InterWorks started out as me and a small group of friends doing IT work because we had a good time and enjoyed the challenge. As InterWorks has grown over the last 24 years, our mission has attracted more talented individuals, and the team has become increasingly diverse. Professional development and team building are important to our work, and one place we address these needs is at our annual Summit, specifically through the speaker we invite to talk to the company.

Growth and More Understanding

I met Les McKeown at the Inc. Conference several years ago. I was in awe as he gave his presentation on predictable success because he described so many of the personalities here at InterWorks to a tee. It gave me a greater appreciation for the different personality types represented in our company and how they might mesh or clash. The four personality types Les discussed were:

• The Visionary – autonomous risk taker with big ideas
• The Operator – goal-oriented finisher who get things done
• The Processor – organized implementer of structured systems
• The Synergist – brings people together for the good of the enterprise

In looking at 2019, we’d gone through an incredible amount of growth and were getting hit from all sides with exciting opportunities. That meant our teams were getting pushed to do more and more, and we were needing to find ways to become more efficient. Moving at a speed faster than we ever have, the different personality types among our team felt magnified.

Set up for Enduring Success

As we were considering what type of speaker to bring in for the 2019 Summit, I wanted to talk about the dynamics of our team and how we mesh together in the hope that by better understanding one another, we can empathize with and work better together. Les fit the bill perfectly many years ago, so we asked him to come and talk to our group. He didn’t disappoint. As a result of his talk, we’re now armed with data that helps us learn more about each other, as well as an empathy that equips us to better collaborate and support one another. This enables us to lay a firm foundation of success that will last and an authentic legacy that will endure.

Below is a Tableau dashboard put together by Mat Hughes, Grant Eisenmenger and David Duncan that highlights the different personalities within our teams. With this information, we can better understand how our teams function, what certain individuals prioritize, where their strengths lay and what our dynamics look like company-wide.

I’m excited to see what 2020 holds and how our mindset of predictable success will open up new opportunities for growth and teamwork.