The personality dynamics of winning teams

Have you ever wondered how the most successful companies hire the right employees? Or what makes for a winning team? Have you ever wanted to know what characteristics distinguish the most innovative entrepreneurs? Or what makes someone truly original?

In this episode of the Tony Robbins Podcast, host Ana Yoerg talks with renowned organizational psychologist Adam Grant about how to become an effective leader that gets the most out of employees – and how employees can get the most out of their jobs. They dig into the personality dynamics of givers and takers, innovators and original thinkers. And they discuss why it’s so important to not just meet customer expectations, but to always exceed them.

Who is Adam Grant?

Adam has been Wharton’s top-rated professor for seven straight years. He has been recognized as one of the world’s 25 most influential management thinkers and Fortune’s 40 under 40. He is the author of two New York Times bestsellers that have been translated into 35 languages, and has recently co-authored a new book with Sheryl Sandberg called Option B – about facing adversity, building resilience and finding joy. He also writes on work and psychology for the New York Times.

Adam’s speaking and consulting clients include Facebook, Google, the NBA, Merck, Goldman Sachs, Pixar, the U.S. Army and Navy, and the World Economic Forum, where he has been honored as a Young Global Leader. But it is his TED talks on original thinkers and givers and takers that have most revolutionized the business world.

What are givers and takers?

Adam’s research began with an assumption: “I always assumed that the nicer somebody was, the more generous they were.” But as he gathered data, he found there was no correlation between those traits. “Niceness,” or agreeableness, is a separate trait. There are agreeable givers (who are both agreeable and generous) and disagreeable takers (who are neither), and both are easy to recognize.