Acting from inner values
Physical and decision-making freedom
Working behind the scenes to improve efficiency and produce positive impact
Variety, flexibility, exploration
Harmony
YOU’RE NOT ONLY a Red; you also have strong secondary characteristics of the Green personality. And you have tested as a Color Q Introvert, which means you recharge your batteries by being alone rather than with people. Red/Green Introverts likely are reading this book only under orders or to please someone else. But this chapter provides step-by-step activities, tools, and fun experiments to try with coworkers.
Here are your greatest motivators:
Acting from inner values
Physical and decision-making freedom
Working behind the scenes to improve efficiency and produce positive impact
Variety, flexibility, exploration
Harmony
As an Introvert, you’re less productive in open offices; small, collegial teams work best for you. You focus on the well-being of other people, often forfeiting time alone to recharge. Red/Green Introverts form only 8 percent of the world’s population, but your strong inner values have shaped entire cultures.
It is the responsibility of every personality to find or create their optimal work environment. Optimal cultures differ among Color Q personality types. Strengths in one company are unneeded elsewhere. The corporate culture itself may not be dysfunctional; it’s just that, for instance, Reds hate what Golds love. Conflict, sapped strength, resentment, and feelings of defeat are symptoms of poor cultural fit and can be avoided by understanding your preferences.
The Red/Green Introvert’s most preferred work environment emphasizes:
Minimal paperwork or supervision
Attractive private work space
Supportive, courteous coworkers
Work on tangible products with immediate results
Rapport with a hands-off boss who provides flexibility and security
Immediate responses to occasional crises
If these points seem obvious, it means you’ve tested correctly. (Compare with a Gold/Blue Extrovert’s ideal environment.)
The Red/Green Introvert’s least preferred environment is characterized by:
Challenges to inner values
Emphasis on strategic long-term thinking
Micromanagement (so worker has no control over time, decisions, or privacy)
Noisy, critical, or aggressive coworkers and ongoing conflicts
Overly serious atmosphere that discourages humor and emphasizes details
One of the critical tasks of a Red/Green Introvert manager is to build one’s executive reputation or “brand.” Your brand empowers you to achieve tangible goals and increase influence, as well as the ability to market yourself externally when necessary. Brand building requires concrete actions.
To build your leadership brand, lead by example and excite people about their mission. You shine during times of change or crisis, trusting instinct, sizing up problems, and implementing solutions.
While sensitive to people, you are especially good at keeping meetings short and to the point. Go with your preference to participate in a management team or to coordinate rather than lead.
Christopher L. Dutton, Vermont Electric Power Company
Chris Dutton is a Red/Green Introvert who holds the title of president and chief executive officer of a major utility—Vermont Electric Power Company (VELCO). Previously, he held the same position at Green Mountain Power and was a practicing attorney in Canton, Ohio.
Chris has achieved his position through his creative thinking and concern for how business decisions in the utility industry impact on people. VELCO’s board chairman, Robert Clarke, says Dutton is “recognized across the state as an innovative and thoughtful leader.”
Chris started his career as a trial lawyer. He liked the work, he says, “because each case is different.” Red/Green Introverts crave challenge and nonrepetitious work, especially if they can be involved on a personal level. He further makes a positive impact on people through his volunteer work, which is substantial. He has served as director of the Chittenden County United Way as well as the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts. He is chair of the Vermont Telecommunications Authority and has served on the board of the Vermont Electric Power Company since 1997.
John Sawyer, Chon Resources
Red/Greens love tools, mastering them quickly and well. In the 1970s John Sawyer found that he was immediately able to use his company’s first computer and explain it to others. When their programmer disappeared in the middle of a project, John finished the job. Two years later he joined a software vendor. Today he provides full-time technical support for users of enterprise applications; on weekends, he is a web developer for his company, Chon Resources, specializing in WordPress, a content management system.
“I am good at troubleshooting computer problems and software issues,” says John. “I’m good at explaining technical information to nontechnical users [and] also at simplifying complex information.”
Very typical of a Red, John finds rigid deadlines stressful, which he handles by working with a local animal shelter and “interacting with my own three rescued dogs.” (Reds have deep affinity for animals.)
As to the future? “I don’t strategize much,” says John, again a classic Red response. “I just take it day by day.”
Red/Green Introverts are productive team members—fulfilling obligations, linking people with resources, and injecting fun into the workplace. You value harmony, mediate well, energize others, and ease tension with gentle humor. You want to simplify, save time, and solve real problems, not indulge in power plays. When conflict arises, you are often the team conscience.
Merely adjusting one’s vocabulary to align with another Color Q personality’s style can elicit powerful positive responses. Empathetic vs. objective analysis, theoretical vs. practical, structured vs. adaptable—these clashes fuel most workplace conflicts. Being able to “style shift” brings tangible advantages in negotiations, managing, and interviewing.
Red/Green Introverts want to hear all perspectives, ask questions, and get to the point. Developing rapport is important, but you’d rather act than talk. Your preferred vocabulary features action verbs like “move,” “motivate,” and “expedite.” Greens (with whom you share some personality traits) like abstract concepts, metaphors, and analogies, emphasizing words like “values,” “relationship,” “feel,” and “friendly.” Blues prefer theoretical jargon, statistical data, and technical terms. Golds respond to “facts,” “tradition,” “respected,” and “proven.”
