Dear Jeremy,

I work in a company with a little over 10,000 employees, and in the top leadership tier, I have two VPs that I’m currently dealing with that I’m not sure how to handle. They are both Red, and when they run their individual teams, they’re amazing, but when they work together on our executive team, they are constantly butting heads. What can I do to make this work?
Gavin

Dear Gavin,
What you have described to me sounds like a classical Red on Red issue that actually isn’t too tough to resolve. Here’s what typically happens: Reds by nature love to fit into leadership roles, and why not? They are driven, assertive, focused, and so visionary that they are always thinking five years down the road. That’s the positive side. On the flip side, they will also battle for control and believe that they are always right. When left alone to manage their respective teams, they are great, because they are in charge, which others readily recognize, and they call the shots. When forced to work together, however, what you are running into is basically a turf war.

Here’s what I mean: They are both convinced that their way is better. Plus, they are highly competitive, and are therefore willing to fight for their ideas. So, how do you solve this? Remember to always go back to the Driving Core Motive of the people involved. In this case, they are both Red. They are both driven by power. They both want to get from “A to B.” Well, what is “B?” In this case, it is likely that they want the company and the executive team to be successful. They want a positive result. And, by the way, they want to look good to their superiors and/or the board of directors. You can use this knowledge to your advantage when you discuss this with them.

Here are a couple of things to remember when you have the conversation with them, which you can do with them together, by the way. First of all, you want to keep the conversation brief, factual, and to the point. Do not spend the meeting talking about how valued they are and how people look to their example, and therefore it’s important that they get along. Just stick to the facts. Tell them the truth. “The company needs this team to be successful, and the two of you aren’t working so well together,” might be a way of opening the conversation up. If you are not Red, this may seem difficult or too bold, perhaps, but the point is you must communicate in a way that will mean something to them in their Red “language.” You can tell them that it is obvious that they are both highly successful in their own teams and that you expect them to lend their talent in a more positive way to the executive committee.

Here’s the part where you assert your leadership: Give each of them a specific set of responsibilities within the committee, and tell them that they are to allow each other room to operate in their respective areas. When the team comes together to discuss things that need to be done, both of them can participate openly, but once decisions are made, they are individually responsible for their portions only. Really, all you are doing is separating the turf. If they really are both highly capable and produce results, chances are that they have mutual respect for each other. If they don’t respect each other, you have a deeper problem, especially because they are both Red, but we won’t get into that in this column.

The point is they have to rely on each other to get the job done. They both hate to waste time. They both want to get to “B.” You decide who is in charge of what, or which type of issues, and clearly delineate the line of responsibility. This will actually free both of them to not get caught up in what doesn’t reflect on them individually. Consequently, they will both work to make their respective assignments successful just as they do with their own teams.

Continued Success!

Jeremy Daniel

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Jeremy Daniel (Core Color: Yellow) has been working with the Color Code since 1998 in various capacities from training in the field personally with Dr. Taylor Hartman to designing customized corporate solutions and new training programs for various industries.