Reference Profile Series: The Operator Manager
Is your team struggling with consistency and stability? Tune in to uncover the hidden strengths of Operators, a unique Predictive Index reference profile that represents a little over 10% of the human population. Operators are patient, conscientious, and cooperative team players who excel in structured environments. We explore their key needs, such as reassurance, factual work, and freedom from changing priorities, and how these traits can be leveraged to enhance management strategies and workplace dynamics. Listen and learn about these managers and team members!
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The Bosshole® Chronicles
"Reference Profile Series: The Operator Manager"
Original Publish Date: 9/24/2024
Hosts: John Broer & Sara Best
John Broer: I would like to welcome everybody out there in the Bosshole Transformation Nation to this episode of the Bosshole Chronicles. This is your co-host, John Broer, and in a little bit I'm going to be joined by none other than Sara Best you know her well and we're going to be continuing this series on reference profiles from the Predictive Index. That's one of the diagnostic platforms we use, but we're framing these discussions about managers that have these reference profiles. A few weeks ago we kicked off this series with the collaborator, and the collaborator represents the highest percentage of reference profiles in the human race. This just comes from millions and millions of data points from PI over several, several years.
This week we're going to be talking about the operator and if you're not sure what your reference profile is, go into the show notes. You can click the link. We'll send you your reference profile one page description but over the next several months we're going to be releasing these episodes so you can get to know your reference profile, either as a manager or perhaps you may have somebody that has this reference profile on your team as a direct report. The whole idea is to help build self-awareness, because self-awareness is the number one competency for effective leadership and help people understand one another better, because that's how we're going to reinvent the workplace and make things better.
So, let's get into the operator reference profile. The Bosshole Chronicles are brought to you by Real Good Ventures, a talent optimization firm helping organizations diagnose their most critical people and execution issues with world-class analytics. Make sure to check out all the resources in the show notes and be sure to follow us and share your feedback. Enjoy today's episode.
Sara Best: So, John, what is the reference profile we will be discussing today?
JB: Well, Sara, we're going to be talking about the operator reference profile. You know we kick things off with the collaborator. Make sure you go back and listen to that one if you haven't listened to it yet. But we're going to be talking about the operator today. And, just so you all know, the operator represents just over 10% of the human population. And where do we get those numbers? We get those numbers from the millions and millions of data points that PI, the Predictive Index, has gathered over the years. And this is right behind the collaborator, this is the second most common reference profile in the race of humans. So we're going to talk about that today, as we're doing in these. We're going to talk about the manager as an operator and then we'll talk about, uh, if you have an operator as a direct report, just just to give you some guidance about how to work with them as effectively as possible. We're going to talk about the operator manager first.
So an operator is a patient, conscientious, relaxed and cooperative team worker, worker, and we'll get into the needs and behaviors real quick from Sara. But let me just share with you commonly on an, on average, the highest factor or drive for an operator is their patience. That is the drive for consistency and stability. We also talk about the pace drive. So operators tend to work at a more slower, methodical, very intentional pace. Their formality tends to be on the higher side, the drive to conform to rules and structure. But they also tend to have lower extroversion, which means they tend to be a bit more introspective, and then lower dominance from there, which means they tend to be more harmony-seeking and collaborative. So that's sort of the behavioral DNA construct, if you will. But, Sara, when we think about operators, what are some of the needs and the behaviors that are inherent in the operator profile?
SB: Well, let's start with the behaviors, John, based on those drives you just described dominance, extroversion, patience and formality we would find operators to be very cooperative, so happy to take direction, happy to be on the team, don't have to jump out in front or win the argument, they're just very cooperative, pragmatic, so very down to earth, very practical, not a lot of fuss or drama or show things like very, very pragmatic, stable, steadying, consistent and thorough. So there is a follow through, there is a natural conscientiousness and attention We'll call it maybe diligence or discipline. They have a little more of that than some of our other reference profiles. So, John, an operator needs reassurance, that cooperative style. They kind of aim to please and they need to know that what they're doing is important or it's helping the cause.
