How one company identified their ‘Simon Cowell’ character, and highlighted the additional characters they needed
Every team needs a Simon Cowell-type character, but perfect, world-class teams need other characters too.
We have been working with companies, including marketing agencies that are scaling, for over three decades.
Primarily, our work supports leaders within these businesses to build world-class teams that can support their scaling ambitions.
In this article, we will look at how we supported a group of a dozen business leaders.
They all had talent, as every team does, and one of the leaders was a ‘Simon Cowell’-type figure. During this article we will look at how we identified that, what that meant for the rest of her team, and what that means for all other scaling businesses- including yours.
A dozen business leaders in a mastermind group:
We often find that growing and scaling companies, particularly in the marketing sector but also in other industries, seek external support as they start to scale.
That might be support in the form of external consultants like our Perfect Teams business consultants, through mastermind groups, or other sources.
In this case, with a dozen business leaders, it was through a mastermind group. Each company would send a representative to a monthly meeting, usually their Managing Director, to educate themselves and their teams on various subjects that supported their growth.
The aim for every business leader in the room was to take their growing businesses, and their teams, to the next level.
An introduction from a previous client:
One topic that they wanted to focus on was the internal dynamics of their teams, and building world-class, motivated teams that could support their growth.
These are the types of companies, and leaders, that we work with on a daily and weekly basis, so our introduction to the group was not a surprise.
As a previous client, the chair of the group, who would organise speakers, trainers and coaches to educate and support the scaling ambitions of the member businesses, had first-hand experience of the Perfect Teams process.
Our founder had worked with him previously, when he was the CEO of a large marketing group, and we supported his management team to identify the talent they needed to plug gaps.
Since then, he had referred us to three other companies, and after a number of moves in his career he was now supporting this group of businesses as they sought to navigate the scaling process.
Three ways of processing information:
As we have highlighted previously, there are three ways of processing information- three ways of seeing the world, three different voices, three different brains.
The green (go) way- where the person is more direct, the blue (thinking) way- where the person is more analytical, and the red (feel) way- where the person is more focused on relationship and emotion.
Each individual, and therefore each member of your team, will process information in all three ways, but one way will be dominant for each person.
This group of business leaders was no different, and as a result each of them led their teams in different ways.
Who’s your ‘Simon Cowell’ character, and what characters are missing?
The first thing we do is help business leaders understand their own characters, the hidden talents of those within their teams, and identify the characters they need within their business.
To make these three primary ways of processing more relevant to everyday life, we present them in the form of well-known characters- from former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, to comedian Miranda Hart.
During the workshop with this mastermind group, one CEO was described as a ‘Simon Cowell’-type figure, because of her very direct approach to situations. Her dominant way of processing information was green, she was all about promotion, and going after new opportunities.
By identifying her dominant way of processing, we were able to use that as an anchor to help highlight the characters she needed around her in the business to build a balanced, world-class team.
In her case, she needed to ensure that her leadership team in particular had someone analytical (for the blue way of processing information- thinking) and someone who was more focused on emotion and relationships (for the red way of processing information- feeling).
What is your dominant way of processing information? Are you more direct? More analytical? Or more emotional and base decisions on feelings?
What does this mean for all the other business leaders in the room, and for your business?
While we supported all 12 representatives alongside this ‘Simon Cowell’-type character, her experience with our facilitator allowed each of the other businesses in the room to have a breakthrough moment.
Understanding their own dominant way of processing information- like she did- allowed each of them to identify the kinds of characters they needed to support the next phase of their scaling ambitions.
As we highlighted at the beginning of a previous article, ‘Perfect Teams start with you’ is not just a slogan.
Building world-class teams starts with the business leader knowing and understanding themselves and their dominant way of processing information.
It will be the same for you and your business.
Our founder Neil, and the team, have over thirty years of experience in executive development, and have worked with more than 6,760 business owners to unlock the potential within their teams.
What is your dominant way of processing information, and how are you building a world-class team to support your ambitions for growth?
To find out how we can help you, book into our next complimentary workshop by clicking here.
Among other things, we will identify how to get your team to love the office again.
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