Our personality impacts every decision we make. Whether we decide to walk or cycle to work. Whether we take that risky shot in the last three minutes of a football game or defensively pass to a team mate. Whether we embrace the change proposals suggested in a meeting or apply the emergency brakes. Some of us may have a gung-ho approach to decision making, while others ponder meticulously over every detail. The understanding of our own risk appetite, and the awareness of how we approach decision making, including the subsequent impact on those around us, is transformative within leadership and team development coaching.
How?
For individual development
Being aware of our decision-making style allows us to take personal responsibility for our decisions and shines a light on our unique biases. If your clients have this understanding of themselves and how they’re likely to approach situations, they can:
- Be alert to the pitfalls of any impulsive, inconsistent, inflexible or over cautious tendencies
- Tune in to complementary or conflicting aspects of the risk dispositions around them
- Expose the team dynamics to encourage awareness, cohesion and team effectiveness
- Build mutual respect and maximise the diverse perspectives of individual risk dispositions
The Risk Type Compass helps us understand our approach to decision making by placing us into eight distinct Risk Types. This information can be used to increase self-awareness, identify blind-spots and raise potential performance improvements.
For team development
Consider this scenario: You have been appointed to run coaching sessions for a team that isn’t functioning effectively. You can see from the get-go that there is an obvious discord. Recently the company hired a team leader who has new ideas on how the team should work; however, the rest of the team do not see a reason to change the current processes – why fix what isn’t broken?
Resentment and complaints about the manager are rife, and there’s a clear impact on motivation and wellbeing. Tasked with the role of improving relations within this group, how can you, as a coach, mitigate these conflicts in attitude?
Firstly, by applying the Risk Type Compass tool, you can see that the manager falls into the Carefree Risk Type, whereas the rest of the team sit within Wary, Deliberate and Prudent Risk Types. What does this mean?
A Carefree Risk Type welcomes variety and values its independence and personal autonomy. Not highly disciplined, Carefree Risk Types are easily diverted to new interests, which may make them appear to lack focus. They are at their best in fast moving situations or when on a personal mission that gives them a clear purpose and sense of direction.
This contrasts with the Prudent Risk Type who favour predictability and continuity to change or variety. Such people prefer developments to be gradual and evolutionary rather than sudden or radical. Generally sceptical about new ventures, they find reassurance in sticking with what they know.
This information allows you to conduct individual feedbacks with each team member, exploring strength areas and identifying potential blind spots to support constructive development. To maximise the benefits of diverse opinions and preferences, and avoid the downfalls of ‘group-think’, each individual needs to recognise where, within their differences, their particular strengths lie, and have appropriate communication strategies in place to manage and harness differences.
Using a psychometric tool such as the Risk Type Compass gives a tangible structure and a degree of objectivity to your conversations. Our upcoming webinar will further explore the benefits of using the Risk Type Compass within your coaching, click here to find out more.
What’s your Risk Type?
Find out your Risk Type and approach to decison making by completing this complimentary version of our Risk Type Compass assessment (access code PK1QO546855).
If you’d like a free feedback session on your report, get in touch! We’d love to talk.