What's the Startup?!

How Personality Shapes Teamwork & Communication: Tools for Growth with Amy Tooley

• Sprocket • Season 2 • Episode 1

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In this episode of What’s the Startup?!, we sit down with Amy Tooley, a leadership consultant and mentor at Sprocket, to explore how understanding personality and leadership styles can transform teamwork, communication, and personal growth. Amy dives into tools like the DISC assessment, strategies for identifying blind spots, and actionable steps to build a stronger leadership toolbox.

We also discuss the power of reflection, the importance of community for entrepreneurs, and why creating a “personal board of directors” can be a game changer for solopreneurs and small business owners. Whether you’re leading a team or just starting your entrepreneurial journey, this episode is packed with insights to help you grow as a leader and connect with others.

Tune in to learn:

•What leadership styles are and how to discover yours.

•How understanding personality can improve communication and teamwork.

•Why building community is essential for leaders and entrepreneurs.

•Tips for using tools like journaling, mentorship, and assessments to fuel personal and professional growth.

Plus, hear about the incredible programs and resources available at Sprocket, including their weekly Coffee Hour—a perfect way to connect with other like-minded entrepreneurs.

Don’t miss this inspiring conversation that’s all about unlocking your leadership potential!

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Sprocket Podcast! If you’re ready to dive into the world of startups and innovation, visit us online at Sprocket WKY to learn more about our mission and how we support entrepreneurs like you.

Ready to check out the space? Book a tour with Tiffany, our Community Coordinator!

Got a business idea? Apply for a mentorship session with one of our experienced mentors!

Stay connected and join our growing community on Instagram for the latest updates, inspiration, and behind-the-scenes looks at what’s happening at Sprocket.

Let’s turn your ideas into reality—together!

Sprocket is proud to be supported by Team Kentucky, the Commonwealth's Cabinet for Economic Development. Learn more about their initiatives and resources at ced.ky.gov.

Kaylan:

Amy, thank you so much for joining us today. Welcome to What's the Startup. Thank you. Tell us about yourself.

Amie:

Who are you and what do you do? Well, my name is Amy Tooley. I'm a leadership consultant and I work with leaders and their teams to help build more cohesive teams. A lot of times leaders struggle with creating effective teams and retaining their staff. So I work with leaders to help create more cohesive teams to help them meet their goals and retain their staff.

Kaylan:

And you're one of the mentors here at Sprocket. So you gift that amazingness to all of our members here, which is incredible. So everyone who's a member here at Sprocket gets a coaching session with you, if they so choose. Can you introduce us to this concept of a leadership style. What is a leadership style? It's something that, everyone has heard in books, and it's probably this overdone word, but what does it mean in reality?

Amie:

Sure. A leadership style is really your personal style and how you guide people, how you motivate them, manage them. We all have our own unique style because we all have our own unique personalities, our own unique ways that we communicate with others and so forth. And so once you find that then you utilize that when you work with others.

Kaylan:

And I'm sure the process of finding it is not just a one and done thing, it's a continual pursuit. What are some of the things that make up a leadership style?

Amie:

Certainly your skills, your experiences, your background, all the things that you've been taught and trained along your life path certainly make up a lot of that, what you have viewed to be successful, to work well with you and for you. A lot of times you will take on some of those characteristics of other people. So a lot of things go into that style.

Kaylan:

What are some of the first things that we should do as someone who is wanting to invest in your own leadership style and draw it out? What are some of the first things that you do to start discovering it?

Amie:

So, I personally would recommend doing the Maxwell Disc. And what that is it's a really short assessment. It takes like 7 10 minutes, and so once you go through that and what your perception of yourself is, then it spits out a report and gives you a lot of information about yourself, about your strengths, about the environments that you're going to be most productive in about your communication style and about how you can grow as a leader. All of that from a test. All of that from a test.

Kaylan:

It is pretty robust. I've done it.

