Alpha males and females are natural born leaders, which can sometimes be deemed overbearing in the home or the workplace. However, some of the greatest leaders of our time are alphas – because they are visionaries and can be quite brilliant. Here are a few ingenious ways to deal with alpha behavior.
6 Smart Ways to Deal with Alpha Behavior
Experts categorize alpha personalities into four types and believe the best way to survive alpha territory is to adapt your pitches to their preferences. The visionaries appreciate the bigger picture and the results your vision could bring, whereas the strategist prefers hearing the data. The executor needs to know everything there is to know about your pitch from the ground up, while a commander relishes a passionate argument for why your idea is worth a shot.
#1. Analyze which type of alpha you are dealing with based on their strongest personality traits. Is he or she a visionary, strategist, executor or a commander? You’ll need to adapt your interactions with them for more favorable outcomes.
#2. Be curious. Ask your alpha how they arrived at a particular solution or idea. It gives you insight into how they think and gives you an advantage. If an alpha thinks you understand his or her goals, they’re more open to your ideas and opinions.
#3. If an alpha character is continually pointing out mistakes in your pitches or ideas, thank them so that they start realizing they don’t need to dismantle your ideas to feel in control.
#4. Alphas need to know that they can trust you to take care of things to their standards. Don’t just tell them you’ll handle something and get it done – give them a summary of how you will take care of it so that they know you’ve strategized effectively and have confidence in your abilities.
#5. Alpha behavior doesn’t always signal arrogance. Alpha’s critique themselves too and are always striving to be better. Alphas will spot ingenuine flattery a mile off but will appreciate reminders of when they made smart moves.
#6. If you’re living with an alpha, ensure you enjoy frequent me time to prevent feeling drained by their constant need to lead and be in control.
How do you best deal with the alphas in your lives? Tweet me @lorenridinger.
