🤸 Six Types of Working Genius, 7 secrets to job happiness & a soccer advert

Hey — it’s Cristina & Jenni.

Each week, we share leadership reflections, resources, and laughs to help you excel in your role (+ have fun along the way).

As two tech leaders, we’re here to “lead in public” by sharing what we’re learning in our day-to-day roles, encouraging others to do the same, and learning and growing as leaders together.

Enjoy!

What we’re reflecting on this week

In my early days as a manager, I led an exciting high-profile project that even our CEO was watching closely 👀.

The goal was to create a nature handbook - the first of its kind - highlighting the impact of business on nature and the actions required to help reverse biodiversity loss.

The stakes were high: teaming up with over 20 UK CEOs and government ministers, all while managing a diverse team of copywriters, designers, developers, marketers, and consultants.

Despite all the buzz and excitement, we were significantly behind schedule. Our go-live date was less than two months away, and we were barely 20% there.

The pressure was huge.

So I focused on execution and the end goal, not putting any energy into understanding my team and how best to work together.

Can you see where this is going? 🥵

While I was managing everyone on my team the same, two things became apparent quite quickly…

1. Different team members needed different styles of management.

2. There's no one-size-fits-all in leadership.

What had proven successful in past projects didn’t necessarily apply here. Every team member had a different set of skills, perspectives, and working styles. And though it might seem obvious in hindsight, I initially fell unto the trap many young leaders do:

I expected my team to adapt to my style, rather than me adapting to theirs.

Luckily, when I started paying attention and learning more about my team’s unique strengths, I shifted my approach:

• I tailored my communication to resonate with each team member, understanding that while some needed clarity on “why” we do things, others were focused on the “how”.

• I noticed where team members naturally shined, be it in social media, market research, or user interviews, and leveraged these strengths to delegate tasks more effectively.

This new way of doing things built stronger trust, cohesion, and improved our performance. By the time we approached our second go-live date, we were a stronger and more unified team.

💡 That was my AHA moment - when it clicked that I didn’t just have to adopt an individualized approach when working with clients, but that I had to do it with my teams too.

And boy, do I wish I had known about Patrick Lencioni’s "Six Types of Working Genius" framework back then. Designed from over two decades of executive consulting experience, it’s a powerful model to help leaders identify their team’s inherent strengths.

Lencioni suggests that among the six geniuses, everyone predominantly possesses two. Finding these for yourself and your team will not only optimize team dynamics and performance but give you the insights for adapting your management style to get the best out of each other.

Here’s a snapshot:

Upon reading them, which geniuses immediately resonate? And what can you do if you want to apply the model to better understand your team?

Here’s a roadmap:

1: Introduce the concept. Share the Six Types of Working Genius with your team.

2: Self-reflection. Ask each member to identify the two types that resonate most with them and best describe their strengths.

3: Team discussion. Facilitate an open conversation where members share their insights. Remember that we are all different and can fall into a spectrum between 2-3 geniuses.

4: Strengths map. Visualize your team's collective strengths by listing each member's name and their top two working geniuses and identify potential gaps.

5: Identify opportunities. Look for areas where adjustments can be made to better align tasks with individual strengths.

6: Iterate review. Regularly revisit the strengths map, making adjustments as needed to reflect new insights or changes in team dynamics.

This model is a great tool to deepen your team’s self-awareness - highlighting how you can work together more effectively and where there are potential gaps based on the unique ways that each person thinks, operates, and perceives the world.

Great leadership isn’t about imposing your style on others. It's about evolving, adapting, and bringing to light the unique geniuses each team member has to offer so that you can achieve more together.

→ Reflect on the “Six Types of Working Genius.” Which resonates most with you? How have they shaped your leadership style?

What we’re learning this week

• 🧵 Thread: LinkedIn creator Austin Belcak unpacks the 7 areas that set apart the 15% of people that are happy with their jobs - these principles are gold - perfect for guiding your teams, peers, or offering advice to loved ones.

• 🎙️ Podcast: Listen to Patrick Lencioni break down the “Six Types of Working Genius” in more detail - including how they align with what he considers the 3 pivotal stages of any project: ideation, activation, and execution.

• ✍️ Newsletter: Ancestry's CEO, Deb Liu, shares her tried-and-tested 90-day plan template for tackling new challenges - whether you’re starting a new role or project, moving teams, or building a new product, this is a practical guide on how to set yourself up for success.

What we’re enjoying this week

Whether you’re a soccer fan or not (we’re huge fans, and Jenni even played in college 💪), this is one of the best adverts we’ve seen in a while. Wait until the end 😉.

rivalsbanter

View more on Instagram

That’s it for this week — thanks for reading.

If you have any feedback or would like to share any of your reflections, we’d love to hear from you.

See you next Thursday! 🤸‍♀️