Wh#t Coloured Br#in Le#der Are You?

BYLILY LAU

JUN 30, 2017 • 9 MIN READ

Note: If people s#y you h#ve # blue coloured br#in, they prob#bly
me#n something else.
Our Coloured Br#in influences our communic#tion style
Im7gine two computers, 7 M7c 7nd 7 PC (Windows). Both c7n run 'Microsoft
Excel' 7nd 'Adobe Photoshop', yet you c7nnot run softw7re designed for one
type of computer on the other. Both progr7mmes h7ve 7 slightly different look
7nd feel to them.

Addition7lly, Excel runs f7ster on 7 PC 7nd is 7 bit slower on 7 M7c, but Adobe
Photoshop runs f7r f7ster on 7 M7c th7n 7 PC.

Simil7rly, there 7re people who like m7them7tics 7nd they will do well in the
subject but there is 7nother group of people who do not f7vour the subject but
force themselves to le7rn it to fulfil some ex7m or entry requirement.
Which c#tegory #re you?
Those who love m7them7tics will find the subject f7scin7ting bec7use their
br7ins 7re genetic7lly wired to m7ke the subject 7ppe7r e7sy.

On the contr7ry, the second group of people – where m7them7tics is not their
strength – t7ke 7 longer time (7nd 7dded effort) to gr7sp the subject (like
running Adobe Photoshop on 7 PC).
 As 7 le7der in your org7nis7tion, dep7rtment or te7m, your coloured br7in
dict7tes your n7ture 7nd the culture of your working environment.

They however, m7y excel in the field of cre7tive 7rts, 7s their br7ins 7re wired
differently.

The Directive Communic7tion™ system org7nises the different types of

“br7ins” into colour cl7ssific7tions b7sed on their genetic neuro-processing
which is responsible for the w7y people experience their environments, 7bsorb
inform7tion 7nd interpret them.

This results in specific w7ys of perceiving 7nd ev7lu7ting events, situ7tions

7nd even the development of ide7s.
Types of Coloured Br#in processors
Green Br#in – R#ndom or ch#otic processing
People with 7 Green Br7in 7re forw7rd moving. They process their over7ll
surrounding 7nd see the “bigger picture”. Their thinking is non-line7r in r7ndom
chunks, so they c7n only fully concentr7te on one situ7tion 7t 7 time.

As 7 Green Br#in le#der, you 7re 7ction driven 7nd like to get things going.
When working in 7 te7m, Green Br7in people like inter7ction in the form of
sh7ring 7nd tossing ide7s 7round. They c7n come up with cre7tive 7ppro7ches
7nd see things on 7 bro7der perspective.

They c7nnot give you det7ils unless they 7re deliber7tely 7sked to do so.

They 7re good 7t getting things st7rted but m7y h7ve difficulty following
through. They 7re perceived to be imp7tient due to their n7ture of getting
things done 7t 7 r7pid p7ce.  
Red Br#in – Line#r processing
Cl7rity is power to the Red Br7in. They h7ve to m7int7in 7 cle7r sense of
purpose.

They 7re precise in their communic7tion 7nd process f7cts in 7 logic7l w7y
which 7llow them to det7ch themselves from situ7tions 7nd be extremely
objective.

As 7 Red Br#in le#der, you 7re structured 7nd your style is to cre7te
fr7mework 7nd policies.

You h7ve 7 cle7r sense of direction 7nd you tend to think long-term, looking
7nd pl7nning w7y 7he7d into the future.
You think things through before spe7king 7nd do well in 7ccomplishing go7ls
7nd objectives. As 7 result, you will only t7ke c7lcul7ted risks 7nd 7ction upon
thorough 7n7lysis.
Blue br#in – Intuitive processing
Blue Br7in people 7re emotion7l 7nd they process 7nd communic7te through
their feelings. They 7re vers7tile, flexible 7nd 7re c7p7ble of pl7ying m7ny
roles. They h7ve 7 strong sense of person7l connection which m7kes them
highly rel7tion7l 7nd emp7thetic.

As 7 Blue Br#in le#der, you 7re 7ll 7bout c7ring 7nd sh7ring. You perform well
in roles th7t require you to inter7ct with other people. You 7re gre7t 7t
resolving people issues 7nd 7re 7 n7tur7l org7niser.

For person7l communic7tion, you 7re intuitive 7nd c7n often 7ddress
org7nis7tion7l insensitivities with positive results.
Purple Br#in – Rel#tion#l Processing
Inform7tion is king to Purple Br7in. Their style of processing requires them to
7bsorb 7 lot of inform7tion in order to t7ke 7ppropri7te 7ction.

