Hustler-Artists are another contrary combination. Hustlers are social, manipulative and flexible. Artists are introverts, purists, and stubborn. Very high levels of these two components are
rarely found together but when they do make for an interesting
personality.
I describe them as creatively cunning. They often change their
approach to another unexpected angle, dismaying their subordinates, who become
exhausted by the lack of consistency.
They are very cynical in their attitudes to people and are always ready
to think the worse of others. They will
attempt to use their influence and pull strings to advance their own interests
and even create trouble for other people if it is expedient. When attacked they will not openly defend
themselves but will subsequently lie readily to protect themselves.
HAs will only respect cunning in other
people—you need to demonstrate that you have a shrewd awareness of their attitudes. A good approach is to appeal to their imagination and their excellent business
acumen. Ask them for their ideas on the
solution of problems; note that they will argue against your ideas but
the next day act as if they were the originators. However do not condone their dishonesty. Freely acknowledge the past personal
successes of the HA, especially where they have shown financial acumen or have
struck a good bargain, but try to make sure they do
not twist facts to suit themselves..
The archetype HA is Steve Jobs. I have blogged about him before but I have recently
finished the authorised biography by Walter Isaacson. I highly recommend the book, but you will
really enjoy it if you first understand the Humm (ie read my book.) Isaacson spends a considerable amount of time
in the book asking other people what makes Steve Jobs tick and in the end fails
to really come up with an answer. He
talks about the intensity and focus of Jobs but does not understand why he was
so visual, why he was such a product perfectionist, why when he rejoined Apple
his salary was $1 per year but subsequently screwed the board for an
unbelievable options package. Incident
after incident in the book demonstrates an HA personality with low Normal. His Normal did grow over time but not by
much.
My favourite story was about the development of the special ‘gorilla’
glass for the IPhone. John Seeley Brown,
a friend of Jobs and a director of Corning Glass, suggested Jobs contact the
Corning CEO, Wendall Weeks. Jobs tried
via telephone, was trapped by the gatekeepers and complained bitterly to Brown
that Corning was useless. Weeks, instead
of getting upset. tried to contact Jobs via the telephone and he too was blocked
by the gatekeepers. He fed back his
difficulties to Brown and Jobs liking this attitude invited Weeks to the Apple
head office. Jobs started to tell Weeks
how glass was made, until Weeks told him to shut up and then explained actually
how the gorilla glass might be made.
Jobs fell silent, listened for an hour, then told Weeks he wanted it in
production within six months. Weeks said
that was impossible. Jobs fixed Weeks
with his laser stare, told him not to be afraid and that he could do it. And Corning did it, to Weeks’s absolute
amazement. On the wall of Weeks’s office
hangs just one framed memento. It is an
SMS text “This is the first message from Jobs sent on the first IPhone: We
could never have done it without you.”
This story sums up the emotional leadership style of
Jobs. Checklists of leaders generally
contain factors such as empathy, realism, being a good listener, realistic,
being a good follower, etc. Jobs was
none of these, yet as Isaacson says in 100 years time, he will probably be
mentioned in the same breath as Ford and Edison.
No comments:
Post a Comment