Driver, Passenger or Navigator?

I’ve invented a new personality test this morning (freshly baked) to help you categorise people so you can get the best out of them.

Drivers – willing to make decisions, willing to take responsibility for their actions, willing to ask for help, willing to delegate, realises they carry the whole team in their car, willing to lead, and able to teach others to become drivers or navigators.

Navigators – specialists who can provide advice on the complexities faced by the driver, able to distil complex issues down to the essentials needed for decisions, driven by helping others (drivers and passengers), good at delegating when running teams, good subject matter experts, concerned with the mechanics of the business.

Passengers – the majority of us and the core of any business, do their job well, trust the decisions of others but willing to ask questions during the decision making process, rely on the system set up for their work, concerned with doing their job right and being recognised for it.

Things can go wrong, for example, when a driver fails to delegate to the navigator and passenger, or where they are decisive but don’t have sufficient experience and won’t listen to their navigators.

Likewise, navigators may not have a breadth or depth of experience to provide all the advice they are required to. In many companies too many inexperienced navigators and you end up with a risk averse company.

Passengers who have forceful opinions but lack the understanding of the bigger picture that the navigator and driver face can be disruptive. Also, ambition combined with a lack of confidence or lack of willingness to take on roles with a higher level of responsibility may lead to a BACK SEAT DRIVER – the most irritating personality type of all.

Hopefully this will help you understand yourself and those around you so you can work to get the best out of them, encourage personal growth, and get those who are in the wrong seats to move.