Forests and Trees: Virgo Boss

My hubby rarely reads what I write in this blog…actually, I take that back- he never reads what I write in this blog- not because he doesn’t support what I do- far from it, but because he doesn’t really read anything away from work that doesn’t relate to the English Premier League…and I mean that in the nicest possible way. It is how he relaxes. A Scorpio, in a stressful job, he has to compartmentalise in order to stay sane.

But he did ask me over the weekend what the astrological odds were of 3 managers within his team all having birthdays last week. Given that hubby is in the banking industry, the odds aren’t as high as you would think- Virgo is suited to banking and finance, as is Scorpio. Indeed 2 of my husbands last 3 senior managers have all been Scorpios.

It isn’t, however, that common for that many Virgos to rise that far up the ranks in a large corporation. And I mean that in the nicest possible way too. It isn’t because she isn’t capable- far from it, just that there are so many more distractions and more to get caught up in “doing” in large companies…and Virgo has the propensity to get caught up in the “doing” rather than the “directing”…. It’s a forest and tree thing.

Where her opposite, Pisces, likes to escape into the horizon, Virgo will concentrate on the detail. This is the reason Virgo does what she does- by organising herself she is able to make sense and achieve some sort of comfort and result in what is chaos. Which is why, rather than re-inventing the wheel, you get today the post on Virgo Boss that I submitted this time last year...in all of its well organised (yes, I am kidding myself) and under-valued glory.

So, in true Virgo fashion, with a view only to serve, here goes... with full Piscean apologies for any offense caused to my Virgo friends, Virgo bosses and potential Virgo bosses the world over:

When Virgo achieves a position of leadership, be assured she will lead by example. A superb tactician & statistician, Virgo has the data, detachment and detail required to close a stagnating deal or agree revised service levels on a non profitable contract. The ability to separate goals from empathy in this regard is truly remarkable. You may cringe, but can’t deny the efficiency.

However, Virgo does tend to be task orientated rather than strategically or big picture focused. As a result no matter how practical and hardworking she is, Virgo leaders (as opposed to Virgo Managers) are a rare breed indeed. Virgo dislikes the emotional responsibility of staff and avoids delegation where ever possible- if a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well, and rarely can a task be completed so completely than by Virgo.

Virgo boss is easily worried by chaos, systems which are compromised and technology which is not working at maximum efficiency. If she selects her team for neatness, organisational capability and workaholic tendencies, she will thrive. Careless mistakes and sloppy work have no place in a Virgo workplace.

Given a juicy problem, Virgo boss will not give up until she has found the solution- her analytical mind needs the challenge of puzzle solving. She does need to ensure that she doesn’t spend so much time on detail and issues which are unimportant in the larger picture. Her tendency to focus on irrelevancies may distract her from developing strategies for business growth. As I said, forest and trees.

She assumes that her employees will also be as keen to achieve perfection as she is. But few people identify as closely with work as she does. Virgo boss needs to be mindful of the needs outside the workplace of her employees and understand that not everyone can so successfully separate duty and responsibility from life and commitments outside the workplace. 

Virgo boss likes routine and thrives in smaller companies that don’t have the distractions of endless politics and unscheduled meetings- in this regard, she is only too happy to delegate these duties to others! A smaller organisation allows her to add the value she is capable of, without overloading her with additional corporate processes and procedures.

Few leaders achieve as much or work as hard as Virgo. Few leaders are as prone to nervous exhaustion as Virgo. If she can control that over-critical eye and concentrate on the positives rather than the perceived weaknesses, she can work well with a team. Whilst she might look for areas of improvement within herself, excessive criticality can demoralise and disengage employees very quickly- in which case more of the responsibility falls onto the shoulders of Virgo. It is at this point that work becomes dutiful rather than satisfying. The challenge for Virgo is to learn when to let go and find herself and her life outside of work- it is at this point that getting out of bed on Mondays can (almost) become enjoyable again.