REDS REPRESENT approximately 27 percent of the world population. If you are not a Red, but would like to learn how to identify and communicate with one, go to the section on “How to Recognize a Red Colleague” at the end of this chapter.
Former New York real estate broker Countess Editha Nemes may not be as well known a Red as her colleague Donald Trump, but she is a very pure example of this personality. Ditha, as she is called, enjoyed the ever-changing nature of real estate, handling it with ease and experience from a life with many bizarre twists of fate.
At age 19, Ditha married one of Hungary’s wealthiest aristocrats. But the communist invasion forced the couple and their child to flee to Switzerland with the clothes on their backs and their jewelry concealed in a piece of cloth worn as a belt. At the border, Ditha dropped the belt on the table and, with a Red’s innate crisis-handling skill, injected some easy collegiality while submitting to a search. The distraction complete, she nonchalantly put the belt back on. The jewelry would fund their trek to a refugee camp and ultimately to North Africa.
Funds dwindled; the family was granted political asylum at the court of King Farouk of Egypt. Neither adult possessed work skills. When their hostess, Princess Zeinab, admired their infant daughter’s dresses, Red Ditha recognized her first money-making opportunity. She rented a space, hired a cutter and seamstresses, and began designing Parisian-style children’s fashions. (Reds have an innate appreciation for haute couture and finer things.) When the king’s three daughters appeared in her creations, the “designing countess” became an overnight Cairo sensation.
Crises bring out the best in Reds. For almost a decade, Ditha’s business supported her family. The Egyptian aristocracy frequented her showrooms; their children modeled at her annual fashion shows. Each prince and princess had pieces designed seasonally; clients clamored for exclusive designs. Typical of the Red personality, Ditha kept minimal records and details in a small black book.
Political turmoil in 1952 displaced the family yet again. On “Black Saturday,” militants, religious fundamentalists, communists, and radical students inspired by Egyptian Army Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser burned down much that had given Cairo its glamour.1 When Nasser became Egypt’s president, King Farouk was forced into exile and Europeans took flight. Well advanced into pregnancy with her second child, Ditha again rose to the challenge. Using incoming cash from seasonal orders, Ditha financed her family’s exit to the United States. Determined to give birth to an American citizen, Ditha set foot in Los Angeles one hour before her child was born. These are vivid memories that will remain with me forever. Ditha Nemes is my mother, and this is my story as well.
The challenge of starting over in the United States again demanded Ditha’s Red capabilities. With the aid of the Folger family of San Francisco, Ditha held a fashion show in the coffee magnate’s living room, using eleven-year-old Abigail Folger and her friends as models. A buyer from I. Magnin was encouraging; five years later “the designing countess” was serving 300 stores around the United States.
But Reds prefer the excitement of a start-up and the flexibility of a small concern. For the next thirty years, Ditha focused her Red negotiating talents in real estate. What to others is high stress is pure stimulation and joy to freewheeling Reds. “Do what you like to do,” Ditha advises. “When you are on your own, you have to push. So you become successful.”
Like all Reds, “I never plan into the future,” she says. “I don’t worry about tomorrow.”
“Anything can change without warning, and that’s why I try not to take any of what’s happened too seriously. The real excitement is playing the game. Money is not the main motivation. I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about what I should have done differently, or what’s going to happen next.”2 No, this is not Ditha Nemes describing her work style; it’s Donald Trump, describing his.
Estimated by the MBTI community to be one of America’s best-known Reds, “The Donald,” as he is called, is chairman and president of the Trump Organization and had a net worth in excess of $2.9 billion as of 2012 (as reported by Forbes).
“My style of deal making is quite simple and straightforward,” Trump says. “I aim very high, and then I keep pushing and pushing and pushing to get what I’m after. . . . More than anything else I think deal making is an ability you’re born with. . . . It’s not about being brilliant. It does take a certain intelligence, but mostly it’s about instincts.”3
Another famous New Yorker and Red is Ed Koch. (Koch has been assessed in person by author Shoya Zichy.) In his post–City College of New York days, he earned two battle stars and the Combat Infantry Badge during World War II military duty. Upon his return, he earned a law degree, then served for two years on the New York City Council and nine years as a congressman before serving three terms as New York’s mayor from 1978 to 1989.
