The Four Colours of High-Performing Teams: Applying Insights Effective in Australian Leadership

Even the most capable teams can struggle when communication styles clash or when leaders misread what their people need. Targets are missed, tensions rise, and alignment slips, not because the strategy is wrong, but because people are operating from different behavioural preferences.

This is where the Insights Discovery Model becomes a powerful tool. Grounded in Jungian psychology and widely used across Australian organisations, it helps leaders understand the four Colour Energies that shape how people think, communicate and make decisions. When teams learn to recognise and flex these energies, performance, collaboration and clarity improve dramatically.

[brief intro paragraph to Gloria: Hi, I’m Gloria Rees, Founding Partner at Dreem Coaching & Consulting: 

• Insights Discovery Global Faculty Member
• Executive Coach
• 25+ Years in Sales, Leadership and  L&D 
• Growth & Performance Partner 

Beyond Personality: Understanding the Four Colour Energies

The beauty of the Insights Discovery Model, or "simplex," as we like to call it, is that it provides a shared language for understanding behavioural preferences. These preferences are not personality types that constrain you; they are energies you can access and utilise.

The Four Energies are:

1. Fiery Red Energy (Goal-Focused): This is the energy of action. Red is competitive, determined, and highly task-oriented. Leaders leveraging this energy excel at driving results and quick decision-making.
2. Cool Blue Energy (Precise): This is the energy of data. Blue is cautious, questioning, highly structured, and driven by accuracy. This energy is essential for quality control and strategic analysis.
3. Sunshine Yellow Energy (Dynamic): This is the energy of connection. Yellow is sociable, optimistic, dynamic, and loves to brainstorm. This energy fuels creativity and team engagement.
4. Earth Green Energy (Accommodating): This is the energy of diplomacy. Green is caring, supportive, and focused on maintaining harmony and deep relationships within the team. This energy ensures stability and collaboration.

You’re Not a Colour. You Have Access to All Four

A critical mistake is assuming you are a colour. You are not a colour; you simply prefer certain colours. True Executive Coaching focuses on helping you access the colour energy the situation demands.

The strongest leaders are those who recognise:

• The need for balance: A team composed only of Fiery Red energy will burn out; a team with only Earth Green energy will struggle to innovate or challenge the status quo.
• Good Day vs. Bad Day Behaviours: Every colour has a "shadow side", or at least a perceived “shadow side”.  Red Energy may become demanding and dictatorial; Green Energy may become overly accommodating and avoid conflict; BlueEenrgy may become isolated and rigid; Yellow Energy may become scattered and lose focus.

Insights Discovery for Team Performance & Workplace Communication

By giving your organisation a shared language for behaviour, the Insights Discovery Model helps teams:

• Reduce communication breakdowns
• Improve collaboration across different working styles
• Strengthen leadership capability
• Build resilience and psychological safety
• Create alignment across strategy, roles, and expectations
  
  

It is one of the most powerful tools we use in our Team Performance & Communication Training Programs.

If you’d like to understand your team on a deeper level and create a more intentional way of working together, we would love to guide you through it.

Let’s bring the Insights Discovery framework into your organisation and unlock the clarity your team deserves.