Team Personalities: Friend or Foe?

What Healthcare Leaders Will Take Away

This episode is for healthcare executives, clinical leaders, and anyone who has spent real energy just getting a team to be willing to sit in the same room. Dr. Lillian Liang Emlet steps away from the usual guest format to sit down with Transforming Healthcare Coaching® team coach Gillian Faith, MS ACC SHRM-SCP CPQC, for a conversation they had been having off-air: the personality differences leaders often try to smooth over are really a team’s greatest untapped resource.

Listeners will take away four things. First, a reframe on disagreement. As Gillian puts it, “Healthy conflict can actually turn into innovative and creative situations, which end up with better results and better performance at the end of the day.” Second, a plain-language tour of PrinciplesYou and PrinciplesUs, the trait-psychology assessments the Transforming team uses with healthcare teams, and why the debrief matters more than the report. Third, a close look at how a single trait (Tough or Nurturing) helps and hinders the same leader, and why adaptability, not any fixed setting, is the real leadership skill. Fourth, the case for why a team spread out across the personality map produces better answers sooner, once its differences are named and held.

No assessment is presented as a box or a verdict. As Lillian says, it just gives you a picture. The value is in what a team does with it.

Is the Best Healthcare Team the One Where Everyone Agrees?

No — and a team that never disagrees may be the one to worry about. Gillian’s observation from coaching healthcare teams is that teams that “don’t show some disagreement or some healthy conflict here and there” may not be speaking up as they need to. Part of her coaching work is “helping shift the lens that we look through” — the one that says conflict is unhealthy and should be avoided. Her position is the opposite: healthy conflict, worked through, can end in better results and better performance.

Lillian names what happens when that lens never shifts. The feedback loop for a dissenting opinion is often missing. Leaders hesitate to move forward while “a couple people in the group” are not rowing with them, so the pressure lands on the dissenters to go quiet. “People shut down,” she says — they stop contributing, “and they’re actually quietly quitting inside.”

Gillian adds the honest cost accounting: teams do not have endless hours, and dissent takes time. “It takes longer and it takes more energy to work through it, but the result may be better in the long run.” Lillian’s version: slowing down to get those opinions means doing it right the first time instead of a bunch of different ways.

There is also a caring argument for dissent. At a recent medTHRIVE® Connect book rounds discussion of Josh Hartzell’s A Prescription for Caring in Healthcare Leadership, the line that stayed with Lillian was that “people have to care enough to actually have a dissenting opinion.” Disagreeing with a superior is uncomfortable and effortful — as Gillian puts it, “you have to care to be able to spend that time and that energy and feel the discomfort.”

Why Use a Personality Assessment at All?

Because awareness is the raw material of everything else a team does together. Gillian’s answer is that research-backed assessments that have been shown to be reliable and credible give a team information, and that information lets every member become more aware of how they show up within the team — and how their teammates do too. “Understanding what motivates somebody or why they react the way they do or behave the way they do or think the way they do, when we actually understand that, it makes it a lot easier to work alongside others,” she says, and to collectively perform better as a team.

Both coaches acknowledge the skepticism. Many people feel judged or boxed in by an assessment result, whether it came from the MBTI, DISC, or PrinciplesYou. Lillian’s counter is to lower the stakes: “It’s just different constructs that people have used to try to explain the way we’re showing up in the environment.” An assessment gives you a picture, not a verdict.

The real value, both agree, sits in the debriefing: thinking through what resonates and what does not. That, Lillian says, “is part of the magic of that debriefing.” Gillian adds that a debrief “gives people an opportunity to have those conversations that we might not otherwise have,” and that the process itself is worth it.

What Makes PrinciplesYou and PrinciplesUs Different from Myers-Briggs or DISC?

The Transforming coaching team chose the PrinciplesYou individual assessment and its team-level companion, PrinciplesUs, because Lillian sees them as a more modern take on trait psychology. As she describes it on the episode, the assessment measures 17 core traits and 41 facets, organized around three orientations: how you prefer to think (cognitive), how you engage with others (interpersonal), and how you apply yourself (motivational — or, as Lillian likes to call it, action). She likes that mapping because thoughts, feelings, and actions drive so much of how we show up in the world.

The team layer is what sets it apart from taking any individual quiz. Gillian explains that “the same concepts apply to the team. How the team thinks, how the team engages, and how the team applies” — to whatever the team is working on. On the team scales, you can see where every member lands relative to each other — “you’ve got your creatives,” your more controlling colleagues, your fun-loving ones — and how that mix plays out in the team’s dynamics.

The work always starts with the individual, though. In Lillian’s words, “you can’t really join a team and understand how you’re going to interact and flex and modify” without knowing yourself first. She connects this to what “do the work” actually means: a metacognitive process of “really reflecting on your experience, how you felt, how you thought, how you acted during that moment,” and whether that is in concordance with your values, your purpose, your cultural identity, and your role.

