Friday, October 19, 2012

Working With Ricky - Authoritarian Leadership Style

On the I Love Lucy show, Ricky was always in charge.  Ricky is the authoritarian leadership style.   Ricky's often end up in Senior Management, or other high level management roles in various organizations.  Ricky's can be very detail oriented, depending on other personality traits in their mix; but usually only when necessary.  Ricky's are impatient and do not suffer fools very well.  Ricky's always want to know the end of the story first because for better or worse and sometimes for worse, Ricky's sort very quickly, often leaving others behind to wonder, what the heck just happened as management decisions then follow just as quickly.  This CEO Blogger is a long time Ricky, probably from the age of 7, my earliest recollection (surprise, surprise).  Ricky's are always looking to turn gray into black and white and fast. 

Ricky/Fred's can be a pretty lethal combination.  This person would be a steam roller, into numbers and details and not much compassion for other people, or their short comings.  Ricky/Fred's are not a whole lot of fun to work with; that's for sure. Ricky/Lucy's are more fun and better positioned for management, or sales jobs.   Still a driven personality style; but tempered by relationship orientation and better intuitive skills.   Ricky's are always right because they are often right based on their knowledge and experience.  This is because Ricky's retain information and can usually pull it up whenever they need it, which is a real strength that can make Ricky's appear as a "Know It All".    What can I say, we are what we are.   

When dealing with a Ricky as a direct report, it is best to provide specific objectives and then get out of the way.  Check in once a quarter to see how things are going; but recognize that Ricky will get the job done.   Ricky's cannot be micro managed because they will rebel.  Easy to anger, Ricky's are passionate and can be emotional.  Ricky has a strong ego so beware in your day to day dealings about their feelings.  Ricky's are much more interested in being respected than loved, or feared in their dealings with other people.   

If dealing with a Ricky boss, you better have your facts straight and be quick about it.  If presenting to a Ricky business leader, you have about 5 minutes to make an impression because Ricky will shut you down, if you don't make good use of his or her time.  Ricky's have long memories and will remember everything you have said to them in the past, along with the information you provided.  Be advised, promises made to a Ricky boss, better be promises kept, or there could be hell to pay. 

Effective Ricky's use their knowledge and experience to real advantage when managing organizations, or people.   While Ricky's are by nature control freaks, once Ricky's fully recognize that they can only succeed through the work of other people, which sometimes takes some maturation, they can give up a large degree of control; but usually not all.  When that happens, Ricky becomes a very powerful manager.  Working with Ricky's is unavoidable because Ricky's probably are in charge of nearly all organizations.  So employees reporting to a Ricky need to learn to manage up and actually help temper some of Ricky's more unattractive behaviors for the sake of all concerned.  Ricky's with direct reports need to learn to manage down recognizing that no one is perfect and that everyone is capable of doing great things with the right management in place. 

No comments:

Post a Comment