Attacker? Defender? Try defendacker… – Work Workplace wonders Blog

For all you footie fans out there, I apologise in advance.

When the family dictates the need for a feet up moment football style I begrudgingly take the hit. Sneaking in with a book would be much more my bag but apparently that’s just not ‘cricket’.

Whilst doing ‘time’ this weekend I was interested in a computerised diagram that showed where the attackers and defenders were in the field and how this related to scoring a goal.

It got me thinking – am I an attacker or defender in my career?

This week I have set about asking anyone who’ll lend an ear where they think they fall. The interesting thing is that people answer without hesitation, they see themselves as one or the other.

The Attacker is the normally the ‘ta da’ person  – big and bold.  ‘All eyes on them’ whether they score or not. High profile and confident they are visible in taking risks and gaining rewards.

The defender’s role is to stop the competition from scoring. They use skills like deflection, negotiation and cajoling.  No glory goals here. There skill lies in stopping things hit crisis point before it is too late.

And my point?

Well you need both types of players to come out top. Navigating career development requires us not to take up our default position of defence or attack. The most successful people I meet tend to do a bit of both. So how can you start to do this?

My pocket size guide to being a Defendacker (yes, I have just invented that. Copyright – me)

• Put the spotlight on you. Start noticing what your default position is.
• When evaluating your results, depersonalise it. Put it in a frame of someone else’s story and then decide which mode would have given you a better result.
• Name yourself as a defender and attacker and give yourself more scope.
• Practice on the small things first until you get comfy for the biggies.

In short? Turn off autopilot and start thinking on your feet.  Well it worked for that Alex Ferguson bloke, didn’t it?

Let me know how you get on…