Detailed View of Commander

GENERAL COMMANDER TRAITS
Commanders are dynamic, outgoing, take charge kinds of people. They tend to be powerful, direct, responsible, and very comfortable in positions of leadership and power. In fact, they generally work very hard at putting themselves into positions of leadership or authority...in command. They want to maintain control of their own personal lives, and prefer to take the lead in relationships, in their work, their play (when they get around to playing) and in general. They don't like having to subordinate themselves to others, but will do so as a means to an end (the end being that the Commander ultimately achieves his or her goal). Because Commanders are highly goal directed, know what they want and are not afraid to go all out to get it, they generally do achieve their goals. Commanders are decisive, direct and driven. Their decisiveness, confidence, willingness to take the lead and to bear the burden in order to effect an outcome, often command respect and awe, but can also intimidate at times.

Commanders like action and adventure. They prefer to be active participants in life rather than mere spectators. They are born leaders who seek challenges, enjoy competition and can hold their own in a good debate. They tend to live by their own internal codes and are not strongly influenced by other people’s opinions. Seldom will they back down from an argument, because they believe themselves to be right, and often they are. Commanders don’t like being wrong, so they tend not to argue a point they are unsure of. They are resourceful, efficient, realistic, pragmatic and purposeful. They can also be inflexible at times. Their high energy and enthusiasm for getting things accomplished can be a real asset, both to themselves and to those around them, when they are operating in positive mode. Commanders are quick thinking and can be very cool headed in emergencies. They are extroverted thinkers who take the idea of succeeding seriously.

FRIENDSHIPS are not crucial for the Commander. They tend to approach friendships from the same serious, get-ahead mind set with which they approach business, life and success. What
a Commander calls a friend, most people would consider a business associate. A Commander’s idea of a friend is someone who is both enjoyable to be around and useful in getting goals accomplished. Commanders don’t tolerate people they view as overly dependent and have no qualms about ending a friendship if there is no practical purpose for it.

AT HOME, positive Commanders lead, assist, guide, organize and otherwise keep things together and on track. They are willing to take charge where appropriate and encourage their mates or other family members to take the lead in certain areas as well. They guide, but don’t push. They are able to share their power with those they love. They may not understand those who are less driven than they are, but they don’t believe their way is the only way. They don’t try to push their ideas, opinions and behaviors onto others. They are competent, dependable, reliable and loyal family members who are often the backbone of the family system. Read on for a view of the negative Commander at home.

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE OPERATING MODES
Among all of the temperaments none are as obviously different,when operating in positive or negative modes, as are Commanders.

POSITIVE Commanders are strong, powerful, effective, capable and responsible people with true leadership qualities. People feel safe turning the world over to positive Commanders because everyone is sure they are capable of structuring it efficiently and running it well...and they often are. Positive Commanders are great delegators who get things done. They can inspire great things from those they lead. They are generous and magnanimous and always willing to help someone else succeed in their own right. In fact their greatest joy would be to see a well run world full of people as capable and efficient as they are. They are willing to listen to and acknowledge other people’s points of view. They won’t usually entertain a view or act on a suggestion that is contrary to their own clear thinking, but when someone else presents a better idea, they are quick to acknowledge and adopt it, giving full credit to the author. Positive Commanders are the epitome of the business ideal. They are the self-made men and women who keep things moving in a steadily upward direction.

NEGATIVE Commanders on the other hand can be terrors to be around. These are the bullies and the brutes of the world. They are aggressive, controlling, thoughtless, offensive, intimidating and often just downright mean. They, like the positive Commanders, know what they want and are determined to get it. The difference is in how they go about getting it. Positive Commanders know they can get what they want by helping others to do the same, where negative Commanders believe there is only one way to negotiate...I win, you lose. They approach all of life that way. They are argumentative and aggressive and they have no problem with walking on anyone who gets in their way. They see other people as nothing more than a means to achieving their own goals.

Negative Commanders want to be in complete control at all times...of themselves, others, situations, circumstances, everything. They will do whatever it takes to gain and maintain that control. They are given to restricting the actions and expressions of those they see as beneath them through domination, intimidation, humiliation, aggression, threats, even physical restraint or punishment. At the same time, negative Commanders typically show a benign face to those in authority, and if the one in authority makes them mad, they take their anger out on someone they see as inferior or they will sabotage the superior in covert ways. Their motto here is, “Don’t get mad, get even”. With subordinates they are strict disciplinarians, who rant, rave, yell, insult and demean. They will go as near to abuse as they feel they can get by with, in order to keep subordinates fearful and under control. How far they will go usually depends on how easily the people around them are controlled. Very negative Commanders seldom have any empathy
or real concern for others. They see those who fight back as an enemy to be crushed and those who back down as weaklings who deserve all the misery they get. At home they tend to be even
more strict as disciplinarians than at work. They regularly dispense harsh punishments to their children and spouses and can quickly turn cruel, sadistic or even violent when their orders are not followed to the letter. Fear and intimidation are their hallmarks.

The preceding description of the negative Commander is at the extreme end of the negative scale. Most negative Commanders fall somewhere between the positive Commander and the extreme
negative one, and some move back and forth between positive and negative. Some Commanders try to disown their nature or fear it because they have had the misfortune to be affiliated with an
extremely negative Commander at some time in their lives. It is important to understand that POSITIVE Commanders never behave like the extremely negative one and the extremely negative one rarely moves to the heights occupied by the very positive one. If you are a Commander and you recognize some of the negative traits in yourself, realize that the negativity can be eliminated. It is not a part of your true nature. It is a result of negative influences in your nurturing. Nurturing can always be altered in adults through personal efforts.