War Stories | Meetings with Super High As

This member told us his story of what it was like when he joined a corporate senior leadership team consisting of very High A individuals.

When I first came to the company, I had been a practicing physician for over 15 years and was to be the medical director. I had previous experience as the medical director of an insurance company, had been a professor of medicine and a president of a medical society, but none of that prepared me for the High A personalities I encountered on my new team. All of the senior executives of this company were Super High A individuals. Their meetings often included raised voices, flaring tempers and verbal hosings aimed at the other team members. Conflict was high and seemed to be on the agenda at every staff meeting. I am a Low A profile. To me, this was overwhelming and at times a bit frightening. Although I was hired to fix policies and set guidelines – I didn’t speak up in these meetings for the first 90 days of my employment. It took me nearly three months to realize that these leaders actually liked and respected one another. After the meetings ended, it was always business as usual. They just expected one another to prove that their ideas and their proponents could survive the trial by combat that these meetings provided. Once I knew that it wasn’t personal, and that conflict and standing up to conflict was to be expected – I was able to take part in the discussions and fill my role in the company. I just wish that we had had the benefit of AcuMax BEFORE I joined that senior leadership team.


Do you have a unique or interesting “war story” of something that happened in the workplace? 

If so, contact us: info@acumaxindex.com so we can share your story with others.

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