Manage People by Working Genius
Give each person the structure and support their work style needs
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 96%
Managing by Working Genius starts from the premise that every employee benefits from management, including senior leaders and A-level talent. The manager learns each report's genius profile and then asks what conditions let that person perform: an inventor may value room to define the answer, while an enablement-tenacity implementer may need explicit measures, structure, and expectations. The manager still owns direction, progress awareness, feedback, and resource support; trust does not justify abdication. The method also makes the manager's gaps discussable. A leader can tell employees which forms of clarity or enablement do not come naturally and explicitly invite them to ask. Employees then become sources of management feedback rather than interpreting missing detail as indifference. The goal is macro-management that maintains accountability while adapting support to the person and the actual work.
Origin
Lencioni connected his long-standing view that all employees need management with Working Genius after seeing that an implementation-focused hire was distressed by the autonomy Lencioni himself would prefer.
Core principles
- 01Every person benefits from management, including high performers
- 02Delegation is not abdication
- 03Manage people according to what helps them perform, not what you personally prefer
- 04Effectiveness matters more than imposing one efficient management system
How to run it
- 1
Diagnose the work style
Review the employee's geniuses, competencies, and frustrations alongside the actual tasks in the role.
Pro tip Ask the employee where the profile feels accurate rather than assigning a label silently.
Watch out Do not infer the whole profile from observation when the employee can participate.
- 2
Define success together
Agree on outcomes, measures, and expectations at the level of detail the employee needs to act confidently.
Pro tip Let autonomous discerners shape the route while giving implementers concrete targets.
Watch out Your preferred level of freedom may feel like neglect to someone else.
- 3
Provide matched support
Supply the information, feedback, resources, and check-ins that compensate for the person's frustrations and exercise their geniuses.
Pro tip Focus check-ins on effectiveness and obstacles, not activity surveillance.
Watch out Trust does not remove your duty to know whether the work is going well.
- 4
Disclose your own gaps
Tell reports which management behaviors are not natural for you and invite them to request those behaviors directly.
Pro tip Frame requests for clarity as useful coaching rather than criticism.
Watch out Disclosure is not permission to leave the need unmet.
- 5
Reassess role fit
If performance remains weak, distinguish motivation and accountability problems from a role that overuses frustrations.
Pro tip Consider a lateral move before losing a strong cultural fit.
Watch out Working Genius does not excuse low effort or misconduct.
In the wild
Lencioni hired an enablement-tenacity implementer and asked him to invent his own job scope and definition of success. The employee was mortified because he wanted measurable expectations and structure. Lencioni recognized that he had offered the autonomy he personally preferred rather than the management the employee needed.
→ The mismatch clarified why managers must adapt support to the report's genius profile.
An invention-and-galvanizing founder explains that detailed enablement does not come naturally but remains part of the job. Employees are invited to ask directly when they need more clarity, and the founder agrees to treat that request as useful guidance rather than a complaint.
→ Reports gain permission to request missing support before ambiguity damages execution.
Common mistakes
Managing people like yourself
The autonomy, detail, or cadence that energizes you may distress a differently wired report. Adapt to what helps them perform.
Calling abdication trust
Senior status does not eliminate the need for direction, awareness, and feedback. At minimum, macro-manage the outcomes and support.
Using the profile as an excuse
Managers still owe necessary support even when it falls in a frustration. Name the gap, then build a reliable way to meet the need.
Is it for you?
Best for
CEOs and managers whose direct reports vary in their need for autonomy, structure, ideation, and implementation support.
Not ideal for
Leaders looking for a fixed micromanagement cadence or a substitute for clear performance standards.
From the transcript
“every person in the world benefits from management.”
“I can't manage him the way I would want to be managed. I have to manage him to to make him the best that he…”
“Your employees will be your best management coaches when you give them the language and the permission to do that.”
From the episode
Patrick Lencioni: The Genius Way to Crush Team Burnout and Unlock Peak Productivity
Patrick Lencioni