Read the text. COMMUNICATING WITH THE FOUR STYLES[16]
COMMUNICATING WITH THE FOUR STYLES [16]
The real value in understanding the four styles and their communication preferences is to be able to adapt your communication in a way that improves the reception of your message. When you understand your own style and the style of the person you are communicating with, you can adapt your "sending" style to better match the "receiving" style of the other person. Understanding style will help you improve your communication in all work situations—one-on-one, meetings, sales presentations, employee reviews, problem-solving sessions— as well as in personal relationships. Knowing how to adapt your communication to each of the different styles is the key to successful communication. However, adaptability requires not only the knowledge of how to adapt to each style but the willingness to communicate in ways other than your normal, preferred mode. It requires making strategic adjustments to your methods of communicating and behaving, based on the particular needs of the relationship at a particular time. It means making the choice to speak the language of the person you are with. Adapting your communication doesn't mean imitating the other person's style of communicating. It does mean adjusting your Supportingness, Controllingness, Directness, and Indirectness to be more in tune with the other person's preference. For example, if you are a Socializer speaking to a Director, your normal communication pattern will probably seem unfocused and too social. The Director might think the conversation is just "chitchat." By reviewing the Director profile, you can see that you would benefit by getting directly to the point and staying focused on the task at hand. In this example, you are both Direct so the pace of your communication is in tune but your priority preferences are different. As a Socializer, you are a Supporting person and have a relationship-orientation. The Director is a Controlling person and has a task-orientation.
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