The following are brief descriptions of each of the 8 Striving Styles. As you go through each of the Styles you may notice that you see yourself in a couple of the descriptions. Try to determine your Style based on how you are most prefer to behave and what comes easiest to you.

THE SOCIALIZER - STRIVING TO BE CONNECTED

THE PERFORMER - STRIVING TO BE RECOGNIZED

THE ARTIST - STRIVING TO BE CREATIVE

THE ADVENTURER - STRIVING TO BE SPONTANEOUS

THE INTELLECTUAL - STRIVING TO BE KNOWLEDGEABLE

THE VISIONARY – STRIVING TO BE PERCEPTIVE

THE STABILIZER - STRIVING TO BE SECURE

THE LEADER - STRIVING TO HAVE CONTROL

 

THE SOCIALIZER - STRIVING TO BE CONNECTED Strengths: Socializer Style people are enthusiastic, outgoing people-people”. They are social organizers in every setting they find themselves. Outgoing and charismatic, they are skilful and enthusiastic communicators; these abilities make Socializers natural and credible leaders or consultants. They are lively facilitators, at their best in situations involving interpersonal sensitivity. They are responsive to the needs of others; are dependable and will follow through with their commitments. Socializers have a gift for seeing human potential. They are compassionate, insightful, and sensitive to indifference. They are responsive to praise, but are sensitive to criticism. At work, Socializers are team players and dislike working on their own. They contribute a sense of camaraderie, mutual support and a commitment to overall team effort. They like to lend a helping hand in improving and enhancing the overall work environment. Challenges: Socializers tend to idealize their relationships and can ignore what people are really like. They can sometimes overlook or ignore their own needs. They need to pay attention to facts, logical consequences of actions, and situational demands rather than their personal feelings about people involved. Maintaining personal boundaries is a problem for Socializers and can lead to them being taken advantage of by others. They can empathize excessively causing them to lose perspective of what needs to be done practically. Socializers make their decisions based on how they feel, which can present a perspective that is very different from the way the situation actually is. They also take conflict and rejection personally. Their decision-making process is often subjective and speculative and they can let their feelings dictate their actions. back to top

THE PERFORMER - STRIVING TO BE RECOGNIZED Strengths: Performer Style people are outgoing and extraverted individuals who enjoy the spotlight and seek opportunities to be there. They need to be center stage where they gain recognition from others. Performers are highly energetic, charming, and enthusiastic and can be great improvisers and resourceful problem solvers. They have a flair for the dramatic. They seek to understand people, and can be extremely perceptive. Future-oriented, they get excitement from pursuing new ideas. Entrepreneurial in nature, they seek careers that allow them to be recognized for their achievements. They love challenges and derive much of their extensive energy from meeting them head on. They are passionate about ideas and possibilities. Performers have a great need to play and are uniquely talented in the way they manage to make so many things in their life fun for themselves and others, including work. Challenges: Their strong need to be validated causes the Performer to be overly concerned with others’ opinions of them. They can rationalize their own wants and needs and not attend to their physical body. Relaxation does not come easily to them, nor does introspection. They can easily be seductive or manipulative rather than just persuasive when overly concerned with meeting their needs. They don't always fulfill their obligations and are inconsiderate of others who depend on them, failing to follow through when things get tough. They also can be oblivious to how their behaviour affects others. They can appear arrogant and make unnecessary challenges to people in positions of power, adversely affecting their career success. back to top

