Primary Roles:
Descriptions and Suggestions
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Abstract Designer
Description: The ability to design solutions to problems requiring complex integration of
multiple paradigms (systems of thought).
Common traits and functions: Reflecting, synthesizing, intuiting, generalizing,
abstract concepts.
Best use: Design foundational issues for an enterprise. Work for a visionary builder.
Personally choose projects on which to work.
Worst use: Lead an enterprise. Implement details. Be the primary decision maker.
Developmental ideas: Be exposed to visionary builders, leaders, the central
workings of an organization, and practical designs. Maintain time to reflect with
expectations.
Concrete Designer
Description: The ability to design detailed workable solutions for practical problems.
Common traits and functions: Analytical, objective, research oriented, accumulated
knowledge.
Best use: Work for a visionary builder or abstract designer. Design practical solutions
for an enterprise.
Worst use: Lead an enterprise. Be the primary conceptual person.
Developmental ideas: Involvement in decision making process. Gather input from all
roles.
Counselor
Description: The ability to help individuals embrace workable solutions to their
unique problems.
Common traits and functions: Relationally perceptive, empathetic, human process
oriented.
Best use: Individual and small group counseling.
Worst use: Managing the workplace needs of a group of people.
Developmental ideas: Understand your range of expertise in counseling and the
various counseling paradigms.
Evaluator
Description: The ability to ensure the quality of the enterprise and the integrity of the
people involved.
Common traits and functions: Sensitive to quality and values. Usually judges
correctly. Personally steadfast and bold.
Best use: Quality control in an area of expertise.
Worst use: Production and management of a project.
Developmental ideas: Understand styles of communicating corrective advice and
style of learning.
Financier
Description: The ability and willingness to fund (for profit or not) specific people or
enterprises.
Common traits and functions: Resourceful, investment oriented, eye for spending
wisely and for making money.
Best use: Involved in deciding visionary enterprises from a financial perspective.
Worst use: Designing an enterprise.
Developmental ideas: Understand other “bottom lines” of an enterprise beside
profit.
Group Arbitrator
Description: The ability to negotiate a palatable solution between two or more
parties.
Common traits and functions: Perceptive of group needs and atmosphere.
Envisions compromises. Seeks peace. Guiding groups to solutions.
Best use: Peacemaking between two groups at odds.
Worst use: Counseling an individual with deep personal problems.
Developmental ideas: Understand styles of conflict resolution.
Leader
Description: The ability to oversee other managers in a manner that work is
coordinated, people morale is satisfactory, and direction and values are clear.
Common traits and functions: Purposeful, destiny driven. Comfortable with power.
Large capacity to work.
Best use: Lead a group of managers.
Worst use: Be the primary designer of an enterprise.
Developmental ideas: Understand your ability to perceive abstract and concrete
ideas.
Manager
Description: The ability to oversee people in a manner that work is coordinated and
people morale is satisfactory.
Common traits and functions: Coordinate people. Comfortable with deciding for
others. Understand the value of people morale.
Best use: Direct management of groups of people close to the actual production of
the enterprise.
Worst use: Leading a group of managers.
Developmental ideas: Understand the dynamics of group morale and time
management.
Organizer
Description: The ability to arrange information and/or things in an efficient manner.
Common traits and functions: Organized, efficient, systematic.
Best use: Set up and possibly maintain an efficient system of organization.
Worst use: Design the overall direction of an enterprise.
Developmental ideas: Exposure to state-of-the-art forms of organization of
information.
Promoter
Description: The ability to proclaim the value of a person, concept or thing in a
convincing manner.
Common traits and functions: Convincing, value oriented, bold when opposed.
Best use: Demonstrate the value of a product to a broad range of people.
Worst use: Required to bring closure to a sell.
Developmental ideas: Understand the full range of persuasion.
Recruiter
Description: The ability to enlist other people in the pursuit of a common enterprise.
