The Cool Blue Manager

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Posted on 23rd January 2012 by Andy Britnell in Insights Discovery Colour Energies

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Insights Discovery Cool Blue Manager With personality there is no right or wrong, but with leadership there definitely is a right way! Understand this way, and how your personality colours your leadership style, then you begin to make a significant difference. It is one more reason why we start all our Leading & Developing High Performance training with the Insights Discovery model.

In previous blogs you have had a glimpse of the Fiery Red manager, the Sunshine Yellow manager and the Earth Green manager. Now here comes the Cool Blue manager.

What is Cool Blue energy?

This colour preference is characterised by the following adjectives:

• Cautious
• Precise
• Deliberate
• Questioning
• Formal

These managers are detached and can take a logical, objective look at data, analysing it to make sure everything is correct. Stability and order rule, and they have a detached single-minded ability to do what is right and ethical. They also prefer formal lines of reporting.

When dealing with this type of manager you need to know that they want to see evidence and will not take anything on hearsay. For something important, it is best to send an e-mail with all the information to give the manager time to analyse rather than expecting a hasty response. Their mantra is “Give me details!”.

It is best to get your expenses done, your appraisal forms completed and your paperwork in order as you will be measured on the quality of your systems, filing and ability to present things in a logical order, rather than for being a wonderful person!

In fact they will categorically fail to see just how wonderful you are, until these basic administrative things are in place.

What I appreciate about this energy

When you see this energy in action, it is so cool! The Cool Blue manager’s ability to stay detached and not get involved in the emotion of a situation can help defuse things and allow logic and truth to emerge. They are diligent and consistent. Interactions with you will be one-to-one and low key and, because their thinking goes on inside their head instead of being blurted out, they remain composed even in a crisis, quietly going about getting things done.

When Cool Blue energy gets in the way

These very strengths, if over used can be devoid of emotion. When there’s a lot of work to be done they would prefer to come into the office, go straight to their desk and get on, failing to see the need to walk round and say “good morning”, or even be nice. To the staff member this can seem stuffy, lacking any kind of warmth or humanity – you can literally feel ‘out in the cold’.

This manager under pressure seems more:

• Suspicious
• Reserved
• Rigid
• Indecisive
• Nit-picky

Cool Blue energy and L&DHP

With awareness this leader will be your rock and guide, explicitly stating what needs to be done and how. Their sound rationale and logic mean their assessments are thoughtful and correct, ensuring you stay on track towards the goal. They are more inclined towards support than challenge believing no-one can possibly do such a good job as them, which can keep them locked in the transactional stages of leadership, and poor at delegation.

The key thing to remember for the Cool Blue manager is that they need to consider their peoples’ emotional welfare, recognising that not everyone can take such a detached and clinical approach. It is important to recognise that everything cannot be fixed by a system and that sometimes people just need a hug! When they do this, Cool Blue managers shine as leaders.

Do you recognise the Cool Blue manager? We would love to hear your comments.

You may also be interested in reading about:

The Fiery Red Manager

The Sunshine Yellow Manager

The Earth Green Manager

Observable differences between Cool Blue and Earth Green preferences

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Posted on 3rd January 2012 by Andy Britnell in Insights Discovery Colour Energies

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Insights Discovery - difference between Earth green & Cool Blue EnergyWhen working as a team you discover that the observable differences between colour energy preferences become more acute. It reminds us how the Insights Discovery colour energies are inextricably linked with leadership.

A while ago, on a pouring wet day, two groups of Insights practitioners came together for an outdoor challenge at a water park in Gloucestershire. One team had a Cool Blue observer going round with them, keeping an eye on group interactions etc, the other had an Earth Green observer – me!

The teams were in competition, that’s the important bit! I have noticed with Earth Green energy that where there is competition, especially in sport, they have a burning desire to succeed, which often takes people by surprise.

