Month: September 2017

Ask the Expert: Limitations = Opportunity

Sometimes people ask me why we bother talking about limitations in our program. I hear things like, “Doesn’t that just create negativity?” and “We want people to feel good about themselves, so can you just skip the discussion on limitations?”

In fact, several years ago, we walked away from a very large client who represented a significant amount of ongoing revenue, over a similar question. I remember talking to the executive on the phone. I knew that they had vetted several personality-based programs (Color Code being one of them), and she called me to share their decision.

She told me that they all “LOVE the Color Code program,” and that they were excited to partner with us. They felt that our motive-based approach, coupled with our ability to make things simple, memorable, engaging, and easy-to-apply, made our program an ideal fit for what they wanted to accomplish.

HOWEVER…

She also told me that the one caveat to working with them is that we would have to agree to simply not include any mention of the “limitations” of each of the personality styles. They didn’t have any other requests, and we could leave everything else “as is”, but they insisted on skipping over any discussion about personal/professional limitations in an effort to “keep things positive”.

Our position was (and remains) that we would not agree to such an omission, and we had a lengthy discussion about why. To make a long story short, we ended up letting them walk away.

Here’s the reason why… Nobody ever has a problem with how wonderful you are! It’s the limitations that drive them crazy.

If you leave the discussion about limitations out of the program, you cheapen it, and you cheat your audience out of the real opportunity to grow.  Furthermore, limitations are not “weaknesses” and you will never hear us refer to them that way. They are simply, “limitations”, and IMHO, they are one of the best parts about the Color Code.

I view limitations as opportunities. Your strengths are great and everything, but if you are interested in growth in any way, you have to confront your limitations. They are holding you back. If you believe that, why wouldn’t you want to know what they are, have an opportunity to examine them, and then decide on a strategy to create positive change?

If you think about it that way, even though your limitations aren’t “glamorous” (people don’t tend to brag about them on Instagram, anyway), they are the real key to unlocking your fullest potential.

…and that’s worth knowing.

Jeremy DanielJeremy Daniel is the Vice President of Training for Color Code. He leads our Trainer Certification Program and has been teaching the Color Code and delivering motive-based applications to clients internationally since 1998.

Building Collaborative Teams With The Color Code

Today’s businesses, faced with a changing workforce, globalization, technology and the need to stay in the forefront of their market, are finding the old organizational hierarchy is no longer working. Instead they are creating collaborative team environments as part of their performance management strategy.

By forming teams who own a project from inception to completion and by providing a reward system based on performance and not position, you increase employee satisfaction and engagement—thus a higher rate of commitment and performance.

Initially, when building teams, it made sense to for companies to choose teammates based on their hard skills—technical and business acumen.

But consider this:

Your company decided to put together a collaborative team to bring your new product to market. When deciding on whom you should include on the team, you naturally gravitated to the 5 most aggressive and driven employees. Now imagine 5 competitive teammates who are all natural leaders with no one to lead; delegators with no one to whom they can delegate. There is no one to work out details, and no one to breath excitement into the project. The project will soon become bogged down with conflict and inactivity.

It is imperative to put people together who have the diverse soft skills—personalities—necessary to create a truly collaborative environment. Team members must be able to communicate goals, expectations, and most importantly, to resolve conflict.

When building an emotionally diverse group, consider the following Color Code motive types in tandem with the hard skills each employee brings:

Reds are driven leaders, delegators, and producers. They are innovative and have an acute sense of what’s going on. They are content to view the big picture and leave the details to teammates. They are responsible and can be counted on to achieve their milestones with little supervision.

Blues enjoy building relationships with teammates. You can count on them to be diplomatic and thoughtful. They are dependable and detail oriented. Blues work deliberately for the satisfaction of a job well done. They will be loyal to the team and do whatever it takes to make sure the team is successful.

Yellows are idea people—creative and exciting—and are not intimidated by new ideas or challenges. They are excellent communicators and are great at morale building. Yellows can be very insightful, so pay attention.

Whites are logical thinkers and capable of resolving complex problems. They prefer to work alone, and can be depended on to complete the tasks laid out for them. They are motivated by peace and so will go out of their way to avoid conflict. Whites will listen to all sides and then come up with a logical and well thought out opinion. They are the voice of reason.

By considering the soft talents that your employees bring to the table, you will be sure to build a team with a combination of strong leaders, detail oriented teammates, creative, insightful, and thoughtful contributors—a winning combination. CC

Teresa GlennTeresa Glenn has been working with the Color Code since 2006, where her main focus is product development and trainer support  She has been in the publishing and product development field for over 20 years. Teresa is a core Red with a strong Yellow secondary.