If you’re a tech leader, you know the pressure of building (and sometimes rebuilding) your team. Maybe you’re hiring for growth. Maybe you’re reassigning roles after a re-org. Or maybe, like so many leaders right now, you’re having to make tough decisions about who stays when layoffs loom.
It’s tempting to focus on the obvious: technical expertise, certifications, and past project wins. And those are certainly necessary. But here’s the hard truth—teams that thrive aren’t just a collection of top-notch coders, engineers, or analysts. They’re built on something deeper: HOW people work together, not just WHAT they do.
The Secret Sauce: Team Dynamics
I’ve seen teams with the brightest technical minds stall out because of friction, misalignment, or missing pieces in how they collaborate. And I’ve seen teams make up of “average” technilca expertise outperform expectations because they gel—each person bringing something unique to the group dynamic. You know you have heard it – the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. When a group of people is truly working together as a team, that is what you get!
So, how do you look beyond the skills checklist and build the right team? I have two tools that I love to lean on. First is Patrick Lencioni’s 6 Types of Working Genius. Yes, if you know me you know I am a Lencioni fan boy so no surprise that I recommend another of his books.
The second is a behavioral assessment I use called PDP ProScan. While completing the survey takes only 10 minutes the amount of information it returns is unbelievable.
1. Patrick Lencioni's The 6 Types of Working Genius
Patrick Lencioni’s Working Genius model breaks down the work process into six distinct “geniuses”—natural gifts that each of us bring to the table:
- Wonder – Sensing potential and asking big questions (“What if…?”).
- Invention– Creating new ideas and solutions from scratch.
- Discernment – Using intuition and judgment to evaluate ideas.
- Galvanizing – Rallying people to take action and build momentum.
- Enablement – Providing support and assistance to move things forward.
- Tenacity – Pushing projects to completion and ensuring follow-through.
Here’s the catch: no one has all six. Most of us excel in two, are competent in two, and struggle with two. If your team is heavy on “Invention” but light on “Tenacity,” you might have a lot of great ideas but little follow-through. Too much “Galvanizing” with not enough “Wonder” or “Discernment,” and you risk charging ahead without a solid plan.
Action Step
Read The 6 Types of Working Genius. Then block an hour with your team to explain the model and have everyone pick their top and bottom two (or use Lenioni’s assessment). Then discuss the results as a team. Where are you stacked? Where are you thin? Use this lens when hiring, moving people around, or even making those tough calls about who to keep during a reduction. You’re not just filling seats—you’re engineering the team’s ability to move from idea to execution, again and again.
I have explained the model and just had people pick their two geniuses and their two frustrations. Once they hear the explanations, most people know where they are. But, if you want a more scientific approach, Lencioni has a website and an assessment for 25 bucks: https://www.workinggenius.com/.
And of course, if you want to go even deeper, I can jump in and share the model and do team coaching based on the results.
2. The PDP ProScan Survey: Understanding HOW Your Team Works
While the Working Genius model helps you see what energizes your team, the PDP survey digs into how people operate day-to-day—communication styles, stress triggers, and preferred work environments.
Here’s why it matters:
- A technically gifted engineer who’s a poor fit for your team’s communication style can slow everyone down.
- Someone who thrives on structure might struggle in a fast-moving, ambiguous project, while a “big picture” thinker might get bored with repetitive tasks.
Even though completing the survey takes only 10 minutes, the amount of information you get is impressive. And, as technical folks, most of us love data and graphs 🙂
The PDP survey gives you a data-driven snapshot of each person’s behavioral tendencies. It’s like having the instruction manual for your team—so you can assign roles, structure projects, and even pair up teammates in ways that play to their strengths.
Action Step
If you are interested in the PDP survey for your team, reach out to me. They survey takes about 10 minutes for each person. You can dig into the details of it here if you like: https://www.pdpglobal.com/business-executives
If we run a PDP survey for your team (or yourself), we can use the results to spot gaps, potential friction points, and hidden strengths. It is a powerful tool when you’re deciding who to hire, promote, or retain. With the results, you can factor in not just what people can do, but how they’ll contribute to the team’s overall rhythm.
Why This Matters Now: The Human Side of Hard Decisions
Let’s be real—layoffs are never easy. But when you’re forced to make those decisions, looking solely at technical skills can lead you to miss what makes your team truly effective. The people who keep teams moving forward, bridge communication gaps, or quietly enable others to shine are often the unsung heroes.
I’ve coached leaders through these crossroads. The ones who took the time to understand team dynamics—using tools like Working Genius and the PDP—came out with stronger, more resilient teams, even after tough cuts.
Systems Over Willpower: A Leadership Mindset
Building the right team isn’t a one-time event—it’s an ongoing process, like tuning an engine or optimizing a deployment pipeline. It’s about setting up systems to regularly assess, adjust, and align your team’s mix of skills and working styles.
I learned this lesson the hard way during my own transformation (100 pounds lost, not by willpower, but by building systems!). The same principle applies to leadership: sustainable results come from intentional systems, not heroic effort.
Both tools give you not only a baseline, but a powerful foundation to keep growing your team as well as your own leadership skills. Refer to them in 1-1 when you are coaching your team. Use them when problems arise. By being intentional about how your team works, you will make a team greater than the sum of its parts, and you will be seen as a strong leader.
Final Thought
Technical skills matter—but they’re just the starting point. The real magic happens when you intentionally craft a team that has the right blend of strengths, working styles, and the ability to collaborate through change.
Action Challenge
Read The 6 Types of Working Genius.
Then block an hour with your team to explain the model and have everyone pick their top and bottom two (or use Lencioni’s assessment).
Now, talk through the results as a team. Where are there gaps? Where are there clusters? How does it show up in how the team operates? What surprises you? What’s one small change you can make to improve your team’s dynamics?
If you want help running a Working Genius workshop or you want to learn more about doing the PDP assessment for your team or open role, contact me — I’d love to help you prototype the next version of your leadership.
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