Goal-focused rainmakers are very successful business people who are really good at bringing in the business and making sure that what was promised is delivered. Clients love them, because the service they provide is second-to-none.  Business leaders love them, because they significantly impact company success in terms of revenues and winning the hearts and minds of clients (developing strong client relations).

What comes along with these winning qualities, and helps to make this individual so successful, is their drive. They are prepared to work as hard as is needed, to be successful. Unfortunately this level of focus on getting results sometimes comes at the expense of those on the team. These winners have a much more highly developed goal-focused tendency and often a much less well developed people-focused tendency. As the focus on goal achievement increases, the people/ team members are likely to become just the means-to-an-end.  The desire for success is often being so strong that everything else seems justified.

Those who do not have well developed people management skills, particularly those who are very technically skilled and are more used to being high level “doers” (controllers) than “people leaders”, behave in ways that impact the team negatively that feels aggressive, forceful and potentially micromanaging. Anyone who has been on the receiving end will tell you how demotivating and potentially anxiety-making this can be. In fact, any pressure to achieve particular goals will just increase the focus on reaching the objective causing declining team member engagement and eventually productivity and retention issues.

Over time they can become known as bullies internally, while still providing exceptional results and maintaining happy clients, and at some point this can become career limiting. This is unfortunate, because the impact on team members is unintentional and with these ambitious, forward moving individuals, helping to create some self-awareness can often transform this behaviour. Rainmakers are coachable, because they are so goal-focused, ambitious and want to succeed.

Here are the keys to a turnaround:

1. The straightest of straight-talk is required. Direct pointing out of the damaging behaviour and its impact on the team, together with total clarity around the new goal (transformed team leadership) and timeframe (Now!) is key.
2. Clarity that their career is in jeopardy!
3. Use of a thinking style assessment like the Human Synergistics Stylus (self rated), that bluntly highlights their aggressive thinking style and the attitudes and behaviour that it creates, in addition to how this impacts others. This is a stark and direct description of the negative impact this style eventually has on company profitability, retention and growth. Aggressive thinkers may create short-term gain, but as often, their behaviour causes long term unhappiness, retention-issues and bottom-line impact.
4. Clear communication of what success looks like when the negative impacts are gone (the new goal).
5. A values alignment approach focused on Relationship being key! This is an important aspect designed to upweight the focus on team members and provide some necessary balance.
6. Unpack the unhealthy team management behaviours and build new healthy tools, techniques and coach-like leadership behaviour.

Once a new way of achieving goals is understood and integrated, the rainmaker becomes constructively goal achieving – this means – in a way that includes growing and developing the team (rather than exclusively goal-focused). The team members are now viewed as part of the solution, rather than just a means-to-an-end.

Transformation like this is always possible with high performers, but only if someone is open to providing the necessary feedback. It is unfortunate that so many leaders do not take the time to engage in frank conversations.