Am I doing what you asked me to do? Is it working? Am I effective at what I'm doing here for the good of this person or the cause, if that makes sense? We also need opportunities to work with facts, so very analytical and in most cases, kind of private and introspective, pragmatic. So we don't need a lot of fluff, we just need the facts and the details.
Freedom from changing priorities, the facts and the details. Freedom from changing priorities so that high degree of patience really enables them to be steady and consistent. Do repetitive workflows much like our collaborator pattern? So shifting priorities, things that become an emergency for someone else, that all of a sudden land on their desk, that have to get done right now those are things that create a world of stress and don't meet the needs of the operator. And, last but not least, an understanding of the rules and structure. How does this whole thing work? What's the playbook? How do I operate in this system to be successful and to do my best work? They have to know that, because it reduces their risk of failure and error. How does that sound so far?
JB: That sounds good, and then it would come as no surprise to our listeners that the resulting behaviors are things like cooperative, pragmatic, stable, thorough operators are in that process and precision group. They're also referred to as a stabilizing reference profile. And what's funny is you're going through this, Sara, and I'm thinking. I know an operator who works for a venture and it's a Six Sigma-wide venture. We're going to get to the venture eventually in our episodes freedom from changing priorities and understanding rules and structure. A venture is all about changing priorities and not necessarily adhering to rules and structure, so that dynamic can be very, very stressful and challenging. So good, good, all right. Well, let's jump into the signature work style and in this case we talk about how they communicate, how they delegate, how they make decisions, how they take action and deal with risk.
Let me hit the first two on communication and delegation. In communication, operators tend to be- so operator managers tend to be, or all operators tend to be more informal and relaxed in their communication. They tend to be more comfortable with people that are familiar, so known relationships, people with whom they have communicated in the past. There's just a comfort there and you will see that relaxed and more informal approach. Now, when it comes to delegation as a manager, they tend to delegate authority and details easily because of that low dominance. They tend to be more harmony-seeking, collaborative. They're okay with sharing that authority and those details. The key is, are they sharing it with people that have the capability or are wired to assume that authority and that control and also follow through on the details? And so that more informal trait, if you will, sometimes can trap those operator managers in not following through or assuming that things are getting done? But that's the communication and delegation part, sarah. What about the decision-making and action and risk in our operator?
SB: Well, it won't surprise us that, because operators are very cooperative. They have a consensus need, so their decision-making is really based on consensus, and we see managers in this zone. Sometimes they take a little too long to make a decision because they want to enroll everyone and kind of get everyone on board, which let's just declare. As Patrick Lencioni always says, consensus is a myth. We're looking for commitment not consensus, and commitment requires a little buy-in.
So that idea of just making sure other people get to weigh in on the decision would be important and part of their work style. And they're very responsive, so the opposite of proactive. They like to respond once they've developed enough understanding and enough knowledge and confidence and maybe, in some cases, competence about the situation before they respond, and sometimes that can take a lot of time. Operator, people might accuse you of like not doing anything. Well, you might be waiting to see what the next step should be or waiting to see what sort of transpires. Also very careful and cautious with risk. So it's you don't want to make a mistake. There's a need to have freedom from risk of failure. So the responsive nature means I need to find out more, I need to understand more. I just have to say well, maybe I'll get to this example when we talk about the employee or the direct report of the manager.
I have a son who's an operator John, you do too so maybe we can share some firsthand experience there. Not good or bad, by the way, just a little different, certainly different than how you and I roll.
JB: Right, very yeah.
SB: Yeah. So, John, what about their strengths, their superpowers? What do we see with the operator?
JB: So they tend to be accepting of other people's decisions. They're all right to I don't know how to, say acquiesce, but to adhere to or accept that's the word accept of other people's decisions. They are very reflective and introspective, and by that I mean and as a strength, that is something that I don't necessarily have and.
I admire in our more stabilizing reference profiles, because they will take time to review and reflect and assess what they're hearing, what they're processing. Now that's great, and we'll get to the common traps in just a second. Because that reflection oftentimes gives them an opportunity to apply their logic, their expertise, to think things through, and that also goes to another strength of their ability to focus on how to get things done correctly. When I think about operators with whom I've worked, and even operator managers, that more reflective, responsive characteristic has allowed them or given them that space to make some really sound and effective decisions in what is otherwise a high pressure environment. And so you can see that there can be a real struggle. An operator manager may want to take his or her time to make this decision and evaluate it, but they're getting pressure from the outside to say no, we have to move faster. So that adaptation can feel very unnatural. But those are their strengths, those are some of their superpowers. So what's the kryptonite? What are some of those common traps of their superpowers?
