Do You Have A Toxic Bulldozer In Your Workplace?

It's my way or the highway. I'm sure you've heard those words. We're talking about a bulldozer personality. So in this video we're going to find out how they can single handedly railroad your organization. Peter, welcome again. Thank you. What is a bulldozer personality?

Well, let me just fire up the diesel engine here. Bulldozer personality can be described as a powerhouse personality. And look, to not put too fine a point on it, their goal is to get shit done.

That's the right words, get shit done. Okay, so are they. So what are you saying? They're not playing a game, but that's who they are.

That's who they are. That's how they have structured their lives. That's how they found that they get results. And for them the results are paramount. That's their absolute goal.

So, so that basically answers the question, what's in it for them? So they're looking very much towards what's the journey end. Not so much about worrying about the journey.

Absolutely.

The focus on the outcome. And the outcome is the only thing.

So one of the, one of the classic bulldozers just watched a documentary on Arnold Schwarzenegger and he was single purpose driven. He was so focused. He was the one that pumped the iron. But he had the vision of where he wanted to be. As unreasonable and as outrageous as it possibly was, he was a bulldozer. He is a bulldozer. That's how he gets it done.

Okay, what is the power base of such personalities?

The end goal. The end goal fuels everything along the path. If they have not yet achieved their end goal, they are still in full on power mode.

And so what happens when they don't actually achieve that sort of end goal?

Really? Look, that can be a very frustrating experience. I think the best thing that will happen is or they will find another goal that is available for them to do. But again, look, if you're looking at the classic bulldozers, they never take a failure as a failure. They just look at it as another day that they haven't achieved their goal. And they are single minded.

All right, so there's a lot of collateral damage in terms of if they don't have the right people correct any other traits that they might have. Apart from being very much focused on.

The outcome, they are probably best doing it on their own. They can get very frustrated with team especially that team has diverse ways of handling situations and there are some elegant and not so elegant strategies that they can use to bring their team into line. But if you're working for a bulldozer. Be prepared to deliver the outcomes and not get too much. Thanks along the way.

Yeah. Is it a case where they sort of put their hands up for a lot of projects? Could they basically get burnt out?

They can, they can. But then, and this is going to sound weird, but even that burnout phase is just an obstacle that they can bulldoze out of the road. So they are a real true bulldozer is there is no such thing as an insurmountable obstacle.

Oh, wow. Okay. Is a bulldozer necessarily bad?

No, not at all. In fact, if you were in a really tough situation, the bulldozer would be the one person you'd like to have on your side because you would know that they would go and go and go until the goal was achieved. So they're not necessarily a bad person. They just do things quite directly.

Correct. And is it quite evident for other people to realize he's a bulldozer? I mean, how would they know they're being bulldozed?

Well, if they're being bulldozed, then they need to either step into the modality or move out of the project.

Okay.

And oftentimes the bulldozer will set it up. I think we were talking before about competing interests. And the bulldozer will say, you two sort it out.

Yeah, yeah, I was gonna ask about that.

And may the winner win. So essentially what the bulldozer is saying, you figure out which one's the bigger bulldozer, and whoever wins, that's the one.

I'm going to go with. Okay. So is competition a massive motivation for them?

Sorting process because the bulldozer wants to get what's the most optimal situation? What's the most optimal conditions to create the situation for a good outcome?

Okay, so here's an environment. Let's say you have two bulldozers. They are competing for the same project. Is it. Now how does that manifest in an organization? And what's the outcome in that regard?

It's like having two prize fighters in the ring, isn't it?

Or two bulls.

I mean, you're going to. They're both going to come out bruised and battered. If you're going to pit two bulldozers against each other, you'll find that the project becomes I want to win the project rather than the project that you want them to actually work on.

Correct, Correct. Correct. Correct. What is the detrimental effect to an organization by hiring a bulldozer?

Using a bulldozer in the wrong environment? Using the bulldozer for the Wrong outcomes. Let's put it this way. A bulldozer is a blunt instrument. So you would not use a blunt instrument for something that requires finesse, and neither would you use an instrument of finesse for something that just requires a power approach.

Yeah, yeah, that's true. Yeah. Okay. So the way I look at it is an organization are pretty aware that when they hire, a person has that personality. So they obviously have a requirement in mind. But if they don't know, they will obviously find out very quickly. The question is, basically, you know, what happens to the organization when you have such a personality? What are the consequences?

So if the organization has hired the personality to be the bulldozer, let's take an orchestra as an example. You have the delicate violins, you have your oboes, but you also have your massive kettle drums.

Correct.

And each of those needs to be working in concert with the conductor to produce this spectacular music.

Yep. Yep.

Now, if you've got an organization that is using their different personality types in that same fashion, then you've got something quite spectacular being able to be produced. If all of a sudden, though, you allow the kettle drums to outshine everything else, then you're going to have a little bit of an issue and the conversation needs to be had.

Exactly. Now, interesting question. And just looking at the hierarchy of an organization, how different is it for a person, let's say, as a manager, an executive who may have that personality compared to an employee who is a bulldozer?

Understood. Understood. You'll find that the bulldozer will get a reputation and he will also. I'm saying he.

He or she.

Yeah, Pardon me. It's also he or she. I have seen some very powerful female bulldozers in my lifetime as well, too, and great respect because they got. They got the job done. Yes. But what you will find is that you won't have any shrinking violence in that team. You will have people who are ready to roll up their sleeves and bang the drum just as much as. Because they will be held accountable to a very, very powerful standard. And they're expected to deliver as much as the bulldozer manager, because at the end of the day, that is the one that's driving the outcome.

Yeah. Now, there's quite a bit of confusion between a bulldozer and someone who's a bullier, because some people will try to interchange. But I'll get you to explain the difference.

It's very easy to be not in sync with a bulldozer as your manager and feel that you are being bullied. It's very easy to do that.

Yeah, yeah.

Essentially. And this is just a very broad brush. But a bully has personal motivations. It's about them. The bulldozer is about the project. It's about getting it done. And like you said before, my way or the highway. If you don't want to be on this, on this road, get off.

Correct. So sort of trying to wrap it out. You know, I started by mentioning about how a bulldozer can single handedly railroad an organization. So how true is that?

It is. As a manager or the head of an organization, you do need to be very judicious about where you place a bulldozer. Again, if you place a bulldozer in a situation that requires a bit of finesse, you. You're going to have some not so good outcomes. It really is about choosing the right instrument for the right job.

That's essential. What is the key takeaway in this discussion?

Bulldozers are very, very useful. There are times when it's really good to have your company bulldozer sitting next to next to you in the boardroom and you go, go get them. Sick them.

Yeah, yeah.

But at the same time it can be. It requires a certain amount of internal fortitude also to work because they can.

Be a wrecking ball.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Yeah. Good. Well, that concludes this video. The next one will be somewhat quite different. The passive aggressive behavior.

Oh, really?

Oh really? Thank you for watching and see you next time.