Politics Made Simple: The Participative

Participatives are high control individuals who nonetheless believe that humans are good and inherently interested in working. Participatives don’t seek to control others, but rather they align their own goals (which are the organization’s goals) with others’ personal goals. The result is that everyone starts pulling in the same direction, focusing on the same goals. The participative has thus set the agenda for the team and maintains control over the ultimate outcome, but without being coercive or negative. Many Participatives overlap a bit with the Silent Dictator style, and some even with the A-Hole, because sometimes, someone doesn’t get the memo about the need to achieve results, and the Participative has to deliver some tough love.

How to recognize Participatives:

• They are good at what they do
• They are respectful of others
• They are good listeners
• They provide as much autonomy as others can handle
• They accept suggestions after some initial challenge
• They enjoy making good decisions
• They take pride in developing a strong team / exporting talent
• They are self-confident
• They are organized
• They are open minded
• They have a good balance of conceptual and factual skills
• They make good coaches
• They weigh issues logically and objectively

How to work with Participatives

• Bring your A-game
• Be prepared to work
• Remain open to learning
• Be transparent in communications
• Address both the what and the how in your plans (results & people)
• Invite them to join the process
• Take their concerns and suggestions at face value
• Follow up in a timely manner
• Provide the bottom line first, let them steer the conversation

Jason Seiden is Co-founder and CEO of Ajax Social Media, a training company that shows professionals how use social media to work more effectively.