This document describes 20 common types of executives and how executive coaching can help improve performance for each type. The types include aggressors, avoiders, political animals, status seekers, bottom-liners, safety first-ers, envelope pushers, visionaries, generals, bureaucrats, and perfectionists. Executive coaching focuses on improving performance no matter the executive's personality by helping them understand their profile and how to progress effectively based on their situation and style.

1. The 20 Types of
Executives … and
How to Improve Your
Performance No Matter
What Type You Are
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2. Introduction
A s an executive, you are probably aware that successful executives
display a number of personality traits that have been defined and
indentified by years of management research.
The goal of executive coaching is to improve performance no matter what
type of personality an individual (or the collective personality of an
executive’s team) may have or display.
That said, the more you know about your individual profile and
personality, the easier and more effectively you can progress over the
course of an executive coaching program.
You will also get better quality results based on what is appropriate and
effective for a particular situation and personality style.
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3. The 20 Most Common
Executive Archetypes …
Which One are You?
The following are some common executive archetypes that have been
identified and profiled as the result of extensive managerial research.
While this list isn’t inclusive, it should give you a good overview and
possibly some insight into your own executive style, personality
and behavior.
1. The Aggressor.
The Aggressor responds to stressful situations by being overly
assertive, to the point where he comes across as coercive and
even abusive. By their nature, Aggressors are often results-driven
and can be superstars in certain areas of performance (like
deal making and sales). The Aggressor’s coach has to help the
Aggressor become aware of the negative consequences of his
aggressive behavior, and choose more appropriate responses
such as listening, involving, and knowing when to disengage
from situations before they become explosive.
2. The Avoider.
The Avoider responds to stressful situation by running away. If
the aggressor is like a rabid raccoon, the avoider is like a turtle
hiding in his shell. Avoiders have a lot of difficulty asserting
appropriately, resolving conflicts, and giving honest performance
assessments. They are often passive aggressive, failing to do
what they promised to do (because they couldn’t say no). The
coach has to work with the Avoider to understand what gets in
the way of his ability to confront conflicts, and role play to
practice assertion, stating expectations, and conflict
management.
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4. 3. The Political Animal.
This type of executive is overly concerned with his power and
relationships in the organization. He frames decisions based
on who will win and who will lose power. On the one hand,
the Political Animal is fantastic at exchanging favors in the
organization in order to find scarce resources and get things
done. On the other hand, he can be nasty in the way he
deflects blame and fails to take full responsibility for results.
4. The Status Seeker.
The Status Seeker won’t admit it, but he prefers the benefits
over getting results. He or she is very concerned with looking
good, getting credit, and building a strong reputation. Fancy
titles, big bonuses, special recognition, and the corner office
are all important to the Status Seeker. The coach needs to have
the status seeker focus on results and accountability first, and the
natural status that follows from results second.
5. The Bottom-Liner.
This very driven executive speaks quickly and concisely, has little
tolerance for lengthy analysis, makes quick decisions from the
gut and wants results yesterday. The Bottom-Liner needs to
become more patient and tolerant of people with different styles,
and learn to adapt his style to the person he is dealing with.
6. The Safety First-er.
Executives motivated by safety resist change. They may be close
to retirement, or simply do not want to rock the boat. Generally
they are skilled at keeping their heads down and doing
predictable tasks. Their challenge many times is getting outside
of their comfort zone.
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5. 7. The Envelope Pusher.
The Envelope Pusher has a high tolerance for risk, sometimes too
high. He often is an Early Adopter of new technologies, and is
frustrated when others don’t move as quickly as he does. He
often has bold new ideas that are ahead of their time, or at least
ahead of where the organization is ready to go. This executive
is a wonderful asset to an organization, because he is often a
source of innovation and a refreshing voice for change.
However, sometimes ideas need to be tempered by the
organization’s willingness to change. Also, he may need
coaching on focusing on the details and getting results today,
regardless of what will be possible tomorrow.
8. The Visionary.
The Visionary is great at painting inspiring pictures of a
wonderful future. Unfortunately, he often isn’t very good at
developing action plans or figuring out how specifically to
achieve the vision. The coach can help bring greater range to
the Visionary by working with him on shifting from vision to
opportunities and alternatives, and finally to a plan with
accountability for making things happen.
9. The General.
The General is the old school command and control leader. He
wants his people to be loyal, and to do what he wants them to
do, on time, under budget, and his way. This leadership style
can be effective, especially in organizations that need a clear
direction. However, the “soldiers” who report to the General
often complain that they don’t feel part of the bigger vision, and
burn out from doing project after project, task after task, without
a greater purpose or mission. They also resent being in a
“mushroom farm” where they only get information on a need
to know basis. Finally, younger workers do not respond well to
the command and control style. The coach can help the General
develop new ways to motivate, involve, and bring together
teams to get the same results.
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6. 10. The Bureaucrat.
The Bureaucrat needs specific processes followed and does
things by the book. He is very similar to the “Safety First”
archetype. The coach can work with the bureaucrat to focus on
results instead of tasks, and to break out of his comfort zone.