THE ARTIST - STRIVING TO BE CREATIVE Strengths: Artist Style people are artistic and inspired. They need to be creative and surrounded with beauty. They are energized by activity and variety and need these things in order to maintain their positive outlook. During leisure, they enjoy doing things on their own or with a close friend. They show their caring by deeds and actions. They are free-spirited with a great need to be left to do whatever moves them. The Artist is often shy, private, and unassertive. They may look composed and aloof on the outside, but have high drama going on inside. Their inner world is their focus and they put great importance on values. Artists rarely seek the limelight for themselves. They seek depth in relationships and are intolerant of superficiality. Artists can be fiercely loyal to those they serve in a quiet, passive way. The path to achieving their ideals may not always be easy, but they will work painstakingly to achieve it despite the odds. Challenges: Compassionate, quietly stubborn, self-critical, sensitive, Artists are demotivated by too much structure or rules. They set extremely high standards for themselves and tend to be perfectionists. Independent by nature, the hands-off style of Artists can be so extreme that it causes them to feel isolated. They can be rebellious, as they see hierarchy and authority as unnecessary. They will disregard rules and regulations by simply ignoring them. Their need for drama and excitement can make Artists appear out of touch with reality. They have a tendency to cut corners and often do not prepare more than is necessary. They frustrate others when they don’t stick with a project to its completion. They run the risk of others seeing them as scattered, lacking initiative, or indifferent. They can be their own worst enemy as they live in fear of their own imagined deficiencies. back to top

THE ADVENTURER - STRIVING TO BE SPONTANEOUS Strengths: Adventurer Style people are action-oriented individuals who need to experience life. They are naturally curious, open-minded, and like to explore and experiment. They are not afraid to take risks. Adventurers desire the freedom to move from activity to activity in their lives. They are keenly aware of what is going on around them, and will eagerly join in. They like to be where the action is. They have a high tolerance for change. Their enthusiasm and motivation is contagious to others. Their propensity for quick action makes them good in a crisis. Their motto is to “eat, drink, and be merry” as much as possible; they live life to the fullest. They are often interesting and engaging conversationalists. They have bright, optimistic dispositions, tending to view any situation from a positive perspective. Adventurers have a talent for juggling many activities and people, and to create a coherent, functional, and productive team. Challenges: Adventurers can be too impulsive and are not often aware of the impact of their behaviour and actions on others. Often they have difficulty doing the same thing the same way twice. Their dislike of routine, and disrespect for structure and order result in Adventurers being everywhere but where they need to be at work. They are not naturally in tune with their own or others feelings or emotions. They can be perceived as too laid-back and casual, and their difficulty making decisions and low tolerance for routine procedures makes it hard for them to work in organizations that do not permit this type of “laissez-faire” approach. Adventurers can become rebellious, both actively and passively resisting all attempts to restrict their actions. back to top

THE INTELLECTUAL - STRIVING TO BE KNOWLEDGEABLE Strengths: Intellectual Style people have a predominant need to accumulate knowledge. They love gathering information, building an inner world of ideas that they may or may not share with others. They are private people who need time alone to do their best work. Intellectuals will tenaciously pursue knowledge and intellectual competence, and they can go to extremes to do so. They are accepting of the way others choose to live their lives and expect that others will treat them in the same fashion. They need the freedom to follow their interests or pursue a solution to a problem. Intellectuals have a strong need to learn and will strive for competence in all they do. They can be unrelenting in the pursuit of new ideas and thoughts, and will exert every effort possible to master any subject that catches their interest. The quest for perfection, competence, conceptual clarity, and self-mastery is a driving force for Intellectuals. Challenges: Intellectuals are unimpressed with authority. They follow rules when it suits them to do so, and ignore them when it does not. They don't like hierarchies, and can frustrate and challenge those in authority by questioning everything. They tend to be skeptical, critical, determined and often stubborn. They are emotionally distant in relationships. Due to their reluctance to share information with others or participate in groups, others have difficulty understanding what they are doing. As a result, they do not always get the acknowledgement they deserve. They frustrate others with their communication style. Intellectuals can engage in unproductive thinking and obsession over details when they are stressed or insecure. They don't like being found not knowing something and will spend time learning about something they have no real interest in. back to top