For leaders without an obvious mentor, this is also where coaching earns its place. An assessment plus a coach gives you foundational data and a thinking partner for the debrief — someone to reflect back what you decide your learning opportunities are. It is one reason coaching concentrates at executive levels, Lillian argues: at that altitude “you’re entering into new land,” and no one hands you an exact playbook.

What Changes When a Whole Team Debriefs Together?

The team gets a shared map — and a shared language. In a PrinciplesUs team debrief, everyone has already done their individual reflection. Then the team sees the collective data together. Gillian’s experience is that seeing it all in one diagram, with a bit of fun injected, changes the room: people become more vulnerable and open up more, because everyone can see how the whole team relates on each of the scales.

Lillian describes the shift that matters most. “A lot of times we’re really judgemental in our head about another colleague on a team,” she says, precisely because working with someone very different is hard. Then the picture goes up: “Oh, this makes sense why I have to actively modify myself to be in harmony with you.” The reason is structural, not personal — “we literally have different skills, different roles and responsibilities, different ways of thinking through our thoughts, feelings, and actions.” It can even flip into gratitude: some of those tasks are ones you would never want, so thank goodness someone else is built for them.

The shared data becomes practical fast:

Casting projects to strengths. Depending on where somebody lands on a scale, Gillian says, you may see that a person is “going to be ideal for this project coming up because they are the more innovative thinker,” or because they are more disciplined — more of an implementer.
Feedback that actually lands. The assessment “gives us indicators about how people like to be given feedback” — whether someone wants an issue addressed directly or needs time to think things through first.
An equalized conversation. Because the language is public and shared, Lillian notes, supervisors, managers, and team members can talk about working styles on the same footing — a step past bonding over social things in common, and into what lets each person shine.

One caution from Lillian: when three-quarters of a team works one way, it is easy to accidentally alienate the rest, whose preferences are just as valid. Respecting those perspectives — and, as Gillian adds, encouraging the quieter voices that psychological safety finally reaches — is part of the point.

Can the Same Personality Trait Be Both a Strength and a Liability?

Yes — every trait carries both edges, which is why the coaches treat traits as neutral. Gillian’s example is the Tough scale, which describes how directly you like to speak. Direct communication is “beneficial and absolutely essential in certain roles, especially in healthcare.” The same trait can come over too strong in a feedback conversation. The skill is knowing “when they need to kinda pull back a little bit more and maybe not be as direct just to help the team dynamics and the relationships.”

Lillian takes the opposite end of the spectrum: the Nurturing trait, whose strength “is more on the warmth side” — being attuned to the emotional needs of others — and whose shadow is avoiding conflict and putting other people’s needs ahead of your own goals. A leader who trends Tough and a leader who trends Nurturing face the same assignment: read the room and flex.

What do you do with that awareness? Lillian’s framework at Transforming is awareness first, then new action. Her prescription is playful experimentation: in the moment, try a little more or a little less of the trait — tone it up, tone it down — and notice what the situation actually needs. She calls it adjusting the spiciness of how you show up. Her favorite metaphor is heart rate variability: “It’s not necessarily your resting heart rate that’s most important, it’s the ability to be able to vary and read the room and be adaptable is actually the real superpower for leadership.”

Teams that share the language even coach each other with it. Gillian has watched team members tell each other, “Oh, there’s your tough showing up again” — playful, but in a good way, because it doubles as feedback and reflection.

Why Do Teams Built on Difference Perform Better?

Because more angles on the same problem mean better quality, earlier. A team spread out across the personality map can feel more exhausting to manage, and Gillian concedes “it might feel like more work” — but you are bringing many more skills and attributes to bear, and, in her words, “maybe the results are better at the end of the day.”

Lillian’s mechanism is cognitive diversity: more angles on the same problem so that, hopefully, your blind spots are actually covered. The high-detail person catches what the big-picture thinker misses, and vice versa, with everyone pointed at the same goal. Gillian widens the lens to the individual payoff: assessments show us our strengths to build on, blind spots we had not seen, and growth areas — “the more awareness we have around those and the more we can actually do something about it,” the better the team performs.

The condition is that someone holds the difference well. When you leave differences on a team “unmanaged, unnamed, uncoached,” Lillian says, “it’s just conflict basically.” The payoff comes when a leader or facilitator creates the container — names out loud that the team thinks differently on purpose, frames it positively, and makes sure every perspective is heard. Leaders with coaching experience, or teams with a coach in the room, have someone to hold that container until the team can hold it themselves. Gillian’s closing note is honest about the effort: “it doesn’t happen overnight, right? It’s work.”

