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Four Core Motives That Influence Personality, Drive Behavioral Styles and Affect Communications

Thu, 05 Sep 2019 20:47:59 GMT

Trust and Respect

Two of the most critical elements of becoming a highly valued, productive, and successful professional, both in your field and within your organization, are trust and respect.

We define trust as reliance on, and confidence in, another person or entity. It involves accepting the responsibility for taking care of somebody or something. Trust is created when we develop a belief in the competency of another person, and their reliability to be depended upon to always fulfill their promises and the expectations that others have come to rely upon.

We define respect as showing thoughtfulness and consideration in relation to another person. Being polite and courteous. Demonstrating deference toward someone by placing their interest ahead of our own (adapted from Encarta World English Dictionary).

In creating trusting, respectful relationships, it is necessary to develop an understanding of how to correctly interpret the driving core motives, actions and intentions of others. Our Excellence-In Communications™ workshop and coaching program are designed to help individuals learn the art and skills of effective communication and methods for better understanding and respecting others. The workshop also fosters healthy development of increased trust among employees throughout an organization as well as with your organization’s clients.

Effective communication is built upon the foundation of trust and respect. It is only through the creation of trusting, respectful relationships that we can develop the necessary understanding required to correctly interpret the driving core motives, actions, and intentions of others. To enhance an individuals’ interpersonal relationship skills, we utilize a program called The Color Code to help them better understand the four basic personality types and behavioral styles, and the driving core motives associated with each individual.

Every individual interprets the world around them differently. They also have differing interpretations and perceptions of the events which they have prioritized as important to themselves, their families, and their business activities. And each person reacts differently, in a manner consistent with their driving core motive, to what they have perceived. These reactions take the form of what we observe as a person’s behavior, which is an outward expression of their individual personality.

The Color Code program provides us with a method for understanding WHY we do the things we do. Underlying everyone’s personality is a set of Driving Core Motives that influence their values, priorities, the choices they make, their behaviors, habits, lifestyle, and communication style. Therefore, understanding a person’s Driving Core Motives is the key to understanding their personality, and gaining insights into their behavior, what they value, and why they say the things they say.

The Color Code identifies four personality types: Red, Blue, White , and Yellow. Each personality type is directly associated with the following:

A primary Core Motive
A set of Natural Strengths
Potential Limitations

The Color Code is designed to help us better understand these four personality types and their associated behavioral and communication styles. Most importantly, The Color Code helps us to respect another person’s point of view and understand what motivates the things they say and the actions they take.

In brief, The Color Code is a method for understanding WHY we do the things we do, which in turn increases interpersonal respect and trust and improves our ability to communicate more effectively.

Here are brief descriptions of each personality type:

Red: Core Motive – Power

These individuals are the power wielders. Power and control (the ability to move from point A to point B and get things done) are what motivate and drive Red personality types. Their primary motivation is maintaining control over events and situations to keep projects moving in a positive direction.

They strive to get things done in the most effective and efficient manner. They bring great gifts of vision and leadership and generally are responsible, decisive, and assertive. Their potential limitations may include being insensitive to the feelings of others, argumentative, overly demanding, and impatient.

Blue: Core Motive – Intimacy

These individuals are the good Samaritans of our communities and businesses. Intimacy and relationships (connecting and having purpose) are what motivate and drive Blue personality types. Their primary motivation is developing meaningful connections with others in order to create quality relationships.

They bring great gifts of quality and service and are generally loyal, sincere, and thoughtful. Their potential limitations may include being overly sensitive, perfectionists, suspicious of others, and worry-prone.

White: Core Motive – Peace

These individuals are the peacekeepers. Peace and consensus-building (the ability to stay calm and find common ground) are what motivate and drive White personality types. Their primary motivation is maintaining their ability to stay calm in the midst of chaos and finding solutions that will help create unity.

They bring great gifts of clarity and tolerance and are generally kind, adaptable, and good listeners. Their potential limitations may include being indecisive, silently stubborn, unexpressive, and detached.

Yellow: Core Motive – Fun

These individuals are the fun lovers. Living in and enjoying the moment is what motivates and drives Yellow personality types. Their primary motivation is enjoying the process, keeping things light, and finding ways to infuse some fun into their work.

They bring great gifts of enthusiasm and optimism and are generally charismatic, spontaneous, and sociable. Their potential limitations may include being uncommitted, disorganized, unfocused, and impulsive.

As we begin to better understand the Driving Core Motives of other people and gain insights to their behavioral styles we give ourselves the greatest opportunity for developing genuine respect for others and successfully interacting with our colleagues, clients and customers. As the quality of our interactions increases, the effectiveness of our communications will also increase. Therefore, increasing the effectiveness of our communications is the expected outcome of The Color Code Workshop.

Effective workplace communication happens when people:
Trust each other to behave honestly
Feel safe to express their opinions
Consistently provide and receive reliable information
Have confidence in the competence of their co-workers
Share common organizational goals
Know that their opinions are valued and meaningful
Engage in active listening

All of these elements of effective communication are enhanced by The Color Code.

Developing a thorough understanding of our own Driving Core Motive and communication style are critical aspects of learning to effectively communicate with others. In addition, we must also develop an understanding of the Driving Core Motives and communication styles of our peers, the people who report to us, our supervisors and perhaps most importantly – our clients and customers.

