How to Behave When You Meet a Blue

How to Behave When You Meet a Blue

Just agreeing to a Blue’s initiative would be like driving a car with the parking brake on. Your task is most likely to get things moving, but you can’t just hit the gas. Instead, you need to find the right lever to pull and take off the Blue parking brake.

A Blue has feelings like everyone else, and he appreciates people. It just looks a little different. Because most of a Blue’s emotions are self-contained, he may seem a little cold. No facial expressions to speak of, no gestures, no emotional expressions at all. Blues often don’t seem interested in other people and simply focus on the issue at hand.

If we’re sitting in an accounting firm or if we’re trying to solve an important problem in the company, then this is a good approach. But every time other people, especially Yellows or Greens, are involved, a Blue’s tendency to dissociate from others can be problematic. He simply doesn’t realize that other people don’t function in the same way. People want to feel like they can relate to this person. They don’t want to feel like robots.

Conclusion: Remind him that other people have feelings. Give examples of times when he bruised other people’s feelings—like when he pointed out all the flaws in the neighbor’s new house. Explain that he doesn’t need to express himself critically all the time. Show him that people can take great offense when others criticize their home, car, spouse, or children. Be clear and tell him that being honest isn’t an excuse for being callous and remind him that it isn’t as simple as “saying things as they are.” He didn’t say things as they are. He only said what he thought or believed about a certain thing.

Point out that constant criticism rarely accomplishes anything. This won’t be an easy task, because he will think that you are wrong. He has every right to criticize and point out errors and flaws. If he sees an error, he can’t just ignore it. You might just have to tell him that he’s being impossible.