Chapter 1 · Tool
The Four Colour Energies
Built on Carl Jung's Psychological Types (1971) and made practical by Insights Discovery, the four colours give a shared language for difference. Cool Blue, Earth Green, Sunshine Yellow, Fiery Red — every leader uses all four, but most lead with one or two. Knowing yours, and reading others', changes how you communicate.
How to use it
Step 01
Cool Blue (Introversion + Thinking)
Task-focused, calm under pressure, thoughtful, objective. Investigates, observes, decides on evidence. Communicate by being well prepared, putting it in writing, and giving time for detail.
Step 02
Fiery Red (Extraversion + Thinking)
Strong-willed, purposeful, results-driven. Communicate by being brief, focused on goals, confident and assertive. Skip the small talk.
Step 03
Sunshine Yellow (Extraversion + Feeling)
Sociable, expressive, optimistic, persuasive. Communicate by being friendly, open and stimulating. Don't drown them in detail.
Step 04
Earth Green (Introversion + Feeling)
Caring, patient, relationship-oriented. Communicate by being patient, asking opinions, and giving time to respond. Never push for a snap decision.
Reflection
Sit with these questions.
- →Which colour do I default to under pressure?
- →Which colour do I unconsciously dismiss in others?
- →Where in my team is one colour missing — and which decisions suffer for it?
- →What would change if I led for a week from my opposite colour?
Inside TOP Academy
The Academy goes beyond the four boxes — every leader gets a personal Insights Discovery profile, a team profile of their actual team, and live coaching on adapting your style to the people you most struggle with. That's where colour stops being theory.
The Leadership Essentials programme has run with 350+ leaders across Europe and Asia — blending the book's models with peer coaching, real-life cases, and follow-through that sticks.
See the programmeWant to work this through with us?
Explore it together in a free online session with Sonja.