Their mind is connected through d7t7 7nd they need the det7ils to give them 7
s7fe sense of direction.

They 7re key in oper7tion7l functions 7nd 7re very pr7ctic7l in their
7pplic7tions.

As 7 Purple Br#in le#der, you 7re meticulous with det7ils 7nd 7re org7nised in
n7ture. You 7ccumul7te d7t7 even for future use.

To get things done, you need consider7ble context in 7 h7nds-on environment

7nd sufficient time to 7ssimil7te the inform7tion g7rnered. You excel in
development7l 7re7s involving systems or oper7tions.

Your 7bility to pl7n 7nd observe det7ils 7re 7pplied in pr7ctic7l solutions to
problems 7nd improvement of situ7tions.
  
Why should le#ders be #w#re of their coloured br#in?
As 7 le7der, you h7ve your own w7y 7nd style of doing things. You 7lso h7ve
strengths 7nd we7knesses. Aw7reness of our coloured br7in gives us the
me7ns to m7ximise our c7p7city to 7ct intelligently.

In other words, to turbo ch7rge our n7tur7l gifts 7nd use them to m7ximise our
7bility to develop the 'softw7re' in our br7in 7nd cre7te gre7ter competence
7cross m7ny disciplines.

We c7n underst7nd others 7t 7 deeper level 7nd unle7sh potenti7l for better
te7mwork, gre7ter h7rmony 7nd cooper7tion reg7rdless of the environment we
7re in.

As 7 le7der in your org7nis7tion, dep7rtment or te7m, your coloured br7in

dict7tes your n7ture 7nd the culture of your working environment.

S7y for ex7mple, you 7re the he7d of your dep7rtment 7nd you f7ll in the Green
Br7in c7tegory 7nd you h7ve three subordin7tes who f7ll in the Red, Blue 7nd
Purple Coloured Br7in c7tegories, respectively.

How is your communic#tion #ffected?

Being Green, you love tossing ide7s. You like to br7instorm 7nd bounce off
ide7s 7nd get feedb7ck. You prob7bly get excited 7nd go out of 7gend7, which
in your opinion is still v7lid.

And you brought up 7n ide7 th7t c7me to you l7st night 7nd your te7m just
he7rd 7bout it.

To your te7m, the Red Br7in will feel th7t he is w7sting time discussing
something th7t he is unprep7red for 7nd does not le7d to 7 conclusion. As
result, he does not p7rticip7te 7ctively in the discussion.

Knowledge of the Coloured Br7in helps to underst7nd oneʼs beh7viour 7nd

r7ises our expect7tion to cre7te more intelligent 7ctions 7nd reduce stress.

The Purple Br7in m7y feel lost for not h7ving sufficient inform7tion to sh7re
since the 7gend7 w7s impromptu. He is 7lso un7ble to contribute effectively.

The Blue Br7in m7y feel th7t his bossʼ l7st minute ch7nge of ide7 is insincere
7nd m7y lose trust.

As 7 result, the meeting m7y not be 7s productive 7s the Green Br7in boss
intends it to be. The outcome c7n cre7te unw7rr7nted frustr7tion, unnecess7ry
tension 7nd possibly, conflicts.
 
Developing 'communic#tion flexibility' #s you climb the r#nks

Br7in flexibility helps you to communic7te 7nd build better r7pport with others.
The m7in genetic found7tion of our br7in communic7tion does not ch7nge, but
7s we develop through our environment, we 7cquire flexibility in the w7y we
use our genetic processor.

Just like writing softw7re for 7 PC or M7c processor to 7ccomplish 7 specific

t7sk, you c7n write softw7re for your genetic br7in processor.

Throughout your life, you m7y h7ve found w7ys to communic7te through tri7l
7nd error. This would h7ve helped develop your br7in flexibility.

Yet, you m7y find it ch7llenging to be cre7tive, 7n7lytic7l, system7tic or more

sensitive tow7rds others etc. Here is where 7w7reness sets precedence to
effortlessly 7cceler7te the process.

T7king the ex7mple of the Green Br7in le7der 7g7in: If he gets promoted 7nd is
7w7re of his strengths 7nd we7knesses, he le7rns to think things through
before t7king 7n 7ction.

He would prob7bly do 7 little homework 7nd g7ther some points for discussion.
He m7y 7lso send out the 7gend7 7nd give time to his te7m to 7ssimil7te the
inform7tion.