Amie:

Yes. It's

Kaylan:

so helpful.

Amie:

The real magic is not just in taking the test and getting the assessment report, but really digging into it, getting a really good understanding of that. I do a one on one debrief with everyone that I work with and point out some things to them. And then we really get in there and start finding some things that they want to work on, how to take advantage of their strengths, how to work through some of their potential for growth. So introduce

Kaylan:

us to the DISC for those who have never heard of it before, and they probably have no idea what we're talking about. What is the DISC assessment and introduce us to the DISC for those who have never heard of it before the archetypes.

Amie:

All right. So there are four general different styles. So the D, the I, the S and the C. The D is dominant and those are going to be the people that fall under this style are going to be your decision makers, your action takers, your assertive bottom line, type of people. Your I, those are your influential people, and so they're going to be, they're really friendly, talkative, front of the room type of people, very encouraging individuals. Your S, that is a steady, and so those are your Team players, loyal they are good listeners, and then your C, those are going to be your compliant people. And so, those that do a lot of analysis very specific, perfectionist, that type of an individual.

Kaylan:

And then we can all have you know, aspects of these different styles, but we stand out in certain ones. That right?

Amie:

That's right. So all of us are a mixture of all different types of styles. When we're looking at the Maxwell disc, we look at where those numbers fall and which ones fall above the midline, for example, which ones fall below. So those are going to be your strengths. Those are going to be how You present yourself to others, and then there are going to be some other characteristics that you don't. Or you might, in one situation and not in another. For example, in a stressful situation, I'm sure you've been in one where you've had, I can't believe I responded that way. And it's because you do respond differently when you're in a stressful situation versus when you're not.

Kaylan:

Yeah. It, I'm so glad you brought that up. Well, cause one thing that I loved about the test was knowing my adaptive style and then my natural style, what do I do if I'm in a very uncomfortable position? I go from like, really extroverted to nothing. Yes. Yes. That was just so enlightening for me because then I can realize it's not showing me anything new. It's just bringing my attention to some of the reasons of why I do the things that I do, which is really

Amie:

freeing. It is. It's freeing and it helps you understand if things are not going the way that you want them to, how you can adjust them, adjust the course. Let's say that you are in a situation where it is stressful and so you know that you're, that I part of you, that influential part of you, that talkative. person starts to go to the background and that D comes out to the front. And so that part of you and your personality makes decisions and is a little more assertive and so forth. And so when you typically walk around more influential, more talkative, more friendly, and then in a stressful situation, we see that part of you change. It's a good time to be able to look back at a situation and say, Oh, let me reflect on that and see really what happens there.

Kaylan:

And I think it's important to note that it's not an excuse either. It's not like, Oh, well this happens to me in this situation. So that's the way it is. It's what can I work on in this situation when these things happen? So the test I found it useful to understand what, like my triggers are or even. Knowing my teammates communication styles. Okay. Well, this is why I feel this way when they respond in this way, or this is what's really going on. Because now I know how they approach conversation and accomplishing tasks. I know how I approach conversation and accomplishing tasks so we can work together better as a team.

Amie:

Yes, when the whole team has had an opportunity to really have an understanding of DISC and how that works and how different people communicate differently and under different circumstances, that's really part of what makes that team so much more effective because it gives everybody common language and they can say Wow, you must be really stressed right now, Kaylin. And, and it makes it okay. And then it gives you an opportunity to say, you're right, I am. Let me back up here just a minute and let's see if we can approach this a little bit differently. Or not. However you need to handle that.

Kaylan:

So how does understanding our own styles help us become better leaders?

