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 ==================== 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

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 tran

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

Recently, I have been re-reading the business bestseller, "Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High" by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler. Crucial conversations are defined as a dialogue where "opinions vary, stakes are high and emotions run strong." A principle premise of the book is that people well-skilled in language start to plan the conversation "in the heart." “Start with the heart” is actually the second step of the seven-step process. This refers to the questions you ask yourself when planning a crucial conversation. With over 4 million copies sold, these writers certa

I recently read that although the United States as a whole has a Blue personality culture, Hawaii’s culture is White. Having a strong White secondary myself, I was interested to observe this when I took my first trip to the Aloha State a few weeks ago. After anticipating this trip for many years, I wasn’t surprised to learn how much I loved the paradisiacal beaches and lush jungles of Kauai. But what did surprise me was how quickly I felt like I fit into the peaceful and kind culture of the Island. It was evident even at the airport that this was definitely a White personality culture!  It’s no secret that our world isn’t exactly

Color Code describes the Red/Red relationship as ‘fireworks,’ and for good reason. A Red/Red relationship can be powerful, productive, and satisfying in business or your personal life. But it can also be problematic—full of animosity and angst. Reds are natural leaders. They are decisive, assertive, and excellent at delegating. They also have the natural limitations of being bossy, argumentative, and demanding—times two. When there are two Reds in a relationship and both need to be the boss, neither wants to be told what to do. Recipe for disaster? Yes and no.  There is a lot of power behind this highly motivated duo. Red

The other day, I was talking to a new friend who had recently taken the Color Code assessment. We were having a great discussion about how much she enjoyed it. However, she told me she had real trouble understanding what we meant by the “childhood perspective” when answering the questions. Did we mean how she was as an 8-year-old child? Or a 15-year-old? Or what? And why a child to begin with?  We ended up having a great conversation about the reasoning behind this. I thought I would share with you what I shared with her in case you (or someone you know) has ever wondered the same things. What age do we actually mean by “AS A CHILD

Research shows that giving a bad gift can hurt your relationships and lose business. So how can you be sure you choose something your recipient will love? Nearly every business around the world uses gift giving as a strategy to build relationships with its business partners, employees, clients and colleagues.  The challenge hasn’t been whom to give to or even how much to spend.  It’s always been what to give. When it comes to business gifting, there’s definitely a right way and a wrong way to go about it. According to the 2019 Knack Business Gifting Strategy Report, over 1,000 U.S. business professionals were surveyed and 70

Recently, the Color Code team was challenged with this scenario: "I am a Red...I live with my husband and daughter who are both true Blue. They love to sit around and 'complain' about everything and anything...it drives me crazy! Always sounds like they are negative, but they say they are not. On the other hand, I love a good debate...I call enlightening conversation, they think I want to argue all the time, but I just like swapping ideas! How do we enjoy each other's style of conversation without frustration?!" As a Red daughter with a Blue mother, this scenario connected. I’m convinced my late father was a Red too, so when we

I was raised by a mom who is about as Blue as they come. She plans family events months (or even years) in advance, she is easily moved to tears, and she is passionate about her relationships. What throws me for a loop, though, is her secondary color is Yellow. Blues and Yellows are complementary opposites (emphasis on OPPOSITES), so it’s a combination that is hard for me to grasp. But something my mom always says, which is so true, is that her Yellow really shines through when she is on vacation.  One of my mom’s favorite things to do on vacation is to rent bikes and ride along the beach, park, mountain trail, or wherever it is we ar