Page 137 - Leadership Secrets of Hillary Clinton

LEADERSHIP SECRETS OF HILLARY CLINTON

that is often favored by women who value consensus over
hierarchy.
We also have a preferred social or communication style.
There are many different models for categorizing these
styles, and I prefer the one developed by Dr. David Merrill
back in the 1960s because it is simple to understand and
easy to apply. He identified four basic styles:

• The driver. Someone who likes you to get to the point
quickly and doesn’t want to hear all the details.
• The expressive. Someone who wants to be noticed and
likes to think out loud to generate new ideas.
• The amiable. Someone who wants to get along and
really cares about the feelings of the entire team.
• The analytical. Someone who wants to get it right,
wants all the facts before making a decision, and asks
lots of questions.

This information can be useful in several ways. First, it’s
important for you to know your own preferred style
because that’s the way you communicate naturally. For peo-
ple who share your preference, it probably works brilliantly.
But it might not be as effective for others, so it’s important
for you to be able to read both the situation and the indi-
vidual to determine what communication style will have
the greatest impact and then be able to adapt your style
accordingly.

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