Month: October 2021

It’s FALL…. Stay True to Your Colors  

Just as seasons change, the world has had to adjust to so much change recently, too. With all these significant changes in our lives, it’s never been more important to stay true to our colors and reignite our passion and purpose. Additionally, it’s so much more important for us to build bridges and mend fences to find ways to get along.

In Fall, we see lots of colors we don’t normally see, and as the world is re-configuring, we see lots of challenges after being isolated from the pandemic.

I will never forget the first time I participated in a Color Code program, and how in ONE DAY, my life changed forever. How could this tool of a Driving Core Motive assessment introduce me to myself in a way that explained my behaviors better than I could explain myself? That happened 20 years ago, and I had to become a trainer after that.

The gift of Fall is the harvest. The better I know myself, the better I show myself. I will now go through each of the personality colors and describe what their harvest would be and even a few holiday ideas for each color (in a perfect world).

RED: Reds will launch into the fourth quarter driven to succeed and achieve. They’ll be planning big for the New Year, too. They will host lovely events but only once they have achieved their goals. Work first…rewards for team and family time later is what to anticipate with our visionary leaders. They will want to reignite successful holiday celebrations for their businesses and families after last year’s social distancing.  In superhero terms, Reds are like Iron Man or Wonder Woman, so  if you are looking for costumes for your RED kids or parents, the theme is: Go Big or Go Home.

BLUES: Harvest for Blues…let’s connect! It’s time for team-building and family fiestas. Blues want that intimacy and heartfelt connection NOW. They want high-quality, fully decorated themed events, with fancy invitations to parties, thank you notes and thinking-of-you texts. They want to be in touch, and they do it consistently. Businesses created to connect (Do I hear Google or Facebook, anyone?) remind me of Blue enterprises. Blue’s harvest is letting friends know they are there for them. Pick up the phone and dial a Blue; they will love connecting! When it comes to their persona for costumes, it’s a sports hero or Glinda the Good Witch, since they do so well with teams and blessing their friends.

WHITES:  The harvest for Whites is harmony. “Let’s chill and stop stressing over EVERYTHING” would be their motto and harvest. Whatever they can do to establish a new normal without conflict, they will. They love a peaceful environment, a good fire in the fireplace and stability. They like routines others find too predictable or boring, but for Whites they are heaven. So if it’s the same menu at Thanksgiving or Holiday time, it’s fine by Whites. The steadiness of White has been a gift to us during this time; they don’t overreact like other colors, so they keep us all grounded. A good Halloween costume for a White would be Yoda from Star Wars, a ghost, or a soft serve ice cream cup! (Vanilla, please.)

YELLOWS: Can you say H-O-L-I-D-A-Y, sports events, concerts, art in the park? The harvest for Yellows is: Socialize, laugh, celebrate, repeat. They like FUN — they majored in it in college. Their harvest is opportunities to express their sunny and cheerful dispositions to the world and to themselves. When they do go on holiday, they bring their friends and family via social media, because they want to spread the good times and cheer you up. Yellows were the first ones to purchase a ticket and travel when they got the opportunity. They openly share their joy, so a celebration for them is costume parties, and their preferred costumes are FULL on: Elvis, Elvira, or Superman or Women (just because capes are COOL).

So as the year transitions to Fall and the holidays, revisit your profile and smile!! Make up for lost connections with a team-building event. See where you can engage with your colors and achieve the life you dreamed of. We are all redefining ourselves, just stay true to your colors and success will be yours.

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Carolyn Gross is a 20-Year Trainer for the Color Code and is located in So. California. As a professional speaker and trainer, she has authored several books and CDs: Rise Above the Chaos, Managing Chaos with Confidence and Staying Calm in the Midst of Chaos. She has been featured on ABC, NBC and Lifetime TV. She delights in interactive team building and executive coaching. With the changes going on, her favorite work is helping you Rise Above the Chaos. For more information, visit www.creativelifesolutions.com  or email info@creativelifesolutions.com. To schedule a call, you can reach her office: (760) 741-2762.

Ask the Expert: Helping Whites Create Goals Despite Overwhelm

Dear Jeremy,

I am a White that loves to make goals, but I get overwhelmed, “want to do it all” and then have a hard time following through with my goals. I do very well with accountability. My husband is Yellow and also struggles with keeping goals. To add to the complexity, we have 5 small children ages 19 months to 10 years old.

Heidi

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Hello, Heidi.

Wow! You’ve got a lot going on in life. 🙂

Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us here at Color Code. I’d love to answer your question with a few thoughts of my own.

First of all, I love that you are goal- and accountability-oriented. That’s a tremendous start, and it’s not necessarily natural for someone with a White personality style to be wired that way.

That’s great news!