Key Takeaways for Healthcare Leaders

A team that never disagrees may not be aligned — it may not be speaking up. Healthy conflict, worked through, can produce more innovative answers and better performance.

Dissent is an act of caring. People have to care enough to have a dissenting opinion, and it costs them time, energy, and discomfort to voice it. Build a feedback loop that repays that cost.

An assessment is a picture, not a box. The report matters far less than the debrief, where a team thinks through what resonates and turns awareness into working agreements.

PrinciplesYou and PrinciplesUs organize personality around how you think, how you engage with others, and how you apply yourself — and then show the whole team on the same scales, in the same language.

Every trait cuts both ways. Tough communicates directly and can land too hard; Nurturing reads the room and can dodge necessary conflict. Adaptability — varying your response to what the moment needs — is the leadership skill worth training.

Shared trait language equalizes conversations about working style: who should lead which project, how each person wants feedback, and why a colleague’s difference is a resource rather than a problem.

Cognitive diversity helps cover your blind spots, but only when it is named and held. Unmanaged, unnamed, uncoached difference is just conflict.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are team personality assessments worth it for healthcare teams?

On this episode, both coaches argue yes, with a condition. A research-backed assessment gives a team reliable information about how each member thinks, engages, and applies themselves, and that awareness makes it easier to work alongside each other. The value, though, lives in the debrief conversation, not the report itself.

Is conflict on a healthcare team always a bad sign?

No. Gillian Faith’s coaching observation is that teams showing no disagreement may not be speaking up as they need to, while healthy conflict can turn into more innovative, creative results. The distinction is whether differences are named and worked through or left to fester unmanaged.

What is the difference between PrinciplesYou and PrinciplesUs?

PrinciplesYou is the individual assessment, a modern trait-psychology instrument organized around how you prefer to think, how you engage with others, and how you apply yourself. PrinciplesUs applies the same concepts at the team level, showing where every member lands on shared scales so the team can see and discuss its collective pattern.

Do personality assessments box people in?

They can feel that way, which is why the coaches on this episode treat any result as a picture rather than a verdict. Different assessments are just different constructs for explaining how we show up. The debrief, deciding what resonates, what does not, and what to do about it, is where the value sits.

How do leaders use trait awareness without weaponizing labels?

By keeping traits neutral and the language playful. On this episode that sounds like experimenting with a little more or a little less of a trait in the moment, and teams affectionately noting “there’s your tough showing up again.” The goal is flexibility, reading the room and adapting, not sorting colleagues into types.

How small can a team be for a team debrief?

Teams as small as three people can benefit, and Gillian notes the assessment is a cost-effective step for a team of nearly any size. If you are curious what a group debriefing, a Systemic Team Coaching engagement using PrinciplesUs, or a one-on-one debriefing would look like, the team invites you to reach out at hello@transforminghealthcarecoaching.com.

Episode Transcript

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Segment 01

Conflict as creative fuel (From 00:00)

Cold open: Gillian on shifting the lens that says conflict is unhealthy — healthy conflict can end in innovation and better performance — and Lillian on the moment a team picture turns judgment of a colleague into understanding.

Segment 02

Difference is a design feature (From 01:00)

Lillian sets up a different kind of episode: no guest, just a conversation with Gillian about why the personality differences leaders try to smooth over are a team’s greatest untapped resource — and a case, with some science behind it, that difference is a design feature, not a defect.

Segment 03

Do the best teams really agree? (From 02:00)

Gillian pushes back on the idea that agreement is the mark of a healthy team: teams without visible disagreement may not be speaking up. Lillian describes the missing feedback loop for dissent, leaders who stall when a few people aren’t rowing along, and the colleagues who end up quietly quitting inside; Gillian weighs the time cost of dissent against the better long-run result.

Segment 04

Caring enough to disagree (From 04:00)

A medTHRIVE Connect book rounds discussion of Josh Hartzell’s book gives Lillian the frame: people have to care enough to have a dissenting opinion. Gillian names the discomfort of bringing a different view to a superior, and Lillian introduces the tool their coaching group uses — the PrinciplesUs team-based personality assessment, which starts with the individual PrinciplesYou.

Segment 05

Why a research-backed assessment (From 05:00)

Lillian raises the skepticism most people bring to personality quizzes, from Myers-Briggs onward. Gillian’s case: reliable, credible assessments build awareness of how you and your teammates show up. Lillian lowers the stakes — each assessment is just a construct, a picture — and both point to the debrief as where the magic happens.

Segment 06

Why PrinciplesYou and PrinciplesUs (From 07:00)

Gillian on the conversations a debrief opens that would not otherwise happen. Lillian explains the team’s choice of tool: a modern interpretation of trait psychology measuring 17 core traits and 41 facets across three orientations — how you think, how you engage, and how you apply yourself.

