Politics Week! What Personality Types are Running for President?

I love politics! I care about what the candidates are talking about because I will vote for one of them to be the POTUS. Meanwhile I’m analyzing their personality.

The way a politician packages their message reveals a lot about their personality, how they view the world, what motivates them and how they will act in various situations.

The process of how someone communicates is much more predictive of their future behavior than the content of their message.

One of my favorite models for understanding personality is the Process Communication Model (PCM®). We use and train it at Next Element because it approaches personality through behaviors and communication. PCM outlines six distinct personality types within each of us. We all have a preferred order of these types, and it is revealed by our behavior. Every time we open our mouths we are speaking from one or more of these six “floors” in our personality condominium.

Decoding personality helps us understand why people do what they do and predict how they are likely to act in the future.

Four of the six personality types seem to be most represented among the current flock of presidential candidates. Here’s a chart showing key features of these four types; Thinkers, Persisters, Promoters, and Harmonizers.

Each personality type has very important qualities needed for leadership. They also have a dark side that sabotages public discourse and the common good when they are in distress.

Personality is so predictable when you know what to look for.

Here are the features of the big four personality types represented among the 2016 candidates.

You’ve probably recognized some of the presidential candidates by now. Trump is definitely a Promoter, the only one in the pack. Rand Paul is coming from his Thinker floor most of the time. Hillary Clinton rarely gets out of Thinker except on late night talk shows and in private. Jeb Bush? Persister, of course, just like his brother. Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, and Bernie Sanders are the only candidates that mobilize more than one of their personality floors. This is significant and will play heavily into how they fare in the next six months.

In my next two posts I will give my critical analysis of the top candidates and make predictions about how things will play out. Meanwhile, here’s a post I wrote about why Trump is unfit for president.

If you are curious about the Process Communication Model, here are a few links.

About the developer

How Next Element is using PCM

Next Element’s PCM Trainer/Coach Trek

More about the six Kahler Personality Types

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