Are you Independent or Compliant, Optimistic or Anxious?

Some personal preferences have a significant impact on the way we work and how we relate to others. They also impact how others relate to us. Understanding a strong preference can help people to navigate the world and influence others better. Awareness is the beginning of acceptance and change. For every preference, there are always positive and negative impacts. Albert Einstein was credited with saying, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results." Having a strong preference leads most people to act in a similar way over and over again. Often, people don't like the results they are getting but tend to blame the negative effects on the reactions of others rather than their behavior. Many preferences don't always produce negative or positive results; rather, the results are dependent on the situation, reactions of others, and luck. To fully understand why many people persist in ineffective behaviors, a person only needs to consider something like an addiction to gambling. Even though the majority of the time gamblers lose when gambling, the rare wins reinforce the behavior enough to create a strong habit.

Before describing the positive and negative impact of these behaviors, I recommend you take the following short 5-minute self-assessment. Be honest in your answers and write down the scores you receive at the end of the assessment. Click on the link below to take the assessment.

https://zengerfolkmanex.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3KtkA69UGKe7lcN

The assessment measures two personal preferences.

 Compliance versus Independence

The extent to which you prefer order and following rules and processes versus the extent to which you prefer to be charting your course and doing your own thing.

Fear/Anxiety versus Optimism

The extent to which you assume problems will occur, negative events will be more prevalent, and you are anxious versus the extent to which you are optimistic that things will go well, positive events are highly likely, and life will be full of good things.

In the data we have gathered, we have found that these two dimensions are generally highly correlated. In other words, independent people tend to be more optimistic, and compliant people tend to be more fearful and anxious. However, the correlations are not perfect, and some people buck that trend.

The Good News and the Bad News

There are assets and liabilities to all of the preferences and we all can act in a more compliant, independent, cautious, or optimistic manner.

Compliance 

Even though people tend to be slightly more independent than compliant, compliance is a beneficial quality. We asked approximately 400,000 direct reports to rate their manager on being a role model and setting a good example. Those who were rated as having an outstanding strength were at the 66thpercentile on average on their overall leadership effectiveness. Those who were rated as needing significant improvement were at the 18thpercentile. Organizations work because people follow processes—and leaders who follow processes will be rated as better role models. Most people, in order to be effective, need to be compliant in some aspects of their lives.

While compliance makes organizations run smoothly, there are too many incidents in corporate history where people acting in compliance did unethical or inhuman acts because they followed orders. When compliance is too strong people stop thinking for themselves.

Independence

As a newborn, my grandson Calen was very compliant. He did not fuss much, would go to sleep when laid in his crib, and would entertain himself when he woke in the morning. After his first birthday, he started to explore and become more independent. Then he noticed his sisters getting things he did not get, and his independence exploded. Children move from dependence to independence as part of the maturation process. That is how children learn and grow. As children become teenagers, they start to test boundaries and often push for more independence. When people are given direction, they will consider if the direction is appropriate, wise, and right. That act of independent thinking often causes them to have the additional motivation and commitment to implement the direction.

Organizations today want more innovation, and it is the preference for independence that is at the core of innovation. However, too much independence can be difficult. The expression, "Leading this group is like herding cats," provides an excellent metaphor for too much independence. Having an extremely high score on independence can put people in the category of only listening to their own voice.

Optimism

Researchers have found that the optimists live longer, make more money, and have more fulfilling lives. Having confidence that things will turn out well propels people to invest their time and money in difficult projects. Optimism provides people with hope for the future and determination to accomplish the impossible.

Combining high optimism with a strong independent orientation can lead a person to sometimes be delusional about their great ideas. Without any sounding board from others people sometimes make terrible decisions. These delusions can be corrected if others are encouraged to be honest, but if not, then the emperor may have no clothes.

Anxiety and Fear

It can be helpful to have some anxiety and fear, but when people have too much anxiety and fear it can create a state of helplessness.

As you review the arguments for and against each preference, it may feel like the best position is to be in the middle on both measures, but most people have a stronger preference on one side than the other. That is never a problem as long as you understand the downside of a strong preference. Different situations may necessitate that you change your preference to achieve the goal you desire. Sometimes the independent person needs to be more compliant when following the rules that are critical for success. Sometimes being too optimistic may lead people to take unrealistic risks.

I have spent my personal and professional life with the belief that people can change their behaviors and increase their effectiveness. We know from our research that the majority of people can significantly improve, but change cannot occur without insight and evaluation. I hope this short self-assessment has provided some insight about your preferences for you. Awareness is the starting place for change. If you work in a team, pass this article along to other team members, have them keep track of their scores, and then share scores with each other. It can be fun to guess another team member’s score. Add up and average the score to get a team preference. Discuss among members the impact of different orientations.