by Shawn | May 19, 2021 | Podcast
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.
So far, we’ve discussed the take charge Lions and the easy going Otters.
Today, we’re going to take a look at the people who take care of the details… the Beavers.
Beavers LOVE the details. They love the rules, the structure, the instructions, the procedures.
They find the fatal flaw in the proposal, they dot the i’s and cross the t’s.
They excel at the analytical.
They can scan lines of code and pick out the error.
They can crush financial statements and love numbers and order.
They can often be perfectly content holed up at a desk just chomping away on data.
It is their superpower. And without them, our organizations would fall apart.
We’d miss important safety details in a procedure, fail to protect ourselves adequately in a contract.
We’d miss a crucial step in an instruction, have no idea where were financially and forget a major event that was coming up.
Beavers are like the glue that holds our businesses together.
And like each of the four, they are essential.
But also like the others, they have their weaknesses.
They are quite obviously the opposite of the otters.
And one of their challenges is to be able to think more creatively, come up with new ideas or solutions that maybe aren’t the standard way of approaching things.
Not always, but often they aren’t general connectors of people.
They can struggle when things don’t go according to plan, as opposed to the Otters who have lived their life on that principle.
I’m sure you know some Beavers on your team. And you’d do well to make sure they have access to those details or get a chance to review the data and instructions so that they’re secret skill can be put to full use.
Beavers are like the built in spell check of your organization.
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.
by Shawn | May 18, 2021 | Podcast
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.
by Shawn | May 17, 2021 | Podcast
Back in Episode 22 I introduced the idea of the four personality types that I first heard described by Gary Smalley years ago.
The four types are Lion, Otter, Beaver and Golden Retriever.
There are certainly tons of assessments these days for personality, mindset, strengths, and how we relate to the world. But this is still one of the simplest and one of the most profound that I’ve seen.
And along with helping us understand more about ourselves and those we do life with, they are also helpful in the workplace, helping us to understand our team members and how to work well together.
This week, we’re going to dig into each of the four. And today’s focus will be on the Lions.
As you might expect, the lions are the natural leaders, the ones who will step into a room and take charge.
They have no problem speaking up and are great at charging forward with a plan.
We need lions in our organizations. And you might very well be one yourself.
We need their strength, their courage, their ability to hold steady, set a vision and bring others along with them.
Like with lions in the wild, there is often no question who the lions of your organization are.
They are often confident, vocal, decisive, tenacious and driven.
They are a vital part of giving a team a path forward and paving that path as they go.
As with the other personalities, lions also have weaknesses and blind spots.
Lions can sometimes roll right over others, especially their soft-spoken golden retriever colleagues.
They can be prone to not really listening well or taking others views into account.
Because they are able to come into a situation, quickly assess, and make decisions, they may not take the time to understand the work that has already been done or decisions that have already been thought through. And this can sometimes leave others feeling invisible.
Their natural opposite is the people and feeling-centric golden retrievers.
You get the picture.
Every organization needs each of these personalities to thrive. And they need to understand who they have on board to really figure out how to work best together, see each other’s blind spots and leverage the strengths that each person brings to the table.
So maybe you could start to make up a list of the different personalities on your team today.
Starting with the lions… which shouldn’t be hard.
Just listen for the roar.
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.
by Shawn | May 14, 2021 | Podcast
If my pre-calc teacher from the late 80s is listening, I want to say right now that I’m sorry for what you’re about to hear.
You were great. Really, you were. But… I was someone who could get bored sometimes and looked for something creative to do.
I can still remember sitting in that high school pre-calc class with my brand new Casio fx-7500G scientific, graphing, hinged, flip open calculator.
Now I know that I actually used it at some point to draw graphs and do… you know… pre-calc stuff.
But this thing also had the ability to write and save programs.
Programs that could, say, create a fun mini gambling game where if you guessed the right number you could double your imaginary calculator money.
Or, if a certain student not to be named here was interested in doing so, they could create a program to graph something like Bart Simpson… for example.
Suffice to say, both of those kept me company throughout the year along with other fun exploits on the Casio.
But do you know what the most amazing thing is about that calculator?
It’s still working. Today. In May 2021.
