The old saying goes, “There are three types of people in the world:
those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those
who wonder what happened.” Chances are if you’re in management in your
business, you make things happen, but I like to take the people who
make things happen and break them down into three more groups: the
dreamers, the analysts, and the doers. Knowing who fits into each
category and how to deal with them is essential to your success.Most
us think we’re like “the rainbow,” possessing all these traits, and
there’s some truth to that. If you’re a successful CEO, chances are you
do possess all these in a pretty good balance. And while most people
possess at least a couple of these traits, they generally are strongest
in just one.

Here’s what I mean:

Dreamers: I know a marketing manager who could see
into the future as clearly as if we were looking out the window and
describing what he was seeing. (I think most successful marketing
people have that gift.) I was working with a food business that was
constantly introducing new food products. This manager could take one
taste of a new product from R&D and tell you with 100% (!!!)
accuracy whether the product was a winner. I don’t recall him ever
being wrong.

In fact, I remember one day another manager came to me and
complained that this marketing manager did nothing but sit with his
feet up on the desk and stare out the window (implying that thereby he
had no value to the company.) What would you say? I told this manager
that the marketing guy could tell me with 100% accuracy whether a
product would sell. Having this crystal ball helped us avoid the
expense of failed projects, and created a profitable situation which we
all benefited financially from. “Can you do that,” I asked the manager?
I know I can’t. And I don’t know anyone in the company who can. I don’t
know anyone anywhere who can. Therefore, a large part of our
profitability as a company is directly related to his ability to read
and create the future. He’s worth twice what he’s being paid if he does
nothing more than sit there with his feet up!!

The discussion ended and I thought the other categories of leaders and how they do the same thing.

Analysts: This is a tricky group to deal with. Often, by sheer job
description, they are the finance people, but not always. These people
have an uncanny ability to take a project, twist and turn it to see it
from all angles, and declare whether it is a winner.

Now, let me say up front, not everyone who is an analyst has the
same gift. Some people make up their minds what the answer is, then go
in search of supporting data, and others gather mountains of data and
let the conclusions be whatever they are. The latter is a true
(valuable) analyst. The former are just the negative people who use
data to support their (omnipresent) conclusion that no new idea
anywhere will work.

A good analyst (someone with a true analytical gift) will keep you
from making foolish mistakes. A person who thinks they’re an analyst
will kill any creativity that otherwise might come into your business.
You must be very careful and discern who really gives you valuable
analytical information.

Doers: These are the people who get things done. They are really the
unsung heroes of any organization. They take the dreams and make them
reality. True doers don’t waste a lot of time on thinking about whether
things will work, whether it’s a good idea to do it, or anything else
that’s not directly involved in getting the task done. They put on
their blinders, focus intently on the task ahead, and make it happen.

These people are like the linemen on a football team. The running
backs and receivers get all the credit and all the glory (and all the
money) but it’s really the linemen that make everything else possible.
Never underestimate the value they bring to an organization.

Conclusion: With those things in mind, what type of leader are you?
If you’re an entrepreneur, chances are you’re mostly a dreamer with a
solid dose of doer and very little analyst. If you’re an accountant,
you’re probably mostly an analyst with a healthy dose of doer. If
you’re an operations person, you’re likely mostly doer with a little
dreamer and / or analyst thrown into the mix.

Knowing your strengths allows you to surround yourself with people
whose strengths are your weaknesses. You want a balance in your
organization. It’s true that most CEO’s are a healthy balance of all
three. Work on improving yourself in your weak areas and you will be
more successful in your career. It’s as simple (and as complicated) as
that.