THE VISIONARY – STRIVING TO BE PERCEPTIVE Strengths: Visionary Style people have a predominant Striving to perceive (to attain awareness and understanding). They enjoy an inner world rich and a fertile imagination allowing them to see a world with endless possibilities. They are out to discover the meaning of things and how each thing fits with everything else. They are able to take in random information and make a nice, tidy system out of it. Their need to discover what else causes them to engage in continuous improvement with almost everything – words, plans, designs, ideas, even people. They are idealistic, have a deep concern for humanity, and strong intellectual abilities. Imaginative, creative, conceptual and curious, they spend time lost in thought, dreaming and creating visions. Their empathetic abilities are so strong that they will be aware of another’s emotional state, illness, or distress before that person is aware of these. Challenges: Visionaries have high standards and expect too much from themselves and from others. If they are unable to attain them, they have periods of uncertainty and reserve, after which they suddenly become very determined. Because of the intensely spontaneous activity within, they are frequently moody, occasionally brilliant and original, then again reserved, stubborn, and arrogant. They become dissatisfied when caught in an organizational hierarchy that does not give them enough freedom to use their vision and creativity. They fail to recognize practical weaknesses in their ideas because they don't invite feedback. This can make them appear arrogant and superior to others. Visionaries tend to ignore the views and feelings of other people. They can undermine relationships giving "helpful" feedback to people who haven't asked for it. back to top

THE STABILIZER - STRIVING TO BE SECURE Strengths: Stabilizer Style people are private and self-contained individuals. They are responsible and dependable, and take life seriously. They are keenly aware of laws, traditions, and regulations and they expect others to abide by these same rules. They have great respect for authority and institutions. Stabilizers are hard workers who achieve success through their perseverance. They do not enjoy the limelight, and prefer to work quietly behind the scenes. Stabilizers are quietly supportive of colleagues and friends. They usually organize every aspect of their lives down to the smallest detail. In their community, they like to uphold traditions and all things familiar. They protect and defend the people and traditions they love and care about. They have a strong sense of family and community responsibility, and show their commitment by being trustworthy and reliable. Keeping up appearances is important to them, and they will do what is expected of them. Challenges: Work is often done at the sacrifice of personal priorities, relationships, and even their own health. They can be so task-oriented they are unaware of their impact on others. Under stress, Stabilizers will catastrophize about the future, and will become quite rigid. They are often stereotyped as a classic type A personality – driven, obsessive, and impatient. Sometimes they overlook interpersonal relationship needs because of their extreme task orientation. While Stabilizers often feel positive and warm towards people, they fail to express their emotions. Duty and love are interchangeable. They are quietly supportive of their colleagues and friends, and enjoy helping them in practical and tangible ways. They are easily taken for granted as they find it difficult to say no to people they care about. back to top

THE LEADER - STRIVING TO HAVE CONTROL Strengths: Leader Style people are “take-charge” people. They believe they were born to lead and, therefore, are often found in leadership roles. Optimistic and resourceful, Leaders are typically well informed and decisive. They have a strong need to be “in the know”. They work best when they have plans and goals. Prefer jobs where they have the power to get things done. Leaders have high expectations, both for themselves and for others. Generally outgoing, Leaders prefer being with others. Planful and outcome oriented, Leaders are quite adept at organizing, scheduling, and dealing with multiple priorities. They are easy to get to know and do not send double messages. What you see is what you get. They are quick to decide what they want and set a plan of action to get it. They are loyal and committed to their values and will demonstrate this in work, politics, and community. Challenges: Assertive and impatient and can be arrogant, critical, and autocratic. They don't want to depend on others as it makes them feel out of control. Their focus on work and achievement can interfere with personal relationships. Ordinarily gregarious and outgoing with people in their social and work lives, Leaders have difficulty expressing emotion with intimate and one-on-one relationships that are important to them. They believe that if they show any weakness or inadequacy others would have power over them. When interacting with others, Leaders do not always consider that what they say may affect the other person. Their recreational activities can become stressful and compulsive as they view them as one more thing to master and become competent at. They don't understand the impact of their strong personalities on others. back to top

 

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