Today, at the ripe young age of 87, this energetic Red is a partner in the law firm of Bryan Cave LLP, hosts a call-in radio talk show on Bloomberg Radio AM 1130, appears on NY1 television with former Senator Alfonse D’Amato, lectures nationwide, and writes a weekly commentary.
His Red crisis management acumen saved New York City from bankruptcy, restored fiscal responsibility by instituting a Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) balanced budget, and created a merit judicial selection system. “I took the politics out of the appointment of judges,” says Koch, noting that this is one of the accomplishments of which he is most proud. “I was always willing to stand alone, even with no one behind me.”
Thus it was a major stressor when two officials in his administration were found to be engaged in corruption. Koch recalls, “I was clinically depressed over this, afraid it would be a smear on me. But John Cardinal O’Connor called and said, ‘Ed, I know you’re depressed but you should not be; everyone knows you are an honest man.’ ”
In an organization as large as the City of New York’s government, conflict is inevitable. Koch’s Red response kept him in office for three terms. “I have a good sense of humor and lead by convincing people to follow me. If you follow me I will lead you across the desert. I inspire people to work together,” Koch says.
It isn’t only business and politics in which Reds excel. Randolph A. Hogan is a semiretired freelance writer and editor who worked for sixteen years on a number of sections for the New York Times. His core discipline, however, was editing. Inspired by his father’s reverence for the newspaper, “when I was about ten, I started reading the New York Times Book Review. It was serendipitous that I eventually became an editor of the Book Review for so many years,” Randy says.
With a Red’s keen aesthetic appreciation, Randy made assigning his reviewers an art unto itself. “It’s like walking through a minefield, if you’re responsible,” he recalls. “I was looking at the reviewer’s style and intellectual approach, the conception and execution of the writing.”
His present-centered Red orientation fit perfectly into the newspaper culture. “I never did strategize for the future,” Randy recalls. “When you work at a newspaper, everything becomes irrelevant after a day.”
With superb negotiation and troubleshooting skills, Reds excel in careers such as real estate, government, and newspaper publishing in which no two days are alike. They trust what they can see, touch, taste, smell, or hear for themselves. Physically restless, Reds need independence and they hate to feel trapped, either in work or relationships. Although loyal to friends and family, guilt, obligation, and duty rarely motivate them. The pursuit of excitement drives many Reds. Their motto might be: He who dies having worn out the most toys wins.
Impatient with reading books like this, you are to be congratulated for getting this far. The person who encouraged you to read this material will be pleased; even more pleased if you skim the part of your specific chapter on how best to communicate with that person’s own personality style. That’s the most practical part. Reward yourself now—go do something!
External Environment Clues
Desk with many piles
Collection of gadgets, sports memorabilia, and exotic vacation souvenirs
Clocks that run late to create small, stimulating “crises”
Handsome, well-built furnishings
Personal Mannerisms—Personal Behaviors
Casual
Restless, physically expressive
Given to technical, mechanical tinkering
Richly colored, high-quality clothes; expensive watches
Taste for artisanal or haute cuisine, liquors
Personal Mannerisms—Verbal
Prefers activity to conversation; seeks excitement and adventure
Uses short, crisp sentences
Displays a great sense of humor
Promotes camaraderie
Reacts spontaneously
Shows superlative negotiating talents, yet able to inject fun into work
How to Communicate with a Red—“Style Shifting” Tips
Avoid meetings, or schedule them in fun places; make presentations brief; tell humorous stories.
Use action verbs like attack, challenge, expedite, stimulate, or enjoy.
Avoid theories and get to the point; use here-and-now, bottom-line language.
Explain with hands-on demonstrations.
Offer options in conversation and plans.
Stress immediacy—“this will help right now.”
Allow them to follow their instincts.
Be candid about risk levels (Reds find risk-taking exciting).
Acknowledge and appreciate their crisis-coping skills.