Command is a pretty rare theme. In fact it is the most,
it is the most rare theme
of all 34. Only 5% of our data base have Command in their top 5.
And that's something I'm, people always ask me why that is
And maybe that's something Al can explain later on.
But we'll try to think about Command and what it looks like in it's
raw form, what it looks like in it's mature form.
I think Command obviously is a theme about influencing.
And there's lots of different kinds of influence.
I think it is especially helpful in situations where there may be
some resistance. Where there may be some opposition.
This doesn't mean anti, but just, it's about persuading sometimes. It's getting people
to go along with you and pushing people to do that.
I think sometimes it helps to clarify a theme by contrasting
it with another theme so, a pretty typical contrast is Command and Harmony.
And I'm just guessing Al that Harmony might be lower on your list.
AL: "Oh yes, it's down in the bottom 5!" [Curt laughs]
Curt: Yeah, yeah! [Al laughs] And that's what I would call a logical pair.
Kind of a high Command & low Harmony. And what's interesting enough,
both of these themes are about emotion. People with Harmony
really try to manage strong emotion in order to maintain momentum.
If we can get people to get along, we can keep moving.
Whereas people with Command use strong...their own strong
emotion to get something moving or to get someone moving
It's the use of emotional power and presence.
And obviously, and I know Al's going to talk
about this a little bit
that's a pretty volatile ability. [both laugh] When you think about
using strong emotion productively and effectively. But, obviously it can
make a big difference. Another couple of themes that you can
contrast and compare would be Activator and Command. And I think Al's got some
of both of those so. [Al: um hmm] But one of those is more about
getting something moving, kind of going from zero to nothing.
it's creating momentum.
The other one is a bit more about dealing with opposition when something
is slowing you down, when something is pushing
against you. So that's just another way
to think about it. Sometimes people like it when we come up with
different words for this theme that help us to understand it. So, words like:
Decisive is I think a Command word, clarifier or clarifying,
driven or driver, persuasive or persuader, challenging or challenger,
assertive, take charge or control. A metaphor that I like
for Command is fighter. Now that might not appear to be the best metaphor.
but I often use the illustration of You can be a really good fighter.
Or you can be a bad fighter. And so if you think of the range of Muhammed Ali
as a fighter, literally a fighter, who was perceived...had a very positive
reputation I think in our world, I mean he kind of gets
to hang around with
world leaders. I think he helped open up some of the Olympics.
He was perceived in a positive way even though he was a fighter.
On the other hand, I hope he's not online here, is Mike Tyson. [both laugh]
Here was a fighter that was known for biting people's ears off.
So you see the range of how people can be fighters and how they might
be perceived in a positive way or a negative way.
I like to think about some sayings that sometimes help to capture the
essence of this theme. So for example, "When the going gets tough, the tough
get going." That's kind of a Command saying. One of the things that
I've often said about Command is that it's people who are most comfortable
when they're in the drivers seat. It's really about people who are
good at taking charge and bringing control and I think sometimes
control has a bad name. As if being out of control were a preferred state.
And these are people who know how to bring some control
and some order to the world. You know something that I've always wondered
and this maybe something that people in chat
can kind of think about is, is there a fictional character
either in TV or movies or literature, that somehow represent
this theme and I'm...so if there is anybody out there, if that's something
you want to start chatting about
and then maybe Jim can let us know which one of these things has kind of
if anyone comes up with some new ones Another one might be a song. [laughs]
A theme song. Is there a song that kind of captures the essence of
of what Command could look like. Let's see.
What else. I think something else that I think's important to think about
is the themes that are most often paired with Command,
The theme that's most often paired with Command is Strategic.
And it makes some sense that it would be that way.
The themes that are least often paired with Command are Discipline
and Developer.