13 Simple Steps: How to Run a Working Genius Workshop

Last updated: July 2026

A Working Genius workshop is a facilitated session, built on Patrick Lencioni's Six Types of Working Genius, that helps a team identify the work each person finds energising and then redesign meetings, roles and projects around those strengths. A focused session runs from two hours to a full day and follows a clear sequence: prepare, teach the model, debrief individual profiles, read the team map, and commit to change.

The reason this matters is simple. As of 2026, Gallup finds that people who use their strengths every day are six times as likely to be engaged in their job and three times as likely to report an excellent quality of life. The cost of getting it wrong is just as measurable: Gallup's State of the Global Workplace 2024 estimates that low engagement costs the global economy US$8.9 trillion, or 9% of global GDP. A workshop that puts people back into their genius is one of the fastest levers a leader has.

I am a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, certified through Patrick Lencioni's Table Group, and what follows comes from real sessions with real teams, not just the theory. If you want the model itself explained in full, including the six types, the pairings and a 90-day plan, my Working Genius implementation guide is the companion piece to this one.

This guide runs in order: Steps 1 to 6 prepare the session, Steps 7 to 10 run it, and Steps 11 to 13 apply and close it. After the steps you will find how Working Genius compares with other tools, what a certified facilitator brings, the key takeaways, and a short FAQ.

Step 1. Decide the Purpose and Desired Outcomes

Every good workshop starts with a decision about what should be different afterwards. Teams often rush into activities without agreeing why, which caps the impact before the session begins. I ask the leader to name two or three concrete outcomes, such as calmer meetings, clearer roles, or fewer stalled projects. Those outcomes become the yardstick I design every exercise against.

Step 2. Understand the Context of the Team

The same activity can land beautifully with one team and painfully with another, depending on history and timing. Before I design anything, I learn the team's pressure points, its recent wins and losses, and the tensions nobody says out loud. I talk with the leader, and where I can I gather examples of where the work feels clunky. That context is what lets me tailor the session so it creates real movement rather than a pleasant afternoon.

Step 3. Complete All Pre-Workshop Setup

Good preparation is what makes a workshop feel calm instead of chaotic. Everyone completes the Working Genius assessment beforehand, which takes about ten minutes and produces a personal report. I collect those results into a team map, send a short piece of pre-work so nobody walks in confused, and agree simple ground rules with the leader. I also raise psychological safety early, because the session asks people to talk honestly about what drains them, and that only works when the room feels safe.

Step 4. Choose the Right Workshop Length

Match the length to the outcome you agreed in Step 1. A two-hour session creates awareness and a shared language. A half-day allows real application: reflecting on profiles, reading the team map and starting to redesign one meeting or role. A full day lets a team rework how it plans and collaborates from end to end. If the goal is lasting change rather than a good introduction, give the session the time that goal actually needs.

Step 5. Prepare Yourself as the Facilitator

The facilitator matters almost as much as the content. Certification through The Table Group gives you a deeper grasp of the six types and the stages of work, access to the official materials, and the confidence to hold the room when a conversation gets honest. Beyond that, I prepare simple slides, a team map I can reveal cleanly, and a few real stories that make the model human. The aim is to teach clearly and then get out of the way so the team does the thinking.

Step 6. Build Trust Before the Session

People engage more when they know there is nothing to defend. I send a warm message ahead of time making one thing clear: there are no good or bad geniuses, only different ones, and frustrations are normal rather than failings. When people understand that the session is about building a shared language and not about labelling anyone, they arrive curious instead of guarded.

Step 7. Open the Workshop Strongly

The first few minutes set the tone for everything that follows. I welcome people sincerely, acknowledge the real pressures they walked in with, and explain exactly how the time will run so nobody feels ambushed. I share something small and honest about my own geniuses and frustrations, which signals that candour is safe here. I also connect the session to real issues the team already feels, like confusing meetings or half-finished projects, so the purpose is obvious.

Step 8. Teach the Working Genius Model Clearly

Now teach the six types and the three stages of work in plain language. The six types are Wonder, Invention, Discernment, Galvanizing, Enablement and Tenacity, and the three stages of any project are Ideation, Activation and Implementation. As Patrick Lencioni puts it, people who utilise their natural, God-given talents are much more fulfilled and successful. I keep the language simple so people see themselves in the descriptions, and I remind them these are not personality labels but descriptions of the work that gives energy.

Most teams discover they rush or skip a whole stage of work, which is exactly where frustration comes from. Mapping the team's real projects onto Ideation, Activation and Implementation gives people a shared way to see why some handoffs keep breaking. It also sets up the honest conversation in the debrief that follows.

Step 9. Debrief Individual Profiles

Give everyone quiet time to read their own report before any group discussion. I invite people to underline the sentences that ring true and note anything that surprises them. Each person has two geniuses, two competencies and two frustrations, and I make the point that a frustration is not a weakness, it simply marks where energy runs lowest. Introducing the Working Genius pairings here helps people see how their particular combination shapes the way they work.

Step 10. Reveal and Explore the Team Map

The team map is often the moment the room goes quiet, because patterns everyone half-sensed suddenly become visible. Display it so people can see how the six types are distributed across the group. Then guide the team through what the distribution means: where a genius is missing, where one or two people carry an overloaded genius, and where someone's role sits mostly in frustration work. Naming these patterns turns vague friction into something the team can actually plan around.

