Until this module, I have always thought generally the blue mindset to be a weakness for us historically in business and I had a righteous view towards Green/Orange.  I'm sure that it showed up in passive/aggressive ways.

I now see it as I failed to lead them with a style that was most effective for them.  Ugh.

-tony

On May 13, 2015, at 9:25 AM, Mark Sinatra <mark.sinatra@staffone.com> wrote:

> Great share Tony.   The specificity and conciseness of your examples are things I need to incorporate in my posts.     Anyway, I struggle with recognizing situations to be 'blue' versus 'orange' or 'green' (which I will post more detail about this week).    Similar to your situation in 2001, my company went through a rough period in 2009-2010 which included losing 40% of our business and layoffs and other challenging situations.   Being a 'blue' leader was what the situation called for at the time and that style proved to be effective for me.  Now, I realize that more of my employees (in general) expect more blue leadership from me versus my natural tendency of orange/green.  Maybe their blue expectation is a function of their prior work environments or other variables.  Regardless something for me to continually be more cognizant of.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: list-manager@stagen.simplelists.com [mailto:list-manager@stagen.simplelists.com] On Behalf Of Tony Lillios
> Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2015 3:53 AM
> To: buffett@stagen.simplelists.com
> Subject: Leadership style - Got Green, want me some Blue
>
> My natural leadership style is Green.  I think it started as a kid being the youngest in the family, the peace maker, the one who could look up and see all the others and the dynamics of what was happening and could operate from there.  Brian's description of when he "turned Green" in South America is connected to my story of my youth with family in Greece and Brazil.  We had family with a great variety of socio-economic status/success but we were all connected because we were family.  So as a leader, I am looking at the individuality of each team member and invite them to bring that into play as a strength to the overall team.  I also find in a Green minded environment that is open, communicative, and transparent, if a team member is going sideways, I can notice it pretty quickly before things get too shaken up.
>
> I would like to be a better Blue leader.  I find my wishy washiness/consensus-orientation/openness can be unnerving to Blue minded people and even have them loose confidence in me as a leader.  When we did our first cuts in 2001, the blue minded folks loved the assertiveness and clarity of the marching orders coming out of that.  Even a couple blue minded people who were let go commented that they had an increased respect in me and the company afterwards!  Knowing how to better set up a blue minded person for success in their specific roles would make me a stronger leader.
>
> -tony
>