“The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that ability than for any other under the sun.” (John D Rockefeller)

An historic quote but we’d argue it’s more relevant than ever in agency life today.

As we manage the staggering pace at which artificial intelligence is impacting the creative service world, we’re also seeing another intelligence move into the spotlight – Emotional Intelligence (EQ). As fast as we seek to automate everything in sight, agency leaders must remember that EQ will be the differentiator that sits behind an increasingly AI-driven offer.

It’s EQ that sparks the understanding and creativity for a pitch winning idea.

It’s EQ that comes to the fore when handling those angry client calls or the performance conversation you’ve been avoiding.

It’s even EQ when you decide to do something different in the moment to get a new business pitch back on track and the rest of the team sits stunned because it didn’t happen in rehearsals.

In short, Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is our ability to understand ourselves and others, make decisions with empathy and build meaningful and trusted stakeholder relationships.

It’s these relationships that are central to agency success.  For example:

• Trusted advice.  As AI streamlines many routine services, agencies are leaning more on their strategic counsel to differentiate. As this trend continues, the ability to establish trusted advisor client relationships using our EQ is more important than ever.
• Leading and inspiring your team. Emotions drive people and people drive performance.  As competition for talent continues to grow, its managers and leaders who can best connect with, build trust, inspire and ultimately retain top talent who will thrive.  AI tools will not replace the human skills required to get the best from your teams – that’s EQ.  
• EQ is earned and learned, not programmed…And it boosts your team’s well-being.  EQ provides the self-awareness and regulation to build resilience, manage stress and reframe challenges – allowing us to not just withstand adversity but learn and grow from it.  The best performing agency teams demonstrate high EQ.  
• Sometimes, you’ve got to trust your gut – especially when hiring!  AI might be able to tell you a given candidate is the best fit for the job based on a set of criteria.  But when it comes to hiring decisions, how often does your gut tell you one thing while the paperwork says another – the former often proving to be correct! That’s EQ at work.

So how can you develop EQ?

The good news is that unlike our IQ (which is largely fixed), our EQ can be developed.  One of the fastest ways we’ve found to build it in agency teams is Insights Discovery — because it gives people a shared language for behaviour under pressure.

It uses a simple but powerful four colour model to increase self-awareness, deepen our understanding of others and develop the skills to adapt our interactions for maximum success.

Each colour energy reflects a set of behavioural traits. While we all have splashes of all four colour energies, what determines our behavioural and interaction preferences is how much of each energy we naturally possess.

Predominantly, we tend to display both the strengths and the potential weaknesses of our two most dominant colour energies.  The remaining two colour energies will show up occasionally but are less visible in general.

This insight is gold dust when it comes to developing our self-awareness and self-control – both essential for developing our EQ.

Helpfully, we can then use the same tool to recognise the behavioural and communication preferences of others and find ways to adapt our interactions for greater success.  The graphic below indicates how best to connect with each colour energy.

So there you have it.  One powerful tool to help boost your EQ.  Give it a try with your teams and clients.  Identify their top two colour energies.  Then employ some of the corresponding tips to enhance your interactions (think managing, motivating, pitching, influencing and so on).        

People buy people

When it comes down to it, agencies are and will remain people businesses.  It’s your people who determine how good your offer is and how good the results are.  They determine the strength and depth of your client relationships and how engaged, motivated and inspired your teams are.  AI will undoubtedly continue to change the landscape at pace but it’s our EQ that will ultimately attract, engage and retain the clients.

If you’d like to explore how to build more self-awareness and behavioural flexibility across your team, drop us a line at info@ambergroup.net.

View our latests posts

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  The Agency Edge: The Human Advantage
  Emotional Intelligence: the Agency advantage AI can’t copy “The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that… Read more: The Agency Edge: The Human Advantage
• 
  The Agency Edge: You’re the Boss
  Is there a commercial blind spot in your agency? “PR people aren’t great with numbers,” is a comment we hear a lot when working with agencies but it’s one that… Read more: The Agency Edge: You’re the Boss
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  GEO is the land-grab of 2026. PR should lead it. The talk of the PR agency world is that people are quietly switching behaviours and it’s a huge opportunity for… Read more: The Agency Edge: GEO is the new SEO
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  The Agency Edge: CREATING A GROWTH MINDSET
  Don’t sell me something, solve me something! Selling – It’s the thing most people didn’t join the creative industry to do.  Yet it’s now one of the most important capabilities… Read more: The Agency Edge: CREATING A GROWTH MINDSET
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  The Agency Edge: YOUR AI CHALLENGE
  Fast but flat: Is your agency team becoming over reliant on AI? “The team’s using AI for everything… but I can’t always see where the thinking is.” That’s the tension we’re hearing from a… Read more: The Agency Edge: YOUR AI CHALLENGE
• 
  Episode Eight: Calling all leaders – if you were a superhero, which one would you be and why?
  Part four in our Insights Discovery series where we look at how to use Discovery to build self-awareness; increase our understanding of others and develop the skills to adapt our interactions for greater success. We are looking at working with our opposite type;  why it can be both challenging and rewarding and how it can unlock a range of benefits you might not have considered!

“PR people aren’t great with numbers,” is a comment we hear a lot when working with agencies but it’s one that always mystifies us. Surely a PR consultant that is commercially aware, from account executive upwards, is a better consultant?

• Better positioned to manage and make decisions with clients by avoiding over service.
• Better positioned to advise clients because they understand their business model.
• Better positioned to make the leap from agency consultant to agency management.

