Using the insights from our recent survey to help us establish the main work personality types, together with the support of behavioural psychologist Donna Dawson, we analysed the results to highlight the key personality types and determine their key traits, features and working styles.
Our research has identified five prominent work personalities in the modern workplace:
● The Go Getter
● The Visionary
● The Negotiator
● The Thinker
● The Executive
This article focuses on the Visionary. Join us as we delve into who they are, what motivates them and what’s important to them. We will also explore real-world examples of those who identify as having the Visionary work personality.
The Visionary: Who are they?
With similar levels of drive and determination as the Go Getter, the Visionary exudes the same energy, but has a different focus. The Visionary seeks to blaze new trails. Be this with the discovery of new ideas and innovators or by finding a new solution to an age-old problem.
Typically, the Visionary is bursting with creativity and ideas but is less interested in the finer details or the hard graft to take the idea from ideation to reality. Our data revealed that the Visionary makes up 14% of survey respondents.
Visionary traits
The Visionary work personality can be summarised as innovators. People who have a passion for adventure and continually seek the bigger picture. It’s no secret that teamwork really does make the dream work here. The Visionary works effectively in brain-storming sessions, sitting around a table and bouncing ideas off their colleagues. The Visionary traits include:
- Creative thinking
- Truly welcomes feedback to help with ideation
- Has a high energy and drive
- Ambitious
Real-world examples of The Visionary
In popular culture, the Visionary is best embodied in the people who are famed for their ground-breaking ideas. Perhaps the most famous real-world example of the Visionary work personality is Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple and pioneer of the smartphone. During his time at Apple, Steve brought us many innovative products, such as the iMac, iPod, iPad and iPhone.
Another British example of the Visionary work personality is James Dyson, who continuously creates products that set aside traditional design principles in favour of unique and innovative ones. After leading the revolution of bagless vacuum cleaners, James has diversified the brand to include the Dyson Airstrait hair straighteners and their range of noise-cancelling headphones.
What the expert says
Following analysis of the Visionary work personality, behavioural psychologist Donna Dawson said:
"This personality type has the same energy and drive as the' Go Getter’, but it is motivated by something very different: discovering new ideas and possibilities or finding a new angle for an old idea. Managers must show them how their success can be achieved in a clear and concise way to help them understand the details that they are often hazy on."
Make good workplaces great with UKG
UKG is on a mission to inspire every organisation to become a great place to work through HCM technology built for all. We want to equip workplaces with the tools they need to lead through culture. Here at UKG, we recognise that a strong workplace culture can increase productivity, improve profitability and enhance staff retention.
Our solutions, such as the UKG Great Place to Work Hub, can help businesses take action to develop their workplace culture and promote a sense of belonging. We combine AI with the world’s most extensive collection of people, workforce and culture data to create exceptional workplace experiences. Our HCM technology helps drive people and business success; we help over 80,000 organisations achieve better business outcomes.
Discover your work personality
Are you a Visionary, or perhaps you're a Thinker or Negotiator? Take our test to explore which work personality you are. Find out more about our research in our 'What's Your Work Personality? ' white paper.
