058: Otters in the Workplace – 4 Personalities

058: Otters in the Workplace – 4 Personalities

This week we’re talking about the four personality types that you’ll find in your organization. To find out more background, go back and check out episode 22.

Yesterday we talked about the take-charge lions of your group.

Today will be a little more fun because it’s time to highlight the life of the party… your otters.

Otters are naturally fun and relational.

When you drop an otter into a boring meeting, they’re bound to spice it up. They hate the mundane and live for creative and spur of the moment.

Otters are idea people, they’re always thinking, and they tend to live in the “outside the box” realm.

Otters bring life to your organization and you can feel it when they’re around… and when they’re not.

They love to connect people, to make others feel part of the group.

They will give you some of your best ideas, challenge the status quo and lift the spirits of the company at the same time.

They thrive around others and make great teammates.

But… like with the other personalities, they also have their weaknesses as well.

They are horrible at the details. They detest the rules, the disciplines, the step-by-steps.

They often struggle with keeping projects on task and on target.

They are so full of ideas and wanting to try new things that they can sometimes need to be reigned in.

They will be prone to missing key pieces of communication or conversations because their minds are already 5 minutes ahead.

Though they love to connect with others, they can sometimes have fun at the expense of others as well without knowing it.

Just like with Lions, your team needs otters as well. Otters make work fun. They help people feel valued and included. They bring about great new ideas and challenge others to think outside the box.

Value your otters. They breathe life into your team.

Thanks for listening to today’s episode. I’d love hear from you about today’s topic or just in general. You can shoot me an email at shawn@shawnwashburn.com or head to shawnwashburn.com/contact and you’ll find links to connect with me on social media as well.