Patrick Lencioni’s Six Types of Working Genius uses a person’s natural gifts to put people in the right roles that fit their strengths. If you’re a leader, you can use the types of working genius to help your workforce thrive and reach its full potential.
How? By leveraging the unique talents of every employee to find the internal role that fits them best, you’ll also have:
- An energized team
- A focused workforce
- A greater sense of fulfillment
- An increase in overall productivity
Patrick Lencioni maps out six types of geniuses to help you identify them.
The 6 Types of Working Genius
Your employees’ working geniuses will vary based on their own unique make-up. The six types that every employee fits into are:
1. Wonder
Some employees are naturally curious and well-equipped to ask great questions. For example, they’re the first ones to ask:
- Why?
- Why not?
Need to find a way to improve your workflows? These geniuses will ask the right questions to pinpoint bottlenecks and areas of improvement that others miss.
Wonderers may not have all of the answers, but they’re inquisitive enough to ask the questions necessary to identify areas of potential improvement.
2. Invention
Geniuses of Invention are creative and know how to transform ideas into workable solutions. If a Genius of Wonder finds a problem, an inventor finds novel ways to solve it. Unique solutions require the right person for the job, which is why you need to put these employees into positions where they can:
- Take on new challenges
- Work on a blank canvas
- Come up with solutions
3. Discernment
Ideas are either workable or not very practical. Who figures out workability? A Genius of Discernment trusts their own innate instincts to:
- Use their intuition
- Assess ideas and situations
- Use their “gut” to make decisions
If you need the “best solution” to problems, the Genius of Discernment is the best person for the job. They’ll assess potential solutions and aren’t afraid to provide insights and feedback when others just smile and nod their heads.
4. Galvanizing
A galvanizing genius is the team member who builds momentum to help you reach your goals. For initiatives, there are a few on your team who are better than a Genius of Galvanizing because they will:
- Get you started implementing the necessary changes
- Get your team behind the initiative
As a natural momentum-builder, they rally your team around new initiatives and push them through execution.
5. Enablement
The Genius of Enablement is a master at keeping things going. They’re the first ones to jump in when other people need help, especially at critical moments.
These individuals are people-oriented and want to help bring a vision to life. Their role is to provide the support needed to move solutions into those first key stages of implementation.
6. Tenacity
When you need to bring a project or initiative to completion, a Genius of Tenacity is best suited for the job. These geniuses:
- Keep the momentum going on projects
- Ensure everything stays on track
- Complete even the most complicated or mundane tasks
Now that you have a clearer idea of what these Working Geniuses are, you can start using them to grow your business and improve productivity.
How to Grow Your Business Using the Working Genius Concept
Understanding the six Working Geniuses is just one piece of the puzzle. The key is to leverage this tool to develop new projects or initiatives, bring people together, build momentum, and see them through to completion.
What we’ve found is that typically, each person has:
- Two geniuses, who give them energy and joy
- Two competencies, which are things they can handle when they’re really focused (but require more energy)
- Two frustrations that they do not enjoy and drain their energy
Your goal is to identify each employee’s geniuses, competencies, and frustrations. Once you’ve accomplished this, you can leverage the Working Genius concept to do the following:
Identify and Fill Skill Gaps
The Working Genius concept is also an excellent tool for identifying skill gaps in your team.
For example, maybe your team is full of Wonder and Discernment but lacking in Galvanizing and Tenacity. You have a growing list of ideas and solutions, but they never seem to come to fruition. Bringing a Galvanizer in to rally the team and build momentum, and someone with Tenacity to get them completed, is game-changing.
Identifying and filling these gaps can not only improve efficiency and productivity but also help your team feel more fulfilled and happy in their roles. The end result? Better employee retention.
Team members can easily become frustrated and deflated when they feel stuck. That’s why it’s so critical to have a mix of ideation and activation geniuses on your team.
Ideation leads to creativity and innovation. Activation brings those great ideas to life.
Put the Right People in the Right Roles
When you have a better understanding of each team member’s motivations, you can move them into the right roles (if they aren’t in them already).
Some employees may be struggling not because they can’t be successful, but because they’re in the wrong role. Move them into the right position, and they are more likely to flourish.
For example, let’s say that a key employee is really great at coming up with ideas and solutions, but they struggle to bring people together. If they’re put in a leadership role and are tasked with galvanizing the team, they may be stuck in their zone of frustration and struggle to find satisfaction in their job.
When employees are in their zone of genius, it benefits the entire team and the business over the long term.
If times are tough, it’s okay to move people outside of their zone of genius temporarily, but on a regular basis, team members should be put into roles where they excel and find joy.
Keep Your Team Happy and Productive
When you put the right people in the right roles, they become more productive.
They’re more:
- Energized
- Inspired
- Motivated
Why? Because they’re doing work they love, work they excel at. This is a key part of building a healthy work culture.
Think of the Working Genius concept as a coffee cup.
- When you’re in your zone of genius, it’s just like having a good cup of coffee with a good lid, and it stays hot for a long time. Your energy levels stay high, and you’re more productive as a result.
- When you’re in your zone of competencies, it’s like taking the lid off the coffee cup. You start off okay, but soon start losing your energy, and your productivity and happiness start to suffer.
- When you’re in your zone of frustration, it’s like having a slow leak at the bottom of the cup. You can handle these tasks for a little while, but you will run out of energy pretty quickly.
When you leverage the Working Genius concept, you also help team members feel more confident and comfortable in their roles. Everyone knows their strengths and weaknesses. Everyone has their own roles. Everyone trusts each other to handle the tasks they do not excel at.
No one genius is better than the other, and work becomes a true team effort.
Because ultimately, we all have different geniuses and frustrations. The key is to play off each other’s strengths.
Final Thoughts
The Working Genius tool can be a powerful way to improve your team’s productivity and morale while simultaneously growing your business.
The first and most important step is to identify each team member’s zone of genius. From here, you can adjust their work responsibilities and move them into roles where they excel and thrive.
As a Certified Working Genius trainer, I can help you through this process, from putting the right people in the right roles to identifying and filling skill gaps.
To learn more about how we can help you leverage the Working Genius concept or to schedule an appointment, click here.