Amie:

Well, it gives you an opportunity to make more connections. It's really all about communication. And at the end of the day, when we look at the issues that we're having, they are probably a communication problem to begin with. And so, to be able to understand your own communication style, and then to be able to understand the motivation behind someone else's. gives you clarity and understanding and it evens the playing field a bit. It also, if I know that you respond in a certain way, but I want to make a connection with you, then, John Maxwell talks about the platinum rule. We're so used to the golden rule, treat others as you would have them treat you, right? But the platinum rule is treat others as they would want to be treated. So that you can make a real, genuine connection with that individual. So being able to have that information about that other person will help you be successful in doing that.

Kaylan:

So for those of us who are wanting to grow as leaders, even if we're not managing teams, what are some of the most helpful tools we could have in our leadership toolbox as we try to grow? Thank you.

Amie:

Taking advantage of the opportunity to reflect. And part of that is when you're, when you go through a situation, we don't take enough time to ask ourselves, How did that go? Did it go well? Did it not go so well? And why is that? Is it something that, did I approach it differently? Did I not have all the information? Did I go too quickly? And it doesn't all have to be negative, where there's some other circumstances surrounding it that were outside of my control, but just having taking that opportunity to stop and reflect and think about it and then setting yourself up so that for the next conversation or the next situation that you can approach it differently. So we've got

Kaylan:

reflection in our toolbox. We've got the disk assessment. We've got mentorship in our toolbox. What do we do with those tools on a

Amie:

daily basis? Well, you have to make a decision to use them. That's the tricky part. We have access to tools, but we have to be very intentional about doing that. And so, for me, it would be checking in with a mentor. It would be making sure that I'm following through with some of these things that I said that I intended to do. So, accountability.

Kaylan:

Accountability. Having someone in your corner. Yes. And one thing that I associate with you and you just who you are as a person is a daily reflection. So you talk a lot about how you journal but then also vision cast for the day. Can you tell us a little bit more about your practice for that?

Amie:

Yes. So my favorite way to start the day is by journaling. And I typically start, dear me. Today is going to be a great and amazing day, and great and amazing things are going to happen. And then I begin to just journal my intentions for the day. It's not necessarily a to do list, but it's what I anticipate happening, how I want that to feel, how I want other people to feel, and it really sets me up so that I can then go out and really make the day happen in that way.

Kaylan:

Why is that so effective for you? Why do you think that is so, important for leaders to do that?

Amie:

I think we go into situations and we have expectations. This is going to happen exactly as it did last time. Or, every time I do this is what happens. And so, it gives you the opportunity to really write the story yourself. How do you want it to go? How, what do you want to see happen? And if you start having some of those thoughts and thinking through that, then you will see some changes happen as a result.

Kaylan:

Yeah. I, and I'm thinking back to one of the questions that you have asked in one of the sessions, which is what is your dream state 10 years from now? And then how did you make that happen? What did you do today that brought that to life? And so that's what I'm seeing here is by the end of the day, what's the story I'm going to tell. And then it structures your actions to lead toward that end goal. Absolutely. Yeah. What are some other questions that we can ask ourselves as we're either sitting down to journal or just sitting down to reflect?

Amie:

Aside from seeing or knowing what you want to happen, and what steps can you take to make that happen? And a lot of times we want to just jump off in the deep end. We see that end goal. And so we want to jump to that. And so a lot of times it's backing up and thinking about what are some small steps towards that, a very common one. That's what happens so many times along the way is that people will give up towards that goal because the goal is too big or it hasn't been broken down into manageable pieces. And so sometimes just scheduling or figuring out what that process is really going to look like is really important.

Kaylan:

How do we work on setting actionable goals, especially when it comes to our own growth?

Amie:

Always start by keeping the end in mind. And so you think about what do you want that to look like at the end and then back up? So what do we need to do to make that happen? What steps do we need to take and giving ourselves time to do that? And then again using all those tools in our toolbox, making sure we are being held accountable, making sure that we're speaking to mentors and accessing resources and doing all the things that we can do to make us be successful.

Kaylan:

So as we're starting to learn more about our style, what are some common challenges that you see people bump up against?

