About last week's article on Blue leaders, a reader called it "tough love."  So let's proceed with a little tough love for Orange leaders. If you are Orange, you get tired hearing you are possibly flighty in your decision making, too willing to take risks, and seemingly shallow because you don't like to sit in meetings or read the long reports that staff has diligently prepared. Here are some suggestions developed by psychologists over the last hundred years.

1)   Show up. It's a cliché to say that Oranges never sit at their own desks (and that may not describe you either), but the core Orange value of Personal Freedom affects all areas of your life. Personal Freedom usually includes wanting, even needing, to move physically - out of the room, out of the building, or out of the country. Complicating this is Orange loathing for routine and irritation with timelines and deadlines. What to do about it? As each week ends, put yourself in the shoes of people who most need access to you, who depend on you for decisions and enforcement, and who happen to go crazy when routine, timelines, and deadlines seem disrespected by your own lifestyle, not to mention your words. Schedule the upcoming week to make sure you show up physically and mentally in front of your people at not only key tactical moments, but also at pre-arranged times that they can rely on.

2)   Be a student. More than the other three Colors, Oranges may confess that they hated school. Both reading books and listening to lectures can "put a damper" on the physical side of Personal Freedom. President John Kennedy was known as a reader, but his leadership style was pure Orange. All written reports to him were to be a single page with bullet points. "If I want to know more, I'll ask you," he said. Know this, oh Orange leader, if you are perceived to not care enough about the hard work behind written reports or live office presentations by team members who sweat bullets to do well for you, don't be surprised you get called irresponsible, shallow, untrustworthy, scattered, goofy, and lacking maturity. If you avoid giving full attention to important ideas and processes - both big and small - you do so at your own peril. Great Orange leaders discover early in their careers the best ways to get the information they need by requesting formats that work for them and also by taking the time to be a student of especially high-priority issues. A favorite "format" is face-to-face meetings with experts on the issue, often in comfortable places that blend business with recreation.

3)   Respect the organization. The downside of loving Personal Freedom is looking too independent from the hierarchy of the organization. Your superiors already know you need to finish jobs on your own terms, but they lose trust when you "go your own way" so far that it looks like you break rules and step on toes, even when you believe it's no big deal. It's worse for the people who work for you. If you keep changing your mind or taking frequent risks, you are devaluing the mission and disrespecting the labor of people whose projects are constantly getting altered. So what to do? Take pride in your quick thinking and fast action for true emergencies. You may have even been hired because of your ability to act on your feet and solve problems quickly. For regular, less urgent business, however, keep most action ideas to yourself or to a small group of confidants for a while. Note them down. Schedule them for thought and discussion. Bring in others to brainstorm with you. Finally announce your decisions when it is appropriate and at the time you know your team can best handle them.

4)   Hire your weaknesses. This suggestion applies to all four personality types. Some of our colleagues hate the word "weaknesses," but let's call "unnatural strengths" the weaknesses that they end up being. It is not natural for an Orange leader, for example, to sit down with a Gold employee for hours or days over minutia in an Excel sheet; in that situation, it might feel more natural to slit one's wrists. It is not natural for an Orange to discuss personal information for hours at a time with Blue people. And not a lot of Orange leaders enjoy constructing the twenty-year strategic plans that Greens create with rigor and pride. If your organization is big enough, hire people who excel in the areas that drain your energy. And why? It's because Gold, Blue, and Green people love to do what you don't. Their values and strengths will "complete you" and make the team stronger. Some U.S. Presidents have had strong cabinets because they zealously hired their weaknesses. Notable examples are Lincoln, Kennedy, Reagan, and Clinton.