It’s about commercial consequences

With agency teams working incredibly hard, the issue is that many people don’t naturally see the commercial consequences of the decisions they’re making in the moment.

• “We’ll squeeze it in” becomes overtime, stress and rushed quality.
• “Let’s keep them happy” becomes unrecoverable time.
• “We’ll do it this once” becomes the new baseline.

And it’s why commercial awareness is one of the most valuable leadership skills you can teach. Because when the team understand that every decision has a commercial implication, you get better choices – earlier.

What changes when teams get it

When people can see the commercial ripple-effect, three things usually shift fast:

1) Pushback becomes easier (and less awkward).

Because it’s no longer “I don’t want to.”

It’s “Here’s the trade-off.”

That’s a very different conversation with a client.

2) Prioritisation gets sharper.

People stop trying to do everything.

They start protecting the work that matters and flagging the work that doesn’t.

3) Capacity stops being an abstract concept.

It becomes a shared responsibility, not an ops problem.

And there’s a bonus that’s easy to overlook:

If your people understand your commercial realities, they also become more commercially useful to your clients.

Why most agencies struggle to train this (without boring everyone senseless)

Commercial training often fails because it feels like finance. Spreadsheets. Definitions. Margin lectures.

People nod. Then Monday arrives… and nothing changes. Because commercial awareness isn’t learned by being told. It’s learned by making decisions, feeling the consequences, and connecting cause and effect.

Which is exactly why we built our new agency simulation game: You’re the Boss

You’re the Boss is a fast-paced, team-based agency leadership simulation.
Think Football Manager energy but for running an agency. 

Teams make a series of decisions over several “quarters” of agency life. Choices about what type of new business to go for, staffing levels, quality and investment in your marketing, technology and staff well-being.

For every decision, the game makes the commercial consequences visible. Just like real agency life.

It’s designed for owners and leadership teams who want to create a shared commercial mindset across the agency — without turning it into a lecture.

It also runs brilliantly as an away-day game for the whole agency to establish a grounding in commercial understanding that will have a positive impact across the agency immediately. 

If you’d like a demo…

If you’d like to see how You’re the Boss works — and the kinds of “aha” moments it reliably creates — email info@ambergroup.net to book a demo or find out more.

View our latests posts

• 
  The Agency Edge: The Human Advantage
  Emotional Intelligence: the Agency advantage AI can’t copy “The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that… Read more: The Agency Edge: The Human Advantage
• 
  The Agency Edge: You’re the Boss
  Is there a commercial blind spot in your agency? “PR people aren’t great with numbers,” is a comment we hear a lot when working with agencies but it’s one that… Read more: The Agency Edge: You’re the Boss
• 
  The Agency Edge: GEO is the new SEO
  GEO is the land-grab of 2026. PR should lead it. The talk of the PR agency world is that people are quietly switching behaviours and it’s a huge opportunity for… Read more: The Agency Edge: GEO is the new SEO
• 
  The Agency Edge: CREATING A GROWTH MINDSET
  Don’t sell me something, solve me something! Selling – It’s the thing most people didn’t join the creative industry to do.  Yet it’s now one of the most important capabilities… Read more: The Agency Edge: CREATING A GROWTH MINDSET
• 
  The Agency Edge: YOUR AI CHALLENGE
  Fast but flat: Is your agency team becoming over reliant on AI? “The team’s using AI for everything… but I can’t always see where the thinking is.” That’s the tension we’re hearing from a… Read more: The Agency Edge: YOUR AI CHALLENGE
• 
  Episode Eight: Calling all leaders – if you were a superhero, which one would you be and why?
  Part four in our Insights Discovery series where we look at how to use Discovery to build self-awareness; increase our understanding of others and develop the skills to adapt our interactions for greater success. We are looking at working with our opposite type;  why it can be both challenging and rewarding and how it can unlock a range of benefits you might not have considered!

The talk of the PR agency world is that people are quietly switching behaviours and it’s a huge opportunity for the industry to take responsibility for GenAI Engine Optimisation (GEO) for their clients.

Instead of typing a query into Google, scanning results, clicking a few links and making up their own mind… more and more people are instead simply asking GenAI and accepting the first answer they see.

That “ask-and-accept” habit is spreading fast and what is Gen AI relying on for those answers? At the moment, it’s overwhelmingly earned media coverage and open, readable, third-party content. 

The big opportunity: earned coverage becomes the fuel for answers

That is a huge opportunity for PR agencies and their clients, because it shifts the value of earned media from “reach” and “reputation” to “being the material the answer is built from.”

Where AI gets its information from

So, where do agencies need to place this earned media to appear in the answers of GenAI tools like ChatGPT? It varies by platform, but studies of sources used in AI answers keep surfacing the same clusters:

• Wikipedia (baseline facts and definitions) 
• Reddit and other community Q&A (real-world opinions, experiences, use cases) 
• YouTube (especially when the content is easy to extract/understand with transcript in the description) 
• Mainstream news / wire sources (for “what’s happening?” and credibility signals). Long live the press release! 
• And the less obvious winners: comparison, review, and “best X for Y” list-style content — the stuff that helps a model answer intent-led questions quickly (including niche forums and specialist sites). 

Where AI bots may struggle to find your website

On the opposite side, it’s worth also considering where the AI bots aren’t finding its answers. Again, not universal, but very common:

• Paywalls / logins / membership gates: if a bot can’t access the text, it can’t use it.
• Bot blocking: a growing chunk of the web is actively choosing to block AI crawlers.
• JavaScript-heavy sites: if key content is rendered client-side, some crawlers may only see a thin HTML shell.

