From the course: Teamwork Essentials: Stand Out as a Valuable Team Member

Self-awareness: Understand your engagement style

From the course: Teamwork Essentials: Stand Out as a Valuable Team Member

Start my 1-month free trial

Self-awareness: Understand your engagement style

“

- Ever wonder why you instantly click with some people yet butt heads with others? Turns out there's a scientific reason that has to do with how our brain is wired. Brain behavior preferences influence things like our strengths, communication style and even what we find stressful. According to brain-based models, there are four engagement profiles or preferences. As we go through the video, take some notes on how these might relate to you. These will give you insight into your inherent strengths that can make you a better team player. Here they are. We have goal-driven, task-driven, vision-driven and people-driven engagement. Typically, we prefer one or two of these. This explains why we click with certain people because we share the same preferences. A goal-driven preference reflects an analytical approach, a focus on facts and figures, on identifying goals and prioritizing efficiency. You naturally analyze data and like to seek trends. Now, if you are usually early to meetings, like to follow an agenda, love your to-do lists and enjoy planning meticulously, you might be task driven. You'll find yourself more interested in what's happening in the present. Are processes being followed, quality control and compliance. You like establishing order, maybe you're vision driven, where you enjoy driving change and taking risks, experimenting and thinking outside the box in your work. And you might catch yourself thinking about the future and about how things fit into the big picture. Or you might be just like me a people-driven relationship builder. You're team-oriented, communication focused and genuinely care about making sure everyone feels valued and respected. Thinking things like who's been impacted and how, before taking steps to solve it. So which of the four engagement styles feels most like you? Remember, we're talking about how you prefer to engage with your team, not your capabilities. Download the exercise file to dig in a little more. Then find ways to leverage your strengths with your team. Maybe volunteer for a new project where your preference sets you up for success or partner with someone whose strengths compliment yours. You can't necessarily change your brain but you can play to its strengths.

Contents