Fourth in a Series

Does it seem like your boss plays around all day and never gets anything done? Is joke telling or gabbing about sports or last night’s TV show the norm? Are deadlines missed? Reports late? Are written communication efforts typically garbled and unintelligible? Does your boss drop everything when an issue he/she is passionate about arises? Do you arrive at work each day not knowing what you’re going to be doing? If so, chances are you have a “Fire” Boss.

Fire Bosses see the world much like an Earth Boss but with a unique twist! They see the same facts and figures but, unlike the Earths who want to make detailed plans, Fire Bosses want to collect more even more data and manipulate them for practical applications. This approach typically results in solving problems in a fast, effective, timely and enjoyable manner — while having fun doing so!

Fire Bosses often rely on gut feelings to prioritize their activities. Their decisions are often based upon what they believe to be the most important issue of the day, or moment. If you are someone who needs to know exactly what you’re supposed to do each day, you may have a problem with a Fire Boss. Fire Bosses do not typically provide timely or even routine information, and getting into details is not a real strength.

Fire Bosses act on instinct. They enjoy life and relish the challenge of analyzing daily routines, hoping to discover new and more interesting methods of solving problems and achieving work goals. They find the administrivia of management totally boring and often delegate more mundane routine tasks to others. Fire Bosses are great troubleshooters and expert in handling crisis situations. They’re resourceful and know how to get things done while avoiding bureaucratic red tape and procedural norms.

Fire Bosses are risk takers and often unpredictable. The way they handle a situation today will be different from how they handle it tomorrow. They are easily bored and may even invent a crisis to tackle. They dislike meetings and writing reports. Fire Bosses would rather jump into immediate action than spend an inordinate amount of time exploring options and theories.

Fire Bosses are often misunderstood. Their “free-wheeling” spirits, often short attention spans, and preferences for acting on instincts are sometime perceived as disloyal, reckless, and insensitive.

How to Become More Effective in Working with a Fire Boss? 10 Hints!

1) Anticipate that your Fire Boss will attempt to quickly solve problems using innovative and creative techniques. Fire Bosses like to make rapid decisions using new and often untried methodologies;

2) Do not be afraid to use humor in the workplace. Fire Bosses enjoy having fun and using humor in almost any situation;

3) Offer unique and even untested methods to circumvent traditional processes, rules, and regulations in order to solve a problem. Fire Bosses believe cutting corners and avoiding red tape are clever and extremely practical strategies for achieving success;

4) Expect your Fire Boss to jump directly into the middle of an employee conflict or dispute in order to quickly resolve the issue and get everyone back to work. Fire Bosses view employee conflicts as irritations that keep them from doing more imaginative and enjoyable work;

5) Last minute changes (without prior notification) in your work tasks will probably be the norm. Fire Bosses react rapidly to perceived changes in the work environment, funding, staffing, or client requirements and will not think twice about changing your job to respond accordingly;

6) Expect that errors and failures will be viewed as learning opportunities — unless they are repeated. Fire Bosses enjoy experimenting with a variety of strategies and will file away failures or errors so as never to repeat them;

7) Anticipate that your Fire Boss may suddenly transfer to a different project, team, division or department. Fire Bosses are always in search of new opportunities for experiences interesting and exciting work;

8) Don’t expect to get to know your Fire Boss too well, personally. Fire Bosses meet their need for affiliation with short and intensive relationships, yet can easily and rapidly move on to start the whole process over again with others;

9) Offer to assist your Fire Boss in completing his/her writing assignments (e.g., reports, summaries, and presentations). Fire Bosses do not enjoy writing anything and will avoid such task at all costs; and,

10) Expect that scheduled Zoom meetings, business trips, and other work tasks will be changed or canceled at the last minute. Fire Bosses bore easily and will do just about anything to relieve that boredom. Meetings of all types are often the target of cancellations by Fire Bosses!

Still Having Problems?

As your awareness of temperament increases, you will begin to appreciate the strengths that other Dominant temperaments bring to the workplace. The road to more effectively connecting with your Fire Boss begins with the realization that he/she brings many abilities and skills to your organization (many that you do not bring!).

Fire Bosses provide practical and creative troubleshooting skills, often tinged with a sense of humor. No matter the issue, Fire Bosses can rapidly assess and develop an approach to address it. While their approaches will not always follow traditional or prescribed processes or established procedures, they will usually provide a successful short-term solution that will keep their team, division, department or organization moving forward. Fire Bosses do not like being told how to do something. Rather, they prefer to be free, spontaneous, and as innovative as possible.

Fire Bosses do not shy away from problems but rather put themselves in the middle of them. They are truly action junkies. They enjoy the adrenalin-filled excitement that surrounds solving difficult, pressure-packed, organizational challenges. They do not spend much time agonizing over details or analyzing the various approaches that may be taken to deal with a specific situation. They also do not worry much about managerial hierarchies that dictate which individual, team, or department is responsible for solving the problem at hand. They will quickly and fearlessly, stab at the heart of the issue as they see it — not matter whose toes they step on or how many egos they may bruise in the process.

In this series of articles we will examine the behaviors that are typically associated with bosses (i.e., department heads, directors, managers, supervisors, and team leaders) holding each Dominant temperament and strategize how we can work with them more effectively. I’ve written a number of books on the subject of temperament.