Sunday 20 May 2012

Personality Types - The Dark Side

Nearly 50 years of research has revealed that people operate with four distinct ways of interaction, or Social Styles: Analytical, Driver, Amiable and Expressive. Each of these personality types are further broken down into four more sub-types, making it sixteen personality types in total.


INTRODUCTION TO THE FOUR MAIN PERSONALITY TYPES


Analytical
Positive – they are great problem solvers. They find thinking fun.
Negative – they tend to have paralysis through analysis…. Because they are always hungry to think some more, get more information etc. before they act.

Driver
Positive – they are very results focused. They get things done
Negative - they often step on toes and hurt feelings and have no idea that they are doing that… simply because they are so results focused they don’t understand how anyone can be hurt – results and the bigger picture are what matter!

Amiable
Positive – they are very caring and courteous
Negative – they tend not to stand on their principles as they are to busy making sure they don’t hurt the person they are with – (ex- today they are with me and support my actions – tomorrow they are with you- you do not like MY way of doing things but today they support you because they are with you)

Expressive
Positive – they are a lot of fun to be with – they love entertaining and being entertained
Negative – they are loud and flashy - they wont do a thing if it cannot be fun in some way.



Let me give you a quick crash-course in personality types by way of analogy, with specific focus on our opponent.

I used to teach the dark side of these Social Styles to my students in terms of how each of these personality types would perform their task if they were hit men. Everyone has a dark side, this is the dark side of these personality types, not their usual social, business, good, or humane side.

Before we continue it needs to be understood that not one of these personality types are exclusive. Each personality type has some traits belonging to the other personality types. Each personality type is further divided into four sub-types within that personality type. The so-called Driver-Driver is virtually an absolute driver, but even he has some traits of the other personality types. The Driver-Expressionist would be a Driver, with strong expressive traits. The Driver-Amiable would be primarily a Driver, but he would also possess strong traits of all three the others.



PERSONALITY / SOCIAL TYPES - THE DARK SIDE
Please remember that this is the extreme dark side that few people would ever show, but to some people it is part of their nature.

The Driver (The Hard-ass)
Drivers are bottom-line people. They don't like hearing stories and plenty detail, they just want the bottom-line. They want to get the job done, effectively in the shortest possible time and no excuses. They don't talk much, but when they talk you'd better listen, because they hate having to repeat themselves. They don't have time for nonsense, they detest petty arguments about stuff they consider as being of no consequence or real value. They are realists that do not live in dreams and what matters to them is now. They face the problems of the now without caring about the reasons or causes for it. All that matters is addressing the issue at hand and to hell with emotions, wishes and dreams. To them dreams are a waste of time as there could be no dreams unless the current is sorted out first. Dreamers, bullshitters and loud-mouths are his greatest enemies, he hates them with a passion. To him people generally talk too much and do to little, because he is a doer. He is not interested in what you intend doing, but rather in what you have already done. They are not the easiest people to have as bosses, because they have little patience and hate excuses. They don't want to know about your problems, they just want the answers and solutions and, for your own sake, hopefully you have already applied the solution and completed the job. They are absolute realists and life is described in three words, "It goes on".

They are builders and fixers, typical dictators and CEO's. They could take a project from scratch, initiate it, run it with an iron fist and finish the job on schedule, after having fired many people along the way. Give them a department, a company, a project, even a country gone wrong and in chaos, and they will pull it together and fix it in no time. The problem is that they get bored and they are not good at sticking around once the job is done. Once they have built it or fixed it, they have to get out. They are very determined people who study people like Adolf Hitler, Giuseppe Garibaldi and Frederick the Great.

As a dictator he would take a country on its knees and rebuild it to a hugely powerful state within a decade, but he would probably need to be assassinated after about five to ten years, for otherwise he is just going to cause problems. Hitler was a good example of such a dictator. They should probably have shot him when he had built Germany to its peak.
As hit men they are quick and effective. The driver hit man would walk up to his target and shoot him dead centre between the eyes, turn around, light a cigarette, take his cell-phone, call his client and tell him the job is done, make sure the money is deposited immediately and warn him not to even consider double-crossing him. He would not flinch an eye. To him its about getting the job done, period. He lives by the watch and by faith, and what is his definition of faith? "Faith is not merely believing in something in-spite of the evidence. Faith is having the guts to do something without considering the consequences." The typical Mafia boss. He pulls his gun shoots the guy across the table from him and carries on with the meeting. Many Army generals fit this personality type. The movie-style Mafia boss and Drug-lord is a Driver-Driver.

