Relating to our peers at work is an ongoing, career-long challenge. To excel in our roles, work well with others, and support productive spaces, we must nurture our work relationships. Without knowing our coworkers, employees, and managers and how they work (alone and with others), we can’t communicate or work effectively.
We can use social styles to help us understand ourselves; no matter how hard we’ve had it in the past, we can grow to work well with every type of person. Social styles, created by David Merrill and his associates, are patterns of observable, interpersonal behaviors. Simply put, social style = the way we interact with people.
Understanding social styles is priceless knowledge that makes our personal and professional lives easier and more fulfilling.
When we understand our social style and welcome others to do the same, we accept each other and work better together. By pinpointing our own social style and determining others’ social styles, we can understand each other better, recognize people’s true intentions, and adjust our behaviors to accept and collaborate with people who have different social styles.
The power of understanding social styles allows us to build positive relationships - and we perform most effectively in positive relationships. However, we can’t build better relationships with others without first knowing ourselves and our style.
“To lead or attempt to lead without first having a knowledge of self is foolhardy and sure to bring disaster and defeat.” - Machiavelli
The Four Social Styles
The four social styles, Expressive, Driver, Analytical, and Amiable, are evenly divided among the population.
To determine the characteristics of each style and recognize our predominant social style, two dimensions are used: assertiveness and responsiveness.
Assertiveness is “the degree to which a person’s behaviors are seen by others as being forceful or directive”. Assertiveness can also be associated with feeling focused on giving opinions and demands rather than completing tasks or connecting with people. In contrast, responsiveness is “the degree to which a person’s behaviors are seen by others as being emotionally responsive or emotionally controlled.” Responsive folks are people-focused and prefer to be asked rather than speak freely on their own accord.
Let’s dive into the social styles and learn how we can use assertiveness and responsiveness to understand each other:
Expressive: highly assertive & highly responsive
People with an Expressive social style have a refreshing, big-picture perspective that allows for unique points of view and innovative solutions. They don’t mind a little bit of risk and like to make the most of opportunities to reach a desired goal. Expressives tend to be funny, personable, and enthusiastic, which can add life to a workplace and lift morale when it’s low. Because of their high assertiveness, people with an Expressive social style tend to share their opinions often, which makes for quality brainstorming.
Some more common traits of Expressives:
- Outgoing
- Impulsive
- Persuasive
- Aspirational
- Fun-loving
- Spontaneous
Each social style has its weaknesses or aspects that can cause tension in relationships. Consider working on the following if you’re an Expressive:
- Double-check your work/decisions: slow down on “pulling the trigger” and consider consulting your logical and slower-paced peers before making a big decision
- Because of your eagerness to share and be heard, practice guiding conversations to include and spotlight others
- Approach conversation with a slower pace: match the other people/person’s pace in a conversation to not overwhelm them and to avoid moving too quickly from subject to subject
If you’re a leader looking to support Expressives, consider the following:
Expressives appreciate and need recognition to thrive. Affirm their hard work by giving feedback often and don’t shy away from rewarding and recognizing their accomplishments and contributions, small or large.
If Expressives tend to contribute a lot in meetings, give others opportunities by inviting them to share while thanking Expressives for their unique perspectives.
Driver: highly assertive & low responsiveness
“Drivers” work efficiently by being blunt, fast-paced, and results-focused. Because of their focus on tasks, these people can often come off as close-minded and transactional in their work relationships. People with a predominant Driver social style can be incredibly decisive and determined, which makes for strong decision-making.
Some more common traits of Drivers:
- Independent
- Pragmatic
- Concrete thinking
- Controlling
- Active
Things to consider if you’re a Driver:
- Because you tend to be direct and blunt, consider how tone and delivery might affect people who have different social styles. To better connect with others, practice expressing gratitude to your peers
- Listen more! Take turns talking and listening to give others the chance to contribute more to conversations
For leaders or managers looking to support Drivers, consider the following:
Drivers want results, so sharing progress updates with them regularly can keep them determined and keep productivity high.
Drivers often struggle with listening to others and considering their points of view, so moderating conversations and brainstorming sessions can ensure that everyone’s voice is truly being heard. Employees with the Driver social style might also struggle with power dynamics, so clearly defining job expectations and roles can keep Drivers informed and composed.
Analytical: low assertiveness & low responsiveness
The Analytical social style is tied to logic and thorough work. Analyticals think their options and information through to make precise and data-backed decisions, which causes them to work at a slower pace than Drivers. These folks take their projects and roles seriously, creating habits and organized systems to ensure their success. Although headstrong in their work, Analyticals are often more reserved and rely on logic rather than emotions to form opinions.
