Rough Edges – How To Deal With Frustrating Coworker Behaviors

Rough edges can mean a lot of things depending on the context, but I’m referring to those frustrating, annoying default behaviors in your coworkers.

This guide, based on the Six Types of Working Genius framework, will help you identify and deal with your coworkers’ rough edges by applying what you know about their Working Genius pairing. It will even equip you to support any coworker whether they’ve shared their Working Genius assessment with you or not.

And, if you happen to have any of your own rough edges, this guide will help you too.

Based on my 35+ year career of working with other humans in professional settings, I’m pretty sure your coworkers would say you have some rough edges of your own.

Here’s why I say that.

Everyone Has a Working Genius Pairing and Every Pairing Has Rough Edges

When you learn the Working Genius model, you learn that every person has two types of work that bring them joy, energy, and fulfillment. They have two Working Geniuses. The combination of those two Working Geniuses is called a Working Genius Pairing.

So, you and every person you work with has a Working Genius pairing (whether you’ve taken the Working Genius Assessment and are aware of it or not).

And each of the Working Genius pairings have drawbacks that always go with the positives, as I describe in my article, Working Genius Pairings – The Official List And My Personal Perspective.

These drawbacks or negative aspects can also be called “rough edges”.

These are the things people (yes, you and I are included) naturally do because of how we’re created. But when we do them too much or at the wrong time, we can create frustration for the people we work with. This is especially true when we don’t understand why we or other people behave the way they do.

Ironically, the exact behaviors and tendencies that make us a highly valuable team member can also make us super annoying.

By identifying our own rough edges and the rough edges of our coworkers, we will become more self-aware and more aware of how to help our teammates.

We’ll perform better ourselves and help our team be more productive and effective.

That’s what this guide is designed to do so now let’s see how to use it.

How to Use This Guide

This guide is divided into three sections for each of the fifteen Six Types of Working Genius Pairing. Each section can be used by you to improve your self-awareness and increase your understanding of the people you lead or your coworkers.

You may not have all the Working Genius Pairings represented on your team so focus on the pairings that apply.

However, you’ll be an even better leader and coworker if you familiarize yourself with all 15 Working Genius Pairings and their rough edges.

Based on my experience, you’ll be surprised at how quickly you’ll recognize the behaviors or the coworkers who frustrate you – even without knowing their Working Genius pairing.

With this guide, you can empathize with them more, be frustrated by them less, and know how you can better support them.

Here’s how to use each of the three sections.

“Rough Edges to Watch Out For” Section

The “Rough Edges to Watch Out For” section will help you identify some of the default behaviors and tendencies in yourself and your coworkers related to each Working Genius pairing.

Because these behaviors come naturally, you’ll want to know how to spot them so you can exercise self-control and apply them in the most effective way at the optimal time.

You want to control your default behaviors instead of having your default behaviors control you!

“Consider Doing This” Section

When you know the rough edges behaviors that go along with your Working Genius Pairing, you can apply these tips and tricks to be the best possible team member you can be.

And, if you’re a supervisor, you can have a conversation with your direct reports to help them choose actions they want to take to avoid the negative impact of the rough edges of their Working Genius pairing too.

These ideas are based on my personal experience using the Working Genius Team Maps with my coworkers and clients and the discussions you can listen to in the Tablegroup podcasts listed below.

These suggestions are proven to work with all sorts of teams in countless types of businesses, so I encourage you to try them out to see what works best for you in your business.

“How To Help Them” Section

If you’re a leader, you’ve likely built a diverse team of individuals who aren’t cookie-cutter replicas of yourself.

You’ve got a Working Genius Team Map that allows you see how each member of your team gets the most joy, energy, and fulfillment from the type of work they do as a member of your team.

Your team is highly productive and effective as a result.

But that doesn’t mean those unique individuals don’t frustrate and annoy each other at times. That’s a natural and expected result of having a diverse team.

This section of the guide will help your team members and you respond positively to the rough edges of others. They won’t just tolerate these annoyances, but they’ll be equipped to come alongside one another to help them feel understood and appreciated.

And that positivity will result in a more humble, vulnerable, cohesive team with a deeper level of trust.

The environment you and your coworkers create together using these recommendations will boost your productivity and increase the level of satisfaction and fulfillment for all of you!

