Fueling Better Collaboration: How a Technical Senior Management Team in Aviation Learned to Connect Beyond Their Thinking Preference
Introduction & Background
In aviation fuel management, precision is everything. The people leading these businesses are often highly skilled engineers and technical specialists. They are experts at solving complex problems. But excellent technical leadership also depends on how well people understand and connect with each other.
Earlier in 2026, Pebble People Development delivered an Insights Discovery workshop to the executive team of an aviation fuel management business. The experience landed so well that the company invited us back to take the next step. This time, the workshop was for its senior management team, the layer of leaders directly below the executives.
On 30 September 2026, Pebble facilitator Sonya delivered an Introduction to Insights Discovery workshop to the group. The aim was simple: to help everyone work better together.
The Challenges: Not in Trouble, But Ready to Grow
This wasn't a team in trouble. It was a business that had seen what Insights Discovery did for its executives and wanted the same for the next layer of leadership. Even so, the group had some clear dynamics to work through:
A highly technical group: Almost everyone in the room was a technical leader or engineer, with just one person from sales. Teams like this are often brilliant at analysis and problem-solving. But they can find it harder to connect with people who think and communicate differently.
A strong Thinking preference: Most of the group led with Cool Blue (precise, analytical) or Fiery Red (direct, results-driven) energy. Both are "thinking" energies. That means Sunshine Yellow (sociable, enthusiastic) and Earth Green (caring, harmony-seeking) styles were much less represented.
Keeping leadership aligned: With the executive team already speaking the language of Insights Discovery, senior managers needed the same shared language. That keeps communication consistent across the leadership layers.
An international team: Some team members work remotely in the USA, Canada and Romania. That makes a shared understanding of each other's styles even more valuable.
The Solution: An Introduction to Insights Discovery
For a group of engineers and technical specialists, Insights Discovery is a natural fit. It gives people a clear, structured and evidence-based model for something that can otherwise feel vague: how people prefer to think, decide and communicate. It's an approach we've seen work well with other engineering-led teams, such as the middle managers at KDS Solutions.
Before the session, each team member completed the online evaluator and received a personal profile. Sonya then delivered our core Introduction to Insights Discovery programme.
Exploring the four colour energies: The team learned the language of Fiery Red, Sunshine Yellow, Earth Green and Cool Blue, and began to recognise their own preferences and those of their colleagues.
The Human Team Wheel: Team members placed themselves on the giant Insights Discovery wheel on the floor. Seeing (almost) the whole team sitting in the Cool Blue and Fiery Red half of the wheel was a striking moment. It sparked several lightbulb moments about how to adapt to colleagues with different preferences.
Going deeper on communication preferences: When the group compared how each person likes to be communicated with, there were surprisingly few close matches, even between people who led with the same colour energy.
Learning to flex: With such a strong Thinking preference in the room, much of the session focused on how to adapt and connect with Sunshine Yellow and Earth Green energies. Those are the styles most likely to be under-served in a team like this.
The group was enthusiastic from the start and keen to understand themselves and each other.
The Results:
The feedback came in fast and much of it was unprompted. The senior management team left with a shared language that matches their executive team's, and a much clearer sense of how to connect with each other.
Better than expected: Attendees said the workshop was better than they had expected, and more interactive. For a group of analytical, technical leaders, that's high praise!
Practical ways to flex: The team now understands where their strong Thinking preference serves them well and where it can leave others feeling unheard. They also have practical ways to connect with Sunshine Yellow and Earth Green colleagues.
Curiosity over assumptions: Seeing so few close matches in communication preferences, even between people with the same leading colour, was a breakthrough. People learned that a colour is a starting point for understanding someone, not a label.
One language across leadership: The executive and senior management teams now share the same framework, which makes communication up, down and across the business more consistent.
This feedback from the session sponsor summed up the atmosphere perfectly:
"I have received unprompted feedback from the majority of the group and all was very positive! Great to work with you again and thank you so much for your support." - Project Sponsor, aviation fuel management business
Key Takeaways
What We Learned: Leadership, Balance, and Individual Nuance
Rolling out level by level builds a shared language: Starting with the executive team and then extending to senior managers gives the whole leadership structure a common framework.
Technical teams benefit hugely from Insights Discovery: A clear, evidence-based model gives analytical people a practical way into the "people side" of leadership.
Knowing your team's balance matters: A team with a strong Thinking preference can move fast and think rigorously. But it needs to make a conscious effort to connect with feeling-based energies, inside and outside the team.
The same colour doesn't mean the same person: Even people who lead with the same colour energy have their own blend of preferences, motivations and communication needs. Great teamwork comes from curiosity about the individual, not assumptions based on colour alone.
Looking to the Future
The journey continues. Next, we're running an online Insights Discovery session for the team members based remotely in the USA, Canada and Romania. That way everyone in the senior management team, wherever they work, shares the same language. We're also hoping to roll Insights Discovery out further across the business.
Ready to Unlock Your Team’s Full Potential?
Leading a technical team that wants to connect better? Whether your leaders are engineers, analysts or specialists, an Insights Discovery workshop can help them understand themselves, flex their style and work better together, in person or online.
Explore our solutions or get in touch with Pebble People Development to talk about your team.