Following my articles on Difficult People I have had requests to write on the different Management styles with the difficult behaviours and how the teams can work better with them and encourage them to become better managers. Over the next months I will cover management personality types, their management styles and some recommendations on how the team members can manage their managers.

STYLE ONE - THE ACTION PRACTICAL HANDS ON MANAGER

Personality type
Their personality type is energetic, self confident with strong survival instincts, so they are persistent and skilful at overcoming challenges. Their courage and self-confidence enables them to continue in situations where others have given up. They are practical, hardworking, action-oriented people who require concrete and tangible situations, which they can organise and receive immediate enjoyment from. They prefer situations they can control (i.e. Power) which includes being able to take physical action to see whether it works. They require hands-on, as opposed to mental, problems or challenges. Working outdoors is a preference for this type. They are not ruled by material possessions or money; as long as their basic needs are met and they have control over their own time and energy, they are quite content.

Management style
These managers lead by example. They find it hard to think ahead and want to do things right now. They will take quick action and get on with a project and expect you to know what they are thinking. They approach everything from a practical and physical perspective and are very impatient.

Difficult behaviours
They tend be so keen to get on with the job that they forget to plan properly so whilst everything gets done fast it might not be totally organised and the team experiences stress and chaos. Delegation is difficult for these managers as they tend to feel that they can do things faster and better than anyone else.

They can be volatile, however once they have had a temper tantrum they get over it very quickly and wonder why anyone who was the brunt of their wrath is still trembling in their boots.

How to encourage better relationships for your team with your manager
If you recognise that your manager is this type, you can help him/her become a better leader by encouraging him/her to liaise with your team before starting a project. Because he/she will just want to ‘get on with it' select a detail person from your team to plan the project in a logical sequential order with all of the resources required.

Ask your action manager to discuss the plan with your team before starting and place people to the tasks with a deadline for completion. Try and encourage your manager to become outcome focussed allowing you all to do your tasks the way you need to do them as long as the outcome is the same.

If you sense that your action manager is becoming frustrated about an issue do not to justify your position. Ask for his/her opinion on the issue and walk away until the frustration has passed and if it needs readdressing do so in a calm and prepared manner later. Do not be intimidated by your action manager, when making suggestions or conversing with him/her, talk clearly and confidently keeping strong eye contact.