What's your behavioural type? 

19 July 2021

Have you ever heard The Golden Rule ‘treat others how you would like to be treated?’ I call bullsh*t. You’ll get far better results if you treat others how they want to be treated. There are four different behavioural types and when we learn to adapt our behaviour we can ensure better outcomes when engaging the other three types. The golden rule of treating others as you’d want to be treated, means you’ll only communicate effectively with your own behavioural type, but what about the others? 

 

The first behavioural type is a Dominator/Driver. They are straight-forward in their communication style and keep constant eye contact with you, talk quickly, and are task-oriented. They easily command a room when walking in. They are highly efficient and decisive; they work independently and have excellent problem solving skills. They love a challenge, no challenge is too great, they embrace risks, are gifted managers, and get shit done.They are the world’s mover and shakers, those who are not afraid to take massive action consistently.

 

As a D type myself, I’ve sometimes felt misunderstood particularly because D’s are only a small percentage of the population. When I was immature, my behaviour would not only be a detriment to myself, but others too. I had no problem telling another person exactly what I thought about them. Being very task-oriented, if something wasn’t done efficiently, I would become overly independent with the do-it-myself attitude, which others would find alienating when I’d prioritise the completion of tasks over people. On my road to self-mastery, whilst it was not natural to me, I successfully developed my prior blind spots, resulting in greater levels of empathy, patience, a sense of accountability, and the ability to relinquish my need for control.

 

D’s in particular can get a bad rap when their behaviour becomes overbearing or overly didactic because of the need to win. Their actions which are both direct and very assertive are highly visible to the other behavioural types, usually because they are in leadership positions, often as the CEO, manager, entrepreneur, or anyone in a driver’s seat.

 

The most contrasting behaviour to a D type is the Steady/Stabiliser type, who are very supportive and make up the greatest part of the general population. Where D’s are very direct, S’s are indirect because they are quite empathetic and considerate of others’ needs. It may take them longer to warm up to you, but once they do they are truly loyal friends for life. They are often trustworthy and are perceived as so. They will refrain from saying what they really think in order to avoid rocking the boat. S’s are methodical, value consistency, and tend to think through their decisions.

 

S types thrive on a set routine, prefer scheduled events, and have deep wells of patience. Because of the sheer volume of S’s, corporate organisations find it quite hard to enact new policies due to the majority of their employees having a fear of change. They make great team players and are often in support professions such as a nurse, teacher, counselor, therapist, or doctor.

 

When S’s are unresourceful, procrastination results due to being overly indirect. The path of maturity and the road to self-mastery includes embracing the need for change, being assertive when pressured, and standing up for oneself when confronted.

 

I-types often are quite flamboyant and charismatic. They dress to impress and love having an audience. Often, your I-type person is the one who breaks the ice, and someone you can always share a laugh with. This often makes them the life of the party. However, they are often overly preoccupied with other people’s opinions of them, because they have a base emotional need to be liked. This will often colour their decision making, to avoid disapproval and rejection by others. I’s need oodles of encouragement, and their sense of self-worth is dependent on both acknowledgment and compliments.

 

The Conscientious/Compliers, the fourth and final type, are the stark opposite of the I’s and are happy to work autonomously. Similar to the S’s, they dislike outside pressure and prefer a steady pace. Lastly, similar to the D’s, they are highly task-oriented. Whereas D’s makes decisions swiftly, C’s must have a wealth of information in order to accomplish a set task to their highest standard. They ensure tasks are completed in the right way. They are highly organised,logical, and contemplative.

 

After having read this, if you still have any speculation about what type you are, or if you know what type you are and you’d like to leverage your strengths and shore up your blind spots, a behavioural analysis report will provide you with deep insights in order to live more successfully and improve the richness of your interpersonal engagement, whether it’s personal or in a workplace setting. Please email matilda@freedomiswithin.com.au to enquire.

What now? 

Chapter nine of my book - “The Busy Professional’s Toolkit for Self-Mastery & Courageous Living,” covers behavioural analysis in more depth. So if you would like to receive notification of when the pre-launch is happening, enter your details below. 

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