Next, I’d love to just make a quick comment on your family dynamics, because I’m a Yellow — like your husband — and I also still have young children at home. My first thought here is that you have to give yourself some grace and a little wiggle room with goals. With five small children and one parent with a White personality style and another with a Yellow style, I imagine that structure isn’t necessarily your strong suit at this phase in life. (And I say that in the kindest, most understanding “been there done that” kind of way I know how.)

There is probably a lot of playful, easy-going fun in your home. I’m sure it feels like a wonderful place to be, but structure, organization, and routine are all things that might be “works in progress” at this point.

All of that said, with goals, I can think of a couple of things that might help.

Please know that it is VERY common for people with a White personality style to get overwhelmed, and that you’re not alone.

I think my main suggestion would be to just pick one main thing that you want to work on and “park” the others. Whites love to daydream and get caught up in new ideas. The creativity is amazing, but it can distract you from accomplishing the goals you have already committed to. It can also rob you of productivity. Producing lots of new ideas can also lead to overwhelm.

You can park ideas that you want to get to later by writing them down so you don’t forget them. Come back and read through that list from time to time to keep yourself excited for what you might be ready to take on next once your current goal is achieved.

As a White, I imagine you are probably a patient person. You also mentioned your “bonus” skill of enjoying accountability. I think those two traits can work together really well in helping you accomplish lots of things one goal at a time — even while being pulled in different directions by life (and kids)!

Very best of living,

Jeremy Daniel

Training Director

Color Code

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Jeremy Daniel (Core Color: Yellow) has been working with the Color Code since 1998 in various capacities from training in the field personally with Dr. Taylor Hartman to designing customized corporate solutions and new training programs for various industries.  To ask about Jeremy’s training or speaking services, please email and inquiry to jeremy@colorcodetraining.com.

Applying the Color Code in my Life Coaching Practice

You might have heard the saying, “The best tools are the ones that get used.” This is how I feel about the Color Code. 

In my corporate career, I was exposed to the benefits of five different personality assessments. I loved each of them for their unique insights into my behaviors; however, after some time would go by, I would forget what I learned and fall back into autopilot mode. I would relate to others based upon my instincts and experience. This was the case for 30 years until I learned about the Color Code. 

I was first introduced to “The Character Code,” Dr. Taylor Hartman’s sequel to “The Color Code,” in my transformational coaching certification course. The Character Code is intended as a guide to cultivate a full and balanced character by leveraging the strengths of all four colors. As I and the class learned the foundation of the Color Code’s four driving core motives, one thing I noted right away was that Color Code was so easy to use. I immediately began quick coding (a way of detecting a person’s potential driving core motive) all my friends and family members to discern their primary driving core motives. I was able to see within days how I could change my communication styles to relate more effectively. To me, Color Code was great, life-changing stuff. I was so impressed, I decided to apply it as step one of the client engagements in my coaching practice. So, in 2017, I became certified as a Color Code Independent Trainer right after graduating with my transformational coaching certificate. 

Applying Color Code to my coaching practice

My coaching practice is unique in that I utilize metacognitive drawing to assist the client in gaining personal insights. My clients are provided paper, markers, watercolors, crayons, colored pencils and more, along with a process of inquiry, to begin sussing out thoughts, feelings, and emotions that are below the surface. This can be intensely vulnerable work, so I like to begin every coach-to-client partnership with basic creative exercises, utilizing the client’s Color Code personality assessment results. The Color Code’s four colors are a perfect way to creatively segue a client from being stuck in their thinking patterns into noticing and sensing. Plus, it is an effective way for me as the coach to “swim in the same water as my client” as I like to put it. This is my metaphor for releasing myself from my innate desire to problem solve for my client. By getting to know the client’s primary and secondary driving core motives (natural tendencies), I am better able to check my own natural tendencies at the door. 

You see, I am a Color Code White and secondary Yellow, which means I can get really excited about offering creative, inventive ideas for my client to consider. You might be thinking, “That is great!” Well … not so much. Coaching is not a practice of advice giving, it is about helping people navigate what is presently occurring internally and externally for them, assisting them to notice patterns, offering perspectives to look at, uncovering possible blind spots, and providing new tools for them to discover who they are and what’s right for them so that they can design the life they want. Life Coaches are simply guides. 

Imagine if I advised a client with a Red personality to take five days to list out, consider, and weigh all the facts before confronting a person or situation. This is the way me, a contemplative, peacekeeping White with strong Blue tendencies regarding detailed list-making would tackle the problem. How likely is that advice going to be used by a Red, whose tendencies are to avoid routine and boredom and who desires fresh, innovative, and immediate solutions? Not likely. Knowing a client’s driving core motive allows me to guide a client through a process of defining a tool that not only works for them but will continue to be used beyond our client-coach partnership, because it is a custom fit tool for them. 

