Overview
John can be effectively described by the single word 'confidence'.
He is assertive and extrovert, and he possesses both a drive
towards success and a pro-active communicative style. He thinks
and acts quickly, and so he can respond well to changes in his
situation - indeed, he prefers a measure of variety and unpredictability.
His strong and persuasive style works best where he has a
degree of control over his own working conditions - he very
much prefers to be responsible for his own actions, although
he will cooperate with others where he sees that he has no
practical alternative.
Keynotes
The following keynotes summarise some of the most important aspects
of John's personal style:
- He has a pro-active approach, and will normally take the
initiative rather than waiting for others to do so.
- He is dynamic and pro-active, quick to take advantage of
opportunities that arise.
- He has an original and adventurous approach to life.
- He has an energetic and enthusiastic approach, which can
be highly motivating to others.
Keywords
- Communicative
- Effervescent
- Persuasive
- Unpredictable
- Masterful
- Extrovert
- Impulsive
- Dynamic
- Expansive
- Eager
Behavioural Adaptation
While John may be naturally disposed to a relatively formal and
controlled demeanour, his profile shows that, in his present
working environment, he feels the need to interact with others
in a more personable and friendly way. Among the adaptations
he is making to his style are a more considerate, thoughtful
approach to others, and a greater interest in their views and
feelings.
Advantages
John is both extrovert and assertive. He is capable of being
highly focused on his goals, and driving towards them in a
dynamic way. He is also very socially oriented, and works well
with and around other people. His outgoing, effusive approach
makes it easy for him to communicate effectively in either
a formal or an informal situation.
Disadvantages
John's social focus and his rather low concentration threshold
combine to suggest that he may be seen as somewhat unpredictable
at times. He is interested in new experiences and new situations,
and while this adds a degree of resilience to his behavioural
style, it also means that he finds it hard to apply himself
to a project in the long term, unless it provides sufficient
variety and interest for him.
Communication Style
John combines a socially extrovert element with a more direct
and assertive side. In practice, this will usually mean that
he is an effective and open communicator as long as a situation
remains free of conflict or pressure, but that he is quite
capable of switching to a more demanding and direct approach
when necessary. This less friendly side is also seen in particularly
formal situations.
There is a strongly dominant side to his character, in both
personal terms and in the wider sense that he likes to feel
in control of a situation; this dominance will often manifest
itself in his relationships with others. He is demanding and
difficult at times, but the problems that these attitudes can
cause are modified by the fact that he is also capable of open,
even warm, behaviour at other times.
Decision Making
This active and energetic individual will not typically wait
for decisions to be presented to him, but will prefer to independently
assess a situation and work out for himself the decisions that
need to be reached. John's high levels of personal confidence
means that he feels at ease reaching conclusions on only limited
information. Indeed, even where more detailed facts are known,
he may be tempted to disregard them and follow his own instincts.
He is outgoing and persuasive, and this will aid him in convincing
others that his decisions are the right ones, and in persuading
them to follow his conclusions.
Organisation And Planning
John's innate sense of self-confidence, coupled with his preference
to respond immediately to a set of circumstances, means that
he is not naturally oriented towards planning and organisation.
He tends to take a very broad view of events, and correspondingly
pays less attention to fine details.
Motivation
John can be characterised as driving, assertive and openly communicative.
His sense of motivation comes primarily from the opportunity
to exercise these elements of his style. He will want to feel
that he is able to act independently, according to his own
view of a situation, without being bound by what he sees as
unnecessary constraints.
One of John's strengths is his ability to motivate himself
and those around him. For this reason, he is often at his best
in a position of leadership, or at least in a role where he
can directly influence events.
Managing Style
John's managing style derives from his more general sociable,
open approach. He likes to enjoy positive working and personal
relationships with his staff, but he will still attempt to
maintain an air of receptive authority. He has an enthusiastic,
and somewhat impulsive style, and this can sometimes make him
appear unpredictable. Nonetheless, he will endeavour to spread
an atmosphere of relaxed camaraderie, and prefers to persuade
those working for him to a course of action, rather than impose
direct instructions.
Style of Management Required
A challenging candidate from a manager's perspective, John has
a competitive and driving attitude that will need to be carefully
handled. In particular, he will find it difficult to work for
a manager whose abilities he does not respect, and so it is
important for a manager to earn this respect if they are to
receive the benefits of John's assertiveness. He also has a
rather competitive nature, and will wish to feel that he is
earning appropriate rewards for his work.
Guidelines in Management
John has an active style and an interest in people, so he can
be expected to take a 'hands-on' approach to management. His
particular management style will tend to revolve around building
positive relations with his team, though he is capable of more
direct and assertive action when a situation demands. He has
a positive, motivating style, and indeed the ability to use
his enthuastic nature to motivate his team is one of his particular
strengths in the context of management.