What agencies should do now…and fast to keep up with AI bots

1) Reset the scoreboard

These two client-friendly questions are a great place to start:

• For a client’s priority topics, what does GenAI currently say about us and our competitors?
• And what sources is it drawing on when it says it?

2) Build the “answer landscape” for each client

Pick the key topics that matter commercially for the client’s business (category, problems you solve, “best for…”, comparisons, pricing/value, trust/safety, implementation, ROI).
Then map:

• What questions people actually ask (not what we wish they asked)
• Which outlets, communities and creators consistently show up
• Where the client is missing — and why?

3) Rebuild earned media around “machine-readable proof”

This is the real land-grab.
It means:

• More specific stories (niche, specialist outlets, creator channels, communities)
• More evidence (examples, numbers, clarity, third-party validation)
• More formats that answer intent (“X vs Y”, “best for…”, “how to choose”, “what to avoid”)

4) Fix owned content so it’s usable by both humans and machines

Most brand content is still written like a brochure.
Reformat it into:

• Comparison pages and decision guides
• “Best for…” scenario content
• FAQ hubs that mirror customer language
• Structured pages with clean headings and quotable lines

And make sure you’re not accidentally hiding it behind technical blockers.

5) Treat video as an “answer” asset, not just brand content

Publishers are using video more and more. For clients, this means spokespeople and subject experts need to be confident in podcast/video formats and the content needs to be packaged so it can be understood and reused (clear titles, descriptions, transcripts where appropriate, strong “what it is / who it’s for / why it matters” framing). 

6) Get your team ready to deliver (this is a capability shift)

Someone in the agency needs to own GEO. They can be helping clients and their agency teams:

• Monitoring how clients appear in GenAI answers over time
• Updating media strategy and target lists to include creators + communities + specialist sources
• Coaching clients on content formats that win in an answer-first world
• Light governance for accuracy and corrections (because AI summaries can be confidently wrong!) 

The Agency Edge view

This is a rare moment for PR agencies to lead the creative services world.

The rulebook is changing, the measurement is shifting. If you get your clients visible inside Gen AI answers now, you’ll be hard to dislodge later.

And if you’d like a practical way to kick-start it, we’ve created GEO Training For Agencies at The Amber Group — designed to help agency teams get their people ready to deliver.

View our latests posts

• 
  The Agency Edge: The Human Advantage
  Emotional Intelligence: the Agency advantage AI can’t copy “The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that… Read more: The Agency Edge: The Human Advantage
• 
  The Agency Edge: You’re the Boss
  Is there a commercial blind spot in your agency? “PR people aren’t great with numbers,” is a comment we hear a lot when working with agencies but it’s one that… Read more: The Agency Edge: You’re the Boss
• 
  The Agency Edge: GEO is the new SEO
  GEO is the land-grab of 2026. PR should lead it. The talk of the PR agency world is that people are quietly switching behaviours and it’s a huge opportunity for… Read more: The Agency Edge: GEO is the new SEO
• 
  The Agency Edge: CREATING A GROWTH MINDSET
  Don’t sell me something, solve me something! Selling – It’s the thing most people didn’t join the creative industry to do.  Yet it’s now one of the most important capabilities… Read more: The Agency Edge: CREATING A GROWTH MINDSET
• 
  The Agency Edge: YOUR AI CHALLENGE
  Fast but flat: Is your agency team becoming over reliant on AI? “The team’s using AI for everything… but I can’t always see where the thinking is.” That’s the tension we’re hearing from a… Read more: The Agency Edge: YOUR AI CHALLENGE
• 
  Episode Eight: Calling all leaders – if you were a superhero, which one would you be and why?
  Part four in our Insights Discovery series where we look at how to use Discovery to build self-awareness; increase our understanding of others and develop the skills to adapt our interactions for greater success. We are looking at working with our opposite type;  why it can be both challenging and rewarding and how it can unlock a range of benefits you might not have considered!

Selling – It’s the thing most people didn’t join the creative industry to do.  Yet it’s now one of the most important capabilities an agency can build.  But here’s the twist: the agencies that are growing fastest aren’t “selling” in the old-school sense.  They’re ‘solving’.  They’re spotting opportunities early, shaping client thinking and guiding budgets before someone else gets there first.  And it isn’t by chance.  There’s a method to it.

The only constant is change.

The ability to sell to clients confidently and consultatively has never been more important. There’s the steady shift away from retainers to project-based relationships. More projects mean more selling. Competition is also fiercer. More people trying to steal your lunch expedites the need to unlock opportunities and secure budgets before someone else does. And then there’s the AI factor. With the prospect of many agency tasks being automated, the need to sell-in and charge for higher value work is only going to intensify.

“My team are great at delivery, I just wish they’d sell more!”

If you’ve ever said this, you’re in good company.  Your Account Managers and Account Directors are perfectly placed to spot organic growth opportunities. They hear client frustrations first, understand stakeholder dynamics and see where communication can move the needle.  But they often don’t act—and it’s rarely laziness. It’s usually down to a combination of reasons:

• They don’t see it as part of their role, delivery feels like the priority.
• They see selling as confrontational and don’t want to jeopardise client trust.
• They don’t feel personally motivated – selling equals more work, not more reward.
• They lack the skills and confidence or are simply unsure where to start.

This creates a huge missed opportunity.  The growth potential sitting quietly inside existing relationships.

