Getting Along With Your Rational Boss

What clues can you use to see if your boss might be a Rational? Does your boss have a forever focus rather than future, past, or the present? Is your boss looking for problem solutions that will hold up over an extremely long time? Does your boss talk about different elements in a system, at the same time emphasizing the points by bending their fingers back? Do you see your boss as more "head in the clouds" rather than "feet on the ground?" Does your boss emphasize logic over values? If so, your boss might be a Rational.

Hot buttons for a Rational boss are:

• Employees who believe that new ideas won't work and trust only the tried-and-true
• Employees who are emotionally needy and demand too much time
• Employees who don't show initiative and want things explained in detailed steps

Being successful with your Rational boss means being open to new ideas for improving systems. Rational bosses continually test the logic of systems and seek dramatic, rather than incremental improvement. They especially appreciate employees who can fantasize new possibilities to test out.

Goals that drive Rational bosses are set far in the future and provide stretches for their intellect. A Rational boss is more likely to criticize you for incompetence than praise you for successes. Since Rationals are achievement-driven, employees need to become more aware of their own achievements and realize that this is the yardstick by which they will be judged.

There are four different kinds of Rational bosses. The Rational Fieldmarshal is a strong leader who is focused on the long-term success of the company. In order to be taken seriously, the employee needs to be able to speak to the boss about the goals and aims. The Rational Mastermind has an intense, inner-focus on creating effective systems. The employee needs to listen to the Mastermind talk about their vision so they can be effective in supporting it. The Rational Inventor is outward and multi-focused, and their emphasis is on experimenting and inventing. The effective employee is a sounding board who retains a balance between enthusiasm for new ideas and skepticism to test their effectiveness. The Rational Architect boss is especially sensitive to fine gradations in logic and very specific definitions of words. The employee needs to be sure of a common understanding of terms so that the Architect will see the employee as competent and will be willing to share his ideas.

Rational Fieldmarshals and Mastermind are usually direct in their communications and at times can seem overpowering to the employee because of their intense focus. Rational Inventors and Architects show more of a multi-focus and employees may need to ask questions to find out what these types of bosses really want them to do. In general, Rational bosses provide an intellectually stimulating atmosphere and challenge employees to create and do more than the employee might have dreamed was possible. It is from this type of atmosphere that some of the greatest new ideas come.