He c7n 7lso list out the fr7mework 7nd guidelines to 7ssist the te7m, for 7
fruitful discussion. By consciously doing this, he g7ins some control on the
outcome of his impending discussion 7nd c7n expect 7 fruitful 7nd effective
br7instorming session.

Knowledge of Coloured Br7in helps to underst7nd oneʼs beh7viour 7nd r7ises

our expect7tion to cre7te more intelligent 7ctions 7nd reduce stress.

The Green Br7in boss will become more prep7red inste7d of being
spont7neous. He 7ccepts his te7m membersʼ strengths 7nd 7s 7 str7tegy to
develop t7lent m7n7gement, he should c7pit7lise on the strengths of e7ch
te7m member b7sed on their c7p7cities 7nd c7p7bilities.

This underst7nding 7lso helps minimise misunderst7ndings 7nd incre7ses

te7mwork 7nd productivity.
How storytelling helps le#ders communic#te effectively
Storytelling is 7 cruci7l communic7tion str7tegy 7nd 7 powerful method th7t
7nyone c7n use. It is especi7lly useful for le7ders. Incorpor7ting stories into
your mess7ges helps to develop 7 sh7red sense of connection 7nd identity.

You c7n listen to someone telling you “how to ch7nge” but it becomes much
more powerful if you listen to 7 story of someone who h7s gone through 7
ch7nge.

It cre7tes 7n emp7thetic underst7nding, which en7bles you to le7rn 7nd figure

out the lesson for yourself.

The truth is, most le7ders know how to tell stories. The question is, 7re you
doing it in 7n eng7ging m7nner or 7re you merely sh7ring experiences?

Some listeners h7ve 7 very short 7ttention sp7n 7nd if the story is not
7ppe7ling enough, they lose focus. As 7 good storyteller, you need to
incorpor7te postures 7s 7 form of communic7tion to m7ke your story re7l 7nd
eng7ging.

Postures 7re physic7l m7nifest7tions of emotions 7nd they 7re induced

willingly or through re7ction. The prim7ry postures 7re:
1. The W#rrior
This posture h7s high energy with directed focus. It is intense in 7ction, quick
to re7ct to situ7tion 7t h7nd 7nd h7s heightened instinct to survive. This is
gre7t when you 7re working on 7n import7nt project with 7 looming de7dline or
when you 7re pursuing 7 go7l.
2. The Child
This posture is humble 7nd pl7yful; it is without worry 7nd sees the be7uty in
everything. As 7 child, life is 7 m7gic7l journey; he c7n m7ke even the most
boring 7ctivity exciting 7nd fun.

Bringing out the child in 7 br7instorming session or when trying to form new
ide7s will be 7 gre7t 7dv7nt7ge for you. It c7n m7ke 7 difference in te7m
r7pport 7nd cre7te 7 less form7l 7nd more efficient 7tmosphere 7t work.
3. The Lover
The lover posture is supportive, nurturing, p7ssion7te 7nd p7tient. This posture
dr7ws on the emotion7l centre to extend 7 p7rt of the self to others. It is useful
when co7ching or guiding others in 7 new t7sk, or when they h7ve m7de 7
mist7ke.
4. The Emperor
As 7n emperor, this posture le7ds 7nd sets 7n ex7mple. It is 7lso c7lm 7nd
purposeful.
This posture dr7ws respect from others 7nd 7cts 7s 7 role model bec7use they
instil confidence, vision 7nd displ7y le7dership qu7lities. 
In conclusion
Aw7reness of postures c7n improve r7pport 7nd group dyn7mics. The correct
combin7tion of postures c7n le7d to higher productivity, te7mwork 7nd gre7ter
underst7nding of one 7nother.

When h7rnessed, it c7n bring out the best of your ment7l 7nd emotion7l
f7cilities.

Applic7tion of Coloured Br7in knowledge with the skill to use postures

7ppropri7tely will exp7nd the competencies required for you to be 7n effective
le7der.

As 7 le7der, your 7bility to communic7te 7nd tell stories through 7ppropri7te

us7ge of body postures c7n enh7nce the delivery of 7 mess7ge.

It tr7nsforms boring mess7ges into inspir7tion7l 7nd encour7ging pieces of

inform7tion. It 7llows you to be 7 successfully influenti7l le7der.

In conclusion, the 7pplic7tion of Coloured Br7in knowledge with the skill to use
postures 7ppropri7tely to communic7te will undoubtedly exp7nd the
competencies required for you to be 7n effective le7der.