Join Alex Willis for this segment, The Takeoff, as he uncovers the ways different people around the job site think through the Four Lens Assessment. You'll be able to find out what your own personality type is as well as how that relates to the relationships you build both at work and at home.
What is one of the largest challenges frontline construction leaders share across the country?
The answer is people. Whether it involves figuring out how to motivate workers on tough jobs, solving issues that come up on-site, or aligning everyone on the same page to reach a common goal, people, are tough. Ultimately, many find themselves asking “how do I bring the best out of myself and the best out of the ones around me?”
On our first episode of No Bullshit with Alex Willis, take a deep dive into the four different personalities that every human being falls into, and how to be an effective leader to each one. Alex learned about the 4 Lenses Assessment over 10 years ago, and is sharing it with you today.
The assessments determine if a person’s blue, green, orange or gold. The concept, created from the research of the Myers Briggs’ Personality Type Indicator, is aimed at building better and stronger relationships through effective communication. To find out what color your personality is, click this link.
After tuning in, you’ll have:
On our first segment, The Takeoff, Alex goes deep on all four personalities. Starting off with how they think and the way they prefer to work, going all the way to what they like to avoid and how they’re motivated. He will also break down how each color is represented in the construction industry.
Make sure to hit play on our next segment, The Level, to find out how to reach your number one goal as head coach of your construction team.
Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts as well as the YouTube channel to watch full video episodes and be notified as soon as the show goes live.
[00:00:00] Alex: Hey, what's up guys? Alex Willis here, c e o of Leadership Surge. And I wanna personally welcome you to No Bullshit with Alex Willis, the go-to source for leadership development in the construction industry. Now, I want you to join me for the next several episodes as we dive in discussing real talk. With leadership development, understanding what happens on the [00:00:30] frontline so that ultimately you can be the best you that you can be.
[00:00:33] Alex: Now, What I mean by that is we're going to really challenge you both at work and at home so that you can become the best you that you can be stress free, understanding how to master this thing called leadership development. So I guess you're wonder why the hell should you listen to me? Well, here's the reason.
[00:00:49] Alex: My friends, number one. Former college football athlete, played football, uh, at the University of Florida. Went from walk on to scholarship athlete to team captain to winning the national championship there. So [00:01:00] I understand what it means to dedicate yourself to hard work and discipline to reach a goal, right?
[00:01:06] Alex: Uh, and not only a goal, but. The ultimate goal. You know, as I joke with a lot of people, a lot of people play sports, but few people play for championships and understand what it means to do that, right? So I pulled from that background to understand how you need to work with teams to bring people together.
[00:01:22] Alex: On top of that former football player in the nfl, played for Coach Tony Dungy with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and got a chance to understand the highest level [00:01:30] and how to get to that level, and how do you lead and be a leader of leaders, right? So, got a chance to see that. Performance as well at the highest level.
[00:01:38] Alex: Now from there, went out and started several companies had a few that were successful, one that bombed miserably in everything that could have went wrong from a leadership perspective. Guess what? The kid did it. And so I said, you know what? I can never let that happen to me again. And so therefore, the same way my friends, your master write playbooks for football, I begin to write a playbook for [00:02:00] leadership development and say, damnit, this won't happen to me again.
[00:02:02] Alex: Right. And in the process of writing that playbook, I found a phenomenal electoral contractor in Jacksonville, Florida by the name of Miller Electric, who let me cut my teeth at their company for the first time. They were having some challenges with their frontline leadership. Said, they came to me and said, Alex, listen, we have this problem with Office versus Phil.
[00:02:22] Alex: We're trying to motivate our people. We wanna try something new. Just shake some things up. We will love for you to come in and see if you can do it. So [00:02:30] check it out. I came in for about six months, worked at On the Frontline, got a chance to see what it's like to actually, um, be a helper, working, seeing how things are done to understand the ups and downs of the day-to-day frontline leader.
[00:02:46] Alex: And from that, I tell you, leadership Search was born my friends, and we constantly continue to improve to make sure we are the Swiss Army Knife for Leader. So what do I mean by that? I mean, it's the title of the show. No Bullshit. [00:03:00] We don't have time for theory. We don't have time for what ifs. No, this shit works, right?
