STRATEGY
Safari managemnt
LION
Your style: You’re loud, proud, and
dominate the office landscape. There is no
doubting exactly who is in charge.
Why it’s good: Businesses often thrive with
a strong hand at the helm and subsequently
everyone falls in line behind you. You
lead your pride into battle each day with a
ferocious demeanour that both inspires your
staff and makes your competitors tremble.
Perhaps try: The problem with being such
a dominant presence is that you run the
risk of intimidating your employees and
they will be reluctant to confront you. As
such there is a high chance that important
developments within your business,
especially mistakes that require fixing
before they snowball, won’t be brought
to you out of fear of reprimand and the
consequences. Take a lesson from the
elephant who, whilst still showing a strong,
bold presence, forms compassionate
and close-knit relationships.
MEERKAT
Your style: You don’t like to stand out from the crowd, you prefer
to be a part of the team than the leader. As part of the team you can
pull the strings whilst not lording it over anybody. Like a well-oiled
machine, you believe that a business is at its best when everybody
pitches in to complete their respective parts and no one person is
bigger than the overall cause.
Why it’s good: Your staff respect you as you get your hands dirty and
appear to not be afraid to help out for the greater cause. It galvanises
them together to push forward towards a shared goal.
Perhaps try: Being more like the lion. Though your attributes as a
meerkat are noble, sometimes your staff need an out-and-out leader
in times of trouble, someone to look towards for strong leadership.
In these instances, you should stand up proud and lead with authority.
FLAMINGO
Your style: As a flamingo you’re all about
balance. You don’t like to rush into anything,
taking your time and running at a slower,
methodical pace to ensure that the decisions
you make are the right ones, not the rash ones.
Why it’s good: Everything you do is well
thought out and you don’t make off-the-cuff
decisions. This stops you from getting caught
up in hype and means that when you do
something, you’re confident that it is the right
move. You’re also fair with your employees,
letting them have some lee-way without being
walked all over, and they respect you for it.
Perhaps try: Often this approach can mean
that you miss out on opportunities as you
don’t pull the trigger quickly enough. This
can be particularly frustrating to enthusiastic
employees that passionately present you
with a great idea, only to see your less-thanlukewarm response (though you may simply
be considering all angles), and watch as
the chance passes by due to inactivity and
indecision. The meerkat on the other hand,
reacts quickly and decisively to new threats
and happenings, while still involving all
members in decisions and keeping the
group safe.
62 September 2014
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