In the last post we looked at the research undertaken by Hippocrates in 400 BC on behaviours, and augmented in 190 AD by Greek physician Aelius Galen and ultimately updated by NASA for use in building their space teams, with regard to the four behaviours that make up each person on the planet. It turns out that we are a mix of all four behaviours – Dominant, Extrovert, Patient, and Conformist. However, 50 – 70% of our behaviour is usually based on one of the traits which is known as our high trait. When you looked at the chart in the last issue and read the description of the four traits, did one of them seem to describe you more so than the other three. In which case that is normally your high trait and the one that affects you the most. Personally, my high trait is Extrovert making me a very outgoing gregarious type.
Understanding behaviours
The chart below adds more detail on each of the traits and may help you spot your own high trait and then to look at the lists to spot the traits of those you have to interact with and manage.
How to motivate each behaviour
In the last post we also looked at what could demotivate each of the behavioural traits, but in this post we want to look at what motivates them? Each behaviour has some specific motivators:
- Dominants are motivated by daily challenges and where they can see tangible results. They like a fast-paced environment which is free from a lot of control and where they can lead and be respected for their leadership.
- Extroverts are motivated by situations and tasks with a lot of people interaction. They like to be accepted by others and thrive on praise and public recognition. They like the opportunity to make friends and for situations that will improve their status.
- Patience is a behaviour that thrives on harmony and cooperation with minimum conflict. They like a steady, stable structure with a set pace and no sudden changes. They see everything in a wider picture and like to be encouraged to be creative.
- Conformists are known as the traditionalist trait as they like a well understood and structured environment and enjoy the detail. They need to be kept up to date with what is going on and to be given the time to do things right, and praise for doing it.
Communication Styles
Each of the behavioural traits have their own specific communication styles and knowing these is the first stage to improving your ability interact with them.
The highly dominant is always very direct and to the point with their communication. They use few facial expressions and sound quite forceful, without being loud. Whereas, the high extrovert speaks loudly and very rapidly using flowing and dramatic phraseology. They base a lot of their opinions on intuition and can express those opinions quite strongly, even when they are only digging a bigger hole for themselves and should stop.
By contrast the high in patience may not talk very much at all and when they do they are usually soft voiced and express themselves tentatively. They prefer to ask questions rather than venture opinions and they choose their words carefully. This in many ways is similar to the conformist who also speaks softly but is usually very factual in their communication. They will invite others to express themselves first, as they prefer compromise and propose their own ideas more tentatively. But they will be quite insistent in their communication if they feel that procedures, policies or quality is being compromised.
If we want to get the best out of someone then we need to understand them, know what motivates them and avoid what demotivates them and how they communicate. However, once we have this knowledge we need to know how best to interact with them to ensure we achieve the best level of communication. In the next post we will look at how best to interact with each of the behaviours and to ensure we know what the “do’s” and “don’ts” are when communicating and working with each of the behavioural types.
To read this series from the beginning click here
To read the first post on behaviours click here
To read the next post about behaviours and leadership click here