Amie:

Ooh, yes. Blind spots. So, there are things about our personality that we don't recognize, that we don't see and that we don't intend to, But it happens. And so I think that's an important part. The Maxwell disk will tell you some of that information, and it'll tell you even some actions that you can take to grow, if that is something that you want to do in those areas. And I think a great way to do that, too, is to ask for feedback from other people. So if you have a cohesive team you can talk to your teammates about how a certain conversation went or a project and just reflect afterwards and talk about, what again, what could we do differently? What could we do better? What worked really well? But being able to have those conversations with individuals with a spouse, with a partner, with a friend co worker, any of those relationships.

Kaylan:

What are some red flags that might indicate There's a hidden blind spot there.

Amie:

If you're present and paying some attention, sometimes you'll see it in people's faces. You will see it in their body language. Those are things that not everyone pays attention to those cues, but they're so meaningful and will tell you a lot of information. And so a lot of times we're unsure. What did that mean? And we make up a story in our mind about what we think it meant. But if we could, adjust that and ask instead that would be one really good way to figure out exactly where that's coming from.

Kaylan:

I think for me personally a red flag is if I'm ruminating over something or like playing something over and over in my head, something's happening there that I need to address and start looking at more objectively than subjectively. One thing that you've also talked about before that I want to bring into this conversation is that an overuse of our strength can also be a blind

Amie:

spot too. Absolutely. That can be a really big obstacle. I'll use a D as an example. So the D they are assertive. They are decision makers. They are bottom line approach type of people. If you're in an emergency, you want a D to be there and make those decisions. Sometimes we don't want to make decisions that quickly. Right. And so that's an example of a strength becoming an obstacle. Sometimes you need someone to spend a little bit more time gathering information, analyzing the information to make a good decision. So, in a situation like that, what you would want to do is lean on the strengths of your other team members. So that you're not making a quick decision at that moment, but making more of an informed decision instead. But again, the situation could be flipped and you would need that other personality style instead. So

Kaylan:

what should we do if we're like a solopreneur or we're slowly building our team and we don't have those other perspectives there alongside us?

Amie:

So a really good thing to do in that situation is to find your, find a way to come to a co working space like Sprocket, an environment where you're going to be able to be surrounded by other like minded individuals, but different personality types that you can gain insight from, have discussions with, a mentor, any of those, again, falling back on those tools to help us identify those pieces along the way.

Kaylan:

Okay, so realizing that if we feel alone then we are in a silo. And so what I'm hearing is that no matter where you are, you need to build a makeshift team. If you can't hire those people, go find a community where you can pull in perspective. Got it. And build your board, absolutely. It's the perfect way to put it. Your personal

Amie:

board of directors, I like to refer to it. Your personal board of,

Kaylan:

so who, who would need to be on our board of directors? What kind of people are we looking for?

Amie:

Well, you're looking for people who, first of all, are very genuine, very authentic, that know you and really care about you, and want to see you succeed, without any ulterior motives. And so, if you can identify people who meet that criteria, but then also have strengths other than yours, And so that you can fall on those individuals in those moments. And come to the table with, I was thinking this, but I'm wondering about this. Or I'm wondering if you have another suggestion. And then, listening.

Kaylan:

How do we, and maybe this is not something that everyone would experience. But I know it's something that I would experience. How do we try to lean on other people in that example without feeling guilty, like, like we're taking or reusing someone's time or we're taking advantage of them or we're just looking for mentors so we can get free coaching or whatever. How do we find a balance in those relationships?

Amie:

So, I would first say perhaps you can be that for someone else. And so not always be the taker, but also be the giver and, find a way to make it work for both people.

Kaylan:

So we talked about things in our toolbox. I think another important tool that we need to include in there is community. Why is plugging into a community so important for us as leaders?

Amie:

Oh, absolutely. The people that you're around the most will absolutely determine your success as well. And so it's important to be around other people that have drive and motivation so that you will, thrive off of their energy and mimic that as well.