So, although I had taken my umbrella, with my Earth Green preference I didn’t feel I could put it up. I wanted to be right in there with my team, spotting what was going on, picking up on cues and clues, and generally egging them on when spirits were flagging. We were soaked!

We came together with the other team for the final exercise and it was a neck and neck race. We won by a whisker! The rain stopped and the warm summer sun started to appear!

My fellow observer, I noticed, was completely dry! I asked him how come.

He said “I had a umbrella of course.”

I said, “So did I, but it didn’t occur to me to use it. I couldn’t possibly stay dry while my team were getting soaked.”

He said, “Where is the logic in that?”

He got me … where indeed?

On questioning his team members, they seemed quite happy – they said sometimes when the going got tough they could join him under the umbrella for a moment for a moan and a bit of respite.

Oh! Perhaps after all there is a case for adopting a little more of the Cool Blue approach!

For the debrief however, I couldn’t help feeling that, as the rest of us steamed gently dry standing on an ornamental bridge over a beautiful fish pond, my Cool Blue friend missed some of the shared magical warmth of that moment.

It was a very valuable lesson. As leaders we need to be able to tap gracefully into all four colour energies, all aspects of our personality, to bring out the best in our teams.

Like Water for Leaders

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Posted on 25th October 2011 by Andy Britnell in leadership

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Leadership - Water as a metaphorToday’s guest post is from Adrian Goodall who is a masterful coach and good friend of mine who has kindly offered to share his thoughts on leadership and soft skills.

Good leaders and teams in any context are focused on their objectives, and satisfaction usually flows from achieving results which meet or beat those targets. That’s even more true, and more difficult, when operating in a tough economic and business context, as many of us are in now.

So there’s a challenge in keeping freshness in effort and motivation for executives and staff alike when markets are zero growth, more competitive than ever and short on bonuses. Words like ‘focus’, ‘actions’, ‘execution’, efficiency’, ‘toughness’ and ‘perseverance’ are all part of the lexicon for times like this. Such directive language plays an important role in crossing the arid lands between oases of success and reward.

When there’s more acute focus on the bottom line, there’s a temptation to cut back on what might seem not to be immediate priorities. For some, this includes time and budget for so-called ‘soft skills’.

But what are ‘soft skills’? The very name sounds nebulous. Usually they include communication skills and behaviours, how to connect with others (and yourself), being comfortable enough to step back and pause to gain broader perspective before acting and communicating appropriately. Emotional intelligence if you like. But it’s not always ‘emotional’ – and these skills are highly relevant and pragmatic in influencing and leading – with immediate impact.

In fact, the metaphor for such skills as being ‘soft’ seems entirely wrong. The language and behaviours involved, difficult to define perhaps, are like water – soft in some ways, but also essential, dynamic and equally capable of being hard, powerful and even destructive. Can you remember doing a belly-flop into a swimming pool? What do you think has worn down dramatic cliffs along our coastline?

The skills of communicating, influencing and connecting with other people are the very font of effective management and leadership, of client relationships, of clear objective setting and operational process. The ability to hold confidence and manage state is critical for both authority and personal performance.

It would be a parched environment indeed to work in without these skills, with limited flow of information, no spring of innovation. No wonder people can feel like a fish out of water.

So when those targets are tough to achieve, look to balance the directive vocabulary and also build leadership, better managers, networks, team focus, sales and motivation with smarter language, behaviours and relationships. The effect is immediate as well as providing a wellspring for sustainable growth.

Come on in, the water’s lovely!

Adrian Goodall Associates work with executive leaders and their teams who want better, different results. Typically this involves opportunities and challenges of leadership, promotion, confidence, teamwork, clarity of direction and communication skills. Have a look at Adrian Goodall’s website and why not follow him on Twitter!

