Types IN People, Not Types OF People

When people think of individual differences and diversity, they usually talk about types OF people. This is especially true with personality; “I’m an introvert,” or “I’m a Thinker.” Unfortunately, this oversimplification of diversity only leads to more division.

Personality is about types IN people, not types OF people.

There’s a better way to look at personality. The Process Communication Model (PCM) is an internationally acclaimed, highly reliable, behaviorally based communication model. From NASA to Pixar animation studios, a past president to business leaders on all five continents, PCM has been used to individually tailor connection and motivation and build trust and rapport.

PCM identifies distinct personality types, each with their own character strengths, preferred modes of communicating and interacting, unique motivational needs, and predictable self-sabotage behaviors. All six are in each of us.

One of the unique features of PCM is that it shows how every one of us has all six of these types in us in a preferred order, much like the floors of a building. Our personality “condominium” can be arranged in any one of 720 different combinations (6! for the mathematicians). The PCM assessment generates a valid and reliable communication profile showing the order and relative strength of each floor. PCM training teaches people about their own structure, how to navigate their own personality for maximum effectiveness, and how to communicate with every other type. PCM is the ultimate decoder ring!

What does this mean?

• To deal with diversity around me, I must first embrace the diversity within me.
• To love a person different from me, I must first love that part inside of me.
• To connect with others, I must first connect with that part of me that is most like them.

The opposite is also true.

• To hate a person different from me is to hate that part in me.
• To cancel or bully someone who is different from me means I am rejecting that part of me as well.
• To criticize character strengths different from mine is to criticize those strengths in me.

Rethink your attitude toward diversity.

When it comes to communicating through diversity, it’s way more than just appreciating differences in other people. It’s about appreciating that this very diversity is already in me. The first step in communicating with others is to make friends with that part of me. Being truly authentic means discovering and developing all six type within you so that you can connect with all six types in those around you. Otherwise, miscommunication is just around the corner.

Copyright Next Element Consulting, LLC 2017