Overview

A very outgoing and extrovert type of person, Jane enjoys the company of others, and is comfortable at the centre of attention. She bases her self-image largely on the responses of other people, and for this reason operates at her best in a positive, accepting environment. People like Jane prefer to avoid formality and, where possible, interact with others on a social and open level. Her enthusiastic, effervescent style can be a positive factor in her relationships with others.

The optimistic and confident elements of her gregarious style mean that Jane tends to pay rather less attention to practical questions or matters of detail. She prefers to work on an instinctive level, reacting according to her feelings and personal judgements rather than analysing a situation in detail.

Keynotes

The following keynotes summarise some of the most important aspects of Jane's personal style:

• She has a charming, enthusiastic communication style to which many other types respond positively.
• She thrives on positive interaction with those around her.
• She has an effusive, animated approach to others, and is highly sociable.
• She has a friendly, outgoing style, focusing on personal relationships.
• She has an original and adventurous approach to life.
• She has an energetic and enthusiastic approach, which can be highly motivating to others.
• She has strong confidence in her own social abilities.
• She is taking pains to be more receptive to her work colleagues at present.

Keywords

• Forthcoming
• Light-hearted
• Pleasant
• Cheerful
• Kind
• Attractive
• Eccentric
• Open-minded
• Confident
• Happy

Behavioural Adaptation

Jane's work seems to require some level of adaptability from her, and she is attempting to adjust her style to meet this requirement. The indications in the profile are that she is presenting a relatively flexible attitude to change, and a readiness to adapt to a developing situation. These features are much less strongly represented in her underlying style.

Advantages

Jane's considerable self-confidence and outgoing nature are her most distinct advantages. She is ready and able to make herself the centre of attention and hold this position without self-consciousness. This makes her particularly effective in roles requiring communication or presentation skills, roles in which the strongest features of her style can come to the fore.

Disadvantages

Because of her extrovert nature, Jane can come to place such emphasis on open, informal communication that she can sometimes be prone to overlook situations where a more moderate, diplomatic approach is needed. This can be especially true when working with more practical or analytical types. Because others' perceptions are important to Jane, she is particularly sensitive to perceived rejection or disapproval by others, and needs to feel a sense of acceptance if she is to apply her abilities to the full.

Communication Style

Jane has a very open, sociable approach to communication. She is gregarious by nature, and greatly enjoys interaction with other people. Because of her socially confident nature, she will tend to actively expand and develop her range of personal contacts. Her enthusiastic, often charming, appearance is especially in evidence in less formal surroundings, but her confidence will tend to lessen in more structured situations, or where she detects an atmosphere of antagonism.

Jane's communication skills tend to be focused around expressing her own ideas or feelings, rather than being receptive to other people. She is likely to be a talented presenter of information, but is perhaps a little less well suited to situations in which she needs to take account of others' needs.

Decision Making

Jane's focus lies in the realms of social contact. For her, therefore, a key aspect of decision making is the question of a decision's popularity or otherwise. This is by no means to say that she ignores more pragmatic considerations, but she will rarely make a decision that will cause unhappiness and hardship for other people, especially her own acquaintances or colleagues.

Organisation and Planning

Personable and open, Jane's responses will tend to be immediate and unpremeditated. Her enthusiasm and exuberance mean that she seldom spends time compiling detailed plans, nor does she feel bound by them. Order, organisation and formal discipline could not be considered to be high priorities for Jane.

Motivation

Jane's open and friendly style means that her most motivating environment will be positive and socially rewarding, giving her the scope to work with people who like and respect her. Though it may not be apparent from her outgoing nature, she places importance on the support and approval of others. This means that positions of independent responsibility are rarely motivating to her in the long term.

Managing Style

As a manager, under the right conditions, Jane can be an effective representative of her team. Her friendly and enthusiastic demeanour makes her a more than competent communicator, and she is usually found to be popular among the members of the group she leads. Her preference for maintaining a positive and informal atmosphere, however, may server to undermine her authority somewhat. Her approach to management will generally be more suited to working in open and favourable environments.

