Working Genius

The 6 Types of Working Genius: Turn Team Friction Into Flow

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Your team is talented. So why does good work still stall, drag, and wear everyone out along the way?

The 6 Types of Working Genius is a simple, proven model that shows you why, and gives your team a clear way to fix it, so your people spend more time in the work that energizes them and get more done with less effort.

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Is Working Genius Right for Your Team?

The 6 Types of Working Genius is built for leaders and teams who are good at what they do and still feel the drag. Leadership teams, departments, and project teams, whether brand new or long established. And it works whether you are bringing your whole team together or starting with just yourself as the leader.

The Problem Usually Isn't Your People

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When a team feels stuck, it is easy to assume someone is not pulling their weight. Most of the time, that is not it.

The real issue is quieter. People are spending their days in the kind of work that drains them, tasks are landing in the wrong hands, and no one has the language to name why. So friction builds, frustration starts to feel personal, and good ideas die somewhere between "great thought" and "actually done."

You do not need different people. You need to see how the people you already have are built to contribute.

That is exactly where the 6 Types of Working Genius comes in.

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Clarity Is the Difference Between Grind and Flow

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Here is what most teams miss: friction does not disappear when people try harder. It disappears when they finally see clearly.

When a team understands how each person is built to contribute, the whole dynamic shifts. Decisions that used to stall start moving. Work flows to the people whose energy actually fits it. People stop apologizing for how they are wired and start leaning into it. Same team, same week, completely different feel.

That is the move from grind to flow. It does not take a new roster. It takes clarity, and clarity is something you can create on purpose.

The Six Kinds of Genius Already on Your Team

The 6 Types of Working Genius is a model created by Patrick Lencioni and The Table Group. It is not a personality test and it is not about social style. It maps how each person naturally contributes to getting work done, where they thrive, and where they struggle. Each person discovers their own genius, and your team sees how all of it fits together.

There are six types, and every one of them is needed to take an idea all the way to done:

Wonder

Sensing that something could be better and asking the questions that open it up.

Invention

Generating fresh ideas and solutions from a blank page.

Discernment

An instinct for what will work and what will not, and good judgment about both.

Galvanizing

Rallying people and getting things moving.

 
 

Enablement

Stepping in to support and help make it happen.

Tenacity

Pushing the work across the finish line to the standard it deserves.

 
 

Here is the shift that changes everything: once a team can see this, frustration stops looking like a character flaw and starts looking like a fit problem. And fit problems can be solved.

Want to see your own team mapped out like this?

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Anyone Can Hand You an Assessment

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Plenty of people can give your team a test and a printout. Leslie does something different with it.

As a Professional Certified Coach with more than 20 years alongside leaders, a project management professional, and a facilitator of the 6 Types of Working Genius, she pairs the model with brain science, so your team does not just learn their types, they understand why they work the way they do and how to design around it. She makes sure the insight leaves the room and shows up in how your team actually operates.

The difference is what happens after the results. A lot of assessments hand you a label and leave you there. Leslie turns yours into something your team can act on the same day, in plain language, so it changes how you work instead of becoming one more thing you did once.

"One of the sharpest executive coaches I've worked with. Her experience with Working Genius changed how I operate with others and how others work with me." Steve J.

What Change Actually Looks Like

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Here is how it often starts. One leader tried the Working Genius assessment on her own, just to see what it was about. It resonated enough that she brought Leslie in to run it for her whole team, and then began one-on-one coaching herself. Along the way, she earned a promotion, and her boss reached out to Leslie directly to say the difference was clear.

That is the pattern. Clarity for one person becomes momentum for a whole team.

"Her expertise in applying brain science gave me actionable strategies and practical tools that accelerated my development in areas I once considered weaknesses." Maria M.

Where Working Genius Leads

The 6 Types of Working Genius is the starting point. From there, Leslie builds it into a full team experience called The Collaboration Advantage, with options that range from a single intensive workshop to ongoing support over 6 or 12 months.

You can see the workshop programs in detail on the Workshops page.

Not sure where to start? That is exactly what a first conversation is for.

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What Your Team Gets Back

  • Clarity about why work stalls, and how to get it moving again.

  • Energy, because people spend more time in the work they are built for.

  • Speed, with the right people on the right stage of the work.

  • Trust, as blame gives way to understanding fit.

  • Less burnout, and more done with less effort.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • It is a model by Patrick Lencioni that identifies the six kinds of work people naturally contribute: Wonder, Invention, Discernment, Galvanizing, Enablement, and Tenacity. It is not a personality test. It shows where each person brings energy and where they tend to drain, so teams can align work to strengths and stop stalling.

  • It begins with an assessment for each team member, followed by individual debriefs and a team workshop where Leslie maps your strengths and gaps and turns them into a plan. From there you can keep it to a single intensive workshop or build in ongoing coaching over 6 or 12 months, depending on how much support your team wants.

  • Leslie pairs the Working Genius model with brain science and executive coaching, so your team understands not just their types but why they work the way they do. The result is insight your team can use immediately, delivered in a way that is clear, warm, and genuinely engaging.

Imagine the Next Big Project Going Differently

Picture it with the right people in the right seats, momentum that holds, and a team that actually enjoys the work.

That starts with one conversation. Not a hard sales pitch, a real conversation to understand your team and point you to the right first step.

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