[00:03:04] Alex: So we're gonna tell you shit that works to get your mind right, to help you cut down your stress levels so that you can be a rockstar at work as well as at home. And ultimately master this thing called leadership developed. So in this week's episode, I'm super, super excited to dive in because we're really gonna challenge you with what I hear most people talk about.
[00:03:26] Alex: Now, understand this, I get a chance to travel around the country between the [00:03:30] US and in Canada going to thousands of job sites. And the number one complaint I hear from every frontline leader, it's not the tools, my friends, because truth be told, The tools don't talk back. It's all about people. They say, Alex, how do I master people?
[00:03:45] Alex: How do I get a chance to understand how to motivate them? How to discipline them at times? Ultimately, how do I bring the best outta myself and the best out of them? Well, you're in luck today, my friends, because on this episode we're [00:04:00] diving in with what I like to say, the number one leadership tool that should be in your tool belt that you need to master if you're going to understand how to work with people.
[00:04:10] Alex: Well, today we're diving in to talk about personality and how personality is the key to your success, but oftentimes in construction, we focus on the skills and not the people, and we forget that. Everything that we build, my friends is built with people. Right. So with that being said, I wanna introduce you to, to this [00:04:30] amazing tool that I had a privilege of, uh, finding out about, about 10 years ago, right?
[00:04:35] Alex: About 10 years ago. There's something called, uh, before lens assessment. And for some reason, I don't know why, but we tried it in construction and this shit works. I mean, it is magical, my friends. Right. Well, lemme give you a little bit of background first. I found this 10 years ago. Uh, a buddy of mine, uh, is in the military and I got a chance to take a tour on base.
[00:04:57] Alex: And while on base, I got a chance to see their [00:05:00] leadership development program. They had their leaders at a certain level in the military. You have to go through what I'm about to talk to you today about. Right? They had to go through the four lens assessment. They had to understand themselves, understand other people.
[00:05:12] Alex: Uh, not only did they have it with their high ranking officials, they also really, really pushed it with those who were a part of those special forces, elite forces, right? So people like Navy Seals, Navy, uh, rangers. Those kind of elite teams under high pressure, high stress. When I saw it, I was [00:05:30] like, holy shit, we have to introduce this to construction because similar to the military, you, my friends, are under high pressure, high stress, tight deadlines to get things done, and it has to get done through people, right?
[00:05:44] Alex: And so today we're going to help you master that. So with that being said, let's jump into our first segment, the takeoff. Alright, my friends, welcome to the takeoff. So, as I said, one of the huge issues in our climate right now, construction, understanding [00:06:00] people, but also understanding this thing called diversity, equity, and inclusion.
[00:06:03] Alex: Right? So what does that mean? Well, well, it means understanding how to master the people in front of you. Regardless of who you're working with, regardless of their ethnicity, regardless of their gender, regardless of their personality, their style, you know how to get along with that person to motivate them and encourage them to be the best that they can be, right?
[00:06:21] Alex: So what have we found to help with that? As I shared with you, the four lens assessment is the foundation of that, right? [00:06:30] Outside of everything else, if you can begin to understand personality and the core of who a person is. It's money. You will begin to make your life so much easier by understanding the principles that we're gonna talk about and go from there.
[00:06:43] Alex: Right now, I love this quote by Stephen Covet. Steven says this, all of us think we see the world as it is when in reality we see the world as we are. Right? So what does that mean? Shit. Well, think about it. I tend to lead the way. I like to be led. Right. [00:07:00] I tend to teach people, communicate with them, all of those different things.
[00:07:04] Alex: I take my personality, my perspective, my way of doing it, and I just shove it on people. Not only do we do it with a personality and style from those angles, we do it with our backgrounds, with our experiences, with our perspectives. We take all of that. Experience that we have or that we like and we forcing on someone else.
[00:07:21] Alex: And then we say to ourselves, when they move slow, what the hell is wrong with them? Well, what's wrong with them is you're trying to make them, you not understanding the [00:07:30] gifts and the talents that they have to bring the best out of them. So this tool right here, the four lens assessment helps you do that.
[00:07:37] Alex: And so here's the deal. After understanding the Forland assessment, which this comes from a phenomenal company by his name of Shipley Communications, uh, which their c e o David is a phenomenal guy who understands this, and he's partnered with us in the construction industry to help make us better. Right now.