Knowing you’re going to get that kind of outcome makes you want to get to it, so let’s go!

This table of contents and the return links in each section allows you to navigate quickly to the Working Genius Pairings that are most important to you.

Table of Contents – The 15 Working Genius Pairings

1. The Creative Dreamer – Wonder and Invention (WI | IW)
2. The Contemplative Counselor – Wonder and Discernment (WD | DW)
3. The Philosophical Motivator – Wonder and Galvanizing (WG | GW)
4. The Idealistic Supporter – Wonder and Encouragement (WE | EW)
5. The Careful Implementer – Wonder and Tenacity (WT | TW)
6. The Discriminating Ideator – Invention and Discernment (ID | DI)
7. The Evangelizing Innovator – Invention and Galvanizing (IG | GI)
8. The Adaptable Designer – Invention and Enablement (IE | EI)
9. The Methodical Architect – Invention and Tenacity (IT | TI)
10. The Intuitive Activator – Discernment and Galvanizing (DG | GD)
11. The Insightful Collaborator – Discernment and Enablement (DE | ED)
12. The Judicious Accomplisher – Discernment and Tenacity (DT | TD)
13. The Enthusiastic Encourager – Galvanizing and Enablement (GE | EG)
14. The Assertive Driver – Galvanizing and Tenacity (GT | TG)
15. The Loyal Finisher – Enablement and Tenacity (ET | TE)

Now that you know how to use this guide and have an easy navigation system ready, I encourage you to explore, learn, and apply this guide with your team.

Be sure to check out the resources at the bottom of this article to help you learn more and get additional support if you need it. Click here to jump there now.

The Creative Dreamer – Wonder and Invention (WI | IW)

Rough Edges To Watch Out For

• The label “Chaos Maker” describes you well. You’re thinking about new ideas and concepts while others are looking for realism and actionability. Your notebook’s full of new ideas but few of them have ever become reality.
• You’re willing to go to any brainstorming meeting because it’s fun to you. But the idea of leaving the meeting with action items doesn’t interest you at all.
• You can come up with some pretty impractical ideas at often at the completely wrong time.

Consider Doing This

• Tell people that you aren’t always realistic or practical in your thinking and that can create chaos and stress. You might be wondering and inventing when the team needs to be finishing out the final details of a project.
• Resist the urge to throw out a new idea when the team is nearing the finish line.
• When you get a new idea during a meeting that isn’t focused on Ideation, write it down and save it to share with the group at a time when it won’t be disruptive.

How To Help Them

• If you’re having an Implementation meeting, tell them something like this before the meeting starts, “In this meeting I invited you to, I’m going to need you to leave your W outside the room. I value your big-picture questions, but we’re past that stage of the project. We need to get into practical decision making at this point.”
• Resist the urge to embrace the chaos they create if it’s not the appropriate stage of the project. Chaos can be valuable when a project starts, but in the Activation and Implementation phases, the constant churn from new ideas being suggested is disruptive and not beneficial.

Go back to Table of Contents.

The Contemplative Counselor – Wonder and Discernment (WD | DW)

Rough Edges To Watch Out For

• You question yourself regularly and can tend to be too nuanced. Your questions often slow down meetings.
• You have a tendency to value certainty over clarity. You might tend to push for more certainty when the level of clarity that’s been achieved is sufficient for the team to make progress.
• You’re uncomfortable declaring anything with certainty or landing on a specific answer, even when it’s needed. As you bounce back and forth between Wondering and Discerning, you become less certain and more stressed.

Consider Doing This

• Label your question a “W (Wonder) Question” before you ask it. Make others aware that you’re not just getting the team stuck in the weeds or changing the altitude of the meeting. You’re using your Genius intentionally.
• Learn to recognize when you’re over analyzing or over thinking. Reflect on past meetings where you felt like you slowed things down more than was productive. Doing this with a trusted colleague can help you stay objective.
• If you’re not convinced your idea is a good one, tell the team you’re “renting” not “owning” it.

How To Help Them

• Point out when you see them over-nuancing. Encourage them that they don’t have to have the one, specific, exactly-correct answer for their input to be valuable. Ask them to share what they think MIGHT be a good idea.
• When you’re in a discussion, consider which side of the decision line (between Discerning an idea and Galvanizing a group to implement it) you’re on. If it’s time to stop analyzing and considering all the possible angles and perspectives on a situation and decide, help the WD person recognize this. You can say something like, “It seems like we’ve adequately explored the nuances and I think it’s time to make a call and move on with a decision.”

