Problem Oriented, Results Oriented, or Solutions Oriented. What Are You?
People have personalty traits that make them who they are. In business, personality traits are powerful because they can be an asset or a weakness, if these traits are not coached.
In my earlier article on the DiSC personality assessment, I shared how understanding your DiSC personalty profile can help you become a better communicator, speaking to others in ways to draw out the best in them as a leader.
In this article I will cover three key orientations that are common in the workplace, why this matters, and how to leverage each one for good.
Problem Oriented
People who are rooted in worry, fear, and critical analysis are the best people for telling you what the problem is. Sometimes this is great because managers may not be aware of the problem. For example, we’ve seen how airplane crashes occur after they have been reconstructed, and when pilots are alive to share their stories that they did not want to tell the senior officer how to solve the problem because of cultural differences and hierarchical respect. In this case, not knowing about a problem can literally kill people, so problem oriented people have value.
When problem oriented people stay stuck on the problems they consume excessive time on things that can be largely out of their control. Coaching problem oriented people to focus on turning identified problems into solutions or opportunities is a key goal in managing this personality.
Results Oriented
Sales leaders and executives are often focused on results, and will get there however they can because salaries, company revenue, and performance are incentivized based on results and clear metrics showing growth.
Results oriented people are great to have on your team because they will not give up, and they will find creative ways to get the results. One of the key coaching opportunities for results oriented people is to look at the big picture, so they still have a clear picture of the goal and are oriented to the overall success of the company, rather than one quick win.
At the end of the day, results matter, so this is more of a positive, as big picture, goal oriented solution can be coached. Trying to wire someone to have the drive to get the results you’re after is much more difficult, as drive is rooted in deep primal survival mechanisms and archetypes of a person – checkout Carl Jung if you want to go deep!
Solutions Oriented
How many times have you been on a conference call where no one makes the final decision? While consensus building is good, it often fails because no one is appointed to the leadership seat in the meeting to execute the final consensus. From there, more problems arise, and more meetings take place. Sound familiar?
What if you could cut the crap, and fix the issue right then and there?
Solutions oriented managers and leaders are not interested in endless small talk when most often, the common sense solution right before everyone is what’s needed to solve the problem, get things done, and free up time to work on the next big thing.
Solutions oriented individuals have a mindset rooted in creativity, optimism, can-do, let’s do, and let’s get it done by applying the following solution in this timeframe. Solution oriented managers know the value of SMART Goal Planning and the value of time management to focus on creating more impact, and having a better quality of life by addressing the issue and freeing up mental space to enjoy life instead of ruminating on the problem.
How Coaching Can Help
Executive coaching can help managers increase self-awareness around their own style, personality traits, and leadership potential.
Executive coaching can also help managers up-level their skills to solve problems, focus on results, and think bigger to contribute at a higher level.
If you’re interested in exploring the value of coaching and talking through some of the things that stood out to you in this article, schedule a FREE consultation with me right now.