Five steps that create a selling culture

After decades training and coaching creative agencies, we see five levers that consistently transform teams from “reluctant sellers” into confident growth drivers:

1. Mindset – This is where the shift begins. 

Selling shouldn’t be viewed negatively—it’s about providing solutions. Creative agencies deliver significant value to clients that often far exceeds their fees. By re-framing selling as helping clients solve challenges and realise value, teams start to move past psychological barriers.

2. Motivation – People sell more when there’s something in it for them. 

People are different, so make organic growth meaningful by linking it to as many personal motivators as possible.  This includes extrinsic factors such as performance objectives, promotion and bonuses as well as intrinsic factors such as recognition programmes, shout outs and awards.  When growth is aligned with personal motivations, behaviour changes fast.

3. Knowledge – Teams will only sell what they understand.

Give everyone a simple, accessible overview of what the agency offers and why clients would buy those services.  This doesn’t mean everyone becomes a technical expert. It means everyone becomes confident enough to ask the right questions, spot opportunities and open the door.

4. Skills – Every interaction is a sales opportunity

Consultative selling is a skill and a learnable one.  We train a lot of agency teams in this area and one tool that particularly resonates is S.P.I.N.  No, not the PR type.  We’re talking about a well proven consultative selling methodology consisting of four steps:

• Situation – Use good, open questions to establish facts about the client’s situation and identify potential problems or opportunities.  ‘How’s business,’ is always a good place to start!
• Problem – Focus the client on a specific problem or opportunity arising from the conversation that your product or service can address.  For example, regularly losing out to a competitor in a particular market.
• Implication – Don’t jump straight to a solution.  Instead, help the client explore the impact of not solving the problem or not capitalising on the opportunity.  Missed revenue, lost market share, slower growth, internal friction and so on. This creates urgency and tangibility.
• Need – You have now created a need for YOUR solution, which capitalises on the opportunity or solves the problem.    

When teams are properly trained to unlock opportunities, they stop “pitching” and start consulting – growth then becomes more natural.

5. Measurement – What gets measured gets managed.

Set targets that are realistic, motivating and meaningful.  Coach people along the way.  Celebrate wins, no matter the size.  You’ll start to see confidence turn into momentum and momentum into revenue.

Organic is best…

While winning new (transitional) business is important, organic growth opportunities can be quicker and easier to convert and hence more profitable.  Some people in your team will take to selling naturally. Others will take a little coaching.  But when you embed these five steps you create a culture where consultative selling becomes second nature.  Your agency stops waiting for briefs and starts shaping them. 

If you’d like help establishing a sales culture across your team or perhaps a consultative selling workshop that gives your people the tools, structure and confidence to sell, do get in touch. We’d love to support your next stage of growth.

View our latests posts

• 
  The Agency Edge: The Human Advantage
  Emotional Intelligence: the Agency advantage AI can’t copy “The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that… Read more: The Agency Edge: The Human Advantage
• 
  The Agency Edge: You’re the Boss
  Is there a commercial blind spot in your agency? “PR people aren’t great with numbers,” is a comment we hear a lot when working with agencies but it’s one that… Read more: The Agency Edge: You’re the Boss
• 
  The Agency Edge: GEO is the new SEO
  GEO is the land-grab of 2026. PR should lead it. The talk of the PR agency world is that people are quietly switching behaviours and it’s a huge opportunity for… Read more: The Agency Edge: GEO is the new SEO
• 
  The Agency Edge: CREATING A GROWTH MINDSET
  Don’t sell me something, solve me something! Selling – It’s the thing most people didn’t join the creative industry to do.  Yet it’s now one of the most important capabilities… Read more: The Agency Edge: CREATING A GROWTH MINDSET
• 
  The Agency Edge: YOUR AI CHALLENGE
  Fast but flat: Is your agency team becoming over reliant on AI? “The team’s using AI for everything… but I can’t always see where the thinking is.” That’s the tension we’re hearing from a… Read more: The Agency Edge: YOUR AI CHALLENGE
• 
  Episode Eight: Calling all leaders – if you were a superhero, which one would you be and why?
  Part four in our Insights Discovery series where we look at how to use Discovery to build self-awareness; increase our understanding of others and develop the skills to adapt our interactions for greater success. We are looking at working with our opposite type;  why it can be both challenging and rewarding and how it can unlock a range of benefits you might not have considered!

“The team’s using AI for everything… but I can’t always see where the thinking is.”
 
That’s the tension we’re hearing from a lot of agency leaders right now. 
 
Six months ago, the question was, “Should we tell clients we’re using AI?” Now, everyone’s using it. It’s in brainstorms. It’s in research. It’s in first drafts. It’s in the templates your teams are quietly building for themselves. And that’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s essential. The risk isn’t that AI is in the work but that your people start to remove their thinking from the work.

When speed quietly squeezes out judgement

Under pressure, AI feels like a gift. Short deadline. Tricky brief. Tuesday afternoon brain-fog. You paste in a few bullet points and get a decent first draft. You tidy it, send it and move on.

Individually, that doesn’t feel dangerous. But scaled across a whole team, week after week, something starts to happen. Pitches initially feel polished… but somehow lack a point of view or clients stop saying, “That’s such a you idea.”

The danger here is that alongside saving time your people are quietly outsourcing the thing your clients value the most: Your critical thinking, your judgment and taste!

AI is brilliant at tasks. Your value is in choices.

Used well, AI should absolutely be doing more heavy lifting on repetitive tasks like summarising long documents and identifying themes, turning messy brainstorm outputs into structured options or drafting first version copy or plans.
 
