THE DIRECTOR

Directors are direct and controlling. They are driven by an inner need to take charge of situations. They are firm in their relation­ships with others, oriented toward productivity and goals, and concerned with bottom-line results. Closely allied to these positive traits are the negative ones of stubbornness, impatience, and toughness.

Directors tend to take control of other people and situations and are decisive in their actions and forthright in their decisions. Always in a hurry, they like to move at a fast pace and are im­patient with delays. It is not unusual for a Director to call you and, without saying hello, launch right into the conversation. When other people cannot keep up with their speed, they view them as incompetent.

Directors want to win, so they often challenge people or rules. They accept challenges, take authority, and plunge head-first into solving problems. They tend to exhibit great administrative and operational skills and work quickly and impressively by themselves.

Directors are high achievers. They get things done and make things happen. They are like jugglers in that they like to manip­ulate many projects at the same time. They start juggling three things at once, and when they feel comfortable with those three things, they pick up a fourth. They keep adding more until the pressure builds to the point where they turn their backs and let everything drop. They call that "reevaluating their priorities." After reducing their stress, they immediately start the whole pro­cess over again.

Directors have a tendency toward workaholism. Therefore, doctors would say that Directors are in the high-risk category for heart attacks. Impatient, type-A personalities may also seem like prime candidates for ulcers. Directors, however, don't get ulcers; they give ulcers to other people!

Directors specialize in being in control. They tend to be in­dependent, strong-willed, precise, goal-oriented, cool, and com­petitive, especially in a business environment. They accept challenges and take authority. Directors try to shape their envi­ronment to overcome obstacles to their plans. They demand max­imum freedom to manage themselves and others. Directors can have a low tolerance for the feelings, attitudes, and inadequacies of others. They use their leadership skills to become winners.

The primary strengths of Directors are their ability to get things done, their leadership, and their decision-making ability. Their weaknesses tend to be their inflexibility, their impatience, their poor listening habits, and their neglect of taking time to "smell the flowers." In fact, they are so competitive that when they do finally go out to smell the flowers, they return and say to others, "I smelled twelve today. How many did you smell?"

In a business environment, Directors like others to be decisive, efficient, receptive, and intelligent, and in a social environment they want others to be congenial, assertive, and witty. A Director's ideal occupation might be a hard-driving newspaper reporter, stockbroker, independent consultant, corporate CEO, or drill sergeant.

Directors' desks will appear busy with lots of paperwork, projects, and material separated into piles. Their offices are dec­orated to suggest power, for example, by having a hatchet buried in the wall. There are often large planning calendars on the wall. Directors are formal and keep their distance physically and psy­chologically. Their offices are arranged so that seating is formal; that is, a big desk symbolizing power separates Directors from their visitors. They don't like people talking three inches from their noses.

To achieve more balance, Directors need to practice active listening; project a more relaxed image; and develop patience, humility, and sensitivity. They need to show concern for others, use more caution, verbalize the reasons for their conclusions, identify more as team players, and be aware of existing rules or conventions.