Whilst being aware of your personality style and being self-aware of the traits and behaviours you demonstrate, it is also important to consider what your personality style means within a team.
This lesson will get you thinking about the conflict drivers normally found within your personality style and encourages you to reflect on the best way to have productive conflict with team members.
The Dominant style doesn’t beat around the bush and will be strong with their opinions. They want to remain in charge and will interrupt and cut others off which can make them appear blunt and insensitive.
They tackle issues directly and quickly and doesn’t spend time thinking or reflecting, they act.
They lack empathy and consideration for how others may feel during conflict and will work to reinforce their opinions and thoughts.
They don’t take conversations at value and will dismantle others arguments which can come across to team members that their side is not being considered.
Reflection: As a D style ask yourself...
How do you think others feel when you are blunt in your response?
Are there situations where you wish you had reflected in the moment to prevent a negative or uncomfortable outcome?
How do you think you come across to team members?
The Influence style attempt to remain a positive and uplifting member of the team but during times of conflict will happily open up with their thoughts and opinions.
They are determined to be heard and will often say things they will regret during heated conversation.
They desire to be accepted and liked by other team members so will work to mend relationships if they are damaged during destructive conflict.
They feel empathic towards the team and tend to forgive quite easily but this does not mean they will keep quiet on things they may not agree with or like.
Overall, the I style have are confident and positive people and for that reason will be upfront with issues. However, they are found to overlook more complex/complicated issues.
Reflection: As an I style ask yourself...
Have you ever said something your regret during conflict? Why do you think this happened? What could you have done differently?
In which ways do you mend broken relationships? Has this been an effective approach so far?
The Steady style will always seek harmony during a period of conflict. Because of this they tend to agree and veer away from conflicting thoughts and opinions even if they disagree.
They tend to check relationships are still positive with team members during and after conflict, this is mostly due to the strong desire for reassurance within a team setting.
They prefer stability and therefore try to stop tensions; this is driven by the fact it makes them uncomfortable.
Reflection: As an S style ask yourself...
Can you think of a time you were vocal about your thoughts and opinions? What made you feel comfortable to do that?
When you have stopped tension between team members, has that been a benefit for everyone involved?
The Conscientious style remains objective which means emotions and feelings do not get mentioned within conflict. They work on facts and can feel more tension in high-tension situations.
If the conflict remains objectives, they will justify their side of the argument and will dig for facts rather than accept another style’s argument.
They think critically which is why they like to dig into arguments and will ignore any emotional responses, either positive or negative, during conflict.
The C style does not respond well to unpredictability and will tend to gravitate towards conflict with clear explanations that provide stability.
Reflection
Why do you not like to see emotions within conflict?
Think of 3 ways you can make someone feel more comfortable to express themselves within a conflict.
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