Segment 07

Know yourself first (From 08:00)

Gillian extends the three orientations to the team level — how the team thinks, engages, and applies — with everyone visible on the same scales. Lillian connects individual reflection to what “do the work” really means: metacognition about how you felt, thought, and acted, checked against your values, purpose, cultural identity, and role. Awareness, Gillian adds, is what makes a different choice possible next time. And for listeners without a mentor, Lillian offers an alternative: an assessment plus a coach to debrief, think through, and reflect back as you decide your learning opportunities.

Segment 08

New territory, no playbook (From 10:00)

Why coaching concentrates at executive, CEO, and entrepreneur levels: you are entering new land, with no one who has walked your exact path to hand you a playbook. Assessments supply the foundational data, so interpretation is not winging it — and that means listening to the difficult feedback as well as the flattering kind. The same principles, Gillian notes, show up in your personal life too.

Segment 09

The team debrief: seeing the whole map (From 11:00)

What changes when a team that has done its individual work sees the collective data. Gillian describes debriefs with fun injected, vulnerability rising, and people opening up; Lillian describes judgment of a hard-to-work-with colleague dissolving into “this makes sense why I have to actively modify myself to be in harmony with you,” and into gratitude that someone else wants the tasks you never would. Gillian adds the casting payoff: the map can show who is ideal for an upcoming project, the innovative thinker or the disciplined implementer.

Segment 10

A common language for working together (From 13:00)

Lillian’s third piece: with a shared assessment and shared language, colleagues can explain how to work with them more effectively — a step past social small talk, and one that equalizes the conversation between supervisors and team members. Gillian adds the practical payoffs: indicators for how each person likes to receive feedback, and Lillian cautions against alienating the minority whose valid working style differs from the majority’s.

Segment 11

One trait, two edges (From 15:00)

Psychological safety reaches the quieter voices, then the deep dive Lillian asked for: Gillian unpacks the Tough scale — direct communication that is essential in healthcare and can still come over too strong — and the awareness of when to pull back. Debriefs, she notes, can help teams build trust faster and more deeply. Lillian counters with Nurturing: warmth and attunement on the strength side, conflict avoidance on the shadow side, and the leader’s job of flexing between them. Asked what teams do with the awareness, Gillian points to healthcare teams in challenging situations gaining trust, cohesion, psychological safety, and better collective performance — and Lillian names the Transforming framework: first awareness, then translating it into new action.

Segment 12

Playing with the dial (From 18:00)

Lillian’s practice of small monthly experiments: a little more or less of a trait in the moment, tuning the spiciness of how you show up, with her heart rate variability metaphor for why flexibility beats any fixed setting.

Segment 13

The real superpower: adaptability (From 19:00)

Reading the room and varying your response is the real leadership superpower, and teams with shared language start coaching each other — “there’s your tough showing up again.” Then the closing question: why does a team spread across the personality map perform better? More skills and attributes in the room, better quality earlier, cognitive diversity covering blind spots, and every perspective deliberately put on the table.

Segment 14

Hold the container (From 21:00)

Gillian sums the assessment’s yield — strengths, blind spots, growth areas — and the choice to act on them. Lillian names the condition: differences left unmanaged, unnamed, and uncoached are just conflict; held in a container by a leader or coach, they become how the team works. Reach the team at hello@transforminghealthcarecoaching.com; Gillian notes the assessment is a cost-effective step for a team, and is honest that none of it happens overnight.

Segment 15

An invitation: teams as small as three (From 23:00)

The close: the value a team can get from a debrief can be huge — it can really turn a team around — teams can be as small as three people, and the coaches invite questions and topic ideas for future episodes.

Read the full transcript

Transforming Healthcare Coaching Podcast — Episode 115: Team Personalities: Friend or Foe? Host Lillian Liang Emlet, MD MS CHSE CPC ELI-MP in conversation with Transforming Healthcare Coaching® coach Gillian Faith, MS ACC SHRM-SCP CPQC. Published June 29, 2026.

Gillian Faith: One of the things that we work on is helping shift the lens that we look through that think that conflict is unhealthy and we should be avoiding it. But actually, I believe that, or we believe the opposite is true. Healthy conflict can actually turn into innovative and creative situations, which end up with better results and better performance at the end of the day.

Lillian Liang Emlet: It's funny because I think a lot of times we're really judgemental in our head about another colleague on a team, especially because it's sometimes really, really hard to work with them because we're just so different. And then when you see it on the picture, you're like, "Oh, this makes sense why I have to actively modify myself to be in harmony with you," because we literally have different skills, different roles and responsibilities, different ways of thinking through our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the Transforming Healthcare Coaching Podcast. And we're doing a little something different today. Instead of interviewing a guest, we're going to be sitting down with Gillian for a conversation that we've decided off-air that it really was worth having. We spent lots of time with different teams, leading them, coaching them, watching what actually moves teams forward and helps them come together, and we keep both talking about the fact that personality differences leaders often try to smooth over are really a team's greatest untapped resource, which I know a lot of leaders right now, if you're listening, you're like, "How is this possible? Because I feel like I spend so much energy and time trying to get the team just to be willing to be in the same room together." So today, we're going to take, make the case, there's some science behind it, for why difference is a design feature and not a defect. And so Gillian's super excited to be here with you today.

