To be a truly effective leader-manager, we must deviate from normal human behavior. That’s what it means to be a professional. If anyone and everyone could do it, there would be no need for the “profession.” We understand this principle as it relates to doctors and lawyers, but the same rule applies to professional management. I hope you enjoy today’s principle…

Differences. We tend to see others as flawed copies of ourselves but in reality the differences in human personality, and therefore personal gifting, are required to grow or scale anything beyond our own capacity. The people that rub us the wrong way are usually just what the doctor ordered to round out the team. And, if these contributors are absent, we are probably lacking skill sets important for overall team success. Professional leaders understand this dynamic and rather than reject those who are not like them, they learn to love, value and celebrate the differences. In the same way a surgeon must overcome normal human instincts to open up their patient’s abdominal cavity, so a professional manager must go against the grain to welcome variety and manage a broad spectrum of human personality. Leaders who communicate impatience or frustration with their staff, either through their words or gestures, are tacitly admitting their lack of understanding with regard to differences. Attractional leaders embrace all types of people to achieve corporate goals.

Coaching questions: How do you see others who are different from you? How can you learn to love and leverage these resources in a greater way?

Read more coaching principles from Dean Harbry on the Internal Innovations website.