But only your people can decide which insight actually matters to this client, right now, or say, “This looks good, but it’s not good enough yet” and push a bland idea until it’s sharp, brave and still on-brand.
 
It’s here where many agency leaders are seeing that gap. How to use AI in a more practical and consistent way without switching off the brain.

From ‘playing with prompts’ to a shared way of working

Most agency teams we work with are already experimenting with prompts. A few people have their own hacks. Some have built little internal libraries.

What’s often missing is a simple, shared way to:

• Brief AI clearly (so you’re not wrestling with vague, generic outputs).

• Break complex tasks into steps, rather than dumping everything in one mega-prompt.

• Apply a quick “Human Check Layer” at the end: Does this actually make sense?
  • Does this actually make sense?
  • Is it on-brand for us and for this client?
  • What’s missing that only we can add?
  • Would I stand behind this in a client meeting?

When teams have that kind of framework, the AI speed advantage stays but it also builds-in human critical thinking, so that the agency edge remains.
 
It’s why we are helping agencies train their people to use consistent AI Prompting methods like COCO. It stands for:

Now before you push Go, one final instruction:

“Do not guess. Ask me anything else you would find helpful to complete this task better.”

And then answer its questions. It helps minimise hallucinations and gives the AI a chance to ask for any important information that you may have missed. 

Credit to Anna Carina Berkman (Architect Anna) for the COCO approach. It’s effective, easy to use and remember!

A quick AI sense-check for your own agency

Is your agency still in enthusiastic adoption or now in the phase of implementing AI with thoughtful practice?
 
The agencies getting ahead aren’t banning AI tools or writing long policies. They’re doing two things:
 
1. Resetting expectations – being explicit that AI is there to amplify their people’s thinking, not replace it.
2. Giving teams practical skills – short, hands-on training so people know how to brief, stack and stress-test AI, without losing their own judgement.
 
If you’re already feeling that slight drop in sharpness – that sense that work is faster but somehow flatter – it might be time to look at how your people are working with AI.
 
And if you’d like a practical session to help your team build that “human-first, AI-smart” way of working, get in touch. It’s an area where we’re spending a lot of training time with agencies right now.

View our latests posts

• 
  The Agency Edge: The Human Advantage
  Emotional Intelligence: the Agency advantage AI can’t copy “The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that… Read more: The Agency Edge: The Human Advantage
• 
  The Agency Edge: You’re the Boss
  Is there a commercial blind spot in your agency? “PR people aren’t great with numbers,” is a comment we hear a lot when working with agencies but it’s one that… Read more: The Agency Edge: You’re the Boss
• 
  The Agency Edge: GEO is the new SEO
  GEO is the land-grab of 2026. PR should lead it. The talk of the PR agency world is that people are quietly switching behaviours and it’s a huge opportunity for… Read more: The Agency Edge: GEO is the new SEO
• 
  The Agency Edge: CREATING A GROWTH MINDSET
  Don’t sell me something, solve me something! Selling – It’s the thing most people didn’t join the creative industry to do.  Yet it’s now one of the most important capabilities… Read more: The Agency Edge: CREATING A GROWTH MINDSET
• 
  The Agency Edge: YOUR AI CHALLENGE
  Fast but flat: Is your agency team becoming over reliant on AI? “The team’s using AI for everything… but I can’t always see where the thinking is.” That’s the tension we’re hearing from a… Read more: The Agency Edge: YOUR AI CHALLENGE
• 
  Episode Eight: Calling all leaders – if you were a superhero, which one would you be and why?
  Part four in our Insights Discovery series where we look at how to use Discovery to build self-awareness; increase our understanding of others and develop the skills to adapt our interactions for greater success. We are looking at working with our opposite type;  why it can be both challenging and rewarding and how it can unlock a range of benefits you might not have considered!

Richard Baines

September 30, 2025

It might sound like a fun topic after a few pints at the pub (it is, try it…).  But what do superheroes and leaders have in common?  

Like superheroes, every leader has a unique superpower — a strength that sets them apart, energises their team and helps deliver results.  All good so far, right?  But hold on.  Every superhero also has a weakness.  A flaw or vulnerability (I’m looking at you, Kryptonite) that makes them fallible, relatable and ‘human’, despite their extraordinary abilities. 

As you can probably guess or even testify, leaders also have their weaknesses (yes you do!).  A shadow side that left unchecked, could be your downfall.  But fear not!  Just like every superhero movie ever made, you too can win the day with some super-helpful (sorry, couldn’t resist) tips to help you overcome the forces of evil and save the universe!  Or at least to be a great  leader, which is also good…

Welcome to part eight in our Insights Discovery Series where we look at how to use Insights Discovery to build self-awareness; increase our understanding of others and develop the skills to adapt our interactions for greater success.  In this episode, we take a light-hearted look at the synergies between super heroes and leadership styles and importantly, how embracing your ‘Kryptonite’ can be key to success.

Modelling our super powers 

As we have seen in previous episodes, Insights Discovery gives us a powerful framework for understanding our behavioural preferences through four colour energies: Fiery Red, Sunshine Yellow, Earth Green and Cool Blue. Associating the colour energies with superheroes is a fun and relatable way to reflect on the strengths and potential derailers associated with our own management or leadership style.  Let’s take a look:  

Fiery Red Manager

Superheroes:  Iron Man and Cat Woman  

Fiery Red Manager

Superheroes:  Iron Man and Cat Woman  

Hero style: Assertive, determined, action-oriented

Hero style: Assertive, determined, action-oriented

Leaders with strong Fiery Red energy are go-getters. Like Iron Man and Cat Woman, they charge ahead, cut through noise and make decisions fast. They lead with courage and confidence.

