The environment can be represented as a continuum, from extremely unfavorable to highly favorable. People's reactions can also be represented as a continuum from highly active to extremely passive.
When these two factors are combined, four basic communications styles result. You can be: active in an unfavorable environment; active in a favorable environment; passive in a favorable environment; or passive in an unfavorable environment.
Below given are the four major environments:
Basic Behaviors
The upper-left quadrant environment is unfavorable or antagonistic, and the people who perceive themselves to be in that environment are active. Individuals who behave this way work to overcome unfavorable conditions-to win. Their intent is to dominate. This behavior can be referred to as "High D" (for "dominate").
The upper-right quadrant environment is favorable, and some people are active in that environment as well. Their behavior is outgoing, persuasive, gregarious. They love to communicate. They're glib and facile with words. They convince and persuade. Their intent is to "influence," so their behaviors are characterized as "High I."
The lower-right quadrant environment is favorable, but the people in this quadrant tend to be passive. They're friendly, but in a low-key way. They prefer to sit back, work quietly but steadily, and provide support. They like to be thought of as steady and reliable-and they communicate in this way. Their intent is to be supportive, and this behavior is, accordingly, called "High S." High S behaviors are "people" oriented, but in a less aggressive way than the High I.
The lower left-hand quadrant is an unfavorable environment in which people choose to respond passively. These people follow the rules and do things right because it keeps them out of trouble. They're very careful about what they say; they're concerned about facts and details. They comply with what is expected of them. This style of behavior is referred to as "High C" behavior, and the intent is to comply.
But you may say, "I behave differently at different times. I can see myself at times in each of those quadrants." Yes, that's true. Everyone has an interesting and different mix of behaviors from all four quadrants. Your ability to use the behaviors of a particular style may be high in one quadrant and very low in another. But for a short period of time, you could behave in the manner characteristic of any quadrant if you find yourself communicating with someone exhibiting the behaviors related to that style.
In any given situation, you will react according to the way you perceive the environment. If you perceive that the environment is unfavorable or antagonistic, and you are generally active in an unfavorable environment, you'll exhibit the characteristics of High D behavior and communicate very aggressively. You may antagonize. If you tend to react passively, though, you may be so low key and unassertive that you fail to make any impression at all. And it is always important to remember that while you're reacting, other people are also reacting and communicating according to their perceptions of the environment.
As an unemployed person, you may fail to present yourself at your best because you may perceive that you are in an unfavorable environment, and communicate accordingly. But what if an interviewer perceives that the same set of cues is a favorable environment? Your communication approach will be pitched to the wrong environment and may come across either as too harsh or as over-cautious, and turn the interviewer off.
Spend enough time observing the interview situation to make a preliminary judgment about the interviewer's view of the environment and the style in which he or she is communicating. Then, you can match your presentation to that style. Most of the time, you will be right. But should you have misjudged, you can always shift your style later.
How do your communication behaviors stack up and where do you fall in the four quadrants? It contains a list of 24 sets of four words. Each of these sets of four words represents a group of behaviors. For each set of four words, choose the one word which is most like you, and place an X in the M column.
Next, choose the one word from the remaining three which is least like the way you normally behave, and put an X in the L column beside the word. Continue in the same way through all 24 sets of words. When you finish, check to see that you made only one choice for the word most like you and one choice for the word least like you for each set of four words. Then, read the next section before scoring your response.
To learn to identify the different communications styles, let's start with Shakespeare's admonition to "know thyself." As you read the following descriptions, you will note that each is described in terms of a set of recognizable behaviors-behaviors that you can observe. We aren't dealing with motivations and nebulous feelings here.