[00:07:54] Alex: After you take the assessment, what you'll begin to understand is that all of us, Alex included, We have [00:08:00] four colors in us. Four colors. Now I know you've probably heard of all kinds of assessments such as the May Briggs, uh, you've heard of, uh, all kind of personalities, you know, 16 personalities, all kind of different personality assessments.
[00:08:13] Alex: But for some reason, this is the simples. It's easy. It really sticks in with our people in construction. And I don't know about you, my friends, but Alex, former football player, hitting the head a couple times, several concussions. I need shit easy, right? Don't make my life more difficult. [00:08:30] So this makes your life simple.
[00:08:32] Alex: And so what you'll understand is there's four major colors in all of us, and what I need you to understand is this. Every last one of us. We have all four of those colors in us right now, but, but we tend to lean to one or two colors into how we live life, right? Typically, we have one or two primary colors and we're lore in the other areas because we light those better.
[00:08:56] Alex: So as we go through today, I'm gonna talk about these four colors. [00:09:00] And in this segment, the takeoff. I want you thinking about yourself. Be very, very, very selfish right now. Don't think about your team. Don't think about your family, because in order to be a phenomenal leader, I first must have self-awareness.
[00:09:12] Alex: I gotta know me first, right? So this is all about you, my friends, in this segment. Now, the first personality that I wanna jump into. It's called the blue personality type. Now this blue personality type, you know there's a game plan for this blue type. If I had to give labels to all four. So [00:09:30] before we go into the blue, let's back up for a second.
[00:09:31] Alex: Let's back up for a second. Before we go into the blue, if I had to give labels for all four personality types, uh, looking at my game plan here, the, the four personality types. Blue people are relationship driven. They're thinking about people, they're thinking about teams. That's the number one priority for them.
[00:09:47] Alex: The second color is green. Now, greens are information driven. They're always thinking about information. They tend to live in their heads. They're processing, they're thinking This is the person that's going to ask you why a thousand times, right? My gold, which [00:10:00] is the third color, the gold people. Are very process driven.
[00:10:03] Alex: They're always thinking about, okay, how do we get the job done? How are we going from point A to point B to make sure we fulfill what we promised? And last but not least, that orange personality type, the orange personality type, they're adventurous, they're wild, they're crazy. They just wanna jump in and get shit done.
[00:10:21] Alex: Right? And so when you think about it, we have relational, we have information, we have process, and we have action. Truth be told my friends, [00:10:30] when you put all four of these together on your team and begin to understand the power of all four, you become a masterful leader and shit gets done. Now the problem is oftentimes several of these clash really bad, and if you are not willing to be a mature leader, you'll find yourself fighting the personality type versus having it help you accomplish your goal together.
[00:10:54] Alex: So with that being said, let's dive into what this looks like as far as the blue personality type. So, so [00:11:00] think about blues, like I said, the label, if we had to throw a tag relation relationship, relationship team, they're what I like to call the glue that keeps every team together right Now. What do they value?
[00:11:11] Alex: Well, they value compassion, uh, harmony, integrity, personal identity and affection, right? Think about that relational people here of all the colors, this blue. They're very empathetic listeners. So, so this color right here, my friends, they're actually listening to what you say. [00:11:30] Now, if we're being honest, all the other colors, all of us other colors, we act like we're listening.
[00:11:35] Alex: Bullshit. We're really just trying to get things done, right? We're like, yeah, yeah, I hear you. Where's my damn spreadsheet? Right? We're ready to go get on with the next project. What? But this group, they, they take their time because they're people centered. This is the group that will ask you, Hey, how's your mom doing this morning?
[00:11:50] Alex: How's this? How's that? And they go from there, right? Not only, uh, are they great listeners, this group right here, they love harmony. They love being creative. They love working [00:12:00] together. Now, here's where they struggle. They tend to struggle with, uh, saying no. So at times they can struggle saying no, uh, as well as sometimes conflict.
[00:12:08] Alex: They don't like conflict. It's not that they can't do it, but oh, it drives them insane sometimes to have to do it, right? So that's very tough for this blue group. Now let's go to my next team. So, so the next team that I want you to think about is the green. The green, those who have a lead color of green.
[00:12:24] Alex: So, so understand greens, uh, are processed, I mean, are, are, are, are, are [00:12:30] information dripping. So they're always thinking about information, thinking, thinking, thinking in their head. Typically. I know greens because they all typically have the same look on their face, uh, that resting bitch face. What are you doing?