Superpowers:

Decisiveness & Drive.

Kryptonite:

Can come across as impatient, domineering or dismissive of others’ input.

Remedies:

Collaborate frequently. Sometimes ask the opinion of others before giving your own. Listen to understand, not just to respond. Beware of quick and wrong…

Sunshine Yellow Energy

Superheroes: Spider-Man and Harley Quinn

Sunshine Yellow Energy

Superheroes: Spider-Man and Harley Quinn

Hero style: Energetic, optimistic, inspiring

Hero style: Energetic, optimistic, inspiring

Leaders with strong Sunshine Yellow energy are charismatic connectors. They bring energy, positivity and collaboration, lighting up even the toughest rooms with conversation, ideation and humour.

Superpowers:

Innovation & Inspiration.

Kryptonite:

May make impulsive decisions without due qualification, struggle to follow-through on tasks and lose focus.

Remedies:

Team up with Cool Blue energy for balanced decision making. Use task tools to stay focus on the priorities. Develop feedback skills to handle those tricky conversations you know you should have! Give rational thinking and emotional feeling equal air time.

Fiery Red Manager

Superheroes: Superman and Wonder Woman 

Fiery Red Manager

Superheroes: Superman and Wonder Woman 

Hero style: Assertive, determined, action-oriented

Hero style: Assertive, determined, action-oriented

Earth Green leaders are values-driven team nurturers. They empower others to succeed, value different perspectives, foster collaboration and seek to create inclusive environments in which the whole team can thrive.

Superpowers:

Empathy & Collaboration.

Kryptonite:

Can over-resist change, avoid conflict or become passive in tough situations.

Remedies:

Develop courageous conversation skills. Take the tough decisions knowing it’s impossible and ok to not please everyone all the time. Balance the provision of support with building accountability in others.

Cool Blue Energy

Superheroes: The Batman and Black Widow

Cool Blue Energy

Superheroes: The Batman and Black Widow

Hero style: Analytical, precise, methodical.

Hero style: Analytical, precise, methodical.

Cool Blue leaders are organised, methodical thinkers and planners. They are logical and strategic, analyse every angle, prepare meticulously and rely on intellect and data-driven decision making.

Superpowers:

Strategy & Planning.

Kryptonite:

May be overly cautious, critical, perfectionistic and emotionally distant.

Remedies:

Seek to win the hearts as well as the minds of the team. Beware of analysis paralysis, some decisions can be gut-feel. Don’t allow perfection to get in the way of good. Theatre and expression can be powerful tools.

The big finale

Just like superheroes, great leaders are not flawless — they are self-aware. Understanding your “Kryptonite” doesn’t make you weaker, it makes you more powerful because you can learn to manage it.

And this brings me to one final thing we can learn from the superhero genre, which is that superheroes rarely work alone! Batman has Robin (and Alfred). Iron Man has Poppy. Spider-Man has M-J (and the irreplaceable Aunt May!). My point is, they have people they rely on to help them navigate the perilous world of crime fighting. And great leaders do the same. They surround themselves with team members who each bring their own superpower to the mix that when blended together, make for an unstoppable ensemble.

Hopefully this had been useful food for thought for even the most experienced leaders out there. If not, at least you have a fun game to play on your next visit to the pub!

Until next time…

Richard. 

richard@ambergroup.net

Read the whole series so far…

Episode One: Introducing our new Insights Discovery Series 

Episode Two: Weaknesses can be our strengths overplayed  

Episode Three: Sell differently to sell more…

Episode Four: How to work well with your opposite type

Episode Five: Colour coding change

Episode Six: Building winning teams

Episode Seven: Manage interactions with colour

Episode Eight: Calling all leaders

Richard Baines

September 12, 2025

Have you ever found yourself thinking, ‘Why does my manager always want more data?’ or ‘Why do they expect an answer right now?’ or perhaps ‘Why don’t they read and respond to my emails?’. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. But the good news is that Insights Discovery isn’t just for understanding yourself, it’s also the secret weapon for working better with your boss.

Welcome to part seven in our Insights Discovery Series where we look at how to use Insights Discovery to build self-awareness; increase our understanding of others and develop the skills to adapt our interactions for greater success.  In this episode, we look at how Insights Discovery can help us tackle the enduring question of how to manage upwards.

We all have our preferred ways of working.  Those nuances, preferences and behaviours that make you, you.  Well, so do our managers and leaders.  And if you can decode their colour profile, you can tailor your interactions in a way that increases your chances of getting the outcomes you want, while reducing stress levels along the way!  If that sounds good, read on to discover three simple steps to success.

Step One: Identify the Colour Energies in Play 

Here is a quick refresher of the four Insights Discovery colour energies and their interactions style:   

🔴 Fiery Red – Direct, decisive and fast-paced.
🟡 Sunshine Yellow – Enthusiastic, social and visionary.
🟢 Earth Green – Supportive, calm and values-driven.
🔵 Cool Blue – Logical, precise and data-oriented.

While everyone has elements of all four colour energies, we tend to favour one or two colours over the others when it comes to our natural interaction style.  So as a first step, identify two colour energies from the list above that best match the preferred interaction style of your manager.

Step Two: Study the Formula

Now let’s break down how to ‘manage up’ with each type of manager. 

Managing a Fiery Red Manager

“Get to the point and make it fast.”

What they value:

Results, speed, confidence, initiative.

How to adapt:

Be concise and focused, no rambling. Come with solutions, not problems. Respect their time. Get in, get out, get on.

