In part four of our four-part blog series overviewing Individual Styles, we offer the Authority.
Part 4: Authority
The Authority on your team is usually easy to identify because they’ll be the person not at the holiday party … well, we should clarify: the Authority will be at the party if it was planned well enough ahead of time, the logistics were presented without flaw, the directions were spot-on and it has an agenda.
In fact, you would be wise to seek their help in planning it.
So yes, the Authority likes structure, details and accuracy. Surprises don’t sit well with them, especially when it usurps an expected outcome. However, they are very helpful when things tend to get out of control on a project because the Authority will know how to keep things balanced. They’re diligent, rarely spontaneous and probably don’t need to say much to be substantial contributors to a team, which is because they’re intelligent thinkers and take time to make sure the plan is the right one. Expect your Authority co-workers or supervisors to be the ones keeping people in check by their ability to organize and keep track of the most critical details.
Keep things tight and on track when working with an Authority. Don’t push them much for verbal input but expect them to author documentation as things move along. Efficiency is usually key with an Authority. In many cases, these team members are easy to work with because everything is black and white: Here is a task; complete it. Here’s the next task; complete it.
You can find Authority’s handling numbers, overseeing financial operations, interpreting the law or lecturing b-school students.
