Dr. McElroy, at right, with his team at Vision Source Tifton. Photo courtesy of Dr. McElroy.
Productivity tool helps you understand your team for the biggest impact
By Ted McElroy, OD
Feb. 26, 2026
Have you ever found yourself stuck in motivating your team? It’s an area of leadership where I’ve struggled. It wears me out. I’ll admit, I’ve felt guilty about it. Not just because I was bad at it, but I thought that since I hated it, that everyone else did, too. So, I didn’t ask for help.
As I explored why I’ve felt frustrated by these kinds of tasks, I found that there are different areas where each of us really succeed and do our best. While we may be competent at a variety of tasks, there will be certain areas where each of us feel more joy vs. could do without.
Understand Your Team
This realization was an eye opener. I wanted to make sure everyone on my team is sitting at the right spot at our table. Does their workload match the areas where they are most likely to find enjoyment and succeed?
I’ve used several assessment tools with my team over the years, including DiSC and Myers‑Briggs. These tools all offer value. But the right tool for your office isn’t the fanciest one; it’s the one you understand, you believe in and you’ll use. If you don’t stand behind the system you choose, it becomes busywork and frustration instead of progress.
On my journey of exploring motivation, I found the Working Genius assessment. It has been the tool that fits my office for the past six years. We’ve used it with our existing team and anytime we bring on someone new. It’s described not as a personality test but as a productivity tool. It helps people find joy in work by showing what gives them energy and what drains them. I like that it’s simple: it takes just about 10-20 minutes, costs $25 a person and it gives results you can put to work immediately. That’s practical.
The Six Types of Working Genius
When I first learned about the Working Genius, it explained a lot about myself. Like I mentioned, I’m not great at motivating. But I have lots of ideas. I am more Wonder than I am Galvanizing.
These are the six types of genius categories this tool uses to describe people and their innate abilities.
Wonder: the question people. “Have you thought about…?” Great at starting conversations and generating ideas.
Invention: the builders of new solutions. They take an idea and sketch a new way to do it.
Discernment: the gut-check people. They sniff out what will work and what won’t.
Galvanizing: the ones who get people moving. They can make others care and take action.
Enablement: the helpers. When the team needs hands, they show up and help push things forward.
Tenacity: the finishers. They push work across the line and make sure it’s done.
THE AIRPLANE METAPHOR
Want to see how this concept works in real time? Think of Wonder up at 35,000 feet in the airplane, looking out the window and thinking big. Invention wants to change course to Portland. Discernment checks the fuel. Galvanizing rallies the crew and tells the pilots what to do. Enablement gets the trays up and the passengers ready. Tenacity lands the plane.
If any of those geniuses are missing, chaos, delay or poor decisions follow. The same is true in our practice.
HOW THE RIGHT SEAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE
Here are some real examples from my office of how the right person in the right seat can have an impact.
Department shift
Kristen was a member of our team, who had spent time at our front desk and in our billing department. However, she was feeling a bit frustrated in those spots. She took the assessment, and her geniuses were Enablement and Tenacity. In plain terms: she can’t wait to help patients, and she gets things done.
We moved her into optical as a primary role when we had an opening there. In about three months, our capture rate in optical went from under 50% to nearly 75%. She genuinely enjoyed the work, and she came to work excited. That change alone improved patient experience and added measurable revenue, and it was possible because we put her where she had energy and skill.
She did the work better, and it showed in the numbers. But, just as important, now she comes to work excited about her job.
Remodel on pause
I had a remodel on our plate for years. I got worn out by the details. From the contractor calls, color choices and cabinets, the decision-making process would overwhelm me. I had ideas, but when it became too much, I would push the project to the side.
However, Allison, my operations manager, has Tenacity and Discernment. She took ownership when I called her in to help. Once the plans were put in place, she had our remodel completed in six days. That includes putting up new walls, tearing old ones down and new flooring.
I was able to keep seeing patients. She kept the contractors moving, made the tough calls and pushed it across the line. The project didn’t drag on because it landed with someone who gets energy from getting things done.
PRACTICAL USE
Make assessments standard. We send it to new hires and current staff. It takes 20 minutes and gives immediate results.
Build a team map. Know who brings what. When a project stalls, look at the map and see which genius is missing.
Label meetings by purpose. If you call something a “brainstorm” but you really need someone to push it across the line, you’ll waste time. Say, “This is a Wonder meeting” or “This is a Tenacity meeting.”
Match roles to energy, not ego. If you hate doing something, others probably don’t. Put people where they have energy.
Assign a Tenacity owner for projects. Someone has to be the closer.
A BETTER UNDERSTANDING CAN DRIVE SUCCESS
Putting people where they have energy improves retention, reduces burnout and speeds implementation. Projects get done faster and with less friction. Patient throughput improves because the right person is in the right seat. Sometimes that directly affects revenue, as with Kristen in optical. It’s not magic; it’s alignment.
You don’t have to be good at everything. I now know that as Wonder, I don’t have to be good at Galvanizing. I no longer feel guilty. Now I hand off the things that wear me down to people who get energized by them. It’s better for them, better for the patients and better for the business.
Read more from Dr. McElroy here.
Read more on staff management here.
 |
Ted A. McElroy, OD, is the owner of Vision Source Tifton in Tifton, Ga. He is also a Working Genius certified consultant. To contact him: tmcelroy@visionsource.com. |
