Who you are shows who you can become

As a manager and as a coach I’ve seen assessments come and go, from MBTI, Insights to colour coding. And with all of them I’ve had serious drawbacks, mostly to do with the fact that you get an assessment based on characteristics, which don’t help me as a coach or manager to deal behaviourally with the person or to help them develop.

For instance with MBTI you ARE extrovert/introvert, thinking/feeling, intuitive/sensing or perceptive/judgemental. After testing you know preferences, but it says nothing about what different behaviours to develop to grow or even if you can.

I was looking for an instrument, which was:

• Developmental: showed me clearly where it came from and what to do to change it
• Based on behavioural assessments
• Reflected reality in that when there’s no stress we can access any types of behaviours
• Gave me a guideline how to communicate with somebody based on the assessment

I finally found this tool in the Process Communication Model.

What is Process Communication?
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The Process Communication Model (PCM) provides a validated method of identifying and understanding personality structures and communication dynamics.

The basic principles of process communication are:

• Each of us has a personality structure made up of six main personality types, which influences our communication and stress management. No one type is more or less OK. Each has strengths and weaknesses.
• Without stress we have access to all our personality type behaviours and can easily shift and choose from them. It is only under stress that we revert only to our base personality type.
• To communicate effectively with others you have to adapt your communication style to theirs. How we say things is more important than what say.

The six personality types
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Dreamer: As a dreamer you are appreciated for your calm and your ability to be imaginative. You are very reflective and creative. What you need most is time to be alone. Too much stimulus leads to distress and under stress you tend to withdraw and forget to complete projects. To get out of stress you need someone else to initiate and be directive in communication.

Harmonizer: As a harmonizer you are appreciated for your warmth empathy and ability to nurture others. You are very sensitive and sensual. What you need most is recognition for you as a person. Lack of recognition for you as a person and a cold environment leads to negative stress. Under stress you tend to please others and make mistakes. To get out of stress you need unconditional acceptance and sensory stimulation.

Workaholic: As a workaholic you are appreciated for your organized way of doing things and your logical thinking. Your character strengths are in being logical structured and responsible. What you need most is recognition of your work and structure. Negative stress leads to perfectionism and attacking others. To get out of stress you need recognition for doing a good job and for your structured approach.

Persister: You are appreciated for your value-driven, conscientious way of working. You are dedicated and loyal. What you need most is recognition of your vision and opinions. Negative stress leads you to find fault in others and become rigid in your opinions. To get out of stress you need to speak of your values in a way to be heard and to be recognised for your convictions.

Rebel: You are appreciated for your energetic and playful take on life. You are fun to be with and frequently have ideas about different ways of doing things. What you need most is playful contact. Negative stress leads you to delegate inappropriately and to blame others for your mistakes. To get out of stress you need to ensure that you have fun.

Promoter: As a promoter you are appreciated for your persuasive charm. You have high energy to get things done. What you need most is an environment in which you can improvise and be action oriented. Negative stress leads to manipulative and blaming behaviour. What you need is to regularly ensure you have safe and yet challenging stimulations, positive excitement.

Benefits of PCM for coaches and managers
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The great thing about PCM is that it gives you information you can use immediately, both as the client and as the manager. The Personality Pattern Inventory gives you accurate, non-judgmental, objective feedback regarding your Personality Type.

As a manager PCM helps you to gain confidence by establishing win/win relationships with one’s subordinates and by getting clear behavioural information on the strengths of the team members, knowing how to motivate them, developing management strategies that reinforce positive behaviours while respecting each individual.