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Are Your Type A Top Performers Headed to Your Competitors?
During tough financial times, it’s easy to justify squeezing pennies, slashing staff and delaying career development opportunities. If this is your modus operandi, take heed.
Your economic belt-tightening just may be cutting off your nose to spite your face.
During this recession, the smartest companies are aggressively investing in developing their top talent. Why?
It’s simple.
They want to keep their top performers when things turn around.
There’s going to come a time when the job market begins to rebound. When it does, your Type A stars will have plenty of offers and opportunities. They will be in a position to choose to either stay with you or pursue new ventures.
Make their lives miserable now and you’ll be waving bye-bye as you watch them take their intellectual capital, client relationships and company knowledge out the door… to your competitors.
Wouldn’t your competitors love to have your best talent on their team? I can just see them smacking their lips in anticipation.
How happy are your Type A top performers? Have you even made the effort to ask them or have you been too busy demanding that they do more and more with less and less?
I Didn’t Marry Your Laptop!
“Damn it! I didn’t marry your laptop and I’m sick of sleeping with it!”
A real comment from an exasperated husband of a Type A workplace warrioress
Has your sexy sizzle fizzled into a case of laptop ménage a trois?
It’s no secret Type A’s are driven to get things done. This is one of the reasons so many Type A’s rise to the top performer ranks. But let’s get real. In our 24/7 stopwatch world, this Type A core trait can also bite you in the butt.
Before you know it, you are over-committed, impatient, worn out, wound up and wondering where your love life went. This Type A drive to get things done can create a self-generated and perpetuated sense of time urgency and pressure.
Add it all up and it’s no wonder research shows Type A’s have a greater tendency towards stress and – drum roll, please – heart attacks.
And being too pooped for a late night tango with your sweetie doesn’t help your heart either.
So… how do you keep your Type A drive working for you and not against you?
First, forget all the hogwash about “finding work-life balance”. That magical spot where everything is perfectly balanced simply doesn’t exist in real life. There’s too much uncertainty in life. No one lives in a static utopia. If you keep searching for imagined work-life balance, you’ll just end up increasing your stress. I could rant about this all day. I can’t tell you how many of my superstar Type A executive clients needlessly beat themselves up because they “can’t find work-life balance”.
Try this instead. Design your life so that all the important elements are optimally integrated in a dynamic framework that lets you respond to the unexpected with your absolute best.
This gives you the flexibility, energy and bandwidth to handle life’s unexpected blips with grace and effectiveness.
Start by identifying and creating strong personal boundaries that protect your performance, your health and your happiness.
Personal boundaries keep you energized, productive and satisfied. Think of them like critical components in your own personal operating system.
Some quick examples of personal boundaries might be:
• Banning your laptop from your bed
• Limiting your caffeine and fast food intake
• Having dinner with the family
• Exercising each day
• Getting enough sleep
• Knowing when to say “no”
• Building in time for relaxation and fun
These are only examples. Everyone’s boundaries are unique.
Where could you use a little boundary building?
A Four Letter Word
Why do you think so many smart and talented Type A superstar athletes fumble their exit from the playing field?
Simple. They can’t wrap their Type A hard-driving, ambitious, competitive minds around “exiting” a game at which they have always excelled. They can’t envision anything fun and exciting for themselves beyond the next snap of the football.
There’s nothing sadder than watching a former superstar slowly sink into mediocrity simply because he or she didn’t create a great exit strategy. Mickey Rourke did a splendid job of taking us down that dark rabbit hole as Randy “The Ram” Robinson in the award -winning movie, The Wrestler.
For many top performing Type A’s the word “exit” is a four letter word subconsciously synonymous with losing or quitting. Type A’s don’t like to lose or quit so it’s tough for us to wrap our minds around intentionally exiting.