Go back to Table of Contents.

The Philosophical Motivator – Wonder and Galvanizing (WG | GW)

Rough Edges To Watch Out For

• People call you impulsive – but also cautious. You jump between “I’m not sure. Maybe not…” and “Yes! Let’s go!”
• You feel caught in between pushing people and wanting to think more about the decision before taking action.
• You’ve heard yourself saying “I wonder if I should…” and before you know it you’ve already done the thing you were wondering about.
• One minute your team is waiting for you to think through a decision and the next you’re telling them to get busy.

Consider Doing This

• People call you impulsive – but also cautious. You jump between “I’m not sure. Maybe not…” and “Yes! Let’s go!”
• You feel caught in between pushing people and wanting to think more about the decision before taking action.
• You’ve heard yourself saying “I wonder if I should…” and before you know it you’ve already done the thing you were wondering about.
• One minute your team is waiting for you to think through a decision and the next you’re telling them to get busy.

How To Help Them

• Watch for times when they jump between their philosophical side and their pushing side and ask them which they feel more strongly about in the moment. This will help them to stop vacillating between the two.
• Advocate for them if you see someone misunderstanding their behaviors or devaluing their perspective. Recognize that their intentions are good even though they might seem impulsive. They will value your support.
• Try to empathize as you think about what it would be like to sometimes experience and portray a sense of impulsivity or unpredictability, as they go back and forth between passionate action and cautious reflection. 

Go back to Table of Contents.

The Idealistic Supporter – Wonder and Encouragement (WE | EW)

Rough Edges To Watch Out For

• You’re overly deferential and tend to let others make the first move. You hesitate to initiate change or push back.
• You want to help everybody and you’re always there for others. But you’re not so good at taking care of yourself. So, you can feel like you’re being taken for granted when your work and your impact is not acknowledged.
• Because you have uncommon sensitivity and depth in seeing the needs around you and a strong desire to help others, you can often get taken advantage of. And you are slow to stand up for yourself even when you want to.

Consider Doing This

• Tell your coworkers something like, “I want to help. But sometimes I don’t know how. This can make me come across like I don’t care, when I’m actually waiting to learn how to help. Please tell me how I can support you.”
• Acknowledge and share with others that you are probably going to be prone to letting people roll over you. You may need help to not let that happen. Give others permission to tell you when they see that occurring.
• Reach out to someone you trust who can remind you to take care of yourself just like you take care of others.

How To Help Them

• Assure them that you don’t want them “to be a door mat.” Remind them you value them and their contributions. They need to hear this often from the people they work with and support to stay encouraged and motivated.
• Tell them that it’s not only okay to stand up for yourself but it’s necessary for the team to have healthy relationships and be productive. Help them not be afraid to do this, because they often are.
• Invite them to give share their input when you see others with stronger personalities making it difficult for them to speak up for themselves. During a meeting say something like, “Alice, I’d like to hear what you think.”

Go back to Table of Contents.

The Careful Implementer – Wonder and Tenacity (WT | TW)

Rough Edges To Watch Out For

• You like the beginning of projects (Wonder) and the end (Tenacity) the most. So you can have internal stress as you feel the pull from the extremes of the work process. You want to focus on getting things done but then you might abruptly slow down and say, “Wait! What should we be doing with his project? Are we on the right path?”
• You might cause “altitude sickness” in meetings as you take the discussion from the highest level down to the most detailed lowest level and jump between the two. You can be both highly theoretical and highly practical.

Consider Doing This

• Acknowledge that this internal tension is hard to manage and give yourself grace to do the difficult work of managing it. If you freeze up or feel stressed, recognize the source of your angst to help you move forward.
• Ask for help in remembering that you need to set aside the T (Tenacity) while we’re doing W (Wondering) and vice versa. Invite your coworkers to encourage you apply each Genius separately, not at the same time.
• Explain to your team that they might get confused and you might get stressed because of your tendencies.

