new era black caps

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It may seem odd to think that a control freak could be a good thing. Not so odd in my opinion. Many leaders are labeled a control freak by sheer nature of being in leadership. An Australian survey of 385 employees from around the world responded to a survey titled, “Is Your Boss a Control Freak?” 68% had a male boss and 32% had a female boss. Interestingly 68% of employees with a female boss considered her to be a control freak, whereas 57% of employees with a male boss considered him to be a control freak.


So if you are going to be called control freaks just by being a leader then I say why not turn that into a good thing? In my book, “The Control Freak Revolution- Make Your Most Maddening Behaviors Work For Your Company and To Your Advantage” I provide tips and strategies on how to use positive control to become a better leader.

The 7 steps to being a successful positive control freak leader are excerpted from the book from Chapter Nine. Here they are:

1. Self control- be aware of self
First of all be willing to admit you have controlling tendencies in the first place. High performing leaders have heightened levels of self-awareness and therefore are able to focus the control of their thoughts, actions and behaviors.
For example a high performing executive recognized that his team was not being overly truthful with him or keeping him informed of issues. He investigated his own behavior to see if he was somehow creating a lack of trust with his leadership team. Sure enough he realized that when he was informed of issues his typical behavior was to berate and demean the messenger. The unspoken message then to his team was, “it is not safe to approach him with this”. As soon as he was able to self-identify his role in the problem he was able to take action to shift it.

2. Reality Check- see yourself in reality
You can positively influence others when you see yourself the way they see you. Others perceptions are crucial to our ability to lead in a personalized and inspiring way. A positive control freak sees themselves clearly and objectively. I use the example of the boss Michael from the TV show “The Office”. He is new era black caps a classic example of someone who does not realize that everyone thinks he is a loser. He sees himself as highly regarded and respected. Unfortunately when we see ourselves one way and our team sees us another we lose all ability to positively control the direction and success of our department or office.

3. Learn and Grow- projection and reflection
A positive control freak learns to identify when they are projecting on to others and also that others are a reflection of themselves. From a psychological standpoint everyone we interact with provides us with an opportunity to learn and grow. If I am blaming you for something and new era black caps it was my fault then new era black caps I am projecting. If you are being insincere and trite then you are reflecting back to me behaviors that I myself may be exhibiting. A highly evolved leader has ‘done the work’ of assessing when they might be projecting and they catch themselves. The highly evolved leader also recognizes that everyone is a mirror and all behaviors shown by others provide an opportunity for us to look inside and examine why we are bothered or irritated. The leader who is willing to consistently learn and grow is a positive control freak. They are controlling their ability to think and act differently.