The better we understand what motivates the people we work with and those we serve, and how they prefer to approach discussions (their behavioral and communication styles) the more effective we will become at presenting our thoughts and ideas in ways that will capture and maintain their attention, increase their level of comprehension, and enhance the quality of their responsiveness.

To summarize this thought, effective communication is significantly enhanced when we develop a thorough understanding of:

Ourselves
Our Teammates, Staff Members and Supervisors
Our Company Leaders and Owners
Our Clients and Customers

As we begin to better understand the Driving Core Motives of other people, and gain insights to their behavioral styles, our level of trust in them and our respect for their point of view will increase as will the quality of our interactions and the effectiveness of our communications.

One of the most essential qualities of effective communication is the inclination toward seeking first to understand, before attempting to be understood. This is the Golden Rule of establishing Excellence-In Communications ; as well as developing meaningful, valuable, lasting relationships; and creating trusting, respectful interactions with other people.

Valued leaders who earn the respect of the people they work with are those who have mastered the ability to understand what motivates other people and how they communicate. From this foundation, respected leaders are able to develop meaningful, valuable, and lasting relationships built upon the qualities of character, trust and respect.

From Good, to Great, to Excellent: The Development of Excellence Teams

Wed, 05 Sep 2018 15:02:07 GMT

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” – Aristotle

Establish Your Team

When working with companies and organizations, the focus of Excellence-In’s Strategic Asset Value Enhancement™ (SAVE) Program centers around the creation of what I call “Excellence Teams.” In brief, Excellence Teams are comprised of a select group of employees who meet on a regular basis to accomplish the seven critical elements of business growth and enhanced success:

Master the 12 essential components of leadership – each of which is critical to developing high-performance teams (especially in the area of effective communication)

Develop a culture of full engagement focused on continual improvement

Creation of vision and mission statements, and establishing common goals

Examination and analysis of critical challenges currently slowing your organization’s growth and success

Design of results-driven solutions (development and implementation)

Conduct follow through – i.e., accountability and performance measurements

Initiate and execute systems to increase employee engagement in becoming peak performers

Consider what Dr. Jim Loehr, Chairman and Co-Founder of the Human Performance Institute, said about employee engagement in the workplace:

“To be fully engaged [in our work] we must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our immediate self-interest. Full engagement begins with feeling eager to get to work in the morning, [and concludes with being] equally happy to return home in the evening . . . It means being able to immerse yourself in the mission you are on, whether that is grappling with a creative challenge at work, managing a group of people on a project, spending time with loved ones, or simply having fun.”

“Less than 30 percent of American workers are fully engaged at work, according to data collected by the Gallup organization in early 2001. Some 55 percent are ‘not engaged.’ Another 19 percent are ‘actively disengaged,’ meaning not just that they are unhappy at work, but that they regularly share those feelings with colleagues. The costs of a disengaged workforce run into the trillions of dollars. Worse yet, the longer employees stay with organizations, the less engaged they become. Gallup found that after six months on the job, only 38 percent of employees remain engaged. After three years, the figure drops to 22 percent.” (Adapted from “The Power of Full Engagement” by J. Loehr & T. Schwartz)

To facilitate full engagement among all employees, and develop a solid corps of strong leaders, Excellence Teams are usually comprised of managers, supervisors, owners, etc. who, ideally, meet on a weekly basis (although this may vary depending on a company’s operational requirements).

Focus on Results-Driven Solutions

Two of the most profitable investments a company can make are: 1) programs designed to increase the most critical resource businesses have – human energy; and 2) expanding the knowledge base of their managers and supervisors. A skilled, energized, dynamic manager multiplies his or her performance by enhancing the productivity of each member of their team.

In every business one of the biggest ongoing questions is “Do we have the right people?” And if you are uncertain about the quality of certain team members, it is difficult to make the decision to invest time and money in programs designed to increase their value and develop a peak performance culture.

My response to this quandary is that no company can afford to delay investing in their employees.

Here’s why: Once you initiate Excellence-In’s Strategic Asset Value Enhancement™ (SAVE) Program and engage your employees in creating an Excellence Team, you will be providing them with the tools they need to become their best and increase your company’s success. To use a couple of old phases, the cream will rise to the top and the weeds will expose themselves and be removed. In a relatively short period, trust, respect, and effective communications will increase along with productivity and efficiency. These elements of high-performance teams alone will help to increase profitability and generate a return on investment.

Expectations

Once an organization creates an Excellence Team and begins developing a fully engaged culture of peak performers focused on continual improvement, here is what you can expect.

You will experience the following benefits:

Decreased staff demands on upper management’s time
Increased loyalty & reduced turnover
Increased morale leading to higher energy
Increased productivity & profitability

You will feel the power of full engagement:

Every team member will become more fully engaged in fulfilling their job responsibilities
Your entire team will become completely immersed in the pursuit of excellence
Achieving your immediate and long-term goals will become more real to you than ever before!

Companies who initiate Excellence-In’s Strategic Asset Value Enhancement™ (SAVE) Program, fully commit to creating an Excellence Team, and dedicate themselves to developing a peak performance culture focused on continual improvement will experience:

A significant increase in their company’s overall performance
A more fully engaged workforce, increased loyalty, and reduced turnover
Enhanced productivity
An increase in profits