mature are inspiring leaders. Their leadership style is highly interactive and participative. They freely discuss departmental plans and keep employees informed of any changes the company may be considering that could impact the department. Positive Entertainers are responsive to the needs of their people, but are able to apply discipline when necessary.
Entertainers, like Relaters, try to avoid conflict as much as possible and positive Entertainers are often quite adept at diffusing potentially explosive situations before they get out of hand, but they don’t side-step them. Rather, they encourage employees to find solutions. They are also usually quite good at inspiring their employees to lighten up and look for positive potential when tempers flare, unwanted change is creating havoc, the workload is heavy or burdensome, or when things are otherwise difficult.
Positive Entertainers make a point of getting to know their employees. They take the time to interact with each one on a regular basis and usually have an open-door policy that invites communication. Their management style is that of “managing-by-walking-around”. Their leadership power comes from the ability to inspire their people to greater performance and to instill a sense of optimism. People follow positive Entertainers because they genuinely like them.
Employees of positive Entertainers generally describe the atmosphere they create in their departments as fun, fast-paced, innovative and upbeat.
Entertainers in general thrive in atmospheres that are fast-paced and filled with innovation and change. Where innovation does not exist, they will try to create it. Positive Entertainers actively look for ways to encourage creativity and original thinking. They are quite comfortable in environments that require a lot of multi-tasking, flexibility and frequent change. They see great value in flexibility and tend to allow their employees as much of it as the organization will allow. It is not uncommon for an Entertainer boss to rearrange schedules and assignments to accommodate employees when unusual situations arise. An example would be allowing unscheduled time off to be with a child who is ill and persuading co-workers to take over the employee’s tasks so the absent employee won’t have to worry about catching up when they return to work. Co-workers take on the extra work willingly because the positive Entertainer has convinced them that it’s the right and good thing to do, and that the same things will be done for them should the need ever arise.
Positive Entertainers have learned that they can lead so much more effectively when they listen, so they have made it a point to learn and practice good listening skills. They hear what is being said and are very good at giving feedback. They have also discovered that feedback gives them an appropriate opportunity to talk, which all Entertainers enjoy doing.
Positive Entertainers work at helping everyone get their needs met, not just to further their own personal agenda, but to ensure that the environment and everyone in it stays positive and upbeat. They want the outcomes generated to be beneficial to the individual group members as well as to the overall goals of the team. They work to meet organizational goals first, but see meeting the needs of their people as equally important. Positive Entertainers are masters at enlisting the aid of their employees in meeting goals and in making them feel special for having been chosen to do the work.
True Entertainer (E/E) – Negative
As with the other negative types, Negative Entertainers are not good leaders. They are scattered, forgetful, too self-absorbed to see or consider the needs of others on their team, and tend to be competitive rather than cooperative. Those who work for negative Entertainers describe them as clueless, unpredictable, overly sensitive and self-absorbed. They may change their mind as to what projects have priority and/or how to complete those projects several times a day, which drives more stable employees crazy. And, since Negative Entertainers don’t like conflict or any kind of negative feedback, especially when it seems to be questioning the accuracy of Entertainer’s decisions or the competency of their actions, they tend to side-step issues and frequently pass the buck.
Negative Entertainers are generally too concerned about themselves, and too busy talking and trying to impress their superiors to actually see or hear their employees. So no matter how obvious employee frustration and irritation become, the negative Entertainer often misses it. Besides being clueless as to the needs of their employees, a large part of the negative Entertainer’s ineffectiveness is their tendency to focus too much on the social aspects of the job and overlook necessary tasks. Chaos is the result and the whole department suffers. The atmosphere in departments headed by negative Entertainers is generally one of high frustration, confusion and despair.
Unfortunately, the foibles of Negative Entertainers are so out there and apparent that they can cause the overall view of Entertainers to be bad in the corporate world. Many organizations have a negative view of Entertainers in general because of the readily visible misadventures of the negative ones.
Mid-zone Entertainer behaviors lie somewhere between those of the positive and negative types..
Entertainer/Commander (E/C) – Positive
On the positive end of the scale, Commander adds willingness to tackle big challenges and tones down the tendency to keep things highly flexible. The primary goal is still building and maintaining a collaborative team, but achieving the goal quickly and efficiently takes on greater importance, as does meeting deadlines. True Entertainers tend to be more flexible on deadlines.
Like True Es, positive E/Cs like to keep their people informed, but they also are quicker to set a personal example of hard work and to follow-through and more likely to expect the same from their people. When employees don’t meet the standard positive E/C demonstrates, they tend to talk to them and try to inspire greater effort rather than berate them.
Positive E/Cs are energetic, enthusiastic, innovative and charismatic leaders who are willing to take charge and lead their people to successful outcomes. They are visionary spokespersons who are willing to champion not just the organization, but also the hopes, dreams and ideas of their people. They are quick to recognize the contributions of their people and to push for promotions for those they feel are deserving of them, even if it means losing a talented worker from their own department.
Entertainer/Commander (E/C) – Negative
On the negative end of the scale, Commander tones down the flightiness, but adds aggression. Negative E/Cs are still overly focused on self, so the added aggression simply makes them more wiling to bully and cajole people into doing what they want done for their own purposes.
Entertainer/Relater (E/R) – Positive
On the positive end of the scale, Relater adds the stability of the sensory function and greater ease in applying listening skills. There is also a greater tendency to adhere to organizational rules and regulations, but only when they are deemed to be fair and humanely applied. The approach is still friendly, warm and concerned for the outcomes of the employees and there is greater emphasis on team effort rather than individual innovation. The primary goal for E/R is the goodwill and cooperation of everyone, and they affect this through genuine concern for each team member and the ability to inspire and gain employee loyalty.
When employees are not meeting the expectations of the organization, positive E/R tends to coach them until things are done right, rather than apply typical disciplinary measures.
Entertainer/Relater (E/R) – Negative
On the negative end of the scale, Relater adds greater indecisiveness and avoidance of conflict, making this a very ineffective management style. Negative E/Rs are described as scattered, self-absorbed, clueless, indecisive, confusing and exasperating.
The CORE Types in General
Each of the types brings something of value to an organization provided they are functioning as positive, well developed, emotionally mature individuals. Few, if any, organizations can operate at peak proficiency with managers of all one type. The workplace, and certainly the marketplace, is highly diverse and the more diverse the management team, the better the organization is able to meet workplace and marketplace demands.
By knowing what positive, well developed, emotionally mature people bring to the table an organization can customize its operations for peak efficiency.
Conversely, by being able to recognize and avoid placing negative, undeveloped, emotionally immature individuals into management positions organizations can avoid the problems that plague many organizations today.
Ultimately, the best indicator of success in management is emotional maturity (also called emotional intelligence) and development levels.
Many organizations, in an attempt to address the vitally important issues of traits and abilities when placing and promoting people, currently use the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator, DISC or a similar assessment. Unfortunately such assessments can be easily skewed, and often are, and none measure the essential-to-success attributes of emotional intelligence, development and coping abilities. Only CORE MAP has a system that can do that. For organizations to be certain they are hiring and placing top performers, the CORE MAP system is the answer.