How To Help Them

• Watch for times when they seem to be experiencing and projecting angst in the midst of a project. They may be feeling an almost overwhelming need to slow down and ask questions that might alleviate potential problems. Help them address these feelings directly without judging them or causing them to feel guilty (or more guilty than they’re already feeling).
• Work with them to help them see the part of the work process they’re on in a project. Say something like, “The time for your Wondering is over. We needed it earlier but now we need your Tenacity to get this project done.”

Go back to Table of Contents.

The Discriminating Ideator – Invention and Discernment (ID | DI)

Rough Edges To Watch Out For

• You get irritated and frustrated when people don’t understand that you’ve already thought through your idea and vetted it. And your team members get annoyed when you get impatient because they need time to catch up.
• You can come across as over-confident or arrogant when others push back on your ideas. You expect them to “just get up to speed” instead of processing. You might tell them, “I know this will work so just go do it.”
• Your coworkers feel like you don’t always appreciate everything that’s required to actually get something done.

Consider Doing This

• Try to be more patient. Slow down and explain to others how you arrived at your belief that your idea is solid.
• When you present an idea that’s new to others, tell them that you’ve already thought about it extensively and vetted it. So you’re pretty confident it’s a good idea (even though they’re hearing for the very first time).
• Admit that you’re going to underestimate the work of Galvanizing, Enablement, and Tenacity because you want to jump to the end. Invite input from the team to help you see your blind spots and ask them call you out on this.

How To Help Them

• Ask them to fill you in on the steps they’ve already processed in their minds but haven’t shared with anyone else.
• Remind them that you appreciate the work they’ve done to evaluate and analyze their idea internally on their own. Tell them you would value hearing their thoughts on what alternatives they’ve considered and eliminated.
• Say something like, “I think you’re Inventing, but it sounds like you’re Galvanizing.” to help them clarify for themselves and the team where they are in the work process. This will help them see the need for others to do the Discerning work like they have.

Go back to Table of Contents.

The Evangelizing Innovator – Invention and Galvanizing (IG | GI)

Rough Edges To Watch Out For

• You seem very excited about every possibility and maybe a little “over the top” to some of your coworkers.
• You might come across as disingenuous or fake because of your constant enthusiasm. Some people’s initial reaction to you is, “There’s no way this excitement is real.” Or “This can’t be authentic.”
• Others can’t understand how your enthusiasm is so sustainable over long periods of time. Your double disruptive pairing (I and G) causes others to not always trust you at first. They can think you’re being careless or hasty.

Consider Doing This

• When you start working with someone, warn them. Say something like, “My Working Geniuses are Invention and Galvanizing so I get really excited about things. It’s genuine but it might come across as insincere or unbelievable.
• Ask your team directly for help. “Would somebody please fill in the D (Discernment) for me so I don’t jump from I (Invention) to G (Galvanizing) and miss something?”
• Recognize that vetting an idea might slow things down and that slowing you down is not always a bad thing.

How To Help Them

• Don’t let their extreme enthusiasm stop you from sharing your input. An IG needs your critique and thoughtful processing of their ideas to stop them from skipping the critical first part of the Activation stage of work.
• If you share the Working Genius of Galvanizing, resist the urge to join them in rallying the team to take action too early. Recognize the dangers of starting to sell an idea that hasn’t been fully considered and vetted by the team.
• Don’t be afraid to push back on them with your Discernment. They typically welcome the feedback because they usually know and admit they aren’t strong on Discernment so they aren’t as easily offended as an ID would be.

Go back to Table of Contents.

The Adaptable Designer – Invention and Enablement (IE | EI)

Rough Edges To Watch Out For

• Your ability to create, adapt, and stay pliable can be a gift but also a downfall when you’re too accommodating.
• You might be too quick to discard one of your ideas when it’s challenged. Instead of sticking with what might be an idea worth pursuing, you just create a new one.
• You’re quick to say something like, “You’re right. Maybe this is a bad idea.” Even when you actually believe this might be a great idea. This can lead to you feeling undervalued at times.

Consider Doing This

• Recognize that you might tend to give up on an idea too quickly. Pause when you’re tempted to just move on to offering a new idea when you encounter opposition or questioning.
• Don’t always follow your comfortable reaction of trying to please the person you’re inventing for. Learn to appreciate the tension and conflict that occurs when your ideas is being discussed. Try not to take it personally.
• Work to not be too “Adaptable” as an “Adaptable Designer”. Lean into the “Designer” part of this combination.