[00:12:42] Alex: I'm laughing, I'm thinking, right? They live in their, so people are always questioning them. Hey, well, What are you doing? How do you feel? What's up with this? What's up with that? And Greens will tell you, leave me the hell alone. I'm thinking right now because they're always processing, they're always analyzing now because they're always processing and analyzing.[00:13:00]
[00:13:00] Alex: Typically, they look to be skeptical. They can appear to be distant. They dislike redundancy and small talk, right? So don't go into a green person's office and hey, hey, well, hey, did you see LeBron James broke the scoring record? Dude, they, they don't have time for that. They're thinking they're, they're trying to understand what are we doing the next 3, 6, 9 months down the road, right?
[00:13:22] Alex: From a work standpoint, this green personality type, they're, they're very analytical. They want to perfect an idea and then continue [00:13:30] on. Right? Now from a leadership standpoint, they're very visionary. They're thinking futuristic. Here's where they struggled. On my friends. Typically, they have a high green personality that typically means they think with this and oftentimes not this, right?
[00:13:48] Alex: So they tend to think with their head, not their heart. Oftentimes they struggle with empathy. So when you talk about challenge, usually their arts. Nimmi is that blue group. Because blue [00:14:00] people tend to think with this over that, right? And so therefore these two can oftentimes have challenges with that.
[00:14:07] Alex: The other thing is they struggle sometimes with analysis paralysis. Because they don't wanna make a quick decision. It's go, go, go, go, go with other people and they're saying, no, no, hold, stop. Let me think about it. Let me think about it. Right? So we'll talk more in the next segment as to how the teams can work better together.
[00:14:23] Alex: But let's go to that next color. That next personality style is my gold personality type, right? So, so this gold personality [00:14:30] type and style, what are they thinking? They're process driven. They're thinking, Hey, how do we get from point A to point B? What do they value? Well, they value tradition. Value to dependability, uh, integrity, responsibility, organization.
[00:14:45] Alex: Shit. Sounds like a military commercial, right? We're looking for a few good people. That's what it sounds like. But truth be told though, this is the disciplined group that makes sure all of us stay together and that we get shit done in life. [00:15:00] I tell people all the time, without them, the world wouldn't exist.
[00:15:03] Alex: My friends, trust me. Because they make sure we stay in order, so, so what motivates them? This group is motivated by a desire to earn a place in a system, typically, of all the colors. This is the one color that assigns their name to the work that they do well, what do I mean by that? Well, oftentimes it's not just a job, it's not just a company.
[00:15:26] Alex: They take on and almost they embody the company to say, Hey, no, this is me. [00:15:30] And so therefore, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done because my name is on the line. Now, because of that, oftentimes they can appear very bossy. Uh, they seem, uh, to be assholes, just to be honest with you. Uh, because they're thinking about the work.
[00:15:44] Alex: They're thinking about the work. What do we need to get done? Who's gonna do it? So this is the group. They don't have time to tell you good, more. They're not coming into your office saying, good morning. This is the person who's coming into your office. Damnit, where's the damn spreadsheet? You told me you what happened to me five minutes ago?
[00:15:57] Alex: And then they'll walk out. Alright, so I need you to understand [00:16:00] it's nothing personal. They're just thinking, how are we gonna get this shit done? They're looking at their to-do list because typically they live by a to-do list, right? They have everything written down, checked off, and the number one way to piss this person off.
[00:16:14] Alex: It's the fuck with their time. No other way to put it, right? You show up late, they are pissed off. You throw something new on their to-do list that wasn't there originally. They are pissed off, right? Because they're process driven. They live by sketch now. Where do they [00:16:30] struggle? Well, as you can probably imagine, they struggle with flexibility.
[00:16:34] Alex: This group, uh, throw a curve ball to 'em, they are done. Right? I mean, whole day is shot because of one thing thrown in there, right? Where else do they struggle? Well, typically they have what I like to call the golden standard. And truth be told, my friends, no one else meets that standard. Right, and so therefore they find themselves quite nitpicky at times because they're always trying to push the envelope to meet that golden standard that [00:17:00] they have, and not a lot of people have it.