SB: So what's the kryptonite? What are some of those common traps? Well, they may be seen as too cautious and not strategic enough and I think for our listeners that has a lot to do with the dominance and the patience together, how those factors relate to one another. But operators have lower dominance and their tendency is to focus on the process, the protocol, what's right in front of them, and not as comfortable or conversant with the bigger picture. They'll have a need to understand the bigger picture.
They want efficiency and effectiveness right where they are. They may appear overly task-focused, like I'm just going to go over here and get my work done. They're kind of private. They don't mind being alone. They don't mind working alone, less interested in small talk and sharing weekend experiences. These are the employees that like to just kind of show up and set up their workstation and get her done at their own pace, of course. And then the last one is may struggle with ambiguous situations, so without knowing what there is to know, without knowing how it works and what's expected of them. Their superpowers are very limited, so they can't deploy their consistency, their diligence and their cooperative nature if they don't get a sense of how it works and what's expected of them.
JB: Right, and I'm going to go back to something you just said as a common trap showing up doing their work because of that lower extroversion, they have a tendency. This is going to seem as though it's contradictory, but it's not. These two things can exist in people and they do for the operator. They tend to be more private and introspective, analytical, thoughtful, and they're highly collaborative. I mean, they seek out harmony. So it's funny when you say that some people would say thoughtful and they're highly collaborative. I mean they seek out harmony.
So it's funny when you say that some people would say well, you know, they're lower in extroversion, they don't like to be around people. No, they love to be around people. That will show up differently under different scenarios and circumstances. Because, as you know, because we have operators in our families, they're fun to be around. I mean, it's great to have a conversation. It just depends on the situation and we always talk about this. We always say you have to look at this data from a contextual and a situational perspective, but those two things can exist at the same time. Does that make sense?
SB: It does to me. I think about my son and gosh, I mean. All the things we've been outlining here very much apply to the way he operates. He enjoys the team aspect of his work. He always has. He's an athlete. He was an athlete in high school and college. More important to him than anything was like the brotherhood part of it, the team part right.
JB: This also reminds me of a scenario right now with a client. There is a, an operator in a leadership role and doing and working to develop his leadership dna under that self-awareness. But one of the things he is struggling with is being more proactive, because it does not come naturally. And the CEO is frustrated because the CEO is not seeing that proactive nature. Now we've used PI to help them understand each other better.
But I said you know I told him, I said just realize that this is an adaptation and, while possible, how easily it can be sustained is another question. So that's why it's so important for managers that self-awareness is so critical. So can an operator be an effective manager? Absolutely, all 17 reference profiles can. That's why we're doing this, so that self-awareness is evident, but also recognizing that there may be some adaptation necessary. So let's just, as we're talking about the operator manager, let's just say Sara, you're a team member, you're on a team with an operator.
SB: What's the best way to work with them. Well, I certainly want to provide reassurance and create an environment of harmony. That's a very healthy environment for the operator. It gives them a sense of security. Like you know what. All's well, there's not going to be any surprises. People have my back. The pressure, adding pressure or generating competitive pressure on a team does not work really well for the operator. So creating that steady freedom from urgent time pressure is what I'm trying to say. Like you know, when the heat gets turned up, operators may tend to shut down For other reference profiles. When the heat gets turned up, they get a little more excited and jazzed and even get better at what they do.
This is not the case for our more stabilizing profiles like the operator. So give them time, definitely to work well with them. Give them a sense of what you want to talk about or what information you might need from them. Give it to them in advance, let them work with it, think about it, produce their response and kind of follow the same pattern, Like if you, if you change gears all the time and you work with them one way on this project and a different way on another project, you know that can be disconcerting.
