Doves and Hawks in the Boardroom - Every Business Has Both and Couldnt Succeed Without Each

Successful companies are not run by one individual. They are made up of numerous people with different jobs and responsibilities. Each person has their own role to play and their own characteristics they bring to the role. Understanding your position as well as others within your company will ultimately help the company increase productivity and profits.

Geneva, IL (PRWEB) September 15, 2004 -- Successful companies are not run by one individual. They are made up of numerous people with different jobs and responsibilities. Each person has their own role to play and their own characteristics they bring to the role. Understanding your position as well as others within your company will ultimately help the company increase productivity and profits.

Author and business consultant Karen Evenson tells business leaders, You need to understand your employees. In their differences lies your businesss strength." Understanding employees is one of the keys to success in any company. When you understand your employees, you can better serve their needs. Unfortunately, business leaders cannot please all of their employees because each is different and has their own unique needs. In her book, Redefining F.E.A.R.: Maximizing Limited Resources with Unlimited Ideas (Cameo Publications, $17.95, ISBN 0-9744149-3-X), Evenson identifies this problem as the double-edged sword." Strength lies in diversity, yet diversity breeds conflict.

Evenson uses a fable of the Kingdom of Kaos, where F.E.A.R. reigns, to teach business leaders how to understand their employees approaches to creativity and problem solving. She provides the example of the dove and the hawk and relates them to the characteristics of the Adaptor and the Innovator. Evenson identifies the doves, or Adaptors, as those who resist change or want minimal change. They dont want to take risks, and they want to make the familiar better. Hawks, or Innovators, like change and are excited by it. They take risks. Both Adaptors and Innovators are creative, but their styles are different.

No one is entirely an Adaptor (dove) or an Innovator (hawk). Nor is one style better than the other. However, business leaders often find it easier to manage people who are like themselves and each other. Most people dont realize that not having a diverse group can be costly in the long run. Adding people with different approaches and then spending time as a group to understand each other and learn how to collaborate will benefit the entire company.

In her book, Evenson lists the characteristics of the High Adaptor (dove) and the High Innovator (hawk) and then provides questions to help your company assess which you have more of. Knowing which your company has more of and what you are as a business leader will help you maximize your creativity and problem solving capacity. Remember that one style is not better than the other and not everybody fits neatly into one of these categories. Evenson states, It is truly a balance of the two approaches that produces the best results. Think of it as a hawk with a dove on its back." Discover the doves and hawks within your company and work to understand the differences in their approaches. This understanding will then lead to a greater appreciation of the diversity, boosting employee morale and ultimately, productivity.

Karen Evenson is a successful author, business consultant, and corporate trainer. She works with Fortune 500 and 100 companies designing, developing, and delivering programs on creative and effective leadership. Her domestic and international clients are from diverse industries, including beverage, snack food, fast food, public relations, healthcare, theme parks, advertising, airlines, government, and manufacturing.

For more information or a review copy of Redefining F.E.A.R.: Maximizing Limited Resources with Unlimited Ideas, please call 866-372-2636 or send an email to Amy@cameopublications.com.

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