Highly effective people are very successful at what they do, that is why they are highly effective! However, there are some downsides to the habits that they inherently possess. These drawbacks are not felt by the protagonist but by everyone else. These habits are pros to them and cons to others around them.
Proactivity
Proactivity is a good thing, for everyone. However a highly effective person will possess an extraordinary amount of it, whether it is required or not. What they think of as being proactive can be detrimental to others.
For example, they will set their alarms for an unearthly hour (say, 3.30am) so that they can deal with all their emails before going to work. This has a knock-on effect on the recipient of the emails (especially those that work for the highly effective person). There can be a feeling of, ‘if he is up to doing emails at this time should I be?’, or the recipient may think that they have to deal with the email as soon as they see it as it was sent a while ago (whilst they were asleep if they are a normal person!).
No Deviating from the Plan
In some ways it is good to have the attitude that you are going to stick to the plan you have made for the day (or week, etc) as it makes you more reliable for those with whom you have made plans. However, there are going to be occasions when the input from a highly effective person is required which has not be diarised.
A highly effective person will not deviate from a plan unless they absolutely have to (i.e. if they answer to someone higher than them in the rankings).
They are sticklers for scheduling and managing their time and do not take to random requests.
They say ‘NO’ a lot
This one goes with the previous heading about deviating from a plan. Due to the fact that they are completely co-ordinated with their schedule if you ask a highly effective person to help with something they will invariably say No before even listening to the end of the question.
The only way to get a highly effective person to help you is to contact their secretary and arrange an appointment for the specific query you have.
Obsessive Behaviours
If the above doesn’t convince you that highly effective people are obsessive about things then how about the same breakfast at the same time every day. Why? Because it works. The way they see it, when they eat that breakfast at that time they can last until their next meal without being hungry and so, if it works, why deviate from it?
The Need to Know Everything
A highly effective person wants to know absolutely everything about whatever they are working on, or if they are going to buy something for their personal life they will research it until they are happy with the results before buying.
If you work with a highly effective person, you will find them to be one of those people who continually ask questions, they tend to ask them when it feels the right time in their mind, rather than the right time in the meeting or training.
A highly effective person might only be involved in the pricing of an item in a particular project – but they will still want to know everything about said item like, how it was made, where it was made, what the components are, how to use it, etc. It is just in their nature to want to know everything about something they are working on…whether they need to or not.
Always talk about their goals
A highly effective person wants you to know about their goals as it encourages them not to deviate from their plans if people know what their plans are. They begin everything with an end in mind. Therefore, they will only work on things or tell you things if they truly believe it is going to work out.
Whilst this self-affirmation is good for the highly effective person, it can feel a little like bragging to less ambitious people who are listening, and make them feel less than they are for not wanting more.
A highly effective person will not notice the effect they are having on others as they are fully focussed on reaching their goals.
Expectations
A highly effective person only knows their own way of doing things and can often expect that others should be doing things the same way.
Going back to the proactivity heading and the 3.30am start in the morning…this is normal to them and they will wonder why you don’t use your time more effectively!
They will be those work colleagues that work late and/or come in early, just to double and triple check their work. This is going to make their colleagues who leave on time look like they don’t care about work. They do, of course, they just have different priorities (like a life!) outside of work.
Annoying but Successful
Even though all of the aforementioned are annoying for those of us who deal with highly effective people at home or at work, they can’t help it! This is how they are built and they are very successful at reaching the goals they set themselves. Without highly effective people the world would be a boring place, I just don’t want to have to work or live with one of them!
