Difficult People or Competitive Edge - Part Three Take No Prisoners (TNP)

Take No Prisoners (TNP) Type

Thanks for returning to my series about difficult people – I'll be interested to hear what do you think, so far? Do you see how difficult people can be a competitive advantage for your team?  Let me know in the comments below.
 
To recap part one of this series I began with “The Know All” (TKA) personality type, you surely know someone who embodies those traits. For part two I spoke about “The Revolutionary (aka TNT) type” who are seldom satisfied with the status quo.
 
For part three I will shed light on the all too familiar, yet quite challenging, difficult ‘Take No Prisoners’ (TNP) personality type.
 
Consider ‘the Donald’ reporting to a leader in a business setting. Yes, that is this rebel style.  What do you think, difficult to manage? Oh my, heck yeah! A true leadership test.
 
You may be surprised to know there ARE ways to harness the power of this rebellious in-yo-face type when they report to you (not so easy to when they are running a country).  When you guide them the right way, you create a powerhouse talent on your team and even better, leave a lasting positive impact in your company.
 
Meet Liam – The Gun-Slinger
Liam (names changed) is an up-and-coming, newly promoted executive in telecommunications. He is 33 years old and incredibly clever. So much so he has been promoted rather quickly. Over a 5-year period he has moved up three times (unusually fast) and is now at the Director level with eyes locked and loaded for a Vice President’s seat. He has been told he has “CEO potential”, which is amazing BUT he tends to share that info with others in an obnoxious ‘boasty’ sort of way.
 
Highly strategic and a quick study, he has demonstrated value in every role very quickly. Liam is highly action-oriented, capable to make change and adapt rapidly. Managers who promoted him looked past some of his behavioural shortcomings for political reasons - because the top bosses really like his boldness. Leaders fanned his fiery flames, instead of providing candid feedback and guidance, for fear they may be seen as a roadblock to his rise up the ladder.
 
When his newest manager Claire, VP Ops (seriously, not her real name or title) reached out for my help, she told me she inherited ‘a blow-hard, pompous, egotistical jerk.’  Claire was ultra motivated to find 'something' to hit home with him before everyone quit on her team. When we started, she was at her whit’s end.
 
Liam is the quintessential Take No Prisoners (aka TNP) profile.
 
The Take No Prisoners profile: 

• Intimidating
• Very confident in their own abilities
• They view themselves as special
• Disagree with anyone who doesn’t agree with them
• Appear aggressive, belligerent, insubordinate, rude and even malicious
• Not self aware
• Clever, always ready to win
• They surround themselves with people they trust who value their boldness
• They lash out at anyone who they feel threatened by

 
The benefit of having a TNP on your team – quick decision makers, they assess risk swiftly, are very determined, action oriented, inventive, shrewd and persistent.
 
The key to leading a TNP is trust and mutual respect. Set high expectations regarding their behaviour; hold a mirror up to see results of their approach; be liberal with praise at the right times. Listen to their ideas, positively reinforce relationship building, and be candid with feedback that will benefit them with very firm correction if they appear to burn a bridge – they appreciate that directness.
 
Caution for leading a TNP – they require a firm leader whom they respect or they will undermine your efforts. Do not do battle with them as they are very clever, set clear boundaries early on, then hold them to those.
 
The Outcome

My approach was to have her build a real genuine connection and be very firm with expectations.

Claire began to develop two-way trust with Liam:

• Asked questions about him, his family, his background and how he sees himself. Began to get him to open up about areas he wanted to focus on. She shared her journey to VP candidly, opening about mis-steps she made thus making connection to his own story and aspirations.

She set high expectations:

• Demonstrating her support to helping him to prepare for next level leadership by reinforcing the most critical leadership skills to cultivate – self-awareness, empathy and supportiveness to others (despite levels).

She showed support through her own actions:

• Made time to listen to the challenges he experienced, then through questioning techniques vs telling, she caused him to reflect on situations. (How did your conversation with X go; What could you have said differently to build a bridge with them; Do you think they heard your message).

And encouraged his self reflection:

• We did an Everything DiSC Workplace® assessment with him – no surprise he was a ‘D’ Dominant style. I provided a confidential debrief with him of his assessment and gained further insight for how I may help Claire to connect with him (She is an ‘I’ Influencer). I validated what he was willing to share with her.
• They plan to do a few other activities in future because he professed and acknowledges some blind spots (huge progress right there).

We are well on our way with Liam. Thankfully he is smart enough to know that when other people truly want to help him succeed, they are worth listening to.

I hope to become an executive coach to him one day and if I do, I won’t pull any punches. He needs direct feedback to help him succeed; learn how to flex his style yet capitalize on what makes him a powerhouse in business.

Could people perceive YOU to be like Liam? Or do you know anyone with this style?
 
Help is Available
For every difficult type of person there is a way of connecting to the jewel that may be under a rough exterior. It can take a bit of work on your behalf but having distinctly different personalities on your team can become a strong competitive edge as well as a leadership legacy.
 
If you are suffering with a difficult person on your team (or your boss) and you’d like help to figure out how to communicate better with them, send me an email.   There are numerous ways to connect!
 
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Photo by @anneniuniu on Unsplash