How To Help Them

• Encourage them to defend their ideas so you can avoid saying something like, “Why didn’t you challenge us harder on this?” later when it’s obvious an idea would have been a good one. And it’s too late to implement!
• Ask for permission to help them watch out for times when they are being too quick to accommodate others and not advocating for their own ideas. Work with them to find the words that will help them the most.
• Tell them you want positive and negative feedback on ideas. Ask them to not say something like, “That’s a great idea.” to every idea. Because you know every idea is NOT actually a good idea and you need them to say so.

Go back to Table of Contents.

The Methodical Architect – Invention and Tenacity (IT | TI)

Rough Edges To Watch Out For

• You often do things on your own without the help of others. You have an idea, and you go implement it – by yourself. You don’t see anything wrong with this because it works. As a result, you can sometimes feel isolated.
• You might be seen as not sensitive enough to the needs of others when you’re driving to get your idea implemented so quickly. You might sometimes miss the human implications of your actions.
• You tend to undervalue the steps in between Invention and Tenacity (Discernment, Galvanizing, Enablement).

Consider Doing This

• Tell people that you’re an IT so you love coming up with ideas and want to jump right to executing them yourself or expecting others to execute them. And that means you might skip important steps in the work process.
• Ask your coworkers to help slow you down and ask how your approach might be negatively impacting others.
• When you feel like shutting down your teammates who have questions about your ideas or suggestions on other alternatives, pause. Try to stay humble, curious, and open to input.

How To Help Them

• Gently remind them that their idea might not be the only good solution, and the way they think it should be executed might not be the only way to get the work done.
• Think about ways you might be able to help them recognize and consider the human factors that are always involved with mobilizing teams for action so they can better understand these aspects they don’t always see.
• Look for situations in which they might miss the nuance of a given situation or overlook human needs. Talk with them about risks you see so they can prepare themselves and avoid what could be career-damaging mistakes.

Go back to Table of Contents.

The Intuitive Activator – Discernment and Galvanizing (DG | GD)

Rough Edges To Watch Out For

• The phrase “Rarely wrong but never in doubt.” fits you perfectly.
• You’ve been accused of being cavalier or flippant about declaring what is true or good. And pushy too!
• You are sometimes perceived as dismissive and not interested in considering perspectives other than your own.
• You sometimes advocate so strongly and effectively for what you believe in your gut is the right thing to do that those who might disagree or have a different opinion are hesitant to speak up.

Consider Doing This

• Remember to value and leave room for nuance when considering options. Seek input from those who may see layers you’re missing when analyzing a problem or discussing solutions you’ve already eliminated in your mind.
• Consider what your team needs most from you at each stage of a project. Do they need your help to Discern and make a decision or to Galvanize a decision that has already been made?
• Explain how your mind works to your teammates. Invite them to challenge you if you push too hard or too early.

How To Help Them

• Leverage the Working Genius language to hold them accountable and help them perform at their best. You can say, “We both know you’re a DG and DGs tend to come across as pushy and overconfident at times. I think I see that coming out in you now. Are you seeing that too? How can I help you here?”
• Remind them of the value of curiosity when you see them getting frustrated when Wondering is happening.
• Talk with them privately about how they can sometimes be cavalier in their declarations. Explain how it makes you feel when they appear impatient or dismissive when they’re asked to consider critical and important details.

Go back to Table of Contents.

The Insightful Collaborator – Discernment and Enablement (DE | ED)

Rough Edges To Watch Out For

• Pleasing people is very important to you. You sometimes take on work others should be doing. Eventually you end up feeling overworked and unappreciated, and maybe even resentful and bitter if this continues for too long.
• Internal stressful feelings of your Discernment telling you someone’s idea might be wrong while your Enablement simultaneously doesn’t want you to be completely forthright with them because they might be offended.
• You soften criticism too much and don’t present your point of view as emphatically as you really believe it.

Consider Doing This

• Recognize that your E (Enablement) can overwhelm your D (Discernment) so even though you might see the problem, your desire to please the other person might prevent you from pointing it out to them.
• Acknowledge that while being quick to please makes you an amazing team member, it can also keep the team from being as good as it can be as a combined unit.
• Tell your teammates that you’re not good at “ruffling people’s feathers” and you feel really guilty when you do it.

