Social Styles Self-Assessment

Social styles are the behaviors that one exhibits when interacting with others. Identifying one’s own social styles, and those of others, can be a helpful tool in workplace cooperation. The four social styles are the expressive style, driving style, amiable style, and analytical style (EBS University, 2018). Each style has its own set of characteristics, pros, and cons. After taking the self-assessment, I found myself to be the amiable social style. People who are amiably social are typically highly responsive and not very assertive. Amiable people tend to like other people’s company but are more of listeners rather than talkers (EBS University, 2018). When working with others, they may not always be seen as efficient since they focus on developing meaningful relationships instead of getting things done quickly. The need to feel secure is a driving factor for amiable people and this often causes them to avoid difficult situations, avoid confrontation, and lack conviction when making decisions or discussing their feelings. Amiable people can have a hard time giving a straight answer and often are pushed into making promises they cannot keep (EBS University, 2018). I feel like my results are only partially accurate. I am more of a listen than a talker, but I do not mind difficult situations or confrontation. Usually amiable people are described as loyal, personable, and patient. I would say I am all of those, although I am less patient with people the longer I know them. I do enjoy the company of others, but I do not think I am perceived as lacking conviction. In fact, I was recently promoted at work partially due to my ability to make decisions. I think that in certain situations I do tend to be a bit shy, but when I am at work and in a leadership position, I do not have a problem being more assertive. Being amiable gives me the advantage of being personable and sociable. This is an advantage as a leader because people often find it easy to approach and trust me. Coworkers also appreciate when I am patient with them, especially when they have a lot of questions. Sometimes it can be challenging if others perceive me as weak for being non-confrontational or disliking pressure. Typically, leaders are people who need to be cool under pressure and deal with confrontation well. On the other hand, amiable people are good at supporting others. This is an important quality for a leader to have. Amiable people have good listening and counseling skills, which in my opinion makes up for not liking interpersonal conflict. Disliking conflict and being pushed into making decisions without conviction can lead to trouble when engaging with others. Other people may feel that they can push amiable people around or talk over them. They might also think that if they start a conflict, they will automatically get what they want because the amiable person will want to avoid confrontation. These issues can be avoided if a good trusting relationship is present between the two people. When engaging with other people, it is important that there is a foundation of trust and rapport. This foundation will lead to less challenges down the road. One technique for overcoming challenges between different social styles is to compare each style to a famous person. Michelle Canseco argues this is a great way to take a step back from confrontation, analyze the person’s social style, and then determine the best way to process with the task at hand. Canseco also suggests having references or individuals with information readily available, since the analytical style likes to know what they have to do to finish a project. Besides filling out the assessment myself, I had my roommate who is also my coworker fill it out as well. Based on her answers, my social style was expressive. This means she seems me as highly responsive and highly assertive. I partially agree with being this social style, as I am people oriented, positive, emotional, and enthusiastic. However, I do not like being the center of attention and I do not think I am unpredictable and dramatic. It was interesting to find out that from someone else’s point of view I am more assertive than I originally thought. Having my coworker’s results say I am expressive makes me feel more comfortable as a leader. It makes me feel like others see me taking charge and being enthusiastic. I never want to come across as being uncomfortable being in charge. I think I am a good balance of both the amiable and expressive social style. I am easy to get along with, patient, friendly, and overall a very kind person. While I do not always enjoy being the center of attention, I am comfortable taking charge and being a leader in most situations. I know that I can be easily persuaded or pushed around, so now that I know more about my social style, I am going to try to avoid letting this happen. I hope to take what I learned about the amiable and expressive social style and use it to become a better leader.