Management Style Summary
- He develops strong lines of communication with the members
of his team.
- He tends to manage through personal charm and persuasion,
rather than direct assertiveness, wherever possible.
- He has the ability to convince his team of a decision where
necessary.
- He can sometimes act in unpredicable ways, or lead his
team in unforeseen directions.
- His team sometimes find it difficult to anticipate or adjust
to his rapid pace.
Guidelines for Development
John might consider the following suggestions to develop his
management style. The effectiveness of these suggestions will
naturally depend on his current situation, and will need to
be weighed accordingly. Taking this into account, John might
consider:
- Using his highly communicative style to its best advantage
in a management role.
- Using his charismatic style to help build a positive working
relationship with members of his team.
- Being prepared to assert his requirements forcefully in
situations where his persuasive approach is not effective.
- Standing by his decisions where practical, and clearly
signalling changes of direction to his team.
- Holding back and taking time to make sure he does not act
without thinking through the consequences.
Guidelines in Sales
John's profile describes a person with many of the features needed
to be successful in sales. His communication style, in particular,
is open and confident. His style also shows a great deal of
social energy, meaning that he relates with others very easily.
He is also positive and pro-active, not afraid to take risks
or enter unpredictable situations. Sociable styles like John's
tend to be associated with a need for approval, and hence something
of a reluctance to close a sale. To an extent, this will also
be true of John, but given his general attitude he will likely
be able to bring this natural reluctance under control.
Sales Style Summary
- A natural communicator, he will interact effectively and
positively with prospects.
- His approachable and charismatic style helps him build
positive relations with prospective clients.
- He can apply his communicative abilities to persuade a
prospect to his point of view.
- He has a highly flexible approach, meaning that his effectiveness
in different situations will be hard to predict.
- He is open to taking a risk within a sale, if the potential
rewards seem high enough to justify it.
Guidelines for Development
John might consider the following suggestions to develop his
sales style. The effectiveness of these suggestions will naturally
depend on his current situation, and will need to be weighed
accordingly. Taking this into account, John might consider:
- Applying his naturally communicative style in a positive
and moderate way within a sales situation.
- Taking the greatest possible advantage of his charismatic
communication style in a sales situation.
- Using his strongly persuasive style effectively to help
convert prospects to clients.
- Understanding those aspects of his sales style that are
particularly effective, and applying them consistently.
- Taking a more measured, strategic approach to the sales
process.
Guidelines in Service
The key feature of John's style, his very outgoing and expressive
nature, will have the most significant effect on the way he
works in a service role. He is a strongly communicative type,
able to build a strong working rapport with most people, and
so can be expected to work well in any position that involves
direct interaction with customers or clients. This expressively
communicative side, though, isn't normally associated with
a steady or practical nature, and John can sometimes find it
easier to promise a course of action than to organize and complete
it. As such, he may need to focus on developing the more practical
side of his nature if he is to achieve his full potential in
a service role.
Service Style Summary
- He enjoys interacting with others, and approaches customers
with a confident and friendly air.
- He is capable of showing considerable charm and charisma
in a customer-facing situation.
- His persuasive approach will likely help him convince even
skeptical customers of a course of action.
- He can sometimes be prone to act without a full appreciation
of the facts.
- He is capable of adapting his approach to different types
of customer.
Guidelines for Development
John might consider the following suggestions to develop his
approach to service and support work. The effectiveness of
these suggestions will naturally depend on his current situation,
and will need to be weighed accordingly. Taking this into account,
John might consider:
- Developing his ability to listen patiently to customers'
requirements or directions.
- Ensuring that customers are not disconcerted by his outgoing
and highly extrovert style.
- Taking care to provide a customer with practical solutions
that meet their needs.
- Ensuring that he has a firm understanding of a customer's
needs before responding to them.
- Providing a consistent level of service to customers with
different styles and approaches.
Guidelines in Technical Work
John's energetic and expansive style may suit him to many roles,
but his profile suggests that he lacks some of the most basic
requirements (in terms of behavior) to be satisfied by technical
work. His very energy and pace means that he will find it difficult
to concentrate on work needing a more patient, thoughtful approach,
as is the case with most work of this kind. In addition, he will
tend not to consider matters in precise detail, but will instead
tend to rely on his strong self-confidence to help him improvise
general solutions. These are positive traits in communicative
or sales work, for instance, but in terms of a technical role,
they are unlikely to prove an effective basis for success.
Technical Style Summary
- He is not reluctant to communicate his findings and achievements
to those around him.
- His particular abilities tend to lie in the field of communication,
rather than technical areas.
- He has the capacity to persuade others to follow a proposed
course of action.
- His intuitive approach to problem-solving will typically
be most useful at the more creative level of technical work.
