The 9 Corporate Personality Types & How to Inspire Them to Innovate

The 9 Corporate Personality Types & How to Inspire Them to Innovate

Posted on November 16th, 2012 by Reginald Bailly in Leadership

Steve Faktor is founder of IdeaFaktory innovation incubator, author of Econovation and former VP & head of the American Express Chairman?s Innovation Fund. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ & email.

In a way, innovation is like sex: those talking about it most are probably doing it the least. I?ve had the privilege (and collateral hair loss) that comes with innovating at top Fortune 100 firms, where ?talk? was unavoidable. So I decided to codify my lessons as The 4C?s of Innovation^(TM). These are: context, creativity, capabilities, and most importantly, culture. Any innovation worth doing demands cultural change. But who will lead that change? And who will reject it? Why does the same ra-ra event move some employees to tears and lands like the Hindenburg with others? No need to hire an army of psychologists to electroshock your workforce for answers. Unlike fluffier lists of people to hire, here are the nine kinds of people in your company now? who will make or break any innovation or change initiative.

In the accompanying podcast episode?(subscribe here), I dig deep into this subject with Stan Slap, New York Times bestselling author and corporate culture guru. If you crave more, both Stan and I will be speakers at the upcoming BusinessNext conference in Vegas.

9 Corporate Personality Types

These are the personality types I?ve profiled over the years:

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BAMBI

Almost every new recruit starts out bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. They are fresh hard drives ready to be filled with data. You can get them to do almost anything. They walk into meetings armed with fresh slides, broad smiles, and a professionalism they?ve practiced in interviews, in school, and in the mirror. They can gleefully present for hours to anyone in the company. They can deliver news about layoffs, quotas or dire forecasts without a hint of irony or empathy. They are eager to please, but they also crave learning, mentorship and new opportunities.

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BELIEVER

Believer is a broad category that continues to branch. Generally, believers carry the torch for the brand and rally others. They?ll proudly wear company- branded polo?s and have cubes/ offices adorned with trophies, knickknacks, and photos of company picnics. They?ll talk your ear off about new specs on the Widgetizer 5000.

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ALPHA

Alphas are the Delta Force of the Believers. They?ll eventually run business units and ultimately, the company. Alphas love crushing competition and playing the corporate game. Their identity, self-worth and status are linked to their corporate conquests. They value tutelage and access to people they respect. Top Alphas can even create reality distortion fields where their truth becomes the truth. That can be intoxicating to employees and others. But they can also be abrupt, egotistical, or have a ?you?re either with me or you?re the custodian? attitude. Look elsewhere for second chances or a shoulder to cry on.

SURVIVOR

Survivors make it to senior positions, but don?t quite have the horsepower of Alphas or Naturals. They know how to work the system. Survivors don?t like taking risks and don?t want to change the world, unless it?s a sure thing. Some are master manipulators, while others miraculously survive every reorg. or get inexplicable promotions after their last assignment flops. Their powers come from strong relationships, shared history, or knowing where the bodies are buried. Some get moved sideways forever ? sometimes into good jobs that would be better served by others. If they ever leave, you?d get depressed knowing the size of their severance package.

?SOLDIER

Soldiers are solid team players. They?re not as well-rounded as Naturals or Alphas and seek out clarity and avoid ambiguity (e.g. brainstorming). They can be great at one thing like project management, analysis, process improvement or people development. When in the right roles, they shine, but there?s often a ceiling to their ascent. If they are content, they?re loyal, stay late, and deliver results. They?ll also rally others around the company?s mission. They lack the networking prowess of Survivors and Naturals and rarely inspire the strong loyalty and followership of Alphas.

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PRAGMATIST

Pragmatists are the ying to the Believer?s yang. Many are just as capable or talented, but they?re generally more skeptical, analytical, and idealistic. Think BBC vs. FOX News. Their logic, pragmatic wiring makes them less susceptible to reality distortion fields or unquestioned followership. In fact they will have questions?and respond best to answers that have more authenticity than flag-waving. At times, they can be tougher to manage or perceived that way.