Step 11. Run Interactive Team Exercises

Exercises are what move a team from insight to habit. I pair people with different geniuses and ask how they can support each other, take a real project and design it across all six types, and invite each person to make a small public commitment so accountability feels shared rather than imposed. For a full set of ready-to-run activities you can use beyond the first session, my Working Genius team building activities guide gives you a toolkit. The point of every exercise is the same: practise the model on the team's actual work so it sticks.

Step 12. Apply Working Genius to Daily Work

This is where a workshop earns its keep, and meetings are the fastest place to see it. Atlassian's 2024 research across 5,000 knowledge workers found that meetings are ineffective 72% of the time, which is a staggering amount of collective time to waste. Working Genius fixes a lot of that by naming which stage a meeting belongs to and inviting the geniuses that stage needs. As organisational psychologist Steven Rogelberg puts it, when you call a meeting, you are a steward of others' time.

Beyond meetings, delegate by genius rather than by convenience, balance frustrating work so it does not all land on the same people, and respect the order of the stages when you plan. Tailor how you communicate, too: Wonder wants the why, Invention wants new ideas, Discernment wants to weigh the fit, Galvanizing wants momentum, Enablement wants clarity, and Tenacity wants a clear finish line. Small, specific shifts like these are what convert a good session into changed behaviour.

Step 13. Close the Workshop With Clarity

End by turning insight into commitments the team will actually keep. I help the group capture two or three shared takeaways, then invite each person to write one change to start, one to stop and one conversation to have. We agree where the team map will stay visible and when it will be revisited, because a map in a drawer changes nothing. For a complete structure covering the weeks and months after the session, my guide to the steps after your first workshop picks up exactly where this one ends.

How Working Genius Compares With Other Tools

Different tools answer different questions, and Working Genius is specifically about the process of work: which types of work energise or drain a person. StrengthsFinder identifies talents, but a talent is not always energising, which is the gap Working Genius fills. DISC and MBTI illuminate communication and personality, and they sit comfortably alongside Working Genius rather than competing with it. Use personality tools to understand tendencies and identity, and use Working Genius when you want immediate, practical change to meetings, roles and projects. Many teams run Working Genius first because it is the quickest route to better collaboration.

Working With a Certified Working Genius Facilitator

A certified facilitator brings structure, safety and a deep grasp of the model, which is what lets a session go somewhere real rather than staying at surface level. Certification through The Table Group ensures the concepts and tools are used correctly and delivered in a way that protects psychological safety. A good facilitator reads the room, asks the questions that open people up, and knows when to slow a reflection down rather than rush it. Having the leader take part as a team member, rather than facilitate, is often what lets the most honest conversations happen. Working Genius also pairs naturally with a broader offsite, which is why it is worth folding into a Working Genius retreat where the time allows.

Key Takeaways

• A Working Genius workshop follows a clear arc: prepare, teach the model, debrief profiles, read the team map, apply to real work, and commit to change.

• Match the length to the outcome. Two hours builds awareness; a half or full day builds application and lasting change.

• The strongest applications are practical: label meetings by stage, delegate by genius, and balance frustrating work across the team.

• Preparation and psychological safety, not slides, are what make a session land.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should a Working Genius workshop be?

It depends on the outcome you want. A two-hour session gives a team awareness and a shared language. A half-day allows people to debrief their profiles, read the team map and redesign one meeting or role. A full day lets a team rework how it plans and collaborates end to end.

Do you need to be certified to run a Working Genius workshop?

You do not strictly need certification to introduce the ideas, but certification through The Table Group gives you the official materials, a deeper grasp of the six types and stages, and the confidence to hold honest conversations safely. For a workshop that changes how a team works, that depth matters more than the slides.

How long does the Working Genius assessment take?

The assessment takes about ten minutes and produces a personal report showing each person's two geniuses, two competencies and two frustrations. Everyone should complete it before the workshop so the session can move straight into application rather than spending live time on the questionnaire.

What are the six types of Working Genius?

The six types are Wonder, Invention, Discernment, Galvanizing, Enablement and Tenacity. Wonder, Invention and Galvanizing are the disruptive geniuses that start and drive change, while Discernment, Enablement and Tenacity are the responsive geniuses that shape and finish it. A healthy team needs all six represented across its work.

How is Working Genius different from StrengthsFinder or DISC?

StrengthsFinder identifies talents and DISC explains communication style. Working Genius is narrower and more practical: it identifies which types of work energise or drain a person, then applies that to meetings, roles and projects. The tools complement each other, and many teams run Working Genius first for the fastest practical gain.

Let's Talk

If you want a certified Working Genius facilitator to run a workshop for your team, or to fold one into a leadership offsite or a virtual session, that is exactly the kind of work I love doing, so let me know at jonno@consultclarity.org.

I'm Jonno White, a Brisbane-based leadership consultant, keynote speaker and Certified Working Genius Facilitator, certified through Patrick Lencioni's Table Group, and the author of Step Up or Step Out, with more than 10,000 copies sold. I host The Leadership Conversations Podcast and work with schools, corporates and nonprofits around the world.

Next read: The Working Genius implementation guide