The impact Color Code has on my coaching clients

Once I introduce the Color Code to my clients, they inevitably begin to verbalize eye-openers about challenges they have experienced with colleagues and family members. They often feel relieved and say something like, “Oh, it’s just how they are wired” or “No wonder me and that person butt heads.”

I witness the facial expressions of many clients transform from stress-ridden frustration from trying to cope with “difficult people situations” to ones of relaxed understanding of exactly how they will move forward with changing the way they interact with others. For example:

  • A Color Code Blue Mom realizing grounding her Color Code White son to his room, after repeatedly staying out past curfew, was not an effective discipline method. Whites often find being alone in their room is a great place. 
  • A Color Code Red business leader, frustrated that the work amongst the team seemed to be taking too long, began to realize the team is made up of predominantly Blue and Yellow personalities. Which meant they needed time to get to know one another through fun, connective conversations and team building exercises before jumping into logical problem-solving. 
  • I have had a few clients who tear up with gratitude with the realization that they have been fighting their natural tendencies in a relationship or chosen career path/position. Relaying to me how they feel like they have newfound permission to let go of an unpleasant situation and to pursue changes that are right for them vs. trying so hard to bend against what is natural. 

Applying the Color Code into my coaching practice has given me and my clients a tremendous advantage. I have been able to apply perspectives of each color with nearly every new coaching tool I learn. This enables me to be more effective in relating to my clients and in guiding my clients to greater self-awareness, acceptance of self, others, and situations, and increase my and their capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. I am forever an advocate of the Color Code, because it is easy, and it works. 

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Kami Pollvogt is a Certified Color Code Trainer and Transformational Life Coach. She is the founder of Change by Design – a creative personal and professional development company that seeks to teach others how to design their life with a greater awareness of self, purpose, and intention. She frequently partners with coaches in the Phoenix metropolitan area to bring Color Code and Intentional Creativity® to personal and professional development workshops.

How to Properly Appreciate a Blue

I come from a line of Blue women. My maternal grandmother was a Blue. My mom is a Blue. I am a Blue. And if I could give any advice to those who know, live with or love a Blue, it is that Blues need to be appreciated. I remember my mom making each of us kids either call my grandma or write her a formal Thank You card every time she gave us a present. Yes, it seems like an obvious thing to do as an adult, but I always felt so silly and a little embarrassed calling her and having what seemed like a serious conversation to 8-year-old me. But my Blue mom knew that HER Blue mom needed to hear that “Thank you.”

As a Blue myself, it comes naturally to me to remember people on their birthdays, reach out to friends who are going through a tough time and do special things for my family. And I do these things out of love — but when friends or family members who have a different personality type than me (thus, different strengths) neglect to do these things for me, I start to get a little pouty. As I’ve gotten older, I have realized that not everybody shows their love in the same way, nor do they even know what might offend me, so I have learned to let a lot of things go. However, if you want the secret for really wowing a Blue and helping them feel loved, here are three ways you can help them feel appreciated.

Simply Reach Out to Them

Since Blues are motivated by intimacy, they are typically the ones who are going to reach out to others to get together and catch up or gather for a holiday party. Relationships really matter to them, so it’s common for them to take the initiative on making weekend plans with loved ones. However, just because this comes naturally to them, doesn’t mean they always want to be the one who organizes every social gathering. They also LOVE when others reach out to them to get together. They even appreciate a simple text message that asks them how THEY are doing. So if you don’t have time to grab lunch with your Blue friend this week, even a simple text message to touch base will go a long way.

Notice the Nice Things They Do

Blues are so giving, sometimes we get so used to their service that we take advantage of it and forget to give sincere gratitude, or even notice the small things they do. If you have a Blue in your life, never hesitate to thank them for their acts of kindness. They don’t need you to return their favors all the time or go out of your way to perform a grand gesture for them…all they need is recognition and gratitude. Of course, acts of kindness on your part once in a while are never going to be a bad idea.

Give Them Something Meaningful

I know I just said a simple “thank you” is enough for a Blue most of the time, but when you do want to do something more for them, or if you’re gifting them something for their birthday or a holiday, make it something meaningful. Remembering their favorite flowers and dropping a bouquet off for them on a bad day will send their heart soaring far more than a Starbucks gift card. After all, they appreciate beauty more than the other personalities do. Blues are passionate people, so chances are it won’t be hard to think of something you know they love. Just make sure to execute those nice thoughts you have.

Having these three simple things in your arsenal of knowledge will go a long way in your relationship with a Blue. After all, as the Blues like to say, “life is all about relationships.”

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Megan Christensen is a Blue who has been writing her feelings for as long as she can remember. Megan graduated from BYU-Idaho in 2014 with a degree in communication. A lifelong fan of the Color Code, she’s thrilled to be the content editor of the blog and hopes to help as many people as possible become more self-aware. When she’s not writing, Megan can be found reading, doing yoga, and spending as much time as she can outdoors.