Kevin could see solutions to problems long before others. But it made him impatient with his team; they could not keep up with him. They would often discuss a problem they faced, but he could already see a solution and wanted to push forward. However, if he did so before everyone had aligned, it only resulted in stress, confusion, and time-consuming meetings. Instead of making progress, they went back to square one, debating what he thought was crystal clear. He was not bringing people along with him.

It was quite an eye opener for Kevin in his coaching program to discover he needed to apply his analytical thinking strength to understanding people. Instead of imposing his solution on them, he needed to stop and assess where people were at to secure their support. His team processed information in different ways and at varying speeds. Kevin had to develop the practice of asking more questions instead of giving them answers.

In leadership, a one size fits all approach does not work. Leaders need to understand people show up differently. If Kevin wanted to bring people along with him, he needed to understand what makes them tick. Having understood how they think and behave, he could tailor his approach to them.

Influential U has a surprisingly accurate model which describes four main personality types. Each type has a unique way of responding to attempts to gain their agreement. Understanding the predominant language each personality speaks helps address their concerns.

You can take a quiz and discover which personality type you most closely identify with. Here’s a summary of the four types.

✅ Inventor – concerned for the future

✅ Judge – persuaded by facts and data

✅ Performer – focused on people and relationships

✅ Producer – motivated by a plan of action

Understanding what each one of his team members needed to hear to persuade them to move forward boosted Kevin’s effectiveness as a leader. He had initial misgivings it would slow him down, but he soon found that was offset by less rework and more sustainable solutions.

🙋 What’s the key to bringing people along with you in your experience? 🙋‍♀️

Best regards, Brian