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NATURAL

Naturals are ambitious and talented, but demand more balance in their life. They can be as effective as Alphas, but tend to be more humble and jocular. They deliver results and earn genuine loyalty and respect from peers and subordinates. Naturals are born networkers and build reciprocal relationships. They respond best when the mission aligns with their values and feels right. They get demotivated when success measures are unclear or when rules or rewards seem unfair. They are much more intuitive and better at developing talent than Alphas. They excel when working with people they like. They prefer managing other Naturals, but work well with Soldiers and Heretics. They don?t mesh well with Survivors.

HERETIC

Heretics are a wildcard. Some are visionary, idealists and innovators who can change the company or the world. Others just don?t like rules and are difficult to work with. Heretics have 4 general paths: 1) Get beaten down by the system 2) Succeed at bringing change and fixing a broken system 3) Resign and become Richard Branson 4) Resign and end up working in a call center in Peoria. Visionary Heretics can be more intoxicating and inspirational than any Alpha. Though they aren?t great people leaders, their commitment and vision will get the best from subordinates ? as long as they maintain momentum and stay motivated. Heretics? need help translating their best efforts into the company?s language and with codification, so others can benefit from their successes.

TOILER

Toilers represent a large portion of any corporate population. They typically view work as necessary to get to what matters most to them outside of work, like family, travel or building BattleBots. Toilers may not be looking to conquer the corporate world, but they are essential to the success of any company. Of course, performance can range from incredible efficiency to a frustrating malaise.

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Mutts and Pure-breeds

Much like Myers-Briggs, people rarely change their personalities after the initial split. You won?t find any Toilers running Cisco or even the local KFC. You will however, find many of these types in the wrong roles. That will make people underperform or mentally ?check out?. The more driven ones leave, while others might resign to a life of toil.? On rare occasions Toilers may find a project that aligns with their personal interests that motivates them to temporary heights of Naturals, but it rarely lasts.

When in the wrong job or under a bad boss, HR will often mistake one type for another?if they even attempt the diagnosis.? Many companies have rigid, pyramid structures that emphasize identical paths that might force Soldiers to fail outside their comfort zones. Or, it might trap Alphas or Naturals under Soldiers who can?t properly develop their talents.

Secret Sauce: Inspiring the 9 Personas to Change

As organizational change agent Stan Slap explains, ?Most companies misperceive intellectual engagement for emotional engagement. It?s the emotional engagement that?s critical.? I couldn?t agree more. So how do you get these disparate personalities to innovate or change? The simple answer is psychology ? and emotional engagement.

According to Stan Slap, ?Many managers and employees in a culture operate with a high level of detachment?because circumstances in a company have caused them to be detached.? Unfortunately, Mr. Slap confirms my own observations, ?Knowing how a culture works and how to work it is a missing competency and it?s the key to everything?.

Before driving change, executives have to overcome that sense of detachment. First, managers and HR professionals must understand what makes each of the 9 Corporate Personalities tick. These fall into several categories:

• Purpose ? what you need to do and why you need to do it in the first place
• Risk-Taking ? varying levels of comfort with change and career risk
• Values ? for some, representing personal and/or corporate values is key
• Rewards and recognition ? though there are some overlaps, some personality types have very different values when it comes to rewards
• Work environment ? who you work with and physical space
• Organizational Support ? things the company can do to help each type be more effective
• Professional development ? those looking to advance value and seek out these opportunities

Below are specific examples of each category and how they map to each of the 9 Types.

In upcoming articles, I?ll get more prescriptive about how to structure responsibilities and create ?innovation and change programs to capitalize on each person?s best qualities?and bury the awful ones! It won?t be easy. As Slap says, ?If you want the culture to buy it, you have to know how to sell it to them.? We?ll work on that sales technique together.

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Steve Faktor is founder of IdeaFaktory innovation incubator, author ofEconovation and ex-innovation and strategy executive at American Express, Citi, MasterCard, and Andersen. You can follow him onTwitter, Facebook,Google+ and email.

Stan Slap is the Chief Executive Officer of slap, the international consulting company renowned for achieving maximum commitment in manager, employee and customer cultures. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Bury My Heart at Conference Room B.

Forbes Topic: Leadership

Tagged As: Corporate, Innovate, Inspire, Personality, Them, Types

Source: http://www.gestbiz.com/the-9-corporate-personality-types-how-to-inspire-them-to-innovate/

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