The Analytical (The Nagging types)
They are all about detail, the typical strategist. They would plan the hit down to the very last detail, even if takes weeks or months. They are perfectionists and want it to be perfect. They would want it to be clean and tidy, no mess to clean up afterwards. They would typically make the hit look like suicide or some gangster fight gone wrong. They aim for new approaches every time. Every hit would be unique and hopefully in a way never done by anyone else before. They love their gadgets and highly specialised equipment. They are readers and highly intelligent. They analyse everything and plan accordingly. Strategy is of utmost importance, outwitting their target or opponent, using the opponent's own strengths against him or capitalising on his weaknesses is what it's all about. They make excellent accountants and engineers. They have the ability to foresee, to predict based on logic and common sense and to manoeuvre accordingly. They tend to be introverts, not because of lack of self-esteem, but rather because they like their time with themselves, so they can think and plan. Their minds are constantly busy. They have the ability to switch off. They could study in-front of the TV and when they are busy thinking the world could explode around them they would not notice. They are deaf to the World while their minds are working. One would be talking to them and suddenly they'd get up, go to their PC and check something or write down something, return and continue with the conversation as if nothing happened. They would start a sentence, get up go to the kitchen have a glass of water, return and continue the sentence where they left off as if they had never left. They are like the Nikola Tesla's of this world, the Albert Einstein's and Leonardo Da Vinci's. They think all the time. Perfectionists to the extreme they contemplate every aspect of their work, their interests and life itself.

As hit men they are dangerous people, because one never knows what they are really up to, what they're thinking, what they are busy planning next, how they'll hit, when and where they'll strike, because they would plan it well and they do not make mistakes, its against their principles. They don't leave any loose ends and would even take out their client to make sure nothing could lead back to themselves. They always have a plan A, plan B, plan C and an escape plan too. Typical Army strategists, Charles Bronson in "The Mechanic", Accountants, Engineers, etc. Many Army Generals are analytical-drivers or driver-analyticals.

The Expressionist (The Loud-mouth Braggers)
The name says it all doesn't it? They express themselves and they love being in the lime-light, the centre of attention. The attorney as depicted in the Hollywood soap operas. They wear name brand clothes, drive cabriolet's, wear gold watches and thick gold chains around their necks, they have to be noticed and they need to be heard, the young man that spends more on the sound system than what the car itself is worth. Sunglasses with a mow-hawk and a big mouth. Bullshitters and pressure salesmen that do not take no for an answer. May have a low self-esteem, but pretending to be sure of himself. Loud mouths and screamers, the most irritating to any Driver. They are the types that get shot on the spot by Drivers. Drivers just cannot tolerate these loud mouthed flashy braggers. They brag about everything and they always know better, or they at least know someone that knows better. They are name-droppers, always trying to convince you of his point off view by referencing someone renowned.

As a hit man he would want it to be loud, noisy and visible. He would want it to be on TV. He would have the podium of the President explode in a huge loud explosion during a live broadcast. He wants to make a statement and become world famous, a typical show-off in everything he does. Irritating bastards to say the least. Some types of suicide bombers fit this picture, but not always. This hit man would plant a bomb under you car and he wants to see the explosion and pat himself on the shoulder for his achievement. In fact he would call the TV stations and tell them where they should be if they want to film something spectacular. Big-mouth braggers. Joe Pesci in "My Cousin Vinny" (1992)

The last is the most important, because this is what it is all about.....

The Amiable (Poor-me, the world owes them)
To the amiable, everything revolves about family, tradition, heritage. They are over-protective. They would do anything to satisfy and easily bend the knee to peer pressure, because they have a deep need for acceptance and approval. The are introvert and the worst of introverts are found among amiables. They hold grudges like no one else, because it all revolves about family and the social group. You hurt him, insult his mother and he will remember it forever and they never forgive. They would remember the boy next-door that tripped him when they were three years old and he hates him for it to this day and he is still praying for revenge. He is the underdog and he stands for the underdog, he feels for the underdog, he sympathises with the underdog. Under normal circumstances he could not hurt a fly, but he hates the person that does hurt the fly and he would do to that person what he had done to the fly. They are very gentle kind people, but do not ever hurt him, his friends or family, because you would have created an enemy forever. He would not tell you so, he would not express himself, but you would see it in his eyes and his attitude towards you. He is the yes-man, the smiling "Yes boss, no boss, thank you boss", but deep inside he hates the boss with a passion second to none. Gentle, shy and appeasing, but manipulative. They are the "poor me" people who believe the world had wronged them and therefore the world and life owe them. They hate confrontation, they cannot stand it or handle it. They are strongly principled, but cannot defend those principles. They live for the cause, but they cannot fight for the cause, until they get into a position of power where they can exercise their command and take revenge. They do not think, they feel. Everything is about feelings, hurting their feelings or the feelings of others. Trample on him, walk all over him, but always know that when he gets to the top he will remember you. What seems negligible to you is taken very seriously by him. The smallest things hurt him and he remembers it, forever. He will sympathise with the underdog and not only support, but join his cause. He sees power in numbers.