Red/Green Introverts are calm, quiet listeners who focus on the present and remember details. You convince others by being straightforward and sharing personal stories. Style shifting for you means paying attention to the emotions, strategies, and rules of others. You assess your colleague’s preferred style and then emphasize similarities. When frustrated, attempt to understand the other person’s motivating anxieties and address them directly.
Certain blind spots are prevalent in Red/Green Introverts (although only some of them will apply to you):
Taking on too much, then losing interest
Investigating too many perspectives before acting
Finding logical argument difficult
Being too trusting and unwilling to challenge others
Being casual about rules, procedures, and deadlines
Finding it difficult to envision long-term consequences
The following workplace conditions can stress and fatigue Red/Green Introverts:
Bossy people who override your inner values
Pressures to make decisions while considering only long-range objectives
Too much interaction with others
Lots of routine, repetitive work, or details
Lack of privacy
Red/Green Introverts under extreme stress can become hypersensitive, confused, or unable to focus. Sometimes you’ll be self-critical; other times, blunt or moralistic. In leisure hours you may fear the worst or go into isolation because of emotional exhaustion.
The primary focus of the self-coaching Red/Green Introvert should be on how to handle challenges to inner values from a core of strength and confidence.
The Red/Green Introvert has these strengths:
Prefers immediate problems over long-term challenges
Sizes up problems and seeks pragmatic solutions
Tempers values with practicality
Operates outside procedures and can be adaptable
Decides quickly once all inputs are evaluated
Interpersonal challenges detract from productivity. Here are self-coaching strategies for your biggest challenges:
Resistance to structure, rules, and bureaucracy. You believe, rightly, in the value of pragmatic solutions and chafe when procedures override your ability to implement. Work within the system; develop allies who’ll help you accomplish your goals.
Standing tough, then backing down. When others barrage you with logic, it causes you to doubt your gut instincts. If your gut says stay put, argue with pros and cons.
Having to work in large teams or open offices. Ask to work on smaller subcommittees. Negotiate a private work space . . . you’ll never feel comfortable without one.
Rebelling against corrective feedback. Ask the challenger to be more positive; redirect your anger into some physical activity, for example, a gym workout.
Being the center of attention. Attention may make you freeze or downplay your strengths. But careers are made or broken at these moments. Role-play confident responses to avoid lost opportunities.
Having to make long-range plans or decisions. (You’ll need practice here because long-range thinking is not a Red/Green’s natural talent. Start with “if . . . then” statements; think one day, one week, one month, one year into the future. Get a Blue mentor.
When dealing with challenges, stay physically active or create new experiences to keep your batteries charged. Use long swims or marathon runs to refocus on your values. You may need to temporarily downplay helping others in order to satisfy your own needs. Prioritize your need for privacy and thought-processing time.
Timothy R. is a Renaissance man who dropped out of engineering school because he “preferred to do hard physical work at that age” and ultimately worked his way up to overseeing close to 600 workers on $80 million construction projects. A typical Red, he was energized by the pressures, crises, and hands-on work. “I loved bringing in projects on time and on cost,” he says. When a motorcycle accident laid him up for a few months, “I hated it,” he says.
Reds are driven by deeply held core values, anchoring them even as their lives seem outwardly chaotic. Tim felt very strongly that corners should not be cut just to meet deadlines and that workers should be treated fairly. Typically he would hold his tongue about offending practices until, he says, “I would just unload on my boss, making my position therefore untenable.” A classic Red/Green Introvert, Tim was often the team conscience.
But Tim’s skills were recognized, and he made good money in a series of projects. One opportunity led him to an old master carpenter, who recognized in Tim the architectural appreciation needed to work on England’s oldest buildings. “Forget construction. You should be a carpenter,” he told Tim. It didn’t pay much, but it was deeply rewarding work. Tim sourced materials in nearby forests and “basically lived in the eighteenth century doing specialized tasks with hand tools.” Performing skilled labor mostly on one’s own with a respected boss is especially fulfilling for Red/Green Introverts.
A turning point came when Tim was diagnosed with cancer and told that he might have only two years to live. “That started me thinking about what I really wanted to do with my life,” he recalls. He sold his house and started traveling. Always intrigued with making parts for vintage motorcycles, he took some machinist courses. “But there was no work in England,” so he traveled to America, where he purchased an old Indian motorcycle. Fixing it took him to the doorstep of one of the country’s premiere Indian restorers. Tim gladly apprenticed himself to another respected boss “who is good at constructive criticism.”
A typical Red/Green Introvert whose inner values have always guided him, Tim currently enjoys the ability to work mostly on his own for long periods, doing skilled physical labor. He knows he will have to move on and worries he “might have to take on a real job.” Always focused on his passions, he seems unaware that he is the envy of many office-bound peers.
A valuable part of the Color Q system lies in learning how to negotiate the Green’s marketing and people skills, the Gold’s administrative talent, and the Blue’s strategic, theoretical thinking to your advantage. Engage irritating coworkers as powerful political allies.
