Decoding your team could help you achieve maximum results. Scott Langley weighs in with some tricks of the trade.
Think about your team for a minute.
Nope.
Not your sports team. Your other team – the one you work with.
Have you ever wondered how people in the same organisation can be so different from each other? I am not referring to our cultural values, race or backgrounds. I am not talking about our lifestyles, education or family upbringing. Without a doubt, these certainly influence who we become and add to the rich diversity of our workplace, but I am referring to something more profound than that.
Why is it that, in the same team, there are the fun-loving, carefree, life-of-the-party people who need to be noticed, while at the same time, there are the loyal, sincere and relationship-focused do-gooders who just need to be appreciated?
Why is the team simultaneously comprised of some calm, level-headed peacekeepers who get along with everyone, as well as the intense go-getters who thrive on getting results, crushing the opposition and being right (all the time)?
These differences can be daunting to leaders who are trying to rally such divergent individuals behind a single, common cause on a daily basis.
Know your team members’ motivations
According to psychologist Dr Taylor Hartman, the root of these differences lies in our core motivations. His theory is based on the idea that people are primarily motivated by one of the four ‘core driving motives’, which subsequently determines our general personality type. He identifies these personality types by colour:
Reds are motivated by power
Blues are motivated by intimacy
Whites are motivated by peace
Yellows are motivated by fun
As per Hartman, we all have a combination of all four of these motivations to some degree, but you will have one motivation more dominant than the others. The demographic groups vary slightly from region to region, but the general distribution suggests that the population is comprised of 35% Blues, 25% Reds, 20% Whites and 20% Yellows.
Hartman has authored several books – including The People Code and The Character Code – and created the Color Code Personality Profile. He notes, “The Color Code Personality assessment doesn’t categorise people into four groups – just what motivates them. Each driving core motive is represented by a color. There is no significance to the colors themselves; they are just a tool used to simplify a complex concept. The colors are used for ease in conversation and memory.”
Personal experience
I have undergone the Color Code Personality Profile assessment in the last year and found it nothing short of life-changing. Not only did it bring a deeper level of understanding in my self-development journey, but it also launched me into a higher level of clarity about my strengths and blind spots in how I deal with people. It has impacted how I communicate with prospects, clients, suppliers and, on a personal note, it has even done wonders for my marriage!
While I don’t stand to benefit financially or any other way from endorsing the Color Code, I highly recommend taking the online assessment. In my opinion, it is a powerful tool to help people understand themselves better, connect with others faster and bring the best out of their business relationships.
Hartman goes on to say, “The Color Code uses motive as the principal means of identifying personality. Motive is the innermost reason for your behaviour and forms your innate personality. No driving core motive is positive or negative in and of itself; it is simply a reflection of what is most crucial to each individual.”
Why consider the Color Code Personality Profile?
It is highly beneficial to know the driving motivation of each of our team members. When you know their inner drive, it is like reading their minds. A responsible and compassionate leader will align team members with their areas of greatest strength while limiting their exposure to areas of their less effective skills sets. They will be mindful of which ‘hot buttons’ to steer clear of and know the best ways to build authentic trust with that team member.
If this sounds costly, time-intensive and a lot like hard work, I would have you consider the alternative. What is the cost in time, expense and effort of working with an unmotivated, apathetic or even hostile team? Can your organisation afford to compete in today’s marketplace with a workforce like that?
Perhaps you have a team member that is constantly acting out, disrupting client relationships and affecting the morale of the other staff members. You see the behaviour – what the person is doing. What you don’t see is why the person is behaving that way. It is like an iceberg. What is visible on the surface is only the tip of the iceberg. Think of the top as the behaviour. Far below the water’s surface, the part of the iceberg you can’t see is vast and enormous. Think of that as the motive. Behaviour – what we see happening – is driven by motive, what we can’t see below the surface.
Conclusion
In summary, The Color Code is an excellent way to recognise every team member as an individual and understand their unique driving core motivations. When we can accept that everyone sees the world through their own eyes and remember those things that are important to them, we start to unlock the true potential of our people.
When all is said and done, it’s about unity, not uniformity.
This is an excerpt from an article that originally featured in the March/April 2022 issue of Meetings magazine. To read the article, click here. To receive the magazine FREE every other month delivered straight to your inbox, click here.
