McDonald's leaders
2.7x more likely to lead with Fire than accountants
Spark and enthusiasm run through a fast-moving, people-facing business.
Research report · October 2026 edition
The State of the Elements
What nearly 10,000 Master Your Superpowers assessments reveal about how people lead, work, and connect
9,716Assessments
50+Organizations
2019 to 2026Seven years of data
The short version
What nearly 10,000 people told us
93%
say caring for others brings them joy
84%
need alone time to recharge
81%
get frustrated when they are kept waiting
24%
enjoy being the center of attention
Seven discoveries, in plain English
1
Only 1 in 4 people enjoy being the center of attention.
In MYS termsFire is the most common weakest element, for 41% of people.
2
People who love to move fast are nearly twice as likely to be the ones lighting up the room.
In MYS termsWood and Fire pair up 1.9 times more often than chance.
3
Only about 1 in 45 people pair big warmth with cool precision.
In MYS termsFire with Metal is the rarest combination of all.
4
Outside Hawaii, workplaces have 2.5 times as many natural spark-makers.
In MYS termsThe Aloha Signature: Hawaii leads with Water and Earth.
5
Women and men are equally likely to be the analytical one, the driven one or the caring one.
In MYS termsEvery element is within 3 points by gender.
6
1 in 3 people are nearly equal parts two different styles.
In MYS termsTheir top two elements are within a single point.
7
Nearly half of teams are missing an entire way of thinking, and do not know it.
In MYS terms46% of teams have an element no one leads with.
Each element's superpower
Water intuition
Wood creativity
Fire positivity
Earth consideration
Metal focus
Water intuition
Wood creativity
Fire positivity
Earth consideration
Metal focus
The elemental fingerprint
Who leads with what
Every group of people has an elemental fingerprint. Here is what the data shows across some of the professions we have assessed.
Accountants
5x more likely to lead with Earth than with Fire
Steady, careful and dependable. Exactly who you want minding the books.
Women in construction
2.3x more likely to lead with Metal than government employees
Precision, standards and safety on job sites where details matter.
Event and hospitality planners
2.3x more likely to lead with Wood than accountants
Vision and momentum for people who turn plans into experiences.
Government employees
1.5x more likely to lead with Earth, the element of consideration, than everyone else we assessed
Dependable, fair and thoughtful about the people they serve. 37% lead with Earth, compared with 25% of everyone else we assessed.
Current assessment, 2024 to 2026, compared on primary element. Each group reflects the organizations we assessed in that field: accounting firms (223 people), government agencies (268), a women in construction association (240), a destination management company (118) and McDonald's (949).
How MYS works
One system, five elements, twenty superheroes
Master Your Superpowers is a 50-question psychometric assessment built on the five elements. Everyone carries all five. MYS identifies the two that lead, a primary and a secondary, and that pairing becomes one of 20 integrated archetypes, each brought to life as a superhero.
Water
intuition
Reflective, perceptive and deeply feeling. Water brings intuition, empathy and quiet wisdom.
Wood
creativity
Visionary, inventive and growth-oriented. Wood brings creativity, direction and the will to build.
Fire
positivity
Warm, expressive and energizing. Fire brings positivity, enthusiasm and connection.
Earth
consideration
Steady, caring and dependable. Earth brings consideration, support and a sense of belonging.
Metal
focus
Precise, principled and structured. Metal brings focus, standards and follow-through.
Finding 1
Fire is the element most people lack
Every person has a weakest element, the one that comes least naturally. Across nearly ten thousand people, one element is missing far more often than any other. It is Fire, the element of positivity, warmth and expression.
Share of people whose weakest element is each one
Current assessment, 2024 to 2026Original assessment, 2019 to 2024
Water29%
7%
Wood9%
18%
Fire41%
40%
Earth9%
17%
Metal12%
19%
Current assessment: 2,339 people. Original: 7,369 people.
4 in 10
people have Fire as their weakest element. That held in both versions of the assessment: 40% originally and 41% today.
24%
agree with "I enjoy being the center of attention and feel comfortable in front of others," one of the least claimed statements in the assessment.
14%
lead with Fire as their primary element, among the lowest of the five.
What it means
Fire is the element that lights up a room, celebrates wins and makes work feel human. When it is quiet, teams can be capable, kind and productive, yet still feel flat. Leaders do not need to become performers. They need to make room for Fire on purpose: recognition, celebration, play and visible enthusiasm.
