According to Steven L. Katz, you need strategies to deal with lions. In Part 2 of our review of Lion Taming we will discuss what you have to do to identify the lion employee.
No one likes to acknowledge that they may have to play lion tamer to a bigger lion, even though it could be the smartest job skill they ever master. One of the greatest challenges in the workplace is to function as a lion at your own level and as a lion tamer with the bigger lions above you.
The lion tamer is looking for the opportunity to work with the lions in ways that are proactive and productive, not reactive and perhaps disruptive. People who recognize this also know that stepping into the shoes of the lion tamer is something that they do well.
The lions at work act differently because they think differently. In order to understand why and how to communicate and behave, “You’ve got to get inside the lion’s skull.” You must first understand what shapes the lion’s perception of the people and the world around them. Lions, including those at the office, make a simple and instinctive calculation the minute any living thing comes into view. You are either prey, the enemy or ignored. Prey they eat. The enemy they kill. Everyone else they disregard.
In order to work closely and effectively with lions, you cannot afford to be considered either prey, the enemy, or ignored. How do you deal with that? Surprisingly, it is more up to you than to the people who are the lions. You use your lion-taming skills to change your own focus from reacting as if you might be prey, the enemy or ignored. Instead, you make it your goal to communicate to the lions — by establishing rapport, trust and mutual respect — that it is to their advantage to have you working in support of their objectives. You are aiming to be part of the lion’s pride in the office.The Lions have four senses: Dominance, Territory, Social Standing and Survival. These four senses form the basis for how lions in the workplace determine where they stand and whether something is a good fit for them personally. Applying the Lion’s four senses is a good baseline analysis of how the lions are feeling and acting. You can use it to make your own determination as to whether they should feel confident about their degree of dominance, territory, social standing or survival — including what might need to be done to shore up support in any of the four areas. Additionally, the Lion’s four senses are useful to pinpoint and possibly remedy feelings of insecurity or uncertainty. If you can help someone see that their dominance, territory, social standing and survival are well established, they are likely to feel and act more confident.
Lastly, the Lion’s Four Senses can be used to help the person who is the lion honestly gauge the wisdom of an idea through the way it might affect their position as a lion. While the lions may not like others telling them how to behave, they do appreciate it when people tell them that all the good things that they are doing to maintain their dominance, territory, social standing and survival might be placed at risk because of an idea or approach they are about to undertake. In many cases, this is an advantageous way of saying “no” and still have the people who are the lions respect that you are looking out for their best interests.
Instinctive Thinking
Lions in the wild and in the workplace operate by instinct. It is a unique and primal strength, both conscious and unconscious, that is shared by the lions that we encounter every day. Instinct is not so much unlearned as it is self-learned. In its most primal form, it is a highly personalized sense of knowing. It is the very core of the lion’s confidence, and often is what propels them into our lives. Instinctive thinking and behavior is a dominant characteristic, significantly more pronounced and critical to their existence than in anyone else we encounter. As a result, it is worthwhile to magnify the characteristics and significance of instinct in the leaders and bosses around us, and the impact they have on everyone around them.
Every lion tamer in the office needs to be acutely aware of this. It is an important part of the lion’s personal tool kit and his or her ability to simultaneously explore, learn, decide and act. Inside the lion’s skull, instinct drives his or her behavior not merely to live another day but to survive and live as a lion in lion society.
Juggling Perspectives
In the workplace, that often means that the lions react to other lions in the same organization. The people who are lions have an Instinctive Identity that enables others to recognize instinctive leaders in all professions, occupations and walks of life by the way they think and act. As multidimensional thinkers, lions are capable of juggling a variety of related perspectives and interrelationships among people, information and events. Be clear and organized in how you present something to them, but do not be one-dimensional. Include perspectives from others whose opinion they might respect or want to consider.
As adaptive learners, they are keenly interested in how change will affect them and are often interested in how they can use change to their advantage. Always be upfront about the possibility of change, the factors that you believe are determinative, and the opportunities and advance preparation that might be required to be ready. Then be ready to help them prepare in advance so that they can both act instinctively and absorb new information while moving at the same time.
Focus on Doing
As people who are focused on doing, lions are not afraid to do things and while they have their own sense of risk related to their status as lions, they are much more prone to and interested in learning by doing. Since they do not spend time analyzing their own learning process, it is not productive when you work with them to spend much time explaining how you are going to do something. Instead, put them into action as quickly as possible.
As people who must demonstrate their instinctive speed and strength upfront, it is crucial that these lions use but do not abuse the opportunities to demonstrate their instinctive thinking and behavior publicly. The crucial point to remember is the social importance of instinctive thinking and leadership. The value of the lions that fall into this category is not simply triumph of a brilliant or intuitive mind, but the degree and manner in which others learn to look up to them.