Style of Management Required

A manager will need to concentrate on keeping relations at a positive, open level if Jane is to work at her best. She will want to feel that she is liked and respected, and Jane will want to feel that she enjoys a positive relationship, with her manager being ready to listen to her suggestions. Jane can sometimes find it difficult to focus on the more practical requirements of her work, and a manager must take care to minimise distractions in a situation like this.

Guidelines in Management

Communication is the key to understanding Jane's style, and it will also be the key to her success in a management role. Self-confident, expressive, open and demonstrative, Jane will have no difficulty in ensuring that her team know just what she needs from them. She also has a talent for fostering a positive, motivated environment. Indeed, if she is to work effectively, she will need to be able to develop a mutually receptive environment like this.

One important aspect of management that is not strongly represented in her profile, though, is the need for practical efficiency. She will do well to ensure that her team contains members who can take on reponsiblity for questions of planning and structure, as these are not areas where she is well equipped to lead, despite her strengths in terms of communication.

Jane's greater concentration on the need to be sensitive to others is due to a shift in her profile pattern. She is normally rather less sensitive to such needs, but a shift like this can often indicate a perceived need to interact more effectively with work colleagues.

Management Style Summary

• She can sometimes act in unpredictable ways, or lead her team in unforeseen directions.
• She is prepared to try new and unusual solutions to management problems.
• Her likeable nature should help her to develop a bond with her team.
• She has high energy levels, helping her make positive contributions into the workings of her team.
• She tends to use her powers of persuasion and communication to motivate and direct her team.

Guidelines for Development

Jane might consider the following suggestions to develop her management style. The effectiveness of these suggestions will naturally depend on her current situation, and will need to be weighed accordingly. Taking this into account, Jane might consider:

• Presenting a more consistent and predictable approach to her team than might be natural to her style.
• Holding back and taking time to make sure she does not act without thinking through the consequences.
• Being more prepared to back up a presentation with background details and facts.
• Being ready to take decisions independently and unsupported, with consultation, where necessary.
• Channelling her energetic style to help motivate and direct her team.

Guidelines in Sales

Jane's fundamentally extrovert style will bring both advantages and disadvantages when working in a sales role. The advantages will be clear; as an outgoing, energetic and enthusiastic person, she is highly effective in communication, and generally finds it easy to build a rapport with others. As such, developing an effective relationship with a prospective client is unlikely to present her with significant difficulties. As part of her highly communicative style, though, she is rather concerned with others' perceptions of her. As such, she will find it difficult to risk causing offence or embarrassment, which will necessarily affect her closing ability. In sales, then, she can be expected to be rather more effective in representative roles, rather than in the realm of direct sales.

Jane's profile shows a focus on sensitivity in her current approach, as opposed to her more naturally persistent style. From a sales point of view, this brings advantages and disadvantages. Though she will be readier to understand and respond to a prospect's needs, her presently less resilient approach means that she will be more sensitive to rejection than under normal circumstances.

Sales Style Summary

• She likely has her own particular methods of sales, based on her persuasive and extrovert style.
• She is open to taking a risk within a sale, if the potential rewards seem high enough to justify it.
• Her open and communicative style helps to put prospects at their ease.
• To succeed in sales, she will tend to rely on her effective communication style.
• She is able to hold a prospect's attention, and probably has presentation and demonstration skills.

Guidelines for Development

Jane might consider the following suggestions to develop her sales style. The effectiveness of these suggestions will naturally depend on her current situation, and will need to be weighed accordingly. Taking this into account, Jane might consider:

• Taking a more measured, strategic approach to the sales process.
• Employing the traditional conventions of the sales process where appropriate.
• Developing effective product knowledge and sales skills to back up her strong social style.
• Being ready to push herself to the limit to gain a sale.
• Taking time to think through a presentation and plan for eventualities that might arise.