Gillian Faith: Yep. Thanks for having me

Lillian Liang Emlet: Yeah. So I want to, talk about the fact that we're always, pushing, I feel in healthcare. And we often think in healthcare that the best team is the one where everyone agrees. And I'm just curious, what about your perspective about that, about when we have disagreement publicly, how that works out, and what's harmful about it, what's helpful about it?

Gillian Faith: Yeah, so I think there's some teams that probably do agree a lot of the time, and that's just great, but that's really not the norm. And teams that don't show some disagreement or some healthy conflict here and there, possibly are not, speaking up as they need to speak up. So, one of the things that we work on is, helping shift the lens that we look through that think-- think that conflict is unhealthy, and we should be avoiding it. But actually, I believe that, or we believe the opposite is true, Healthy conflict can actually turn into innovative and creative situations, which end up with better results and better performance at the end of the day

Lillian Liang Emlet: Yeah, I know. I think, I feel a lot of times the feedback loop for having a dissenting opinion is often not there. we often talk about the fact that, "Oh, this is all, why can't we all get along? Can we all just agree so we can move forward?" And leaders are really hesitant to not move, to move forward when there's a couple people in the group that are not rowing together with them. And so then people shut down. People in the end like, "Well, I'm not going to say anything. I'm not issuing, going to contribute." And they're actually quietly quitting inside, I think

Gillian Faith: Yeah, absolutely. And then, you've got all the pressures of time and schedules and things like that are, people, they don't have endless hours to spend on making decisions. And sometime when you've got dissenting opinions, it takes longer and it takes more energy to work through it, but the result may be better in the long run.

Lillian Liang Emlet: Yeah. No, it's true. And I think, slowing down to be able to get those opinions is really important so that you can actually do it right the first time rather than doing a bunch of different ways. last night we had our, medTHRIVE, connect free book rounds, and it was Josh Hartzell's Prescription for Caring in Healthcare Leadership. and I really enjoy that part in the book where he talked about people have to care enough to actually have a dissenting opinion. So even if it's something that's completely opposite of what you want to happen, is it actually care enough to tell you?

Gillian Faith: Because it's sometimes it's uncomfortable and it's stressful, to have a different opinion or to bring something to a superior's attention. So you have to care to be able to spend that time and that energy and feel the discomfort

Lillian Liang Emlet: Yeah. so a lot of times we think it's just personalities. oh, it's just how they're built and there's no way I can really change it, which may be true. but, we use a particular, tool within our coaching group, "The Principles Us", which is a team-based personality assessment to look at the interactions, and it starts first with 'The Individual Principles You: Individual Personality, Assessment'. And so I'm curious, when we started to look into all the different things you could use, obviously the most famous probably, personality test that most people have heard of is the Myers-Brigg And I'm curious for what your perspective is on how different personality quizzes, people should be skeptical of or not skeptical of, or like what is it about even using this kind of assessment for awareness? Why is it even important?

Gillian Faith: Well, I think it's important because exactly just what you said, the awareness is huge, and if we're using research-backed assessments that have been proven to be reliable and credible, they're going to give us information, that information allows all the team members to become more aware of how they are in the, within the team and how their team members also show up. And understanding what motivates somebody or why they react the way they do or behave the way they do or think the way they do, when we actually understand that, it makes it a lot easier to work alongside others and to actually collectively perform better as a team

Lillian Liang Emlet: Yeah, and I know for, a lot of people, they feel like it's really overwhelming or it feels very judgmental. they feel boxed in by their personality assessment, So between the MBTI or the PrinciplesYou or the DISC, or there's, actually several other leadership related ones. And so if you're listening, you're a coach yourself, you've had your, assessment of choice. and I think the important thing to note is it just gives you a picture, right? So I think most of us actually have taken many assessments and it's not something to be afraid of. It's just different constructs that people have used to try to explain the way we're showing up in the environment. And it's really in that debriefing and the thinking through about what's right, what's not right, what resonates, what doesn't resonate in any of these assessments, and what you really gravitate towards and what resonates for you, is part of the magic of that debriefing

Gillian Faith: Exactly. And debriefing also gives people an opportunity to have those conversations that we might not otherwise have. just that process in itself can actually be very worthwhile.

