Could your business use General Douglas MacArthur ?
Described as 
Inspiring, outrageous, brave, egotistical – a thundering paradox - Douglas MacArthur was one of only five men in U.S.history to have achieved the five-star rank of General of the Army. He served in World Wars I and II and in the Korean War, and he is renowned for stating that “in war, there is no substitute for victory.” In his biography of MacArthur “American Caesar” author William Manchester describes MacArthur as “arrogant and shy, the best of men and the worst of men, the most protean, most ridiculous, and most sublime” and that “he carried the plumage of a flamingo, could not acknowledge errors, and tried to cover up his mistakes with sly, childish tricks.”
So is there a way to summarise the individual that was MacArthur? And if so, are we able to categorise behaviours of individuals in the workplace? The answer is a resounding “yes”. The behavioural footprint of MacArthur is that of a Shaper, one of nine clusters of behavior that can be seen in the workplace and based on research of close to 10 years by Dr R Meredith Belbin and his team at Henley Management College UK. Dr Belbin’s research revealed that the difference between success and failure for a group or team was not dependant on factors such as intellect, but more on behavior – and his research team identified nine separate clusters of behavior, each of which formed distinct work contributions of which the Shaper is one. Who is the Shaper in your business?
Shaper Contributions to a business
Shaper - Definition/Descriptor - Challenging, dynamic, thrives on pressure. The drive and courage to overcome obstacles.
At West Point military academy MacArthur often flouted academy rules and was behind a number of celebrated West Point pranks and came close to a premature end to his military career. He once said that “it’s the orders you disobey that make you famous.” In conflict zones he repeatedly and deliberately exposed himself to enemy snipers, and in the Korean War at the age of seventy he ordered his pilot to fly him in an unarmed plane through flack over the length of the Yalu river in Korea. Yet he was the supreme military strategist implementing in the Pacific campaign in WW2 the doctrines of “island leapfrogging” and “triphibious warfare.” And he was extraordinarily brave and was decorated with 13 medals for bravery. A Shaper is a natural leader, is very competitive and brings to a business a great injection of energy and urgency. The Shaper makes his/her mark because they are achievers and are determined to find their way around red tape and obstacles and bring others along with them.
Shaper – Allowable Weaknesses (the price to be paid). Prone to provocation. Offends people’s feelings.
Shapers are not afraid to be blunt and often come across as aggressive. With a Shaper Boss productivity may be high however relationships and morale may suffer.
Shaper – Non-Allowable Weaknesses. Inability to recover situation with good humour or apology.
MacArthur had difficulty in admitting mistakes. General Dwight D. Eisenhower observed that MacArthur “had an obsession that a high commander must protect his image at all costs and must never admit he was wrong”.
Shapers – Here and Abroad, Past and Present
Sir Alex Ferguson, Wally Lewis, Steve Waugh, Sir Vivian Richards, Bakkies Botha, Lee Quan Yew, Margaret Thatcher, Dermot Brereton, Gordon Tallis, Julie Bishop, Kerry Packer, Kyle Sandilands, Paul Gallen, Clive Palmer, Gordon Ramsay