So you know steadiness, consistency, I think operate. I mean the term operator. It's a simple but powerful term. This is a person who is like the Energizer bunny boom, boom, boom. They're going to get stuff done. They're going to be diligent and conscientious and steady. This is the person I'd probably go to if I was freaking out. They will be calm and steady and they'll have the plan. They will follow the plan. So I hope that covers that which you asked me, john oh yeah, absolutely.
JB: So let's now flip it over and let's think about having an operator as a direct report. This is what we're doing with all of our reference profiles Reminder. If you don't know your reference profile, go into the show notes and complete the. You know the behavioral assessment takes less than 10 minutes. We'll send you your one page reference profile description. But, as a reminder, operator is a patient, conscientious, relaxed and cooperative team member.
So how do we motivate and recognize our operator direct reports? Let me go ahead and share that. First of all, you can really lean into their strong sense of duty and discipline and I would even say loyalty. They understand that they have a role. You want to make sure that they understand that their role is relevant and important to what's going on, to a degree. They want a sense of security and certainty and stability in their work. So, as I mentioned before, I know an operator who reports to a Six Sigma-wide venture. That venture manager needs to understand that this person needs that certainty and stability in their work. And stability doesn't mean job for life. It means that there is a framework in which they can work, not that it's not going to change because, remember, the operator is one like it privately, versus something that's more public and broad, and what they want to be known for is probably going to work more favorably than this big, broad announcement of some sort. There's a lot of different kinds of operators, but generally speaking, that's a way to recognize them.
SB: Actually, operators are the kind of people that look for long-term affiliation in that stabilizing quadrant, long-term affiliation in that stabilizing quadrant and they can be long-termers or lifers if, in fact, you know the environment supports their needs.
JB: I would agree. I just when I say stability, a person has to perform and I think, to your point, they are really comfortable performing in a structure that they know and that is constant and stable. So what about direction and feedback? How do we connect with our operators?
SB: Just the facts. Okay, just the facts and providing feedback, refraining from personal or political overtones or drama. It's really about the performance and the task more than the person, especially for the operator. You have to be very clear. If there's an urgency or a timeline is pretty abbreviated for a project, that has to be articulated, it won't necessarily be understood.
So, I think I'm thinking about my son, who takes a long time to make decisions, and this is neither a long time to make decisions and this is neither a good or a bad thing. It's just different than how I work. There are times when he might need to understand the window is shorter than his comfort zone would provide.
JB: Okay good.
SB: So just be clear about if the deadline is different than their normal working pace, and then let them know that you support them and you're there for whatever kind of support or help they might need. What can I do to support you better? Is there anything I can do to be helpful In addition to saying these are all the great things you're doing really, really well, because, remember, they're conscious, or I'm sorry, they're conscientious and diligent. They like to be recognized for their work. So, I think, offering those things and saying, hey, what else do you need from me?
JB: How else can I support you? Those would be key ways to provide feedback and direction. Awesome. And within that, in terms of direction, we also talk about delegating as far as operators, when it comes to delegation, being careful not to delegate work that is highly urgent or requires a lot of independence or assertiveness. Now, sometimes that's not practical, but I think if you're a manager with an operator on your team, just knowing this allows you to build some space into letting them know that this is coming up rather than the last minute.
And I think, when an operator a lot of the folks in the stabilizing or the process and precision grouping what frustrates them is when somebody says I need this immediately. Whatever you come up with is good for me. Giving them no direction, no framework, no roadmap, delegating it that way is going to do nothing but frustrate an operator, and that means delegate work that is structured, consistent and repetitive. Just give them a framework and let them fill in the details, and for those of us in the more innovation and exploring group, that can be hard to do. So that's the adaptation on the manager's part too. So how do we coach them? What's some good coaching tips for our managers who have operators on their team?
SB: Well, first off, John, when there is ambiguity, when there's unfamiliar circumstances and situations that arise, it's important to just connect with them and say what would help in this scenario To bring more clarity, what would make this easier for you, because chances are they are going to encounter unfamiliar or ambiguous situations. This next one is my favorite just coaching them to build flexibility into their plans.