Guidelines in Service

In the role of a support contact for an organisation, or as a service representative, there is much to recommend Jane's cheerful, friendly style. Self-confident and pleasant, especially in situations where she does not feel unduly pressured, Jane can present a very positive, even charming, face to her organisation. This is somewhat less evident in a situation where Jane detects a level of pressure or antagonism, and her confidence can be expected to ebb under these circumstances. Issues of practicality and detail do not tend to be at the forefront of Jane's approach, and where matters of this kind are relevant to her role, she may require support or development to help her focus more in these areas.

Jane's current emphasis on a more sensitive and responsive approach will typically have a positive effect on her work in a services area, allowing her to be more aware of the needs of customers, and readier to adapt to those needs. However, it should be noted that this attitude is less prevalent in her more natural style, and will need to be cultivated and developed if it is to persist in the longer term.

Service Style Summary

• She can sometimes be prone to act without a full appreciation of the facts.
• Her friendly, but individualistic, style will tend to be more effective in less formal support situations.
• She will usually be able to make a positive impression on customers or clients.
• She likes to bring a personal touch to her interactions with customers or clients.
• She presents an enthusiastic and motivated appearance to customers.

Guidelines for Development

Jane might consider the following suggestions to develop her approach to service and support work. The effectiveness of these suggestions will naturally depend on her current situation, and will need to be weighed accordingly. Taking this into account, Jane might consider:

• Ensuring that she has a firm understanding of a customer's needs before responding to them.
• Adopting a more patient, undemanding approach where customers will respond more comfortably to such a style.
• Ensuring that she provides substantive support as well as presenting a positive appearance.
• Ensuring that her naturally sociable style does not overshadow the more practical elements of her work.
• Adapting her approach to reflect the styles and needs of particular customers.

Guidelines in Technical Work

The strengths of Jane's character are in her positive, outgoing and gregarious style - all these are fundamentally positive aspects in a general sense, but rather less so in the specific area of technical work. This is because styles like Jane's tend not to display a detailed, analytical approach (indeed, this is one of the reasons behind their enthusiastic style). For this reason, the precision and patience associated with technical roles will be absent from her approach in most situations. Within a technical team, she might perhaps turn her abilities to positive ends by acting in a social or presentational role.

Jane's preferred approach to technical work, and to work in general, may in fact be more patient and deliberate than the above comments suggest. There are indications in her profile that the relatively flexible and adaptable style she is demonstrating at present is due to her perceived needs in a working environment, rather than her natural approach. Under more accepting, less pressured circumstances, she can be expected to display behaviour of a more patient and steady type.

Technical Style Summary

• She tends to look for her own solutions to problems, which can be unique and original in some cases.
• She may at times pursue a course of action without fully researching a situation.
• Her affable style tends to concentrate on personal matters, rather than those of a more practical nature.
• She will look for acknowledgement of her achievements in a technical sphere.
• She has considerable reserves of energy, if she can motivate herself to apply them in a technical arena.

Guidelines for Development

Jane might consider the following suggestions to develop her approach to technical work. The effectiveness of these suggestions will naturally depend on her current situation, and will need to be weighed accordingly. Taking this into account, Jane might consider:

• Spending time to ensure that the details of her work are accurate.
• Tempering her creative side with a more formal, structured approach to technical work.
• Relying more on logic and reason to develop and communicate her ideas.
• Contributing freely to work as part of a project team.
• Presenting her ideas in a more impersonal, factual manner.

Exploratory Questions

Exploring Positive Aspects of the Profile

• How would you describe your relationships with your colleagues in your previous work?
  (Jane would be expected to have developed highly positive social contacts with her colleagues.)
• What would you say are the most important aspects of a business relationship?
  (Jane's style suggests that she would focus primarily on the personal side of the relationship.)

Exploring Possible Training Needs in the Profile

• Can you recall a situation where you had to deal with an angry client or colleague? How did you react?
  (Jane's style is not suited to negative interaction with others - she would probably find such a situation extremely uncomfortable.)
• Can you think of a situation where you took independent charge of a project and completed it successfully?
  (Jane tends to depend rather on the support of others; as such, it is unlikely that she would take on responsibility of this kind unless in exceptional circumstances.)

