How are Behavior Styles not stereotyping?

Behavior Styles is one of the core training principles taught by Tom Champoux and other Effectiveness Institute consultants.

Tom, how are Behavior Styles not stereotyping?

Great question and one we should all be concerned about.  None of us need another label for ourselves to box ourselves into a certain way of thinking and acting.  A Behavior Style is simply a description of a pattern of behaviors.  It is how we “behave” and it can be observed easily by others.  Do I talk fast or talk slow?  Is my tendency to ask questions or is it to make statements?  Is my emphasis to get it done or is my emphasis on how things get done ?  If I can recognize a pattern in myself and in the behavior of others, I can increase my credibility by flexing my behavior to meet another person’s needs.  I did not change who I am.  I changed what I do – my Behavior Style.

A label has one upside and several downsides.  The upside (which we should use and quickly discard): it organizes information into a pattern so we can internalize and understand it.   The downsides: I feel judged and stereotyped.  I feel locked in.  A label says I am only one pattern and I cannot change it.  That is closer to the description of a personality…rarely are those changed by making a choice.  We emphatically believe that any of us can make the choice to change our pattern (Behavior Style) whenever we choose to in order to be appropriate in a given environment.  This would lead to a discussion of Emotional Intelligence – the ability to demonstrate the appropriate behavior at the appropriate time to meet the appropriate needs of the environment and the people in the environment in real time.

Behavior Style is a pattern, but I am not locked into it.  We can always make the choice to change our behavior.  It may not be a comfortable choice, but it is still a choice.

Learn about behavior styles and behavior patterns at training workshops in Seattle, WA.