So, with that high degree of patience and the comfortability, with steadiness and consistency and knowing what you can count on when they encounter disruptions and changes in plans, change in course of direction. It's important to support that and also, other people don't work the way they, do, so for them to develop some understanding, awareness that people aren't work the way they do, so for them to develop some understanding, awareness that people aren't always going to follow the plan or the rules and that they don't have to make that mean anything about that other person or themselves.
It's just kind of like a fact. If you will. And, last but not least, communicate that they understand time pressures and the importance of projects to others. The final point here, john, is what you alluded to of projects to others. The final point here, john, is what you alluded to, that you know when the situation warrants a faster response and a quicker completion of a project deadline. We just have to make sure that that's communicated clearly and that we can help shuffle or adjust workflows so that they can accommodate for that.
JB: And that goes back to the idea what coaching is in. Developing other people is helping you know, once they've established their self-awareness, through the analysis of predictive index, for example you're not going to change them. The coaching is really helping them to adapt in ways that are inconsistent with who they are. But it's not impossible. It's just that when you take like an operator and you throw them into absolute chaos, you know constant change where they don't really get their bearing and they don't feel like there's anything on which they can plant their feet, no foundation. I think that's when you're going to get people in that stabilizing group that you know just start to feel that anxiety and that burnout and that disengagement. So that's why this data is so powerful is it takes away all that mystery and you get to understand. If you're a manager, operator, you understand that if you have operators as direct reports, it helps you understand how to approach them.
SB: Hey, John, can I add to? I know we discussed recently the collaborator profile and now we're talking about the operator profile. One thing those two patterns have in common is that lower dominance and that very collaborative need for harmony. Let's have a good relationship, let's all get along kind of environment and so much so that they'll go to great lengths not to rock the boat like it just is unnecessary.
Case in point if we go out to dinner and the food is not served according to the way it was ordered, my first thought is well, let's hello wait staff, please come back. I want to just say this is not what I ordered, my son would be the first one to say no, it's fine, it's fine.
JB: I'll just eat it the way it is, don't do it. Yeah, don't call him back over here.
SB: And he's sincere, like he does not think it's that big of a deal, and so appreciating that challenge with speaking up about important things Another example I can think of my son has always been the kind of person who is happy to help wherever it's needed.
JB: Yeah.
SB: So in college people depended on him a lot to look out for kids, other kids, to follow up on things. And there was one time I had to call him and I had to ask him to do something for me and he lost his mind and he had never, ever, done that before. He was so frustrated and I was so proud of him for speaking up. Mind you, it had been building. I think he was kind of at a resentful place because he had said yes to a lot of different things and it was just too much.
JB: Yeah.
SB: But all that to say that collaborative nature, the need to not rock the boat, it's for real. So pushing people into discomfort around saying things or being very blunt and direct with the operator is like the opposite of what you should do. So, creating some runway, practicing or giving them opportunities to dip their toe in the water of important, necessary, uncomfortable conversation is a much more effective way to work with that person?
JB: Oh, yeah, for sure. It's like are you going to draw alongside them into something new and something that they may not have experienced? Are you going? To try to shove them and shoving, shoving never works. Yeah, and that reminds me, like with the collaborator. When I think of dr jeremy pollock I mean we just had him on for the second time I think about collaborators and operators. I mean the people with the low dominance, the harmony-seeking people, promoters and so forth. These are peacemakers.
SB: Yes, they are.
JB: These are the people that want to establish harmony and peace. That is an incredible superpower that organizations need and should not be overlooked, and sometimes it gets squelched and a little stamped down by some of those overpowering captains and mavericks and us. We sometimes can stamp that out if we're not careful. No, that was great, sarah. Thank you. Well, reminder, go to the show notes, find out what your reference profile is. Keep checking back on all of these different episodes, on the 17 reference profiles. And, Sara, once again, awesome working with you on this.
SB: You too, and I guess we'll see you all next time on the Bosshole Chronicles.
JB: Thanks very much for checking out this episode of the Boss Hole Chronicles. It was so good to have you here. And if you have your own boss hole story that you want to share with the Boss Hole Chronicles, it was so good to have you here. And if you have your own boss hole story that you want to share with the Bosshole Transformation Nation, just reach out. You can email us at mystory@thebossholechronicles.com. Again, mystory@thebossholechronicles.com, we'll see you next time.
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