- He may at times pursue a course of action without fully
researching a situation.
Guidelines for Development
John might consider the following suggestions to develop his
approach to technical work. The effectiveness of these suggestions
will naturally depend on his current situation, and will need
to be weighed accordingly. Taking this into account, John might
consider:
- Ensuring that his highly communicative nature does not
affect his level of concentration.
- Applying himself to technical work in a more steady and
focused manner.
- Recognising when others' proposed solutions improve on
his own, and being ready to accept their proposals in this
situation.
- Being readier to attempt more potentially rewarding technical
challenges.
- Spending time to ensure that the details of his work are
accurate.
Exploratory Questions
Exploring Positive Aspects of the Profile
- Can you think of a time when you found an original
solution to a difficult problem?
(John has an exploratory approach, and is open to new ideas,
so it's likely he will have a positive response.)
- If you found that a supplier was consistently late
with deliveries, how would you approach the problem?
(John has an uncompromising and dynamic style, and would be
expected to propose some kind of direct action.)
- Have you ever been part of a team that overcame
a serious obstacle? What part did you play?
(It is likely that John's highly assertive style would have
led him to play a significant part.)
- What would you say motivates you most strongly?
(John is highly motivated by achievement and success, and so
is a self-starting individual.)
Exploring Possible Training Needs in the Profile
- If you found yourself in a completely unfamiliar
situation, how would you react?
(It's likely that John will be pro-active, and try to take
immediate control, rather than make cautious investigations.)
- If you were called on to make a presentation to
an audience about a technical subject, how would you go
about it?
(John's confident style means that he would have little difficulty
making the presentation, but his approach to the technical
subject matter - something his style is not well suited to
- will be interesting.)
- If a confrontation were to arise with a work colleague,
how would you normally deal with that situation?
(John has a dominant and rather tempestuous approach, factors
that would be expected to show themselves in this situation.)
- Can you recall an occasion where another person's
suggestion or idea made a significant difference to your
work?
(John prefers to follow his own approach, and tends not to
place importance on input from others.)
Career Directions
Careers to suit John's behavioural style will be those in which
he can exercise and develop his outgoing and dynamic approach.
Whatever career path he follows, his ambitious and enthusiastic
nature should provide natural advantages, but this will be
rather more the case in roles that take real advantage of his
active nature. Sales is one particularly clear avenue where
he could expect to do well, but there are many others - his
style would be well suited to work in journalism or public
relations, for example.
Relationships
John combines an outgoing and sociable side with a dynamic element
that thrives on change and variety. For that reason, his most
effective working relationships will be with colleagues who
can appreciate and adapt to his rapid pace. Steadier, less
hurried types will find this sense of urgency difficult to
work with. One specific consequence of his approach is the
fact that John is not a very consultative type of person, a
fact that will clearly have an impact on his conduct in relation
to others.
Relationship Keynotes for John
- He will tend to take a leading role in his relationships
with colleagues.
- He has a tendency to act impulsively, and will therefore
tend to work better with equally expressive individuals.
- He can be rather impatient with others, especially in more
pressurised working environments.
- He takes direct and active steps to develop relationships
with colleagues.
- He shows little patience with those less direct and motivated
than himself.
The Team
John has flexible style that is above all energetic, especially
in a social sense. His strong social confidence means that
not only can he be expected to integrate easily into the team,
but that he will likely make a noticeable difference to the
way the team operates. John is active and immediate, and tends
to prefer to act directly than consider or plan. As such, the
team as a whole can be expected to take on some of his personal
flexibility and pro-active style, though the extent to which
this happens will depend on the particular details of the team
in question.
Team Keynotes for John
- He is ready to express himself, and will make his ideas
clearly known within the group.
- As an expressive and communicative individual, he will
offer the team an effective figurehead.
- He has the persuasive ability to bring others to his point
of view.
- He can have a tendency, on occasion, to act without consulting
with other members of the team.
- He can sometimes show a tendency to act independently of
the team as a whole.
Pressure
Frustration for John comes from enforced inaction. He is a person
who likes to feel in direct control of a situation, and when
that control is limited or removed, he cannot be expected to
react positively. A related trait is the fact that he is also
highly competitive in nature, and the feeling that he might
be outmatched by others is also one that he does not accept
easily. Where he does feel pressure of this kind, he can be
expected to express his frustration in a very direct and unmistakable
manner.
Ambition and Development
John is a person who has the personal motivation to succeed in
life, but also the extrovert nature to look for visible trappings
of that success. People such as John tend to have a clear view
of their personal goals, and he has the combination of drive
and persuasiveness that should help him to achieve them. Patience
is not a strongly represented feature of John's style, and
this will apply to his ambitions as well as more generally
- he will be impatient to achieve his targets in life.
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