How To Help Them

• Praise them when they step out of their comfort zone by speaking up when it may cause conflict or criticism.
• Ask them to give you harder, more direct criticism and position your request as an opportunity for them to express their care for you in a way that will help you even more than being too easy on you or nice.
• When they do take the courageous step of telling you a hard truth, be sure to tell them that you appreciated them sharing what they really thought and being vulnerable. Describe the positive outcome they helped you achieve. Your feedback will reinforce how they are using their Enablement by exercising their Discernment.

Go back to Table of Contents.

The Judicious Accomplisher – Discernment and Tenacity (DT | TD)

Rough Edges To Watch Out For

• You can be judgmental when others aren’t meeting your standards. And you can be even harder on yourself too.
• You have an impatience that you prefer to refer to as a “strong bias for action”. You want things done perfectly and on time. And you don’t like it when you or your coworkers can’t make that happen.
• Quickly thinking you know what to do and not allowing adequate time for others to process and think. For instance, in a planning session, you see what needs to be done and you want to stop the meeting and go do it.

Consider Doing This

• Realize that not everyone has your ability to know how to get work done and do it all the way to the end.
• Admit your tendency to be a little judgy. It is very difficult for someone else to bring this up with you when they already feel they’re being judged. Be realistic about how long it takes other people do things and be gracious.
• You have a strong sense of responsibility to finish what you say you will do. So be careful not to let your Tenacity overwhelm your Discernment. Apply your D before your T by remembering the W-I-D-G-E-T work order.

How To Help Them

• Try not to be offended or return judgment when they seem to be judgmental with you or others on the team. It’s a natural part of being a DT and “rough edge” you can help them watch out for. Try to empathize and understand.
• Offer to talk with them about the angst they tend to feel when working with others who do not share their high standards in driving for closure, or they think they might fail themselves. Help them consider whether these feelings are founded in reality and beneficial for them to hold onto or may be driven by other factors like guilt.
• Work with them to clarify expectations before you start working together. This will prevent future frustration.

Go back to Table of Contents.

The Enthusiastic Encourager – Galvanizing and Enablement (GE | EG)

Rough Edges To Watch Out For

• You’ve been described as an “over the top cheerleader”. Your instant reaction to almost every idea you’re presented with is, “Yes! Yes! You can do this!” because you’re optimistic and see the good in opportunities.
• Your power in being an Enthusiastic Encourager diminishes over time because people get used to you and think maybe you’re acting out of reflex without really thinking about the ideas you’re excited about.
• You can sometimes push for ideas you later realize you shouldn’t have promoted quite so energetically.

Consider Doing This

• Ask others to slow you down occasionally and warn them that you might just accidentally encourage them to do something unwise if you get too caught up in your own excitement. “I may encourage you right off a cliff!”
• Encourage your team to get input from others who may be less enthusiastic about their ideas. Tell them you value diversity in thinking even if the opinions of others are different than yours.
• Remind yourself that saying, “That’s a bad idea.” is just as valuable as encouragement when an idea really is bad.

How To Help Them

• Realize they might hear one of your suggestions and move immediately to telling you it’s a great idea without taking the time to consider whether it really is. They’re not being insincere. They just want to support you.
• Compare their advice with the perspectives of others. If they’re the only ones encouraging you to do something, you might want to pause before you blindly follow their rallying cry.
• Help them think through the potential negative impacts to the team and to them personally when they are too quick to affirm others or provide unwarranted praise. Explore how they might be seen as naïve or insincere.

Go back to Table of Contents.

The Assertive Driver – Galvanizing and Tenacity (GT | TG)

Rough Edges To Watch Out For

• You can be seen as impatient, pushy, and even a little domineering. You may have earned the title, “Butt Kicker.”
• You’ll blow through any obstacle in your way and you’re even comfortable ignoring social protocols from time to time when it’s required to push something through to completion.
• Your high convictions and standards are hard or almost impossible for others to live up to. And, for you too, if you’re willing to admit it.

Consider Doing This

• Acknowledge and tell others that you might seem too aggressive at times because you’re good at figuring out ways to “kick down doors” to get things done and you don’t have a lot of patience.
• Don’t get too cocky from all the praise you get. Businesses always need people like you to make projects successful so you’ve likely been encouraged to keep doing what you’re doing. Consider how your approach could leave “scorched earth” behind you and think about the impact on people.