11. The Perfectionist.
The Perfectionist needs to get the A+ every time, even if the
requirements of the work don’t demand a perfect score. He often
makes decisions slowly, suffering from analysis paralysis, waiting
for 100% complete and comprehensive information (which
almost never exists). The coach needs to work with the
perfectionist to do what’s needed for the job, to make decisions
with imperfect information, and to be more willing to take risks
without guarantees of success.
12. The Loose Cannon.
This executive is the bull in the China shop. He says things that
are politically incorrect, goes off topic in meetings to push his
own agenda, pushes ideas without listening to others, and
generally ignores the political structure of the organization to get
things done. He also tends to be the “ready, fire, aim” type of
leader. The coach can work with this person to become aware of
the political nature of the organization, how to promote ideas
more wisely, and how to do a bit more research before jumping
to conclusions.
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7. 13. The Legal Liability.
Some superstars in organizations have blind spots that can
create a legal liability for the company. For instance, the brilliant
neurosurgeon might be abusive to his nurses. The law firm
partner might yell and swear at associates, even making
personal attacks. In too many cases, these people cross the line
into sexual harassment as well. The job a coach has is to make
it clear how serious these issues are, and work with the person to
correct their behaviors immediately. However, often the
organization tolerates these behaviors, which means a coach
may first have to go to the top levels of the organization and
have them decide that they will no longer tolerate inappropriate
behaviors, even if it means losing superstars (although the
organization can make the case to the superstar that, if they do
go elsewhere, other organizations will be far less tolerant). In
other words, the neurosurgeon or other similar key person will
not change if they don’t have to, especially if senior leadership
tacitly tolerates the poor behavior. A coach may have to change
the organization’s explicit values first in order to change the
person second.
14. The Popularity Contest.
This executive still wants to be friends with his direct reports. He
prefers harmony and popularity to conflict. As a result, he has a
hard time raising standards, giving tough feedback, and holding
people accountable. The coach can work with this client to have
him value respect more than popularity, practice the behaviors
that lead to results, and get skilled at dealing with conflicts.
15. The Psychic Communicator.
This executive keeps it all in his head. Employees rarely know
how they are doing, what future plans are, the vision for the
organization, or what they need to do to get ahead. Often these
individuals have trouble expressing their ideas, or haven’t
thought through their point of view clearly enough. The coach
can work with this executive to become a concise, more
open communicator.
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8. 16. The Analyst.
The Analyst needs to know every step in a process, and often
drives non-analysts crazy with ongoing requests for
information. However, the Analyst’s focus on details is valuable.
The coach can work with the Analyst to get comfortable
making decisions more quickly, and to learn to adapt his style for
the drivers, visionaries, and political animals of the world.
17. The Death by Consensus Executive.
This person will almost never make a decision without 100%
agreement from everyone who has any kind of say in a
particular matter. On the plus side, this person works hard to
get buy-in and commitment from people in the organization, so
that when consensus is reached, things actually get done.
However, he goes too far and takes too long to move things
forward, including wasting time with too many meetings and
involving more people than may be needed. A coach can
work with this person to become more comfortable getting
“just enough” consensus to move forward. For instance, plan
ahead to determine exactly who needs input and who doesn’t,
how to handle resistance (e.g. whether to go around someone,
influence them indirectly, or offer them bigger incentives to
change), and how to influence people quickly to get on board.
18. The Saboteur.
The Saboteur often resents or feels threatened by a peer and
does what he can to sabotage his peer’s efforts. For instance, in
health care it is not uncommon to see the COO and CFO
undermine one another’s efforts, and compete for more power
over the budget and personnel. A Saboteur might publicly agree
to a decision, and then resist it or ignore it afterwards. He is
also known for blaming other people for anything that goes
wrong, and refusing to take responsibility. The coach needs to
deal delicately with the saboteur’s behaviors, and get specific
data about what the executive is doing and the potential costs.
Then he can suggest alternative behaviors and, if needed, have
open discussions with the client and his peers to agree on new
rules of behavior going forward. Remember that a Saboteur can
just as easily sabotage the coach as anyone else he works with!
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9. 19. The Empire Builder.
The Empire Builder is a master at protecting his or her turf. He
builds silos that prevent the overall organization from working as
efficiently and smoothly as it could. The coach can work with this
type of executive to think more about the overall system and
process, and the need to focus on customer satisfaction and
loyalty first.
20. The Control Freak.
This executive doesn’t trust others to do things as well as him.
He tends to micromanage and set people up to fail by not
giving them enough information, resources, or latitude to show
what they can do on their own. He steps in too soon in
situations, so that employees don’t develop and often take a
passive approach. The coach needs to work with this individual
to either trust his team or put in place a team he can trust. Then
the coach can work with him to set boundaries and guidelines
for when to direct (e.g., when people don’t have the skill or the
proper attitude), and when to monitor.
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10. Being Open to the Coaching
Process
You will find as you start your coaching that gaps will exist between
where you are and where you want to go.
That is normal and simply part of the process.
Know at the start that only by identifying, measuring and tracking can
performance improve, and change can only take place by implementing
strategies and tracking results.
As you progress, you will feel more comfortable making any mid-course
corrections, and acknowledging your wins and milestones.
Getting Started
To discover more about everything Executive Coaching can do to enhance
your performance and your career, contact me … and I will offer you a
free Executive Coaching assessment, at no cost or further obligation to you.
Just contact me and we can get started right away.
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