Using The Working Genius to Find More Enjoyment in Work

We have all heard the adage, “Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” For many people, that is a lovely thought, but not something that seems realistic or attainable.

We may not all be able to do what we “love” as a career, but all of us can be happier if we can find work that allows us to use our natural talents and tendencies. This idea is the core of the Working Geniusⓒ assessment.

In my 20th year working in schools, and my 7th as a principal, I was not enjoying my work as much as I had in the past and asked myself if this was the path I wanted to continue on for the next 20 years. There were things I loved about being an educator and school leader, but there were starting to be too many things that I didn’t love about my job.

Right around the time I was considering changing directions, The Table Group, founded by Patrick Lencioni, author of several books on organizational health including The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and The Advantage, put out its newest assessment: the Working Geniusⓒ. As someone who has always enjoyed learning my color, enneagram, Myers-Brigg Profile, and so on, I was intrigued and took it right away.

The difference between the Working Genius and many of those other assessments is that the Working Genius is 20% personality and 80% productivity. So, it was really focused on work life. The assessment said I had the geniuses of Discernment and Enablement and it shed light on my frustrations at work in a new way.

The results explained that DEs (people like me with the geniuses of Discernment and Enablement) tend to be intuitive, empathetic, and team players. They are good at giving encouragement and assistance and using their intuition. A lightbulb went off.

A recent change in leadership had meant changes in expectations for my role. In all my previous roles I had been very hands on. Whether it was coaching and teaching students or working directly with families and teachers in my administrative positions, I had been able to directly help people. Doing so had been energizing. I loved seeing students I taught achieve and succeed and going into a classroom and seeing improvement in a teacher’s instruction following a coaching conversation we had. However, now a new structure in place at my school site called on me to be much more hands-off with faculty. The assessment results explained why I was unhappy and confirmed my instinct that I needed to pivot to a role where I could work more directly with people again.

Many assessments are interesting, but Working Genius was practical. I could put into words the value I bring to a team and what kind of work would make me happiest. The assessment also gave me my competencies – things I can do well but can drain me – and my frustrations – things I dislike doing and can rob me of joy and energy. This information was just as powerful as knowing my geniuses. Many people can be highly effective in their areas of competency and even frustration, but they will get burnt out. I saw the lack of ability to work in my geniuses, as well as the overuse of my competencies, and knew a change was needed.

So many of us get on a career path and once on that path keep trudging through, even if we are not fulfilled. We tell ourselves, “That’s why they call it work!” But work shouldn’t be miserable. And being unfulfilled at work doesn’t mean you need to totally change paths or even change jobs! We can find greater satisfaction if we are able to understand what is frustrating us and find ways to use more of our geniuses at work and get out of our frustrations. But to do that we need to know what those things are. The Working Genius helped me understand myself and how I worked better so I could start moving in the direction of more satisfaction and less frustration at work.

If you are interested in learning about your geniuses, competencies, and frustrations, find out about how to take an assessment and meet with a certified Working Genius Facilitator by emailing courtney@minerva-education.com.