Leadership, personality types and the wisdom of horses

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Posted on 30th May 2011 by Ali Stewart in Accreditation and Training |Events |Insights Discovery Profiles |Leadership with Horses

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When the Insights Discovery® colour energies and horses come together something magical happens …. especially under the expert guidance of Beth Duff

leadership & Horses - Paint your horse‘The Red Horse Speaks’ event on 12 May 11 was facilitated by equine assisted learning experts Beth Duff and Ann Romberg, along with Lucy Wilkins at a beautiful farm in deepest Somerset. We were encouraged to engage with our colour energies to get the best result from the horses – using a combination of precision, empathy, clarity of direction and purpose, with passion and enthusiasm. If you get it wrong, you have to deal with half a ton of horse which won’t budge! Engage the right energy for the situation and you’re away. If people in your life or business are stuck and won’t budge, maybe try a different tack!

I particularly liked what Ann said, that horses are our “mirrors and mentors and lead us to mastery”. They reflect back what we’re doing, teach us and then allow us to shine! How wonderful is that?

If you try to apply paint on a chestnut coloured horse, red paint shows up but green doesn’t. (we had to resort to white!) We realised how powerful a metaphor that was for what happens in real life with these two colour energies! In Insights colour energy terms, Fiery Red energy is competitive and demanding and likes to be seen and heard and Earth Green energy is more patient and relaxed, preferring to observe, reflect and remain in the background.

Insights Discovery - Exploring colour energies with HorsesWhen asked to think of a goal or vision we would like to create and then paint it, we could just as easily have done it on brown paper but brown paper doesn’t give you feedback or grief! Our chestnut horse, Mabon, did, shaking its head and pawing the ground when we suggested ‘leadership’, then laughing and nodding (I’m serious!) when we moved onto ‘creative marketing’ and how we get more people engaging with this wonderful medium for learning about personality. (It was definitely easier for the other team with Bilbo Baggins and his colouring. He’d just been groomed and was looking gorgeous – and they didn’t have to contend with the local press taking photos!)

‘Coach Like a Horse’ on 13 May 11 took us deeper into team dynamics – or horse rituals – what we saw playing out before our eyes was what we have seen many times before in our client organisations, departments and teams … but with greater clarity and understanding, of egos, pecking orders, how much energy is expended by some and how little by others to achieve the same result.

Ali Stewart at Leadership event with horsesThen encouraging a horse to walk with you without a leading rope and stand on a podium for you, because he wants to, helps you to understand and tap into ‘someone’s’ internal motivation to succeed. The metaphor is stark, if you can do this with a proud and beautiful horse, you can do this with a truculent employee.

The combination of Beth’s and Ann’s careful coaching, and Lilias’s wonderful horses and farm (with views over the whole of Somerset!) made this a stunning event. You can check them out here:

Beth Duff: The Red Horse Speaks

Ann Romberg: Wisdom Horse Coaching

Lilias Ahmeira: Special Horses for Special Children

We run these courses fairly regularly so if you want to be kept informed please contact Ali Stewart & Co join us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

The Economy is Changing! Is your Leadership Style?

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Posted on 27th October 2010 by Ali Stewart in High Performance |Leadership Style |Leading and Developing

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Leadership style in ecomomic crisisWhen things are going well and there’s lots of money around, there is space to be creative. If things go wrong, it doesn’t really matter, expensive mistakes can be absorbed, you learn, you move on. Your style of leadership can be inspirational and motivational, you stir greatness in others , or not, and great things will probably happen anyway.

In times of great change with massive debts, market sectors collapsing, jobs and benefits being cut, how you lead matters greatly. You can’t afford for costly mistakes to be made. You have to be inspirational and motivational but in a very focused and specific way. Developing the greatness in your people is key to pulling your organisation out of crisis and having a process for doing this brings a great sense of relief.

When all about you is changing, you need a strong sense of who you are and what you stand for. Your visibility of personal style will be like a beacon for others to hold onto. Knowing what to do next will instil confidence and help others tap into their own internal motivation to succeed as you unblock and unlock creativity.

This is the mark of great leadership. The sound process for doing this is the essence of Leading & Developing High Performance.

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