Social Style
WHAT IS SOCIAL STYLES?
The Alternative to a One-Size-Fits-All Approach to Working with Others
As anyone who’s ever worked with others can tell you, people approach their jobs in a variety of ways. Some people think and act quickly, while others like to take more time; some people are more friendly and sociable, while others are more reserved. At times, these differences can create freshness, balance, interesting relationships and innovative solutions. But all too often differences in “work style” lead to misunderstanding, mistrust and frustration – not to mention lowered productivity and poor results.
THE SOCIAL STYLES MODEL The Social Styles Model is a simple, practical tool for understanding these differences and for working well with others who are very different from you, so that everyone’s strengths are respected and used well. Like many useful inventions, the Social Styles Model was discovered by accident. In the early 1960s, two industrial psychologists named Roger Reid and John Merrill were working with a large insurance company in the northeastern US to find out whether there were simple behavioral markers that could predict leadership potential. They reasoned that if they could screen for these hypothetical behaviors when hiring new managers, they could create a culture of highly effective leaders. Unfortunately, they were completely unsuccessful in finding a way to predict leadership potential through behavioral assessment. Fortunately, Merrill and Reid discovered something else: When they assessed people relative to three behavioral dimensions – which they called assertiveness, responsiveness and versatility – they could predict a lot of other useful things.
SOCIAL STYLE AWARENESS & ADAPTING SKILLS Improve Teamwork Reduce Conflict About How to Approach Challenges/Opportunities Enable Better Coaching and Influencing Leverage Individual Strengths and Insights
For example, they could tell how that person would be likely to approach tasks and
The Alternative to a One-Size-Fits-All Approach to Working with Others
As anyone who’s ever worked with others can tell you, people approach their jobs in a variety of ways. Some people think and act quickly, while others like to take more time; some people are more friendly and sociable, while others are more reserved. At times, these differences can create freshness, balance, interesting relationships and innovative solutions. But all too often differences in “work style” lead to misunderstanding, mistrust and frustration – not to mention lowered productivity and poor results.
THE SOCIAL STYLES MODEL The Social Styles Model is a simple, practical tool for understanding these differences and for working well with others who are very different from you, so that everyone’s strengths are respected and used well. Like many useful inventions, the Social Styles Model was discovered by accident. In the early 1960s, two industrial psychologists named Roger Reid and John Merrill were working with a large insurance company in the northeastern US to find out whether there were simple behavioral markers that could predict leadership potential. They reasoned that if they could screen for these hypothetical behaviors when hiring new managers, they could create a culture of highly effective leaders. Unfortunately, they were completely unsuccessful in finding a way to predict leadership potential through behavioral assessment. Fortunately, Merrill and Reid discovered something else: When they assessed people relative to three behavioral dimensions – which they called assertiveness, responsiveness and versatility – they could predict a lot of other useful things.
SOCIAL STYLE AWARENESS & ADAPTING SKILLS Improve Teamwork Reduce Conflict About How to Approach Challenges/Opportunities Enable Better Coaching and Influencing Leverage Individual Strengths and Insights
For example, they could tell how that person would be likely to approach tasks and