by Amy Gallo
The Izzy Way Book Review
Getting Along, like Book 9, The Eight Paradoxes of Great Leadership, offers insights into eight archetypes and how you can navigate your professional relationships. I can slot current and past co-workers into most of the eight archetypes, and how I choose to handle or get along with them, but I will focus on two for this post. I will also share how I work hard not to be these archetypes to others.
Archetype #1 – Pessimist
We all have co-workers who are pessimists. I can spot them almost a mile away and certainly after a conversation or two. I tend to put on the optimist charm but know when to dial it back. Knowing when the individual is just being the devil’s advocate on an issue (e.g., risks and challenges we’d face in implementing a project or solution) is critical to avoiding assumptions about them. The bonus is that they bring diversity of thought most of the time, which is never a bad thing.
Leading a Pessimist can be exhausting, but rewarding when you can gain their buy-in on a specific initiative or work. However, you may need to work with the individual to tame their gut reactions when working with others, especially if they have career progression plans.
How do I make sure I am not deemed a pessimistic leader?
I’m a natural optimist, but I can come off as a pessimist when someone has consistently shown up a certain way. I try to approach those individuals wearing a different hat – one of curiosity. Wearing a curious hat, I can try out different approaches to understand their thoughts, desires, outcomes, and needs, which brings out my optimistic nature. I would say this works about 90% of the time, and for the other 10%, I accept that there are personalities I might not get along with, which is OK.
Architype #2 – Know-it-all
We’ve all had a co-worker who feels they are the expert, who can fix everything and will not accept feedback. I find these co-workers a bit of a challenge to work with. As an optimist, I see these individuals as an opportunity to learn patience, forgiveness, leadership growth, and peer collaboration.
Leading a Know-it-all can be challenging because you need to find the gap in their armour where you can coach them to share the stage with others and support their ideas. Being a know-it-all often limits one’s growth opportunities and career progression. I try to figure out their main driver and share fact-based feedback (not always well – remember, I will always be a work-in-progress).
How do I make sure I am not deemed a know-it-all leader?
Throughout my career, I have been a tester and a leader who excels at failing fast. By always being a work-in-progress, I seek insights, knowledge, and ideas from others, always acknowledging and giving credit to those who’ve helped me in all facets of my career. When I hire team members, I always try to find people with skills I don’t have and learn from them just as much as they learn from me – a win-win.
The other archetypes Gallo shares are:
- Political Operator
- Biased Co-worker
- Tormentor
- Victim
- Passive-Aggressive Peer
- Insecure Boss
If the names of those archetypes don’t pique your interest in reading/listening to Getting Along, consider how much easier your work life would be if you gained insights into how to work better with others.
I’d love to hear which archetypes resonate with you and your tips for getting along with others.
Check out my other book recommendations.
theizzyway.ca 