Front Lines
personnel
are radiant and friendly. Both homogeneous teams strengths, weaknesses, to be part of the consensus
They are usually positive (teams populated with interactions and approach.
and concerned with good similar shades of colour and relationships, which when In conclusion a team
human relations. They will types of people) and added to the manager’s needs all of these
approach others in a heterogeneous teams skills proves very effective in individuals to bring the all-
persuasive, democratic (teams with a mixture of the battle against important colour to their
manner. colours and behavioural shrinkage. roles and complement each
There is no right or wrong styles) can be equally In a profit protection other. It needs a red
mix for teams. It depends effective, depending on the context, it is important to motivator to drive the Loss
upon the common purpose. purpose of the team. understand the individual’s prevention agenda, it
At the extremes you will Whatever the balance, a motivation towards loss requires analytical
need Cool Blue and Fiery successful team will need to prevention (or away from it) methodology to ensure that
Red in the armed forces, adapt and adjust to provide and you begin to build the shrink strategy is
nurses and doctor teams are a balance of qualities which awareness of how to measurable and
mainly Earth Green and may at first appear mutually engage that person manageable. The team also
Cool Blue and a creative exclusive. The team will effectively. needs a creative yellow
marketing team will be need to combine a The Fiery Reds will be buzz and an empathetic HR
mainly Sunshine Yellow. disciplined approach to the concerned about shrinkage approach as so much of the
But as we said earlier, we task with an ability to deal from the bottom line point role of LP deals with people
all have a little ‘shading’ of appropriately with people’s of view and will want to and process issues because
each in all of us, although feelings. They will need to take control and make a staff may be compromised
there is a dominant balance a strong vision with difference quickly, whereas through fraudulent activity
‘default’ colour. So how clear roles and a blue will organise and or they have not followed
does one apply this to a loss responsibilities. analyse shrinkage data to procedure which has
prevention team? In a 2005 poll at The produce detailed accurate skewed the shrink figures.
Loss Prevention tends to Centre for Creative information to help fight In short the colour of the
have mainly Fiery Red at the Leadership NC, USA, an fraud and loss from a team determines the colour
top level of management overwhelming 82% of those position of strength. Earth of money coming in or
and then as you permeate polled rated the ability to Greens will focus upon the going out of the business.
down it turns Cool Blue and build relationships as the impact of shrink on the RF
Earth Green. There is a most important competency people dimension while
potential problem when the for success as a leader. Sunshine Yellows will bring Brad Gentry of ORIS
Fiery Red management Insights Discovery™ puts their creative energy to Consulting, is an Executive
struggles to run a team of into practical use for the bear on solving the problem Coach who has worked all
Earth Greens and Cool best ways to assess the team through influencing others over the world.
Blues, for example.
It is fair to say that each
person in every organisation
is unique, bringing with
them different styles, needs,
motivations and
expectations. In these
differences are great
strengths. The Insights
Discovery journey is one of
understanding these
differences. It is
fundamental as team leader
that you understand about
yourself – motivation,
expectation etc, so that you
can recognise the same
about others, and, most
importantly learn how to
combine those strengths
and build upon them to
ensure you achieve your
collective goals.
An effective team may
comprise different
personalities/colours, sets of
skills and behaviours, but
this need not be the case.
ISSUE 2 SEPTEMBER 2008 • 13
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