Unleashing Our Genius: How One Framework Elevated Our Team

IDEATE

Discovering Our Genius (and Yours)

Okay, I admit it. I’m a sucker for a good personality or strengths-based assessment. And I’m a big believer that we each are unique, intricate humans who can’t be distilled down to any one single model.

But now imagine a simple framework that both describes any effective workflow, at home or work, and helps you discover how you naturally contribute to a team. All while empowering you, as a leader, to help every member of your team do the same.

The 6 Types of Working Genius model, developed by Patrick Lencioni and the Table Group, does just that. It’s not just a personal growth tool… it’s a team and culture game-changer.

This framework gives you the gift of language around your genius. It gives you clarity. And it gives your team the power to make meetings more productive, projects more purposeful, and each person’s role more energizing.

ACTIVATE

4 Ways the Working Genius Elevated Our Team

1. It Built Self-Awareness (and Trust)

The best leaders are self-aware. That’s not just a leadership platitude, it’s a necessity. If you don’t know how you’re wired, you’ll struggle to lead others well.

The Working Genius gives leaders, and teams, a vocabulary to describe what energizes them, what drains them, and how everyone can best contribute to a shared goal and mission.

Self-awareness isn’t a one-time event. It’s a lifelong journey of introspection and curiosity. It’s staying open, getting feedback, and recognizing your strengths and frustrations. And doing it in a way that models and builds psychological safety and trust.

2. It Helps Prevent Burnout

We all have aspects of our work we don’t love. That’s normal and kinda a part of life. But burnout doesn’t come from doing hard things. It comes from doing draining things all the time.

One of the most powerful things we learned is that you don’t need to overhaul your entire job to feel reenergized. According to Marcus Buckingham in Love + Work, research from Mayo Clinic shows that you only need 20% of your time to be spent doing the kind of work you love to see real benefits in well-being and engagement.

The Working Genius helps identify what kind of work lights you up, what makes you feel “on fire.” When you know this, you can start to intentionally shape your time to include more of it.

20%. That’s it. That’s doable.

3. It Replaced Judgment with Curiosity

We all tend to judge others for things we excuse in ourselves. (Thanks, Fundamental Attribution Error.) And we often hold ourselves to impossible standards.

Working Genius interrupts this. When we understand that no one has all six geniuses, and that every team needs a full mix of strengths to thrive, we release the pressure to be everything and do everything.

We start asking better questions.
We stay curious a little longer.
We assume positive intent.

And we stop judging others, and ourselves, for not operating in areas outside our genius.

4. It Supercharged Our Meetings

One of the simplest but most powerful changes we made? We started naming the type of meeting we were having based on the Working Genius model and where we were within the workflow.

Was it a meeting to generate ideas (Wonder + Invention)?
To refine and rally (Discernment + Galvanizing)?
To execute the plan (Enablement + Tenacity)?

This simple shift was powerful. It helped our team mentally prepare, contribute more confidently, and stay on task.

It also helped reduce frustration. When we planned a summer retreat focused on ideation and discernment, we made sure our implementation-oriented team members knew we’d eventually get to their favorite phase, enablement and tenacity.

And for me? Knowing my working frustrations fall in the implementation phase helps me enter those meetings where we’re focused on the logistics of getting things the finish line with the right mindset instead of dread.

Everyone has genius. And everyone has frustration. And when we plan with intention, we make room for our genius, both individual and collective, to flourish while minimizing frustration.

IMPLEMENT

Bring Working Genius to Your Team

If you’re curious to discover your own genius, or help your team do the same, I’d love to help.

➡️ You can purchase The Working Genius assessment here.
💡 I’m a certified Working Genius facilitator and would be happy to offer a discount for teams, as well as custom training or coaching options.

Let’s work together to build a team that’s not only more effective… but more energized, too.

Together, we are brilliant. Drop me a note below and let’s connect!