Successful companies need at least one Warrior—the aggressive innovator who conceptualizes and defines the organization and who fights the tough battle to make it successful. Some companies have many Warriors, which can sometimes make for really great organizations or, in other cases, can lead to disaster, depending on whether or not the Warriors can work together. Often, successful companies fail or enter a long downward spiral when the Warrior exits and allows the company to be run by Workers, Weasels, and Warrior-wannabes.
Warriors and budding Warriors tend to share certain attributes. Warriors are sometimes not the most pleasant people to be around. Although they are usually charming and invigorating, they are also usually self-centered, intolerant, hot-tempered, domineering, highly critical, and often driven to the point of seeming distraction. Great Warriors may be painful to work for, but they more than compensate for their shortcomings by spreading success and by living with a devout respect for relationships. On the plus side, though, their hallmark is their self-confidence. Optimism comes naturally to Warriors. They always assume they will be successful, because they understand that they ultimately control their own destiny. Warriors know there is nobody better to depend on than themselves, and if the plan doesn’t work out, they are equally willing to take the blame.
Warriors love selling and innately understand that selling themselves is more important than selling the product or service they represent. They are not afraid to ask for the order, the raise, the promotion, a date, a better table at a restaurant, a discount, an upgrade to first class, or a bigger hotel room. Warriors understand that almost everything is negotiable, and the big question is whether or not one has the drive to ask for what you want, and the finesse to get it. Another important Warrior trait is their seeming inability to give up. Warriors often win just because they are willing to stay in the battle longer and endure more to ultimately succeed.