Admit it. At first blush, exiting sounds so bleak and – dare I say – terminal. Talking about developing your exit strategy feels a little like planning your own funeral – something that is pragmatic but not particularly fun and exciting.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
A well crafted exit strategy is actually the launching pad for your dreams. It keeps you manning the controls and calling the shots. It gives you the freedom and resources to launch a new business venture, pursue your “dream” career, travel around the world, join the Peace Corps or give your beloved business baby another 50, 75 or 100 years of life. All it takes is envisioning a compelling new future and working with an exit strategy architect like my good friend and financial planner, Scott Neal.
I’ve worked with many Type A top performers to create a compelling vision of their future and then turn that vision into a reality. One example is Merrill Williams. She exited a successful career in public relations on the west coast to launch her dream on the east coast, Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.
Don’t let your default exit strategy be dying at your desk with your nose against the grindstone. Dare to think beyond your current success to envision something even better.
What’s next for you?
Are You Mowing Your Yard with Nail Clippers?
I’m going to rant about something that drives me crazy and it’s going to make some of my professional colleagues ticked off. Too bad. I have to say it for all of my high octane Type A tribe members.
Generic “improvement” tactics and strategies are a waste of time, energy and money for top performing Type A’s. I’ll be specific here. I’m talking about the plethora of experts, blogs and books espousing Pollyanna platitudes, magic bullets du jour and the latest “ten things to do” formulas. For Type A’s, achieving and sustaining big improvement through tactics and strategies like daily affirmations (repeat after me…”I am a serene soul with an abundance of time.”) is like mowing your yard with nail clippers. Tedious and slow with little to show.
Here’s the deal. Type A’s are relentless about results… the super-duper-zero-turning-radius-John-Deere-don’t-waste-my-time-with-nail-clippers type of results. This is especially true for top performers. To get those eye popping results you must match your tools and game plan to the specific flavor of Type A talent you are working with – whether it’s yourself or the superstars you are leading and managing.
Let’s drill down.
Type A’s are like ice cream. There’s no doubt Type A’s share some core characteristics, but some of us are Cherry Garcia while others are Butter Pecan or Chocolate Fudge Brownie. That’s why so many of the “one flavor satisfies all” improvement approaches leave a nasty after-taste for Type A’s. For top performing Type A’s these off-the-shelf approaches are as effective as running a race with tennis shoes that are missing their laces. Sooner or later, the floppy fit will make you toss the loosey-goosey sneakers.
So…What are the core Type A characteristics?
On the positive side: being driven, ambitious and self-motivated. That’s why executive suites, boards and management teams are frequently filled with “whatever it takes” Type A’s. A lot of entrepreneurs and business owners are also card carrying members of the Type A tribe.
On the dark side: a pesky tendency to be impatient, over-committed and stressed out. That’s where the collateral damage sneaks in to torpedo top performing Type A’s.
Now, here’s where the A flavors make things interesting.
Not all Type A’s are driven and motivated by the same things. Some Type A’s are extroverts. Some are introverts. Some are jazzed by detail and precision. Others paint with broad visionary strokes. Some focus their drive outwards while others turn inwards. Some are motivated by people while others are motivated by power.
There are many different variations on the Type A theme. That’s why it can be so tricky to align and engage a team of Type A Titans to get big results without collateral damage. You’ve got to use a unique blend of tactics and strategies to create a tasty concoction of Cherry Garcia, Butter Pecan and Chocolate Fudge Brownie.
Bottom line: Match your tactics and strategies to your specific Type A flavor and magic happens. Mismatch and it’s… tedious and slow with little to show.
What flavor of Type A are you? What motivates and drives you? Are you Cherry Garcia, Butter Pecan or Chocolate Fudge Brownie?
Oops! Your Slip is Showing.
“If I could, I would take this @#$%&@* ball and shove it down your @#$%&@* throat.”
“You lie!”
In the heat of the moment and fueled by passion, Type A top performers are notorious for short circuiting between their brains and their lips. Like Mt. Vesuvius belching lava, uncensored thoughts explode and rain down on unsuspecting bystanders who are left shaking their heads and asking, “What just happened?!”. Tennis superstar Serena Williams and Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC) are just the two latest apologetic examples.