In fact, I have it right in front of me and it’s still my go-to after 30 years. Though now, I actually use it for stuff like math.
Not only does it still work, but did I mention it was hinged?
I’m talking about a hinged calculator that has been opened and shut thousands of times over the last 30 years.
More than enough times to ruin most hinged devices that you might find today.
But not my Casio. Still going strong.
I kind of keep picturing the day that I’m going to go to turn it on or open up the hinge and it will just have finally given out.
And I’ll sort of hold it there in my palm, rest my other hand on top of it and whisper quietly “You were such a good calculator and I’ll never forget you”.
But, that day hasn’t come… yet.
So, why am I rambling on about a thirty year old calculator?
Because back in the late 80s the people of Casio decided to make something that would last.
And whenever I use my calculator, there is a voice inside of me that sort of nudges me to do the same.
Make something that will last.
Do something worthwhile. With your work. With your life. In your family. In your community.
Leave a mark. Make an impact that will resonate for decades to come.
Create a product, capture a photograph, give a speech, build a structure, write a book, record a podcast, serve exceptionally.
Whatever it is that you’re about today, consider putting just a little bit more of yourself into it.
You never know when that thing you’re creating might just be sitting on someone’s desk 30 years from now… or helping them graph pictures of Bart Simpson.
Either way, you’ll know that you’ve done something pretty special.
Make something that lasts.
Thanks for listening to today’s episode. Connect with me on Instagram @shawnwashburn7
by Shawn | May 13, 2021 | Podcast
I’m a big advocate for trying new things. Most of the time.
One time I tried kale chips.
If you haven’t tried them yet, I’ll save you cash. Just rip out a sheet of paper from a notebook, tear it into smaller pieces, sprinkle salt on them and eat them.
Then use that money you saved to go grab yourself something worth it… like a twinkie.
But other than kale chips (and liver… give me a second, gulp), most times there can be a big payoff to trying something new.
In the business world, one of the barriers to trying new things is that people are waiting for an invitation to do it.
They may want to try something new… a new technology, a new process, a new tool, but unless they’re empowered to just try it, they will often let it just sit right inside their cranium as it slowly gnaws away at them and then dies.
Whether for good or bad, I’ve usually been someone who will just try something new or do something differently regardless of if I’ve been given that invitation.
Sometimes, I will ask if we’ve ever used or tried this tech or app before, but other times I will just give it a shot. Especially if I’ve used it outside of work and know the power it could bring to our current situation.
The other day I did just that.
We were in a meeting… an in-person meeting if you remember those. Several of us were all in one room discussing some different options for a project.
The nature of the discussion and meeting had us each sort of mocking up our own ideas on paper to share with the group.
The problem was how to effectively gather around and look at everyone’s version, make changes and have meaningful discussion without being too close and also being able to see each idea clearly.
As we were starting to get to the stage where this was going to happen, my brain was up ahead seeing the issue we were going to run into and that it was going to be difficult to do it that way.
So, on the fly, I pulled up the meeting room computer, turned on the projector, logged into my Outlook and then started taking pictures of each of the ideas and emailing to myself with my phone.
OK, side note here. I know it’s 2021 and maybe I shouldn’t be blown away with the speed of technology like this, but can I just say that it still blows me away that I can hit send on my phone and see that email instantly show up on the screen on the wall. Like, seriously, how does it go all over wherever it needs to go to get from phone to work to network to computer to projector… THAT FAST?
I often don’t feel like I can get thoughts from my brain to my mouth that fast. Just crazy.
OK, so back to the meeting…
As the email showed up on the screen, I began to pull up the pictures one by one and it made it so much easier to discuss as a group, blow them up bigger and even make quick modifications and repeat the whole process.
It also helped us come to some really good agreement on some key decisions and plans we were making. And I’m just not sure it would have worked out that way originally.
I think the same thing happens every day in your organization as well. Your people are faced with multiple situations throughout their day where they might have a better way to do it, a new tool or app or technique that maybe isn’t currently used in your company.
You can do so much to help your team thrive by being an encourager and someone who empowers them to think outside the box.
If their idea has anything to do with kale chips, then I’ll leave that direction up to you.
Thanks for listening to today’s episode. Connect with me on Instagram @shawnwashburn7
