We are behind closed doors in our house. Not because we are sick, but because we have three boys that will constantly interrupt us as we attempt to discuss a plan for the next month.
Both my wife and I work with mildly flexible schedules. Now we must navigate keeping three boys focused enough to accomplish their homework, work ourselves, and maintain a low stress home. This is what we were attempting to navigate during our conversation.
Our completely opposite personality styles became very apparent as we started the discussion. For those of you familiar with the Maxwell DISC Personality Indicator I use, I am on the exact opposite side of the spectrum. During this conversation I realized some ways I need to be a better leader for both our sake.
Maximize Each Other’s Strengths 
I am a very task-oriented person. Combine that with a tendency to look at things black and white it creates tension with my relationship oriented spouse. At first this frustrated me, but when I created the structure my wife brought her strength of being able to think of the possible variables that could impact our kids.
After combining our strengths, we found a path that effectively provided both clear expectations and a plan for our children while leaving room for flexibility. In this flexibility we can adjust to each child’s unique personality.
Be Aware of Weaknesses
We both have weaknesses and one of mine is holding rigidly to the plan. By remaining aware of this, I can adjust my responses to neutralize the negative impact. In a situation that is ever changing and fluid I need to have a plan while recognizing the plan may need to be adjusted. This applies daily when raising children, but also in an ever-changing business or team environment.
You may not have the same weakness but understand yours and determine ways to neutralize it. This awareness prevents blind spots that can dramatically hinder our personal and professional leadership.
Work Together to Build a Unified Plan
While fending off interruptions from children, we recognized our individual strengths and weaknesses and then had to determine our best possible plan. Through gaining a unified agreement on our structure (with flexibility of course) and what we expect we will create a lower stress environment.
This sounds easy, but while implementing this process we will have to adjust. These same principles can be utilized at home and work. What helped this conversation the most for us was an awareness of our basic behavior styles. Had I not known our individual styles this conversation could have been much more difficult. If you want to learn your style go here or if you want to go deeper and learn your style and have a personalized debrief contact me writing DISC with debrief in the subject line at randy@wheelercoachingsystems.com and I will provide a blog reader’s discount. Keep focused, communicate often, and lead well.
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