When asked later if she was threatening the judge, Serena’s candid confession illustrates the spontaneous nature of this Type A explosion.
“No, I didn’t threaten. I didn’t say…I don’t remember anymore, to be honest. I was in the moment.”
Serena was caught in the Type A Moment. What’s your story? When have you been caught in the Type A Moment? Were you the unsuspecting bystander or the belching behemoth?
I’ve personally experienced this eruption on both sides of the equation. And I can tell you, it’s not pretty. Like the time I blew up at my high school track coach and told her she was STUPID. Let’s just say that I found myself in a penance pentathlon…for months.
I’ve coached hundreds of Type A top performers on how to avoid Type A Moments and how to apologize after a volcanic slip.
To sidestep your own Type A Moment, zip your lips before your passion slips. This sounds easy but can actually be quite difficult when you are under intense pressure and filled with high octane passion. The secret? Knowing what triggers cause you to explode and then deactivating the little buggers with a cool and calm brain.
One last note for those of you who are wondering why I didn’t mention Kanye West’s calculated micro-tantrum at the MTV Video Music Awards. His outburst smelled too premeditated to fall into this category. Think about it. He actually had to stand up, jump onto the stage, grab the mike and deliver a speech. There was plenty of time for him to hit the ‘do I really want to do this?’ button. And don’t try to tell me that it was mere coincidence that his conniption fit occurred just before Kanye was scheduled to appear on Jay Leno’s new TV show’s premier. It’s too stinky to be truly spontaneous. We’ll explore Kanye’s dirty trick in another blog. Stay tuned.
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It’s time to wake up and smell the truth. Like gas guzzling relics, traditional Type A’s are becoming passé. In the good ole’ days, with their steely-eyed focus and turbo-charged tactics, Type A’s could dominate the game by slicing, dicing and sacrificing. That pricey party is over. Award-winning executive coach Kay Cannon offers a funny insider’s look into the secret world of top performing Type A individuals and redefines how these talented and smart superstars can get great results without collateral damage.
Hot at 50
A trip with my grandfather was like riding the roller coaster at Six Flags but without seat belts or a sissy bar.
In typical Type A fashion, he drove like a bat out of Honolulu while talking a mile a minute pointing and looking everywhere but the road ahead. There was always so much to see, to say and to do.
Each afternoon my grandfather would race up in his green Chevy chariot amidst a thick cloud of caliche and announce that he was there to pick up his girls to help him check on the cattle. (If you’re not from Texas, I’ll let you in on a secret. Checking on the cattle is a time honored ritual in ranching families.)
My mother would just close her eyes and send up a quick prayer as my sister and I eagerly climbed into the dusty cab filled with pliers, buckets, worn work gloves and a wiry white-haired rancher with a wicked twinkle in his blue eyes.
With his straw Stetson tilted back on his head and one hand casually draped over the steering wheel, my grandfather would floor the accelerator as we barreled and bounced over limestone ledges laughing all the while. On more than one occasion, I remember biting my tongue when my airborne butt unexpectedly hit the hard bench seat or my body slamming into the dash board when he unexpectedly braked to point out a jack rabbit or a cow snake.
More often than not, when our ranch chores were done, the three of us would sneak out to the highway and down to the local soda fountain where Papa Lee and his buddies engaged in the sport of gossip while my sister and I drank Cokes fizzing with peanuts.
When we finally returned home, we’d all be caked with caliche dust from stem to stern, smelling of hay, sweet feed and motor oil and full of Coke, peanuts and the latest gossip. As you can imagine, my sister and I loved to see that green Chevy truck coming down the road.
I’m delighted to tell you that this year my sister and brother-in-law gave the old girl a spiffy makeover for her 50th birthday. As you can see in the photo, Papa Lee’s 1959 Chevy Apache is now an award-winning hottie turning heads and grabbing hearts… once again.
What are your Type A roots?