I had the opportunity to step in and deliver a workshop last week with an Executive Leadership Team when a fellow Kolbe Certified Consultant tested with covid the day before.

The reasons for the team retreat included both a massive growth goal and team dynamics that the leader didn’t feel capable of understanding and resolving without expert support.

Using Data-Driven Insights to Diagnose People Problems

Kolbe results showed that this leader naturally dives deep into the data and establishes strategic priorities. She’s a Tree Person (Are You A Forest Person Or A Tree Person?)

 Additionally, she's not wired to improvise, to leap before she looks. She’s more cautious and doesn’t naturally lead for speed, with urgency. Most of the Leadership Team doesn't either.

The Kolbe results also showed that her expectations for herself in this role were to lead with improvising her way forward, BEFORE gathering the data and setting strategic priorities, both of which she instinctively NEEDS to be productive.

Working Against Your Natural Strengths Creates Significant Internal Strain

Working against your natural strengths is like writing with your non-dominant hand all day every day. It’s going to 1) take longer, 2) require more mental energy, and 3) your results will suffer.

With the Kentucky Derby tomorrow, I can’t help but note that’s NOT the type of trifecta that supports the productivity and outcomes you and your team need to deliver on your big goals.

Using Your Strengths To Solve Your Problems

Coaching the leader during a paired exercise, I had the chance to ask a few questions about her expectations for urgency and improvising. I wanted her to understand the stress she’s creating for herself and for her team.

The big growth goal and her passion for delivering it caused her to want to move everything the leadership team was doing more quickly than it was currently moving…and hardwired to move.

To create and maintain psychological safety, it’s essential to solve problems using your natural strengths.

For this leader, that means using her instincts to establish strategic priorities, working closely with each of her leadership team members to prioritize their projects and timing.

“Judicious Urgency”

While heightened urgency can work in short bursts, it’s not a sustainable approach for a leader and team that don’t naturally insist on urgency.

Discerning appropriate urgency, given market conditions, organization and team goals, culture, and team dynamics, is essential to leverage that urgency in a way that supports leaders and their teams.

Using a judicious approach to driving urgency, tightly focused on strategic priorities, is a valuable leadership capability. And the adjustments you may need to make are based on the natural strengths of you and your team as well as expectations for your roles.

Do You Know...How Much Stress Is Your Urgency Causing You and Your Team?

If you'd like insights into your unique creative problem-solving strengths and how our Customized Team Leadership Programs could help your team, we'd love to talk with you. You can find more information at InnovationSavvy.com or