Most Visionaries possess similar traits: big-thinkers turned on by ideas, they’re easily bored with minutia and are consumed by the need to create and to achieve.
Visionaries are an essential element in any high-performing group or team, but they can be disruptive if not managed correctly – and of course, Visionaries dislike being ‘managed’.
Operators are the ‘do-ers’ in any enterprise – they’re the practically-minded folks that get stuff done.
Unless you’re working for a full-blown bureaucracy, no group or team, no organization or enterprise can ever achieve its goals without Operators. However, the Operator is not naturally inclined to play well in teams and in meetings – they’d much rather be out on the front line, getting stuff done.
Processors have an innate desire to bring order to any situation — they focus not only on what they’ve been asked to do, but also on the underlying systems and processes that will make doing it more consistent and repeatable – and if those systems and processes don’t yet exist, they’ll begin by designing and implementing them.
At times, however, their reluctance to embrace change, steady unvarying pace and dogged attachment to data can frustrate their colleagues.
The Synergist brings a primary focus on what is best for the enterprise as a whole, and they choreograph and harmonize team or group interactions to produce high-quality decisions.
Unlike the Visionary, Operator and Processor styles, which are natural and innate to all of us, the Synergist style is primarily a learned style – meaning anyone can learn to be a Synergist.