As a hit man this is one seriously dangerous person. When his dark side takes over he is ruthless, he is vicious,. he is callous, he is without remorse, because he does it for the cause and the cause is much greater than you. As a hit man he would not take a job, unless it is for the cause, the cause that he support and believes in. He would take the job if he knows that his target was someone that had hurt many people in his life. He would take revenge on their behalf. He is not clean, neat and tidy, he is the worst of the worst. he would kill someone slowly, burn him, slice him, scalp him, cut his eyes out, pull his toe and finger nails out. He wants to punish the person and he wants to make sure he know why it is being done to him. He would inflict pain until his victim faints, then he would first bring him around, before continuing again. He takes pleasure from it and he derives his satisfaction from knowing that his victim is being duly punished for his sins. The more his victim suffers the more satisfied he is. He wants his victim to die suffering, while he is looking him straight in his eyes. If he feels that his victim's death or suffering is warranted he would punish him to death, he would shove a white-hot poker in his eyes and explain to him in his soft, but hate-filled voice, why he is doing it, what he is paying for, he wants his victim to know. He would kill you for what he believes your forefathers did to his forefathers and he wants you to suffer for it and he wants you to know what you are suffering for. He is hate-filled to the extreme, he would tie you up with barbed wire and force you to watch as he rapes you daughters, your sons, your wife over and over and over before killing them slowly and extremely painfully right in-front of your eyes and then he would turn on you. Do not forget that while he is punishing you he will be insulting you like he as always wanted to insult someone, venting his deep held grudges and hatred for you. A spineless weasel who, when in control, becomes your worst nightmare. If you give him one finger he would rip your whole arm off and slap you in the face with the wet side. You could be kind to him all your life, but the smallest little insult, the slightest wrong-doing from your side would grow inside him like a runaway cancer and one day when the opportunity arises he would get you back, perhaps not even for what you personally did, but for what your forefathers had done to his. If he gets the opportunity to overpower you while alone, he would do it, without considering the consequences, but for the most part he is a pack animal, like African wild dogs. (Wild dogs deal with the dangers and requirements of the wild by working together.  The pack is everything to wild dogs. Every subordinate dog does whatever they can to raise the pubs. Wild dogs live in packs of six to 20. If the pack numbers fall below six, hunting efficiency is eroded. The dogs have a peculiar rather playful ceremony that bonds them for a common purpose and initiates each hunt. They start circulating among the other pack members, vocalizing and touching until they get excited and are ready to hunt. They start the hunt in an organized, cooperative manner. When prey is targeted, some of the dogs run close to the animal, while others follow behind, taking over when the leader tired. Of the large carnivores, wild dogs are the most efficient hunters – targeted prey rarely escapes. They tear the flesh until the animal falls, consuming even if it is still alive. This behaviour may prejudice people against them. Apart from its undeniable bloodiness, the remarkable aspect of the their hunting is the complete lack of aggression toward each other.)

Always remember that to him life revolves about the cause, family, the group, and feelings. If he believes in the cause he would kill for it and he holds a grudge like no other. He derives satisfaction from your pain and suffering, because that is the only way you could pay for what you did. In this he is the exact opposite of the Driver.

"Wounds which cannot be seen are more painful than the ones that you can see which can be cured by a doctor" - Nelson Mandela

*****

Personality / Social Types is a huge field of study and the above is but a minute part of the whole field. If you wish to learn more about Personality Types follow the links below.

FURTHER READING

The Four SOCIAL STYLES http://www.tracomcorp.com/training-products/model/style-descriptions.html

How To Identify The Four Personality Types Resident In Every Boardroom http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Identify-The-Four-Personality-Types-Resident-In-Every-Boardroom&id=361279

Social Styles http://changingminds.org/explanations/preferences/social_styles.htm

The four personality types http://www.pharmajobs.co.za/pharmajobs-intelligence/pharmajobs-blog/item/114-personality-types.html

Social Styles a .pdf document describing the four primary personality types http://bit.ly/Lb4DfK

Uncover Personality Types and Become a Better Negotiator http://negotiationboard.com/uncover-personality-types-and-become-a-better-negotiator/

The Toughest Question in the Interview http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/careers-job-interview/1605-1.html

KalaRhythms & Interpersonal Style Personality Types http://kalarhythms.org/personality/personality-types/#driver-style

If You Only Understood Your Customer's Personality Style http://www.ahfx.net/weblog/37

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