Jane's adaptation is showing a heightened sensitivity and responsiveness, which will likely appear as a tendency to respond quickly to questions, and perhaps a tendency to give relatively brief responses.

Career Directions

Jane is best suited to a career that will let her use her expressive, strongly communicative side without also forcing her to make difficult decisions, or face antagonistic situations. Her general style, for instance, might do well in teaching, but she rather lacks the authority that might be necessary in a career of that kind. There are many other suitable career paths available, especially careers involving presentation skills; depending on Jane's particular abilities and experience, this might include anything from reception work to the performing arts.

Relationships

Jane is notable for her extremely outgoing and confident style. She is extremely open, in the sense that she is expressive and ingenuous, ready to put forward her ideas and demonstrate her feelings freely. This means that she will thrive in equally open relationships, built on mutual respect and trust. She will naturally find it much harder to form bonds with her work colleagues in less positive surroundings, where formality and structure impose restrictions on her inherently expressive approach.

Jane is showing an adaptation in her style that might modify her appearance, as compared with the remarks above. This is a tendency to be more receptive to others, and readier to adapt to their needs. Her more persistent side will be correspondingly less visible under these conditions.

Relationship Keynotes for Jane

• She thrives on positive interaction with those around her.
• Her easy-going, pleasant nature helps her to develop positive relations with others.
• She prefers to work with others in a positive, non-competitive environment.
• She has an open and honest style, and tends to relate to others on a personal level.
• She looks for a sense of acceptance within working relationships.

The Team

As an extremely extrovert and outgoing person with a strong social side, Jane can be expected to be motivated by working as part of a team. She feels most comfortable in an open, approving environment, and given her native friendliness and confidence, it is likely that she will be able to find - or develop - such a situation within most teams. Though she will be effective in promoting the internal social cohesion of the team it will be important for her to balance this against the more practical requirements of the group.

Jane's working persona is being adapted at the moment in a way that suggests a need to work in a more cooperative way, perhaps as part of a team (though other explanations are possible). Specifically, she is showing a more responsive and conforming aspect to her style, and a willingness to accept others' suggestions that is rather less emphasised in her more natural approach.

Team Keynotes for Jane

• She can have a tendency, on occasion, to act without consulting with other members of the team.
• She prefers to find and follow her own solutions to problems.
• Her charming and communicative style will likely make her a social centre of attention within the team.
• Her high levels of personal energy can help to motivate the team's other members.
• Her approachable and outgoing style mean that she will be effective in selling the team's ideas or proposals.

Pressure

In common with all strongly communicative styles, Jane feels pressure most strongly when it originates in the more social side of her life. The feeling of rejection, or even of disapproval, is particularly uncomfortable for Jane, as she places very strong emphasis on the social, personal aspects of her work. For clearly related reasons, she does not like to work in isolation, and will want an opportunity to express her outgoing side.

Though she has an open and expressive side, she is not particularly assertive, and dislikes conflict as much as she dislikes rejection or disapproval. This means that she is unlikely to address the source of her pressure directly.

Taking her perceptions of her current working environment into account, it seems that Jane is rather more sensitive to pressure at the moment than usual. The very fact that she feels it necessary to adopt this less calm and patient demeanour suggests that she is working under more demanding circumstances than she is used to.

Ambition and Development

Jane has both an interest in social success and the self-confidence to achieve it. She will tend to measure her success in terms of her relationships with others, rather than in a more practical sense, and her ambitions are oriented particularly towards gaining respect and real liking from those around her. She will also look to work in a relatively informal situation, as she greatly prefers an open and honest working environment to one bound by regulations and controls.

Jane's current approach to her work involves masking her naturally calm and steady style with a more responsive, sensitive style. This seems unlikely to be a permanent feature of her style.