What to avoid:

Over-explaining or being indecisive. Appearing hesitant or lacking urgency.

Quick tip:

Mirror their pace. Think bullet points, not paragraphs.

Managing a Sunshine Yellow Manager

“Bring energy and sell your idea!”

What they value:

Enthusiasm, connection, big-picture thinking.

How to adapt:

Show excitement and optimism. Be expressive. Engage in casual conversation. Tie your ideas to vision and potential impact.

What to avoid:

Being overly serious or too detail-heavy. Rushing into tasks without connecting first.

Quick tip:

Build the relationship, then pitch the idea.

Managing an Earth Green Manager

“Reflect team spirit, empathy and equity.”

What they value:

Trust, reliability, fairness, honesty.

How to adapt:

Be respectful and calm in your tone. Focus on the people, not just the process. Give them time to process, don’t rush. Listen!

What to avoid:

Sudden changes, hard sells and last minute surprises. Ignoring team wellbeing or emotions. Interrupting or talking over them.

Quick tip:

Allow time for pleasantries.

Managing a Cool Blue Manager

“Reflect team spirit, empathy and equity.”

What they value:

Accuracy, logic, preparation, order.

How to adapt:

Come prepared, do your homework. Present clear ideas and structured thinking. Give them time to review and reflect. Be clear on deadlines and expectations.

What to avoid:

Being too vague or over emotional. Putting them on the spot or forcing a quick decision. Poor quality or accuracy.

Quick tip:

Think spreadsheet first, story second.

Step Three: Put Your Approach into Action 

Revisit the dominant colour energies you identified for your manager.  Select two or three corresponding interaction techniques from the suggestions above and put them into practise over the coming weeks.  Take some time to reflect on your results and keep honing your approach.  Consider which ones work the best and why?  ‘Which ones didn’t and why?  Revisit the lists now and again and experiment with different approaches. Similarly, observe successful techniques adopted by others and borrow from them.  Applied regularly, you’ll quickly identify the blend that works best and then you can reap the benefits.

Final Thoughts: Managing Up, Colourfully

Managing up is about emotional intelligence in action. When you understand what makes your manager tick, you can flex your interaction style, not to manipulate, but to collaborate.  So next time you’re preparing for a meeting or pitching a new idea, take a moment to ask:  “What colour am I managing up to today?”.   The answer might just change your whole approach – and your results!

To learn more, visit our dedicated Insights Discovery web page.

See you next time. 

Richard. 

richard@ambergroup.net

Read the whole series so far…

Episode One: Introducing our new Insights Discovery Series 

Episode Two: Weaknesses can be our strengths overplayed  

Episode Three: Sell differently to sell more…

Episode Four: How to work well with your opposite type

Episode Five: Colour coding change

Episode Six: Building winning teams

Episode Seven: Manage interactions with colour

Episode Eight: Calling all leaders

Richard Baines

September 10, 2025

In team sports, victory is rarely the result of individual brilliance alone. It’s the culmination of the right players in the right roles working well together towards a common goal. Add some good coaching to the mix to unlock the potential of each player and you have a winning formula. The same is true with workplace teams and that’s where Insights Discovery becomes a game-changer.

Welcome to part six in our Insights Discovery series where we look at how to use Insights Discovery to build self-awareness; increase our understanding of others and develop the skills to adapt our interactions for greater success. In this episode, we take three lessons from the sporting world that can help us build winning teams in the workplace.

Lesson One: Play to Strengths 

Successful sports teams don’t win on a regular basis because they have a squad full of strikers.  They win because they have strength in depth.  They build a team that puts the right players in the right roles, not just based on talent but by temperament, instinct and preference.   

Workplace teams are no different.  Like a coach placing players in their optimal position, good leaders and managers assign roles and responsibilities that best align with the behavioural strengths and preferences of their team members.  As a result, winning becomes more likely. 

The graphic below shows strengths you might typically associate with each of the Insights Discovery colour energies (Fiery Red, Sunshine Yellow, Earth Green and Cool Blue):

As managers and leaders responsible for team performance, we can gain considerable competitive advantage by fully understanding the teams we have; matching roles and tasks to personal strengths and preference and recruiting future stars to strengthen, fill gaps and meet emerging needs.

Lesson Two: Feedback is Fuel 

Tactical coaching; halftime team talks; video replays…  Feedback in sports is constant, immediate and constructive.  It brings rapid and lasting improvements that can make the difference between winning and losing.  

Feedback in the workplace can deliver the same benefits.  Just like great sports coaches, effective leaders and managers recognise that any single approach to feedback won’t yield the best results with every player.  Instead, they tailor their approach to get the best results for each individual and Insights Discovery is a tool that can really help.  The graphic below provides suggestions on how best to frame feedback based on each of the four Insights Discovery colour energies (Fiery Red, Sunshine Yellow, Earth Green and Cool Blue):

Fiery Red Energy

Assertive  –   Results-Oriented  –  Direct

Frame in terms of improvement.  Direct, confident and concise delivery. Focus on outcomes. Set clear goals.

Sunshine Yellow Energy

Energetic  –  Social  –  Enthusiastic

Include positive reinforcement.  Link to recognition. Conversational dialogue.  Future focus.  Relatable examples and stories.

Earth Green Energy

Caring  –  Supportive  –  Relational

Empathic, calm and patient delivery.  Frame around values.  Be gentle but honest.  Allow space and time for reflection.   