Lillian Liang Emlet: Yeah, so I think the thing to, for us to really think about right now with, the Principles You and the Principles Us is, well, why do we choose as a group to go with Principles You and Principles Us? And I think for me, the reality is it's a very more modern interpretation of, trait psychology. And so it measures 17 core traits and 41 facets, and there's a lot of questions. But it really has three main orientations: how you prefer to think, cognitive; how you engage with others, interpersonal; and how you apply yourself, motivational or what I like to call action. And so I really liked how it's like the thoughts, feelings, relational feelings, and actions that you take with life because thoughts, feelings, and actions really do drive, a lot of how we show up in the world

Gillian Faith: And the individual, give us really good information obviously about ourself, and the same concepts apply to the team. How the team thinks, how the team engages, and how the team applies, to whatever it is they're working on. it's really interesting, I think, when you see the scales and you see how the team members all, relate on each of the scales. you've got your creatives, and you've got your more controlling kind of people, and you've got the more, fun-loving people. So it's interesting how it all plays out when it comes to the team dynamics.

Lillian Liang Emlet: Yeah. And I think the reality is you can't really join a team and understand how you're going to interact and flex and modify, if you don't your- know yourself first. So we always start with an individual sort of reflection and thinking through about how these things might show up and if there's examples. And a lot of times I think, when people say do the work, what they really mean about do the work is this metacognitive process of really reflecting on your experience, how you felt, how you thought, how you acted during that moment, and if that's in concordance with your values, your purpose, your cultural identity, and just your role. and a lot of times we don't take a step back and just, is that the way I really want to show up? and if so, what can I do differently the next time? How could I service recover? How could I do something differently?"

Gillian Faith: Yeah. So you're talking about, again, the awareness and having the awareness then leads us to the point where we can choose if we want to, work in a different way, if the same situation came up

Lillian Liang Emlet: Yeah. because I think a lot of times, people, often, in most lectures will talk about the fact that it's really important to have a mentor. but for the people who are listening and they actually don't have a mentor, you're like, "Well, what am I going to do now?" Actually, doing an assessment and having a coach really helps because even if you don't have someone who has done exactly what you have done, you can find someone to help debrief and think through and reflect back and hear you actively as you decide your learning opportunities in moments, right? And so I think at some point, the reason why there's so many more coaching up in the executive levels or CEO or entrepreneur and business roles, because you're entering into new land, and there's no other person who's, done it before you who can give you exact tangible, playbook on how to live life or climb a career ladder. And so coaching really helps you open up into new ways of thinking. And so by having these assessments, you still need to have some kind of foundational data. I mean, you really shouldn't just be winging it randomly with, interpretations and, happen to have a skew towards the positive because that's the only responses that you're, you want to listen to. We have to listen to the good and the bad, right? we have to kind of figure out like, well, what's real here? Is there a theme even though there's a really negative feedback?

Gillian Faith: And the principles apply your career are also going to show up in your personal life too. So I think that's always interesting because there's an interplay there

Lillian Liang Emlet: Yeah, that is true. so when we do the Principles Us debriefing and we actually have a whole team in front of us, we have the data of, in your experience, Gillian, like once they actually see how they... because they've already done the individual work, right? They've already met with us, they've already reflected and they're like, "Oh, yeah, this is kind of neat. It's totally true," or, "I'm really proud of that, and that's one of my values." And then they also are like, "Oh, that is definitely a weakness, and so be it. It's one of my weaknesses." But when they see all the islands together and they see like the team data, what have you noticed changes about how they talk, to each other? Because now they have the same language

Gillian Faith: It got the same language, and that's always a good thing, right? But just, seeing it all in, in a diagram and, we can inject a little bit of fun into it as well when we do these debriefs, So it's not all, serious, right? And I think that, that helps with a team as well. feel like people become more, vulnerable, and they open up more because you can see how everybody, relates to each other on the different scales

Lillian Liang Emlet: Yeah. it's funny because, I think a lot of times we're really judgemental in our head about another colleague on a team, especially because it's sometimes really, really hard to work with them because we're just so different. And then why, when you see it on the picture, you're like, "Oh, this makes sense why I have to actively modify myself to be in harmony with you," because we literally have different skills, different roles and responsibilities, different ways of thinking through our thoughts, feelings, and actions. and I think it also, you start to realize I would never, and I would not want to be doing some of those tasks. And so thank goodness you're the one doing them for me or for the team, right? Because, I couldn't do it.