Finding 2
Some elements are drawn to each other
If elements paired up at random, every combination would appear about as often as chance predicts. They do not. Some elements seek each other out. Others rarely meet in the same person.
Appears more than chance
Appears far less than chance
How often each pairing appears, compared with chance
| Pairing | Original | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Wood and Fire | 2.1x | 1.9x |
| Water and Earth | 1.4x | 1.8x |
| Wood and Metal | 1.1x | 1.3x |
| Fire and Metal | 0.6x | 0.3x |
| Water and Fire | 0.7x | 0.3x |
| Wood and Earth | 0.2x | 0.6x |
1.0x means exactly as often as chance. Based on each person's primary and secondary element, in both versions of the assessment.
The movers: Wood and Fire. Vision plus spark, the people who start things.
The steadiers: Water and Earth. Depth plus care, the people who hold things together.
Why it matters
Wood and Fire are both energies of movement and expansion. Water and Earth are both energies of stillness and support. People tend to be built around one rhythm or the other. The rarest combinations, Fire with Metal or Water, ask one person to hold opposite rhythms at once.
Finding 3
Our Superhero Census
All 20 archetypes, ranked by how often they appear in the current assessment. Bars show each superhero's primary element first and secondary element second.
1Flexible Rule-MakerWood and Metal11.0%
2Calm ConnectorEarth and Water9.4%
3Innovative IdealistWood and Fire8.8%
4Spontaneous InitiatorFire and Wood8.2%
5Reflective ConfidantWater and Earth7.8%
6Reliable AnalystEarth and Metal7.7%
7Efficient ProducerMetal and Wood7.0%
8Caring PerfectionistWater and Metal5.0%
9Patient SpeedsterEarth and Wood4.8%
10Loyal CheerleaderEarth and Fire4.2%
11Thriving ManifestorWood and Earth4.0%
12Resourceful CreatorWater and Wood3.8%
13Energetic ProtectorFire and Earth3.7%
14Focused VisionaryMetal and Water3.7%
15Masterful AllyMetal and Earth3.5%
16Logical VisionaryWood and Water3.0%
17Warm-Hearted LonerFire and Metal1.4%
18Radiant ProviderFire and Water1.1%
19Intuitive LuminaryWater and Fire0.9%
20Dedicated EnthusiastMetal and Fire0.8%
Current assessment, 2024 to 2026, 2,339 people. The three most common superheroes together describe 29% of everyone.
The rarest superheroes all carry Fire
Four archetypes are true rarities, each found in fewer than 1 in 70 people. Every one pairs Fire with Water or Metal, the two pairings that almost never occur together.
If you are one of the rare ones
You hold a combination most people never experience. Fire with Metal means warmth with precision. Fire with Water means expression with depth. These people often feel like puzzles to others, and sometimes to themselves. On a team, they can translate between worlds that rarely meet.
Finding 4
The Aloha Signature
Place shapes people, or perhaps people are drawn to places that fit them. Workplaces in Hawaii carry a distinctly different elemental signature from workplaces elsewhere.
Primary element, Hawaii workplaces compared with elsewhere
Hawaii (940 people)Outside Hawaii (355 people)
Water22%
14%
Wood24%
23%
Fire9%
22%
Earth32%
23%
Metal13%
18%
Corporate participants on the current assessment, McDonald's excluded so one large organization does not dominate the comparison.
1.6x
more people lead with Water in Hawaii workplaces, 22% compared with 14%.
9%
lead with Fire in Hawaii, against 22% elsewhere. Nearly half of Hawaii participants (48%) have Fire as their weakest element.
54%
of Hawaii participants lead with Water or Earth, compared with 37% elsewhere.
What it means
The spirit of aloha, care, calm and connection, shows up in the data. It is a gift, and it has a shadow. Workplaces rich in Water and Earth are loyal and kind, yet may struggle to celebrate loudly, push back openly or move quickly. Leaders in Hawaii can honor the signature while intentionally inviting more Fire.
Finding 5
Women and men share the same elements
Many personality tools carry hidden gender patterns. When we compared women and men on the current assessment, the elements came out almost identical.
Women (1,386)Men (920)
18%Water17%
Water17%27%Wood27%
Wood27%14%Fire15%
Fire15%28%Earth24%
Earth24%14%Metal16%
Metal16%Share leading with each element as their primary. Current assessment, participants who reported gender.
