Another Two Types of Team Members – The Yellow and The Red

Last post we discovered how Green and Blue personalities add to the value of a team. In this post we will take a look at the last two types: Red and Yellow. These two colors round out a truly high performance team as long as the team leader is able to understand their needs and communication preferences.

Open and Indirect   (Yellow) On the surface: Let’s be friends Usual Job: Trainer, Teacher Type: Dependable, team player Voice: Soft and gentle Dress: Casual and comfortable Weaknesses: Over-sensitive, Follower, Not Goal Oriented Dislikes: Push people, Bullies, Conflict Keywords: Team, Together, Relationships, Family
	Self-Contained and   Direct (Red) On the surface: Get out of my way! Usual Job: CEO, Attorney Type: Focused, goal oriented Voice: Forceful and volume Dress: Dress for success Weaknesses: Ego, Short-tempered, Impatient, Un-teachable Dislikes: Indecision, Chit-chat, Losing control Keywords: MONEY, Power, Get to the point, Bottom Line

In this post we will take the remaining two of the colors we discussed in the first post and go into some depth on their personality types and add the best way to communicate and work with these individuals. These next two colors are at opposite ends of the spectrum. The Yellows are Open and Indirect while the Reds are Self-Sufficient and Direct. The differences between the two are just as astounding and the Greens and Blues. Yellows and Reds will round out your team so that the success is almost always guaranteed.

Now let’s take a look at the Yellow personality. Yellows, like Greens make up 35% of the population. They are the nurturers; they are creative and are great on relationships. Yellows are right-brained but they are also logical and analytical. This means they truly operate from both sides of their brain.

Yellow really emphasize working in teams, collaboration and being friends with their co-workers. Their voice is soft and gentle and yet they are the best listeners. Yellows are very dependable to a fault and are very easy to get along with when working in teams.

Yellows are the most patient people and on a project team they will wait their turn to speak after they have listened to all sides of the discussion. Yellows can synthesize the information and let others know the results of the discussion. Yellows are among the most supportive people in any organization.

You can easily spot a Yellow as they seem to know everyone in the company, they network, get to know people and form valuable relationships. They will know everyone from the CEO right down to the person that delivers the mail to their desk. These relationships are high on the list of what is important, plus they are likely to know a great deal about each person including work, leisure and home life. If you want to know anything about a person that responsible for you project, a Yellow likely has already built that relationship and will be able to assist you with an introduction or simply be the one to do the reporting.

The downfall of a Yellow is the fact that they are usually overly sensitive and take almost everything personally. You do not want to criticize a Yellow because it will be taken to heart and they will likely not want to work with or for you again. The best way to work with a Yellow is to coach them not to take things personally but mentoring them and guiding them through various scenarios.

Yellows are generally the cornerstone of any project team and are better at following rather than leading in most circumstances. If they have a passion for what they are doing, they can certainly lead the way.

At the opposite end of the poll lies the Red personality. The Reds are the most volatile personalities as they have no patience and are often do not rely on relationships. Reds make up the final 15% of the population. Like Greens they are left brained so they drive toward logic and analytical thinking. Reds are all about control, in fact there is nothing but control on their mind.

Reds are often the most successful people in the corporate world. They are the best negotiators, have lots of energy, and they are risk takers. Reds have an over abundance of confidence, they take action and they are extremely independent.

Unfortunately on a project team, Reds are going to do what they are going to do and you will not be able to coach them. You just have to know that they do not like losing control. Reds love having decisions made and are not for much small talk. When you are around them, don’t be indecisive as you won’t even be recognized as someone worth knowing.

Reds do have weaknesses and one is their Ego. They are also very domineering, short-tempered, as well as impatient. You will not likely have any success coaching a Red on a project team. As they are very task oriented, you may be able to use their skills to keep everyone on task because they like to make sure everything is completed and the project will add to their list of successes.

Now you have an insight into the Colors of a Project Team. If you take the time to learn the different personality types, you are likely to be more successful with your projects as they tasks you assign will be better tailored to each personality type. I know for me, this has made the difference between gritting my teeth over some of the details and knowing with confidence my projects will flow much easier.