Time Wasters: C Style

Hey, you compliant, conscientious communicators. Do you love to dig into all the details? Are you the one doing all the research? Can you get stuck in all of those facts?

I want to expose five possible time wasters and give you some solutions today. Welcome to the Help for Leaders podcast. I'm Stacey Harris. Before we dive into today's episode, click here to subscribe and ring that bell so you're notified each week when we post new content.

This is the final episode of a series we're doing on time wasters for the four disc styles. And today I want to talk about that precise, conscientious, heist-y communicator. So compliance is all about how we respond to procedures and constraints. And remember that heist-y person is all about accuracy.

You're all about analyzing data. You want to do things right. You want to go buy the book, buy the procedure. You love information.

And so sometimes though, digging into too much information, doing too much research can really drain your productivity and your time. Today, I want to focus on five reasons. High C compliant individuals waste time. And I want to give you some solutions for those as well.

Number one, putting off things or just prolonging events because you want to gather more information, because you want to get the best results. So just putting things off in order to gain maximum results is number one. What are some of those possible causes? You want to ensure the success is always achieved.

You want to make sure that you're achieving maximum success. So you're doing all the research, all of the things. Feeling that it's rushed, that the results will not be satisfactory. That's a possible cause.

And then hoping situations will work themselves out. That's another possible cause for just putting off events in order to gain the maximum results. So here are some possible solutions. Set a realistic schedule.

Have a timeline that's also realistic. Number two, follow the schedule. And then number three get some advice from someone Seek some assistance from someone else that maybe can speak into your timelines your schedule so that you don put off things to maximize results Number two, just waiting for events to happen. Although patience can be a virtue, being proactive actually allows you to make better decisions and be in better control of the events so that you can influence that event.

So here's some of the possible causes. You want to affect the here and now. You're focused here. You're fearing that pushing through too quickly or rushing the decision into something is going to show that you're unprepared.

You don't ever want to be seen as unprepared. You want to do your research. And then another possible cause is that need for just that really high standard that can inhibit you from even getting started. High C's usually set some of the highest standards, and it's really challenging to get started.

So here are some possible solutions. Plan alternative solutions, that can be key. Determining most likely scenarios instead of worst case scenarios can be key. And then implementing a plan that best meets those needs without jeopardizing all of the other scenarios.

That is really key into just waiting for things to happen. Let's look at number three. This is when you're seeking all of the facts. And when I mean all the facts, I mean all the facts.

You want to do all the due diligence, all of the research. You want to put all of your time and your energy into gathering information, gathering new information, and even reevaluating the current information. So here's some of the possible causes. You want to be certain.

You want to be prepared. You want to avoid mistakes. That's also a possible cause. And then you want to extend the time because you need more time to get all your tasks done because of all of the research and all of the data collection.

So here are some possible solutions. Having a timeline, setting specific timelines for gathering new information, even for evaluating old information, and then taking action. And then another possible solution is to evaluate the importance or the risk factors to how much information is actually needed Because you know there always more data to collect And sometimes you have to be realistic with those expectations so that you're not just continuing to dive into more knowledge about the same topic.

Number four is this tendency to be overly neat or overly orderly. And so that's all about a little bit about compulsive behavior. I mean, I'm not going OCD here, but we just have this tendency to be everything has to have its place and in order and structure, and that can really slow you down. Now, sometimes that can speed you up, and I realize that, but for that compliance style, that can be something that overrides your need to get things done is to refocus and get things in order.

And so some of those possible causes is that you're easily distracted by like non-related things that are in view. So you have to have a completely, you know, non-cluttered environment to begin work. That's a possible cause. You also have this need for kind of a system of working things out.

Another possible cause could be just having all the information like very organized so that you can retrieve it later. Here is a possible solution. Recognizing that this is a strength as long as it's not overextended because honestly like I said being neat and orderly is a great thing unless it goes too far and your style is the one style that can have that tendency to be a little bit more compulsive in this having things so orderly and so neat all of the time so realize that it's a strength until it's not and then lastly overreacting to constructive criticism this is really challenging for that C style is receiving constructive criticism, especially if it's, you know, kind of inappropriate or not really necessary at the moment.

You can have a tendency to just push back to feedback and to recommendations when they're made, especially if it's not at the right time. So here some possible causes You have this high comfort level with past methodologies past structures past things that have worked for you And if you getting feedback on something that not relevant in the moment it can feel hard You also have really high standards for your own work performance and you set those for others as well. So that can be something that's really challenging to receive some constructive feedback or criticism.

And then you think that your way is the best way. Let's just be real. You high C individuals think that your way is the correct way, that that's the way it should be done because it's the right way. And then another possible cause is that you don't see the benefit of doing things differently.

So here's some possible solutions. Practice listening without evaluating what they're saying because UCs can go into evaluation mode and really being critical of the feedback that you're given and then begin responding mentally with just that's interesting that's a possibility instead of trying to immediately see the holes and work through their process so just being open to receiving feedback and beginning mentally with just that's interesting I'm going to stay curious I want to listen instead of immediately jumping to your negative response which is your go-to and then the last possible solution for, you know, overreacting to constructive feedback is to communicate your feelings with those that you're receiving that from.

To be able to communicate what you're, what you're feeling is really beneficial for a solution. So hopefully you've learned a few things. Those are five possible time wasters for you compliant individuals and some solutions. If you haven't listened to the three previous episodes, I encourage you to go back and listen because I go through five time wasters, possible causes, and possible solutions for each one for all four of the behavioral styles.

I hope you've learned something. Join me next week as we talk about more help for leaders. If you enjoyed this episode and would like more information on emotional intelligence, DISC, or communication, click here to get more content. We'd also love for you to click here to subscribe so you're notified each week when we post new episodes.