Greens. “My boss (a Green) tells me I have to start thinking before I act. I do think about how to achieve my goal by doing X now. But he says I have to think about future impact. That’s impossible; things change daily,” says a puzzled Roy (a Red/Green).
Greens are the most people-oriented of the four primary Color Q personalities. Their abstract, long-term visions make them seem, to you, eccentric and out of touch with reality. Reds can irritate a Green by being too focused on the present moment without concern for long-term consequences. Greens find it exasperating when you can’t verbalize your feelings, and will often do it for you. But you dismiss the nurturing stuff when a crisis is afoot. As a result, your style may seem blunt or disrespectful of the Green’s concerns. Greens won’t directly confront you, but they’ll become cold and unsupportive. Ask a Green to help you navigate the subtext that influences outcomes.
Be patient with the Green’s long-term thinking. Greens can help prevent a lot of problems, allowing you to concentrate on midcourse corrections and real crises.
Ask them how you’re perceived. Their feedback will be gentle and tactful.
Give them step-by-step directions when you need immediate action, because Greens are future-oriented, visiting the present moment only occasionally.
Factor in their values (with “if . . . then” equations) before making decisions, to ensure their political buy-in.
Assert yourself. Greens are most pleased when you share your feelings, good or bad. You may avoid asserting yourself out of concern for showing thoughtfulness. Take a risk; Greens will reward you.
Blues. “Is it not logical to stick with a strategy that took a month to develop?” says Eliza (a Blue) critically, to which Sam (a Red/Green) replies: “Is it not necessary to change course when your biggest client’s needs change?”
To a Red/Green Introvert, Blues appear to put all their formidable mental energy into creating strategies that may ignore the impact on workers and customers. Your style can irritate a Blue by focusing on people and crises rather than overall strategy. “I rough out a schedule, then adapt,” says Tim R. “I’m better at panic management.” Lack of strategy, in the Blue’s mind, must be challenged with criticism and questions. This onslaught pressures the Red/Green to argue logically. The Blue appears to judge the value of your concerns by your “inability” to apply detached logic. If overwhelmed by challenges from a Blue, do not take it personally or as a threat. It’s actually a compliment; this is how they show interest.
Be verbally short and concise.
Use “if . . . then” sentences, which are very effective.
Rehearse firm, effective responses: “Strategically, the problems I see are . . .” or “If you see customer relations as secondary, then how should we deal with account cancellations?”
Adjust your vocabulary and use theoretical jargon, statistical data, and technical terms. To prove a proposal’s worth, emphasize long-term benefits. Make the case with ingenuity, logic, and wit.
Display competence. Blues force you to be tough-minded and firm; they need to see your competence and follow-through on display.
Don’t react personally or feel intimidated by their logic. Blues are hardwired for impersonal critical thinking.
Golds. “You’re spending too much time and money at the pub with clients,” says sales manager Alex (a Gold). “I rarely close a deal anywhere else, sir. My prospects are relaxed and receptive there,” replies (Red/Green) sales rep Dirk.
Always balance your team with a Gold; you need their detail management skills. You’ll prefer Gold/Greens. Gold/Blues are another matter. More authoritarian and less patient, they view people-first styles as soft. Red/Greens can irritate all Golds by being too focused on people impact, treating accountability or budgeting as secondary. This makes Golds critical and bossy. Their communication style is much more impersonal, which can erupt into confrontation. If a Gold/Blue challenges you, provide step-by-step plans. (Create them in order to help the people who will implement them.)
To ease tensions, use words like “facts,” “tradition,” “respected,” and “proven.”
Make procedures a comfort zone so that you can “talk the talk” with Golds. Respect their need for structure and rules.
Commit several low-pressure, self-directed minutes each day to focusing on the vocabulary of business plans, investment, costs, time lines, and budgets.
Acknowledge and flatter their superior detail management capabilities, especially when they perform your detail work.
If the previously listed strategies are still missing the mark, the colleague may be an Extrovert. If so:
Respect, don’t challenge, their need to recharge their batteries by interacting with others—they need this the way you need alone time (even though it will be difficult for you to understand why they must constantly be around people and how they can enjoy noisy environments).
Ask questions; share more of yourself.
Apply your skills as a good listener—but interject verbally often.
Volunteer to handle tasks for them that require working alone. Benefit from their gratitude—and the solitude.
Recognize any coworkers in the preceding descriptions? Learn more about them by reading each Color Q personality’s overall chapter and Chapter 25, “Adjusting to the Workplace Styles of Others.”
In summary, Red/Green Introverts are quiet, spontaneous, and practical. You gravitate to fields where your sensitivity and keen powers of observation can help others. Patient, flexible, and easygoing, you have little need for control. You live in the moment and do not plan more than necessary. When problems arise, you are confident of your ability to handle them.
You can get so involved with others that you neglect your own needs. You have now pleased the person who asked you to read this book, so go reward yourself by doing something fun! Be sure to toot your own horn and let that person know you read (even though we know you just skimmed) the whole thing!