Kaylan:

And one of the things that you've been leading here at Sprocket is coffee hour. And that's a great first Sprocket community. Can you tell us a little bit more about coffee hour and why it's just So great.

Amie:

Absolutely. So it's business support coffee hour, and it's really an opportunity for people to come in and really again, be around other people that are like minded and want to grow. And then we are trying to be real intentional about making some smart decisions for ourselves as entrepreneurs and business owners. What do we need to do to set ourselves up for success? Most recently we talked about our pitches. For example, the elevator pitch is, one of those things every business owner needs to know and understand. And you're going to be in networking situations where you're going to have those conversations. You can't avoid them forever. And so we've came in here and had a little, Teaching about what that might look like and gave ourselves some actual time to be able to do that and then get some input and feedback from other people along the way. That's incredible. This is just an incredible environment. About a year ago, I came here and I just knew that this was some type of a hub to help entrepreneurs and that I knew that's what I needed. There are certain times in our lives that absolutely change the trajectory of where we go. And that was one of those monumental moments for me. And I am an S. And so I'm that steady teammate type of a person. And once I felt that love and that appreciation that I wanted to then be able to share that exact experience with other people. And so I began to talk about it on Facebook and on LinkedIn and other types of places, just verbally with other people. And so I really want people that are in that same situation. What do I do? What are my next steps? Who is going to help me? What have I done? Any of those questions that are floating around in your brain that you might have, this is the place to come, ask those questions out loud, and let someone help you. Let someone connect you with the right people.

Kaylan:

And another thing that I think is so important for people listening to remember is that you don't have to be at a certain level to come and receive what Sprocket has to offer. Thank you for listening. Any point of your journey, especially those who are just starting out, or they want to have an idea, or they have an idea, or they have ten ideas and they don't know which one to, to come to. This is easy access.

Amie:

Very easy access. The programming is incredible in that it really pulls the answers out of you to those questions that need to be asked. Okay, you have an idea. What are we going to do with that? And what is the real idea? What is the real end goal that you have? Who is it that you want to help? And so, Sprocket and the staff and the other people that they have assist, brought in to assist the other community members helps you get to that bottom line and figure out all of those. And then, puts you in connection with the right people and the right resources to be able to make it happen.

Kaylan:

What would you say to anyone who's out there who hasn't stepped into Sprocket yet?

Amie:

Oh, you've got to come to Sprocket. Just to come and see the space has been incredible. I host as many meetings here as possible to expose community members to this incredible space. Because just being in it alone wakes your brain up and makes you want to be a part of something and to see what it's all about. So, just Come on in.

Kaylan:

Come to coffee hour.

Amie:

Come to coffee hour. That's a great place to start.

Kaylan:

Wednesdays 8 a. m. That's right. It's a great place to find community and get plugged in and experience belonging too, which is so important for leaders, but then also entrepreneurs, especially as we're building our teams, building our businesses. A lot of us don't have teams yet. And so it's very isolating.

Amie:

It is very isolating and everybody feels like their business is different. This is different. This is, and the truth is that the root problems are always the same. And I didn't understand that when I very first started. So if that is something that someone's thinking about in their mind, this is the time to come.

Kaylan:

Yeah. We have in coffee hour alone, we have service based businesses. We have brick and mortar. We've got e commerce, we've got all different kinds of startups. Yeah. A little bit of all of it. Yeah, and like you said, the same problems exist in different ways in all these different businesses. So really, when you share a problem that you're coming up against, you get so a rich variety of different perspectives that you can use to attack your problem. And then you also will find that you have things to give too, even if

Amie:

you don't think you do. You're exactly right. You're exactly right. And that gives you just as much. joy and value to be able to pour value into others.

Kaylan:

Well, Amy, thank you so much for gifting us your time today and your energy and all the good things.

Amie:

Awesome. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you so much. Thank you.