Some more common traits of Analyticals:
- Wise
- Diligent
- Systematic
- Self-control
- Deliberate
Ideas to consider if you’re an Analytical:
- Put less importance on data: once informed, act when you've come to a conclusion rather than ruminating over information
- Learn to be more flexible: rather than being rigid in the way you do things, consider other ways to do things. Consider information other than data, such as purpose, people, etc.
- Second guess less!
If you’re a leader looking to support Analyticals, here’s what you can try:
Ask them for their opinion or else you might never hear it.
Give Analytical employees your views backed with research/data so that they trust the proposition.
Encourage them to trust their gut, skills, and knowledge when making decisions to speed up the decision-making process. Consider delegating more to Analytics so that they can practice making decisions faster while still yielding good (and recognized) results.
Amiable: low assertiveness & highly responsive
“Amiables” are extremely responsive, making them supportive peers who patiently cooperate. These people tend to be social and kind to those around them as they value relationships and purpose over tasks and demands. People with the Amiable social style create an amazing support system and can find passion in a project, inspiring those around them. Although they might not have total faith in their ideas and they might shy away from conflict, Amiables work hard to build trust and positive relationships to support lasting progress and teams.
Some more common traits of Amiables:
- Diplomatic
- Agreeable
- Social
- Trustworthy
- Friendly
- Loyal
Things to consider if you’re an Amiable:
- Find the good in conflict: not every conversation with differing views is bad, so find the silver lining and contribute positively to conversations
- Stand your ground and don’t be afraid to speak up
- Practice active participation and expressing your feelings when they might be contradictory to how others feel
- Initiate conversation and discourse rather than taking a backseat or acting as cheerleader
If you’re a leader looking to support Amiables, here are some suggestions:
Put Amiables in charge of team-building activities and tasks that are relationship-focused. They will excel in these roles and their confidence will grow.
Approach conversations with Amiables genuinely, without accusations as to not come off as confrontational.
In meetings, ask their opinion, for them to take the lead on a subject, or to share their expertise with the team. This helps Amiables get more comfortable with sharing their opinions and contributing equally.
Determining your style
If you still are unsure of your social style after considering how you work and think, there are plenty of self-assessment available online like this one.
Another great way to determine your social style is to ask for feedback from your peers. Talk to your managers, mentors, coworkers, employees, and even friends and family to learn more about how they view your behavior.
Your role at work might even help you find your social style as HR professionals are more often Amiables, managers are often Drivers, etc. Yet it is important to remember that all four social styles are represented in all types of roles, and every social type can be successful in any role.
Leadership & Social Styles
Leaders have a responsibility to understand their own social management style and make an effort to understand their employees’.
For example, people who are low in assertiveness may not get their needs met often, which can cause issues in job satisfaction and productivity. Team leaders have a responsibility to see these types of shortcomings in the office to hear less assertive individuals and take care of them.
“People who have a greater awareness of the communicative significance of actions… can be more successful… in the work that involves the persuasion, leadership, and organization of others.” - Albert Mehrabian, Silent Messages
Similarly, managers and leaders themselves benefit greatly from investing in the knowledge that is social styles. Leaders become more self-aware, they can capitalize on their strengths, work on their social style weaknesses, and manage a diverse team of employees better. They facilitate better meetings, delegate more easily, manage conflict more effectively, and pursue professional development opportunities that serve employees the best.
Your Secret Weapon: Versatility
As mentioned, there is no connection between social style and job success. However when it comes to social styles, a superpower for leaders is versatility. Also known as “stylistic flexibility” or “interpersonal versatility”, versatility refers to the ability to meet others where they are and to build relationships and trust with people of all different types of styles. Versatility in leadership looks like being able to read situations and personalities and adjust your approach accordingly.
Versatility is linked to career success: more productive managers have high interpersonal versatility, according to their peers. Also, according to research, leaders who exercise stylistic flexibility are viewed (by their superiors) as more effective in many leadership abilities.
Versatility comes more naturally to some than others. We can develop our versatility by entering conversations neutrally, reading behavior to determine the social styles of those we are interacting with, and adjusting our behavior to better suit the level of responsiveness or assertiveness we see in them.
For our versatility to flourish, we also have to be skilled in social intelligence, we must be situationally aware, and we should be quick to adjust to different types of communication.
After developing versatility, we can expect our efforts at work to be more substantial and our skills and rewards to skyrocket to new heights. According to TRACOMGroup, managers with higher versatility are 25% better at coaching, 27% better at leading employees, and, therefore, 19% more likely to be promoted! Highly versatile managers also receive 29% more in compensation than less versatile managers.
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