Gillian Faith: because you need all the different skills and all the different attributes. And the other thing that I've seen with debriefs is, depending on where somebody lands on a scale, you may say, "Okay, that person's going to be ideal for this project coming up because they are the more innovative thinker, or they are more, more disciplined and more, more of an implementer

Lillian Liang Emlet: Yeah. I think also what's neat too, which I thought was like a third piece I had not really, come across in many other trainings was, sure, we understand how all these assessments help you understand yourself and how you can understand others. But the third piece I think for me in this particular principles training that we went through and how is we implement is that we can explain now with greater skill, because we all have the same language, we've all done the same assessment together, about how you can work with me more effectively and how they can understand you more effectively, more so than just, social context, Because I think a lot of times we really just, "Oh, well, I'm also a mom," or, "I'm also a," I don't know, "athletic coach," or, "I'm also love plant-based diet," or we anchor to, things we like, and that's okay for making social connections. But the reality is in the workplace what you really need is understanding, oh, what's going to light your fire, let you shine, and let the other person shine, and it makes a conversation for both the supervisors, managers, and the team to actually equalize that conversation. And so it's public, and you don't have to, everybody knows. And then they can maybe suggest ways, just like you said, to, "Oh, this project would be really good for X person because this goes to their strengths." But when you don't have the common language, you don't know how to talk about these things. They're all, unknowns

Gillian Faith: Yeah. Something I've also found really helpful from these assessments is it tells us or it gives us indicators about how people like to be given feedback and If there's an issue, do they like to just be addressed directly or do they need to take some time to think things through, So it gives us really useful information about how we might approach something, especially if it is a situation where there's a disagreement or, a misunderstanding or whatever. So I think that's really helpful for teams

Lillian Liang Emlet: Yeah. it's definitely true. And I think also the reality is we have to be, respectful whenever we have three-quarters of the team is all similar in how they want to work, and then we've got 25% that is just, it's different. we can accidentally have alienated the 25% when it's completely a valid and different way of how they want to, like you said, get either get feedback or work together.

Gillian Faith: Yeah

Lillian Liang Emlet: need to respect everybody and that those perspectives are valued

Gillian Faith: Right. And f it-- psychological safety on the team and, the people that don't often speak up get a-- maybe they have some encouragement to actually, yes, I do need to speak up. And, I think all these things come with a greater understanding of who you're working with.

Lillian Liang Emlet: So I figure it might be good though for us to take a deeper dive into like maybe one of the traits, because, everyone listening is "We have, we don't really know, quite understand what you're talking about," because they've not done The Principles You or they're googling it now while they're driving, which is also kind of dangerous. But, let's talk about like how does a single trait maybe help and hinder the same person? Like how can it be a good thing and a bad thing and therefore it's neutral? I don't know if you have any thoughts of your favorite traits or one where it might be advantageous versus, a problem.

Gillian Faith: So the first one that comes to mind, it, there's a tough scale tough as in do you like to speak directly, do you like to, a little soft or that kind of a thing. So, more of that trait might be more direct in their communications, which is going to be really, beneficial and absolutely essential in certain roles, especially in healthcare. But there's going to be times when that person probably, comes over too strong if they're, giving some feedback or having a conversation or whatever. and to have that awareness and to be able to know when they need to kinda pull back a little bit more and maybe not be as direct just to help the team dynamics and the relationships. Because, doing these assessments and doing these debriefs can help teams build trust faster and more deeply because of the shared understanding and the, expanded understanding

Lillian Liang Emlet: You know what? I really like that because, a lot of times we do have to figure out, well, when do we use this trait or this skill, and when does it n- flow naturally versus, do something slightly different. know when to read the room and realize that's not what this team needs right now. so for example, on the opposite end of the spectrum, there's a trait called nurturing where the strength is more on the warmth side and really being generally attuned to the emotional needs of others, and it's, really about avoiding conflict and putting other people's needs ahead of your own goals. And so, when you're a leader, you have to think, well, if your tendency is more to be more tough or your tendency is to be more nurturing, the reality is you have to often flex the skill and do more or less, given the situation and so what I want to then pivot and transition to is really to think about, well, how do you use these traits and how do you use the awareness? what do you do with it?

Gillian Faith: Well, as we've mentioned before, having the awareness of yourself is huge. taking it into a team situation, and especially in healthcare where, teams are in such challenging situations sometimes, I think it really helps a team, as I said, gain more trust, be more cohesive. they feel more psychological safety with each other and, collectively the performance improves

Lillian Liang Emlet: and so like our framework here at Transforming is all about first awareness, but then translating into new action. And I think part of it is just being playful with, okay, so I can see this trait, I can see where it's showing up. I, in fact, I have 100 examples of when I have the tough or I have the nurturing. And the question is, in that moment, not only just the self reflection afterwards, but in the moment, could you, let me try and see if I do a little bit less of this or if I do a little more of this," right? So I think a lot of it comes down into finding small ways each month to kind of play with it and realize, oh, I can tone it up and tone it down. And then, from there you realize it's not about you, right? because I think a lot of times as leaders, we take things really personally. we think we've, we're, this is the only way, like there's a certain degree of toughness or there's a certain degree of nurture, and that's not necessarily true. And so just being able to experiment with how strong, I call it, what was it, the spiciness of, how you're showing up of your traits, it's actually the flexibility. It's like heart rate variability. It's not necessarily your resting heart rate that's most important, it's the ability to be able to vary and read the room and be adaptable is actually the real superpower for leadership, in my opinion, with the traits.

