It had been really difficult to find a public figure with a Direct Officer profile. The most high profile entrepreneurs, business and thought leaders of the day tend to belong to the more extroverted categories. This is so typical of a Direct Officer profile. They take the art of being unassuming to the next level.
This, however, does not mean that Direct Officer profiles cannot be successful. On the contrary, many of the top CEO and COOs of public-listed companies are Direct Officer profiles. The difference here is, their success is only known to those who need to know.
Short of using an actual consult chart (which I would never do), I have had no choice but to illustrate the characteristics of the Direct Officer profile with a historical figure – Bao Zheng.
For the benefit of those who may not be conversant with Chinese legends, Bao Zheng was a renowned judge from the Song Dynasty (circa year 1000 AD). He is a smart, intelligent guy who consistently demonstrated extreme honesty and uprightness. What is Bao Zheng most famous for? He upholds the law without fear or favour.
Recognizing Your Direct Officer Boss
If I were to sum up the Direct Officer profile with just one word, it would be, of course, ‘law-abiding’. Your Direct Officer boss will be someone who is very conservative. A conformist to the core, he would be rather inflexible, especially where Standard Operating Procedures are concerned.
He (or she) would be a born diplomat. In meetings, he would often be the first to find the middle ground and smooth things over. Precise and proficient, he would be open to improving on systems, but would put up some resistance when it is time to reinvent the wheel.
His is a democratic style of leadership. He prefers to act as a guide, accepting input and ideas from his team members. In fact, he often goes out of his way to help his team members feel included and valued.
As a side note, Direct Officer profiles make the best coaches, primarily due to their innate desire to support others and their keen listening skills.
Your Direct Officer Boss Under Pressure
A Direct Officer boss is the one most likely to cling to an SOP, if nothing else but for the sake of consistency. This is the polar opposite of the Indirect Wealth boss who will lean towards starting again from scratch. At unhealthy levels, a Direct Officer boss could very well ignore the elephant in the room. This denial stems from an inner push against facing unpleasant realities.
How To Deal With Your Direct Officer Boss
The trick to being indispensable to your Direct Officer boss is to enhance the enshrined SOP.
Take an active role by helping your team set priorities. There will always come a time when the team will need to differentiate between what is urgent and what is important, and act accordingly. This small step of tweaking the SOP (without tearing it apart), must be aimed at the objective of having things back in working order as soon as possible without taking the sense of control away from your boss.
Where possible, allow a time frame for the decision-making process. The Direct Officer profile is detail-oriented, systematic and by-the-book. They prefer making decisions only after having worn down at least several fine-tooth combs. Of course, there will always be times when decisions have to be made instantaneously, but whenever possible, build in a time frame for the decision-making process. The Direct Officer boss firmly believes that in order for something to be done well, it must be completed early.
Unlike the previous types of bosses in this series (Direct Wealth, Indirect Wealth, Eating God and Hurting Officer), the Direct Officer boss will value a few key personality traits. These are:
Self-discipline. The Direct Officer boss puts a high premium on this trait. The ability to demonstrate self-discipline in your daily performance will put you in high standings with your Direct Officer boss.
Take your aggression elsewhere. The Direct Officer boss is above all else, a harmonious team leader. He will look out for every person, he wants to settle all conflicts, and is always striving for peaceful objectives. This type of leadership style will crack if there are too many aggressive personalities competing within the team. There will be too much time spent in mediation instead of moving things forward.
You could, on the other hand, offer to fight his battles for him. Conflicts and arguments are an inevitable part of working life. This offer should be framed as a willingness to stand up and take one for the team – to say certain things during meetings that needs to be said, or to take a stance with certain other aggressive individuals. In other words, you are using your Hurting Officer to you’re your Direct Officer. A word of caution, this tactic must be used carefully and very, very strategically.
Note: If you’ve missed my first post for this series, plot your Boss’s Bazi Chart with this free resource (registration required) https://bazibz.masteryacademy.com/. Key in the name, gender and date of birth. You don’t need to key in the time of birth. That information is not relevant for this purpose. Scroll right down to the bottom to find the profile.
In all this, I must stress that you cannot ‘fix’ another person’s chart. Only the owner can do so, if he or she wishes to. The strategies offered here are designed to put you in a position that either complements the strengths or fills in the blind spots of that particular profile.
Disclaimer: The Bazi Technical terms (Direct Wealth, Indirect Wealth, Eating God, Hurting Officer, Direct Officer and 7Killings) are copyright property of the Joey Yap Mastery Academy. If you wish to learn the art of Chinese Metaphysics for yourself, please visit www.joeyyaponline.com for more information.
