Working Genius Assessment

What are you naturally wired to do? Where does leadership development start? This PowerPoint presentation created by Mark Irvine helps leaders discern and align their work energies with their natural God given talents. [Click to Download the Working Genius PPT]

Slide Deck Summary

Here's a summary of the Working Genius Assessment Introduction presentation (32 slides), created by Mark Irvin of Clarity Leadership Group, based on Patrick Lencioni's framework: Overview The deck introduces the Working Genius model — a framework for understanding what type of work naturally energizes or drains each person. The core premise is that work feels most fulfilling when you spend most of your time in tasks that align with your natural "genius." The Core Framework: 6 Types of Genius (W.I.D.G.E.T.) Each genius maps to one of three phases of how work gets done:

Ideation Phase

• Wonder – Big-picture thinking; asking "what if?" questions

• Invention – Creating systems and paths to turn ideas into reality

Activation Phase

• Discernment – Using gut instinct to refine and pressure-test ideas

• Galvanizing – Rallying and aligning people around a vision

Execution Phase

• Enabling – Supporting others and helping get work done their way

• Tenacity – Driving tasks to full completion; holding people accountable

The geniuses are also described by "elevation" — Wonder is the 30,000-foot view, down to Tenacity at ground level. The Three Categories for Each Person

• Working Geniuses (top 2) – Your sweet spot; energizes you and you do it well

• Working Competencies (middle 2) – You can do these, but they drain you over time

• Working Frustrations (bottom 2) – You're not good at these, have no passion for them, and they deplete you

How It Fits With Other Assessments The deck compares Working Genius to DiSC, Myers-Briggs, Enneagram, and EOS, noting each measures something different (IQ, EQ, personality, motivation). Working Genius specifically focuses on the type of work someone excels at. Team Application The later slides guide teams to:

• Identify where their collective geniuses and gaps are

• Understand why certain problems persist (e.g., a team low in Ideation geniuses)

• Match the right people to the right problems

• Use the model to improve job satisfaction and reduce turnover

The final slides include a team mapping template and discussion questions to help apply the framework practically.