The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, available from Consulting Psychologist Press (http://www.cpp.com/products/tki/index.asp), identifies five conflict styles - competing, compromising, collaborating, avoiding, and accommodating - and provides guidelines regarding when each is appropriate in conflict situations.

The conflict style profiles developed by Kenneth W. Thomas and Ralph H. Kilmann portray competing as a power driven mode being high in assertiveness and low in cooperativeness.  It puts parties in a win/lose relationship where one attempts to achieve his/her goals at the expense of another.

It may involve “hard bargaining” or the use of a person’s authority, position, wealth, or other forms of influence.  There is not much consideration for the feelings, views or goals of the other party nor is there interest in collaboration or compromise.

The goal is to win or succeed in achieving one’s desired outcome when pitted against that of another who desires something different.

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If you are a regular visitor to my blog you will know that recently, we have been developing a new leadership suite of programmes and this has led me to further investigate what I term “Personality Types” and Merrill & Reid call “Social Styles” in their excellent book “Knowing About Social Styles”.

There are four personality types or social styles - Analyticals, Drivers, Expressives and Amiables - and all four have their own unique approach to business, their own language and thought processes etc. As a consequence, the very best sales professionals have become adept at recognising which personality they are dealing with and adapt their approach and communication style accordingly.

In every boardroom, you will always find three of the four personality types, occasionally, all four: I have discovered over the years which personality is likely to fill which position on the board but more on that later.

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We’ve all heard of the Viennese doctor who saw certain parts of the human anatomy every time he came across an oblong or hollow object. He is now largely discredited, of course. Many also know about his student, Carl Jung.

He came up with the notion that mankind shares an attic full of beliefs and experiences which he dubbed the “collective unconscious”. Think of it as the psychological bric-a-brac acquired by us during our common journey from apehood to modernity.

Did you know, though, that Jung wrote a book dividing people into eight types, based on how they prefer to take in and process information?

Jung’s Theory of Eight Mental Processes

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