Cool Blue Energy

Analytical  –  Precise  –  Cautious

Focus on facts and evidence.  Be specific and objective.  Be prepared.  Ensure a structured and logical delivery.  Allow time to process and ask questions.

Knowing someone’s preferred communication style helps tailor how feedback is given and received. What motivates one person may demotivate another. Great teams know this instinctively — or learn it intentionally.  Either way, feedback done well, is the breakfast of champions!

Lesson Three: Play as Team 

I’ve often heard under-performing sports teams described as a team of ‘great individuals’.  The talent is there but without unity, they fall short of more cohesive teams that might even have less individual talent.  The same can often be seen in workplace teams.  So here are five ways you can use Insights Discovery to build that all important team spirit that wins games.  

The Final Whistle!

Sports teams and business teams have many parallels.  The best sports coaches don’t just select talent, they select the right talent, develop it to its potential and unite it in ways that make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.  

Borrowing from the best of the sporting world and applying those concepts to the workplace, can transition teams from a group of professionals into serial trophy winners!  So if you want to build a high-performing team with the chemistry of a championship squad, start by discovering your team’s colour energies and see what’s possible when everyone plays to their strengths.

To learn more, visit our dedicated Insights Discovery web page.

See you next time. 

Richard. 

richard@ambergroup.net

Read the whole series so far…

Episode One: Introducing our new Insights Discovery Series 

Episode Two: Weaknesses can be our strengths overplayed  

Episode Three: Sell differently to sell more…

Episode Four: How to work well with your opposite type

Episode Five: Colour coding change

Episode Six: Building winning teams

Episode Seven: Manage interactions with colour

Episode Eight: Calling all leaders

Richard Baines

September 1, 2025

‘The only constant in life is change’, to quote the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus. I’m sure many of us would agree that this statement is more relevant today than ever. Successfully managing change and actually capitalising on it can bring real competitive advantage. But organisations are, by nature, organic. Made up of living breathing people, all of whom respond differently to change. So how can we navigate this challenge and even turn it to our advantage?

Welcome to episode five in our Insights Discovery series where we look at how to use the Insights Discovery methodology to build greater self-awareness; increase our understanding of others and develop the skills to adapt our interactions for greater success. In this episode, we look at how differently the four colour energies – Fiery Red, Sunshine Yellow, Earth Green and Cool Blue respond to change and how this understanding can be a game-changer for leaders, teams and individuals alike when navigating change.

In today’s fast-paced world, change is inevitable. From flexible working and AI at a macro level to the myriad changes in systems, policies and procedures that teams and individuals face on a day-to-day basis. Insights Discovery provides a powerful framework to recognise how your teams respond to change and also the vital roles they can play in making change a success. Let’s look at each Discovery colour energy in turn.

The Four Colour Energies and their approach to change

Fiery Red Energy

People with high Fiery Red energy tend to be action-oriented, decisive and results-driven. When change occurs, they want clarity, direction and swift execution. They may respond well to change if it aligns with goals and shows quick wins.

Value in the change process:

• Ensures change doesn’t stall.
• Brings urgency, focus and determination to push change forward.
• Comfortable taking charge and making tough decisions quickly.
• Cuts through ambiguity and inspires others to act.

Sunshine Yellow Energy

Those with high Sunshine Yellow energy are enthusiastic, optimistic and people-focused. They often embrace change as an exciting opportunity. However, if they feel excluded from the process or if the vision isn’t communicated clearly, their energy can wane. Involving them early and encouraging creativity can help them thrive during transitions.

Value in the change process:

• Brings innovative and creative ideas to tackle change.
• Energises others with optimism, excitement and a positive outlook.
• Encourages collaboration and inspires buy-in through relationships.
• Champions new ideas and possibilities.

Earth Green Energy

Individuals with high Earth Green energy value harmony, relationships and stability. Change can feel unsettling for them, especially if it disrupts established connections or routines. They value time, reassurance and a strong sense of purpose to accept and engage with change. Involvement, showing empathy and emphasising shared values can make a big difference.

Value in the change process:

• Focuses on values, purpose and the human side of change.
• Promote inclusiveness, listen actively and ensure that people feel heard.
• Builds trust and ensures continuity in relationships.
• Provides emotional support and reassurance to others.

Cool Blue Energy

People with high Cool Blue energy are analytical, precise and detail-oriented. They tend to approach change cautiously, needing data, structure and logical reasoning before they can buy in. Sudden or poorly explained changes may create resistance. Providing clear rationale and involving them in planning helps build trust and confidence.

Value in the change process:

• Offers careful analysis, logical thinking and structured planning.
• Spots risks, asks the important questions and ensures details are considered.
• Brings discipline and rigour that avoids chaos and confusion.
• Seeks clarity and consistency in execution.

Set up for success

Recent research by management consultancy McKinsey found that engaging front line employees with the change process and empowering them to own and drive it, elevates the success rate by an eye opening 71%!  

When we understand how the different Insights Discovery colour energies react to change and the valuable role they can play in implementing it, we can manage change not just strategically, but humanely.  This leads to smoother transitions, stronger engagement, less resistance and ultimately, greater success.

If you’d like to find out more, explore our Insights Discovery web page.

See you next time. 

Richard. 

richard@ambergroup.net

Read the whole series so far…

Episode One: Introducing our new Insights Discovery Series 

Episode Two: Weaknesses can be our strengths overplayed  

Episode Three: Sell differently to sell more…

Episode Four: How to work well with your opposite type

Episode Five: Colour coding change

Episode Six: Building winning teams

Episode Seven: Manage interactions with colour

Episode Eight: Calling all leaders