3 pts
The largest difference on any element (Earth). On Water and Wood, women and men are within one point.
Same
Flexible Rule-Maker and Calm Connector are among the three most common superheroes for both women and men.
Every
superhero appears among both women and men. No archetype belongs to one gender.
Why it matters
When a team talks about elements instead of stereotypes, the conversation gets fairer. A woman who leads with Metal and a man who leads with Earth are not exceptions. They are simply themselves.
Finding 6
Why we measure the top two elements
Many assessments put a person in one box. For a large share of people, their top two elements are nearly equal in strength.
Points between a person's first and second element
Current assessment, 2,339 people. Each element is scored out of 50.
36%
of people have a top two within one point of each other. More than 1 in 3.
24%
on the original, longer assessment. A quarter to a third of people are a true blend, whichever version you look at.
What it means
For these people, a single type would miss half the story. Their secondary element is not a footnote. It is a co-pilot. This is the reason every MYS superhero is an integrated pair, and why two people with the same primary element can feel so different to work with.
Finding 7
Most teams are missing an element
MYS does not stop at the individual. When we looked at 89 teams and groups of six or more people who were assessed together, a striking pattern emerged.
46%
of teams had at least one element that no one on the team leads with as their primary.
53%
of teams are led by Wood, their strongest element overall. Teams lean toward drive and direction.
When a team is missing an element, which one is it?
Water18 teamsWood4 teamsFire16 teamsEarth5 teamsMetal19 teamsOut of 41 teams with a missing element. Some are missing more than one.
Each team's strongest element
Water14%Wood53%Fire3%Earth20%Metal10%2,102 people in 89 groups, median group size 15.
What it means
A missing element is not a flaw. It is a blind spot the whole team shares, which is exactly why no one notices it. A team without Metal may move fast but drop details. A team without Water may execute well but miss how people feel. Naming the missing element is often the single most useful moment in an MYS team session.
Putting it to work
What this means for leaders
Data is only useful when it changes what we do on Monday morning. Here are five practical moves for anyone who leads people.
- Make room for Fire on purpose.It is the most commonly missing element. Build celebration, recognition and visible enthusiasm into the rhythm of work rather than waiting for it to happen.
- Pair movers with steadiers.Wood and Fire people start things. Water and Earth people sustain them. The strongest teams deliberately bring both together.
- Find your team’s missing element.Nearly half of teams have one. Name it, then borrow it: through hiring, partnerships, or simply asking someone to play that role in a meeting.
- Read people as blends.One in three people is nearly equal parts two elements. Ask about both before you decide how someone works best.
- Honor place and culture.A Hawaii team and a mainland team may need different things from the same leader. Know your signature before you change it.
"Every element is a superpower. Nearly half of teams are missing one. The work of leadership is noticing which."Alice Inoue
Read the full report
All seven findings, every chart and the complete methodology in a 16-page PDF.
Trusted byMcDonald's, Walmart, Gap, Athleta, the State of Hawaii, the City and County of Honolulu and Hawaii Energy, along with more than 40 other organizations across Hawaii and beyond.
About the data
Where it comes from. Every Master Your Superpowers result since February 2019 has been recorded. This report includes 9,716 assessments completed through October 12, 2026, after removing test entries, staff tests and duplicate submissions made within the same hour. 9,708 of these include full element scores. People who retook the assessment for a later training are counted each time.
Who took it. About 2,600 participants took MYS through their employer and about 7,100 chose it independently or through a sponsored event. When we compared the two groups on the same version of the assessment, their element patterns were nearly identical.
Two versions of the assessment. The original assessment used 15 statements per element (2019 to 2024). In 2024 it was refined to 10 statements per element, and the shorter version was independently evaluated and found to be psychometrically valid. Because wording and length affect how scores fall, we never pool the two versions for distributions. Findings 1, 2 and 6 held in both versions. The others use the current version only.
Teams, region and gender. Teams are groups of six or more who took the assessment together under a shared company code. Region is based on the area code participants provided, so it separates Hawaii from elsewhere but not country by country. Gender was asked on the current version only.
Limits. This is not a random sample of the world. It reflects the organizations and individuals who found MYS, with strong representation from Hawaii and from McDonald's. We report patterns, not universal laws.