How To Help Them

• Remind them of how valuable they are to the team. You need them to get things done even though their rough edges can create some discomfort and pain at times.
•  Be ready to get kicked in the butt when they are doing their thing. And realize you might get a kick when you don’t deserve it. Gather your courage and stand up for yourself when that happens.
• Recognize that the rough edges of a GT | TG are obvious and easy to see because their Geniuses are so disruptive. That makes them an easy target for criticism when discussing this topic. Be gentle with them.

Go back to Table of Contents.

The Loyal Finisher – Enablement and Tenacity (ET | TE)

Rough Edges To Watch Out For

• Saying Yes too quickly and overcommitting and never saying No when someone asks you for a favor.
• You never allow yourself to not finish a task you’ve agreed to do.  If you volunteer for something, you’re going to see it through to completion even if that means burning yourself out.
• You tend to pick up all the tasks that fall off other people’s to-do lists and put them on yours.
• Sacrificing your own health (and the long-term good of the team) to achieve every short-term accomplishment.

Consider Doing This

• Pay attention to what you commit to, acknowledging your tendency to overburden yourself.
• Share with people how susceptible you are to volunteering too much and taking on more tasks than you can realistically complete on your own. They can help you keep your workload at a reasonable level.
• Use this phrase to express how much you need help from others, “I have a problem with overcommitting. Would you please help me with this because I can’t seem to help myself say No.”

How To Help Them

• When they volunteer to do something, gently ask them, “Are you sure this is the right thing to say Yes to?” or “If you’re saying Yes to this, what are you saying No to?” or “What will adding this do to your stress level?”
• Proactively look for ways to show you appreciate them. ET | TEs can be crushed when their efforts are taken for granted and the impact of their work is not acknowledged.
• Recognize and avoid the temptation to think there’s nothing wrong with them saying Yes to everything because they get things done. Don’t create an environment that makes them even more susceptible to burning out.

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Learn More About The Rough Edges of Each Working Genius Pairing

If you want to learn more about the rough edges of the 15 Working Genius Pairings or the 6 Types of Working Genius productivity tool in general, here are some steps you can take.

Listen Or Watch To These Working Genius Podcast Episodes

These two podcast episodes from the Working Genius team inspired me to create this guide and I think you’ll also find them valuable.

Episode 35, “Every Pairing Has a Rough Edge” of The Working Genius Podcast will help you better understand these negative tendencies of each Working Genius pairing while also encouraging you to focus more on the advantages of your pairings and less on the drawbacks.

Episode 86, “Preemptive Vulnerability: Turning Your Quirks into Connection” of The Working Genius Podcast gives you the opportunity to listen in as Patrick and Cody explore the concept of “preemptive vulnerability”—the practice of leading with humility before you’re forced to. They reflect on how leaders can build deeper trust and connection by proactively admitting weaknesses, asking for help, and owning mistakes.

If you prefer to watch Pat and Cody, here they are.

I found this conversation so insightful that I added a dedicated page for Rough Edges to the Working Genius Team Map and Workbook I use with all my clients.

Learn The Basics of The Six Types of Working Genius Model

If you’re new to the 6 Types of Working Genius framework and don’t know your own Working Genius pairing, just go to WorkingGenius.com to learn more and take your assessment now.

And, I’m always interested in learning more about The Six Types of Working Genius model by reviewing the assessment reports of others.

If you’d like to share yours with me, I’d love to see it. And it’s simple to share your assessment results.

Click here to learn how to do share your results with me (or any other Working Genius user for that matter!)

Contact me for more help

I’m continually using the Working Genius tools and I’ve shared some of those benefits in this article: “How To Recognize The Benefits Of The 6 Types Of Working Genius Model.”

Check it out for ideas on how to apply the Working Genius pairings and model in your business! And, if you’d like more support, just shoot me a quick note (click here).

I love working with other business leaders as a Working Genius Certified Facilitator to help them use this productivity tool in their own businesses. You can read more about my work with other clients here.

If that’s something you’re interested in, let’s have a no-pressure conversation.

Since my Working Genius pairing is ED, I’m an Insightful Collaborator so I know I’ll enjoy helping you if I can!

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