[00:17:02] Alex: So let's dive into the last personality, the last personality, this orange personality. I like to call these the wild crazies, right? This is like the wild, wild west. This group right here, what do they value? They value freedom. They value excitement, risk, physical stimulation. They, they like challenging competition.
[00:17:18] Alex: Trust me. They wanna win at all costs, even if it means cheating, right? For this group right here, it ain't cheating if you, if you, if you ain't trying, you ain't cheating. If you ain't trying. Whatever that's saying is they, they wanna win at all costs, right? With this right here. [00:17:30] Now, what motivates this group?
[00:17:31] Alex: Well, this group right here, they're always looking to have fun. So this is the group. They're bouncing around having a good time. Yep. They work hard, but they, in their mind, they're saying, if we're not having fun, why the hell are we doing it right now with this group? Very charismatic, very entertaining.
[00:17:46] Alex: But they can be very bold and aggressive and apt to say what's on their mind. So they'll shoot from the hill and think about it later, right? With this group right here. Now oftentimes this group can get confused with blues because they're so charismatic and so [00:18:00] entertaining. People think they care when truth be told, they really don't care.
[00:18:04] Alex: They just need you to do something for them. So if you have that orange personality type, I need you to really know you have that manipulation inside of you. So sometimes you have to dial that down to make sure you are a great teammate with your players around you. Right? So, uh, how do they work? Very unpredictable, lively, kind of all over the place at times.
[00:18:23] Alex: Uh, but, but, but hear me out. This group right here, my friends, they work well under pressure. They thrive under strength. [00:18:30] Whereas all the other colors tend to lose their cool if they don't have a plan. This color loves the fly by the seat of their pants. They love to show up with no plans because they're like, yes, I can do a my way, dammit, and here's the deal, they're damn good at it.
[00:18:45] Alex: I like to call them the MacGyvers of the team, right? From a leadership standpoint, very action oriented. They're dynamic, flexible. They love flexibility. They love just jumping in and getting it done. So with this group, Where do they struggle? Here's where they struggle. They struggle with the [00:19:00] details, dammit, right?
[00:19:01] Alex: This is the group that jumps in and thinks about it Later, they'll jump out of a plane and halfway out of the plane and realize, damn it, I don't have a parachute. What am I going to do? But here's the crazy part. If they're that damn good, then they'll figure out a way to survive even, something like that, right?
[00:19:17] Alex: So details, oftentimes they're distracted by shiny objects. This is the group squirrel. What are we doing next? What are we doing next? What are we doing next? Right? They, you have to bring them in, right? If you send 'em an email with 30 questions, they'll [00:19:30] respond back, okay? You like, damn it, dude, I sent you a damn email with 30 questions.
[00:19:34] Alex: And that's the way I meant, okay. To all of 'em, right? So understand that's kind of how they operate, right? This orange group. So I need you to think about this. So, so what are the numbers like in construction? Here's what you'll see. Typically in construction, as a breakdown, about 10% of the people you run into in construction will be in that green category.
[00:19:51] Alex: About 44% fall into that gold category. They're the largest group, 6% blues, not a lot at all. I tell people there's no [00:20:00] love in the construction industry. Right. Well, little compassion, and we'll talk about that a little later in our upcoming segments. And then the other large group is that orange group. So the two largest group, that orange and gold, they clashed really bad.
[00:20:12] Alex: The other two, that green and blue clash as well. But I need you to understand if you can begin to identify where you are first and understand what your way of life is and your way of leading is, then we can talk about how to dial it up or dial it down in the next segment [00:20:30] to really understand how to connect better with your team.
[00:20:33] Alex: So coming up in the next segment, the level we're going to dive deeper to understand not only yourself. But better understanding your team and how to really work with them well because it's good to know you. Well, truth be told, let's be honest, my friends, you can't do all the damn work by yourself. You need a damn team.
[00:20:51] Alex: Right? It's like a wide receiver saying I'm gonna throw it, catch it, and block it the same damn time. Good luck with that shit. So in our upcoming segment, be [00:21:00] level, we're gonna show you. How to really bring a team together so that you can call plays and win. All right, my friends, now that we've finished that segment, I wanna challenge you to just pause right now and go take the assessment to see where you land as far as these colors are concerned, right?
[00:21:16] Alex: I want you to just go in. The link is in the show notes. Check it out. I'll see you in the next segment.[00:21:30]