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Three Ways to Lead Different Personalities

Who's in the Hot Seat?

Coaching Client: Liz, TV Executive Producer with a first season show

Coaching Challenge:

Liz is leading her first highly visible production and is challenged with leading a team of very different and strong personalities. As a key decision-maker in the production of the show, Liz must manage different personalities and working styles while keeping the production on track.

Three Ways to Lead Different Personalities

Many leaders, like Liz, find leading a team with different personalities to be challenging and confusing. They want to harness the power of different perspectives, values, motivations, and talents.

During coaching, Liz focused on three strategies that helped her better understand different personalities on her team:

1. Observed behaviors: Liz took note of each team member's behaviors and how they interact with others. This helped her identify traits such as communication style, strengths, decision-making style, and leadership style. This insight improved the delegation of tasks, teamwork, and overall productivity.

2. Scheduled one-on-one meetings: Liz made sure to schedule (and keep) regular one-on-one meetings with team members. She used these meetings to ask questions and learn more about their interests, goals, and working style. When her team members felt that their strengths and interests were being utilized and recognized, they were more motivated and engaged in their work. This led to increased productivity and higher-quality work.

3. Created a culture of open communication and trust: As the leader of the team, Liz set clear guidelines for feedback, encouraging constructive criticism, and ensured that everyone had an opportunity to be heard. When her team members felt comfortable sharing their ideas, concerns, and feedback, they were more collaborative and effective.

By recognizing and valuing different personalities, Liz built a stronger, more cohesive team that is better equipped to tackle the challenges of producing a dynamic television show.