Common traits and functions: Bold, confident, people oriented. Believes in a
cause, thing, or person. Groups people.
Best use: Direct contact with people of potential value to an enterprise.
Worst use: Required to deal with a very broad range of people.
Developmental ideas: Understand personal range of relational effectiveness.
Understand the full range of persuasion.
Seller
Description: The ability to guide a person to decide to commit his resources for a
person, concept, or thing.
Common traits and functions: Convincing, persuading, guiding other people.
Perceptive of others’ wants and desires.
Best use: Bring closure to an agreement.
Worst use: Required to deal with a very broad range of people.
Developmental ideas: Understand the full range of persuasion.
Specialist
Description: The ability to perform specific and specialized skills involving
information, aesthetics, or things.
Common traits and functions: Single-minded, specialized, perfectionist, strives for
best quality.
Best use: Detailed implementation using highly-tuned skills.
Worst use: Bulk production requiring little precision.
Developmental ideas: Continue perfecting specialized skill and learning related
skills.
Stabilizer
Description: The ability to ensure an enterprise continues to function without
unnecessary instability.
Common traits and functions: Desires stability, resists unnecessary change,
content with working systems.
Best use: Maintain an enterprise requiring little change. Advising visionary builders
and designer of the impact of changes.
Worst use: Making decisions regarding the overall direction of an enterprise.
Developmental ideas: Understand the process of change.
Supporter
Description: The ability to help others succeed in their role with little or no personal
recognition (usually involves information, aesthetics, and/or things).
Common traits and functions: Loyal, detail oriented, responds to the initiatives of
others.
Best use: Work for a person requiring much detailed help.
Worst use: Work on their own.
Developmental ideas: Understand the broad areas of interest of the person they
seek to support and gain some degree of expertise in those areas.
Teacher
Description: The ability to communicate ideas and information in a manner that is
understandable to others.
Common traits and functions: Ever learning, communicates ideas, illustrates ideas.
Best use: Educate people in their area of expertise and enthusiasm.
Worst use: Production in their area of expertise.
Developmental ideas: Learn various styles of learning and how to assess the most
effective style for an individual student.
Trainer
Description: The ability to impart a skill to another.
Common traits and functions: Process oriented. Communicates in a step-by-step
manner. Patiently corrective.
Best use: Imparting skills through an interactive process.
Worst use: Informational instruction.
Developmental ideas: Understand the developmental and learning processes of
people.
Visionary Builder
Description: The ability to envision the fulfillment of an idea and make decisions to
ensure its reality.
Common traits and functions: Foresighted, optimistic, visionary, decisive,
conceptual and practical.
Best use: Entrepreneur. Change agent in an existing enterprise.
Worst use: Maintain the status quo.
Developmental ideas: Network with other visionary builders. Team with both abstract
and concrete designer.
*Copyright © 1990 by Ralph Ennis, LEAD Consulting. All rights reserved.
Summary from Primary Roles Indicator
Composites
High Traits Score
High Experience
Score
ROLE
CORRESPONDING FUNCTIONS
SELECTED FROM ROLE
DESCRIPTIONS
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Primary
Contributions
Consider
developing this
as part of your
contribution
Seek partnership
in responsibilities
that primarily call
for this function
Primary Roles
Summary Worksheet
Resources:
Definitions in the Primary Roles Inventory workbook, roles functions and definitions,
Descriptions and Suggestions, Roles Summary Chart.
STEP 1: List key phrases from each of your highest primary roles from the above
resources.
(You may want to include roles that were listed under traits but did not appear in the
composite list. These could be areas to develop.)
STEP 2: Put all the key words or phrases into one or two sentences that describe you.
1.
In light of your observations about your primary roles, which ones are being
adequately utilized in your current ministry environments?
2. Are any of your primary roles being devalued or marginalized? Explain the impact
this is having on you.
3. What ministry or career implications do your primary roles hold for you?