Gillian Faith: Yeah, and I've seen teams, start to talk and, use the traits and use the characteristics when they're talking to their team members. "Oh, there's your tough showing up again," or, "There's there's your nurturing kind of a thing," So it just becomes playful, but in a good way because sometimes it helps, with that feedback and the reflection that helps us

Lillian Liang Emlet: Yeah. That's so cool. I mean, that must be so much, you know, so cool to see actually. so I guess I'm going to, conclude out this episode, what I wanted to ask you, was, when a team that's super diverse and super different spread out across the map, why does it perform better? Because I think a lot of people feel that it's more exhausting and it's really hard to manage that

Gillian Faith: Yeah, but you're bringing so many different, diverse skills and attributes together in a team. it might be, it might feel like more work, maybe the results are better at the end of the day

Lillian Liang Emlet: Yeah. Getting better quality earlier. So having more cognitive diversity for the same problem, seeing more angles. So that means all of your blind- hopefully your blind spots are actually covered. this is why, a lot of people have to do market testing or pilot tests of things. whenever a really high detailed person catches the big, what the big picture concept person might miss and vice versa, coverage towards the same goal. And when you're safe about it, like you had mentioned psychological safety a couple times, by having the language to name like, oh, that's your whatever trait coming out, and realizing, oh, I might have this trait, and so how can I contribute in the way I have this trait so that for the greater good of the team? and being really obvious about it, to name that, we all think differently, and that's what we're hoping to get out on the table with this meeting. we want to make sure that everyone's perspectives are heard

Gillian Faith: And, you mentioned blind spots and really, doing these assessments, they're going to show us our strengths, which we can then hopefully build upon. maybe we see these blind spots that we haven't seen before, and then it's going to give us areas for growth as well. So overall, strengths, blind spots, and growth areas, the more awareness we have around those and the more we can actually do something about it, we're choosing to take some action, the better our team will perform

Lillian Liang Emlet: that's true. it's like whenever our, differences only pay off when you actually understand them and you hold them, meaning like you create a container, as the facilitator or the leader to say, " It's good. we actually like this," and frame it in a positive way. I, what was it? Someone had posted on LinkedIn recently, nervous and excited, right? So nervcitis. I think it's been on some of our podcasts before with different guests. when you leave all of these differences on a team unmanaged, unnamed, uncoached, it's just conflict basically. I think really where it's when leaders who have coaching experience or have someone on their side or the team has, a coach to be able to just hold that container, that's when people begin to understand this is how we should work together, and then we lead them off to do their thing.

Gillian Faith: Yeah. And it doesn't happen overnight, right? It's work. But anything that, that's worthwhile doing, hopefully is they're going to have the payoffs

Lillian Liang Emlet: Yeah. Well, I mean, I couldn't have said it better. So on that note, we are appreciative of everyone who's made it through this far to listen all about the Principles You and Principles Us, personality, debriefings. And so if you're interested about what that might look like for you, please reach out, at hello@transforminghealthcarecoaching.com. We'd love to have a conversation of what it might look like for a group debriefing, a systemic team coaching engagement that use- utilizes the Principles, Us assessment, or if you're just curious for a one-on-one debriefing for just yourself, we'd love to be able to reach out. Gillian and I, would love to, to chat about how these things can show up. Gillian, any other final thoughts?

Gillian Faith: one thing is it's a pretty cost-effective

Lillian Liang Emlet: assessment

Gillian Faith: to take for your team, and I think the value you can get from it can be huge, and it can really turn a team around. So definitely worth a conversation

Lillian Liang Emlet: Yeah. And teams, theoretically are all the way down to as small as three people, right?

Gillian Faith: Yep

Lillian Liang Emlet: teams are, can be really small or really big, and always have that benefit. But thanks everyone for listening, and please contact us for more information and any other questions you want us to cover on this podcast. Have a wonderful week

Gillian Faith: Thank you.

References & Mentions

Hartzell JD. A Prescription for Caring in Healthcare Leadership: Building a Culture of Compassion and Excellence. 2025. Hartzell joined Lillian on this podcast for a full author interview (Episode 102).

Your Host

Dr. Lillian Liang Emlet

Physician · Executive Coach · Founder, Transforming Healthcare Coaching®

Lillian is a practicing physician, certified executive coach, and the voice behind the Transforming Healthcare Coaching® podcast. She works with clinicians, clinical leaders, and healthcare executives leading through role transitions, seasons at capacity, and culture change — helping them lead with clarity, intention, and sustainability.

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