PeopleSmart in Business eBook - The Platinum Rule

to them—and also yourself. Focus on your desire to identify solutions
that will also meet their expectations. Stress that you don’t want to
cause diffi culties for either them or you. “Phil, instead of writing this
report as it occurs to you and me, I’d rather write an outline fi rst and
then the report. I know it takes longer initially, but it saves time in the
long run because the writing will be better organized and make more
sense to the readers.”
When acknowledging Dominant Directors
When it’s appropriate to reward or reinforce their behaviors, focus
on how pleased you are. Assume they are also pleased with achieving
the desired outcome in that situation. Also mention how glad you are
to be a part of that process working with them to make things better
for both of you through cooperation. Th e bottom line? Each of you
gets better results by combining your energies on a common targeted
goal: “Phil, this report turned out much better with your wonderful
anecdotes and asides. Now we have something that’s interesting, clear,
and well organized!”
Delegating with Dominant Directors
Give them the bottom line and then let them do their thing. So that
they can be more effi cient, give them parameters, guidelines, and
deadlines. “We need to get that mall built a month sooner or we’ll lose
our shirts. Fourteen tenants are threatening to bail out of their contracts
if we don’t open in time for the holidays. Don’t spend more than
another $30,000, keep everything legal and out of the newspapers, and
get back to me by Monday morning.”
We know one Dominant Director who became visibly, though not
consciously, agitated if anyone stayed in her offi ce beyond 10 minutes.
Her staff knew this, but anyone outside the offi ce had no inkling until
she began fi dgeting and examining her stacks of paperwork, hoping the
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