Think about the last time you were present at a casual gathering and had the chance to observe a lot of personalities in action carefully:
- Who commanded the conversation and put a prize on being right and pushing others to go along with his solutions?
- How about the serious individual who cautiously spoke in specific detail?
- And how about that individual who was exploding with energy and could not wait to tell you his excellent idea?
- He walked into the room and started by introducing himself to others, spending time with everyone individually to build a connection.
These are instances of the four distinct communication styles:
- Driver: an individual who takes command and wants resolutions;
- Rational: an individual who values details and accuracy;
- Expressive: an individual with ideas; and
- Gracious: the person who prioritizes relationships.
While we all have features in more there one space, we each have a customized style-the style we go to first. These are inclinations and should not make you feel limited in how you communicate.
Moreover, no technique is better than another. Any method can be useful depending on the circumstances. A powerful team will leverage the positives of each type so that you can work together the most efficiently.
To be an effective and powerful communicator, it is vital to recognize each style and find out how to adjust your default style to the circumstances at hand.
So let’s start by learning each style. Figure out your style as your read the subsequent descriptions:
What are the four communication styles?
1. Driver
Ambitious and hard-working drivers tend to be the group leaders who appreciate getting the job done with outstanding results. Drivers are known to be competitive, decisive, hard-driving, and good at delegating work to others. They like to be where the business is and are likely to fancy taking risks. Their focus is on being successful, winning, and properly making things happen. They need prospects and love it when others are direct.
On the downside, they can be demanding, pushy, tough, dominating, and bar others from decision-making. Under stress, they become arrogant and command others around.
2. Rational
Swift, while thinking and slow to speak, a rational person values precision in the details and likes to be legitimate. This is a person who plans completely before choosing to act, is highly organized, persistent, logical, and cautious. The rational favors working alone and tends to be rather introverted.
The rational person is centered on process, tasks, and doing things correctly. They prefer an analytical approach, solid documentation, logical thinking, and meticulous planning. The downside is that they tend towards perfectionism and can be picky, critical, indecisive, and stubborn. Under stress, they are known to avoid others.
3. Expressive
The Expressive person loves joy and likes helping others. This person is filled with ideas and can’t wait to speak about them with others. Open and talkative, he asks others for their opinions and loves to brainstorm randomly. This is someone who is adaptable and regularly bored with routine. The Expressive is intuitive, optimistic, spontaneous, and creative and may tend to be flamboyant.
Expressives are focused on the larger picture. They love concepts and ideas and thrive on taking visions into reality. They need reform and look to others to manage the details. On the downside, they can be overly impulsive, dramatic, undisciplined, and a tad flaky.
4. Gracious
Gracious is the relationship style. Gracious focus on the feelings of other people and efficient collaboration. People with this characteristic are instinctive and care about how circumstances “feel.” They like a consensus, avoid confrontation, and tend to be shy about voicing contrary opinions. Gracious people are friendly and sensitive, great listeners, and friendly. They are likely to be late with big decisions and need a lot of information. They thrive on participation and involvement.
On the downside, the gracious person can be unsure of himself, hesitant, and mostly dependent on others. Under stress, they approve or count on the judgments of others.
