Intuitor, Thinker, Feeler, Senser:
Which One Are You Talking To?
The same message hits different people in different ways. But if you understand personality styles, you can tailor messages to fit.
You’re excited and can’t wait to tell your team the good news: Your department has been asked to put together an ambitious product development plan. It’s a great opportunity to showcase the diverse talents of your team and increase your unit’s visibility in the company. So you gather everyone together and deliver the news.
But your announcement falls flat. A few people seem engaged, but the enthusiasm you expected just isn’t there. What’s going on?
Paradoxically, the problem may lie in one of your team’s strengths—its diversity. The team members all heard the same words, but they didn’t all hear the same message. The good news is that it’s fairly easy to get over such a communication disconnect. The key lies in understanding personality styles and honing your communications accordingly.
The psychologist Carl Jung observed that people have certain psychological habits and preferences that influence how they process information, make decisions, and communicate with one another. By understanding different personality styles, you can tailor your own communication style to suit those of the people around you. Result: You convey your message in a way that will be most easily understood by listeners—and cut down on the risk of miscommunication.
“Those people who read the style of the individuals they’re communicating with are more effective than those who don’t,” says Bill Klepper, academic director of executive education at the Columbia Graduate School of Business and adjunct professor of management. Bobbie Little, leader of the CEO Executive Coaching division of the outplacement firm DBM (Stratford, Conn.), agrees: “You have to send and receive messages the right way. And this technique will help you get there.”
The classic application of Jung’s theory is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which classifies people into 16 possible personality styles. Little and her associates have zeroed in on four dimensions that relate most directly to communication.
The Intuitor Style
They’re the big-idea people, dreamers who think out of the box. Intuitors are all about long-range thinking, innovation, and the world of possibilities. They focus more on the future than the here and now, and can sometimes be impractical.
And, because they like to experiment, making a mistake is not a big deal for them. “They’re not inhibited about being 100% correct,” says Klepper.
Their biggest need: To receive approval and affirmation from those around them. About 13% of the population falls into this category.
Telltale signs: Concepts come first, facts last—way last. If you’re talking to someone who has a fondness for big ideas, with few facts to substantiate his position, you are probably dealing with an Intuitor. In fact, he will most likely become glassy-eyed when presented with too many facts.
You may also have a hard time following the conversation: Intuitors tend to jump from topic to topic. And a telephone message from an Intuitor may be a stream of consciousness that “can be irritating,” says Little. Intuitors tend to use words and phrases like exciting and what if.
The Thinker Style
The opposite of Intuitors, Thinkers value logic, objectivity, and systematic inquiry. They require facts and more facts, which they then carefully analyze before coming to a conclusion. And they need to consider the cause and effect of each idea before going any further.
“For some people, facts are the means to an end,” says Paul Glen, author of Leading Geeks: How to Manage People Who Deliver Technology (Jossey-Bass, 2003) and head of C2 Consulting in Los Angeles. “For Thinkers, the facts are the end.”
Their biggest need: To get it right. This is a relatively small group, some 14% of the population.
Telltale signs: They’ll be very logical in their communication, carefully connecting each point. And they’ll frequently ask you for evidence to back up your points and make sure you’re really on track. Expect Thinkers to shy away from making big claims; in fact, they’ll most likely be highly measured and precise in what they say and how they say it.
They also may seek more than the usual amount of physical space. “They want a fairly big cushion around them,” says Glen.
The Feeler Style
These are “people people.” They place a great deal of value on harmony, are highly sensitive and empathetic, and are concerned about the personal dimensions of decisions.
“They’d rather be liked than right,” says Miriam Rothman, an associate professor of management at the University of San Diego.
Their biggest need: Personal security. These people represent about 30% of the population.
Telltale signs: They need to feel they’re making a connection with whomever they’re talking to. So they tend to start conversations with a personal warm-up, asking questions about your life, engaging in small talk. In fact, you can expect Feelers to be quite chatty.
Their discussions will also usually include a fair number of stories and will be peppered with such phrases as This is how I feel. They’ll be the ones who send you a card on your birthday.
The Senser Style
Pragmatic and action-oriented, Sensers, like Thinkers, also like the facts, but only the most relevant ones. Sensers focus on the present, often acting with a sense of urgency. They’re the consummate doers.
Their biggest need: To get results. This is the largest group, some 44% of the population.
Telltale signs: They tend to speak quickly and to the point—so much so, in fact, that they seem abrupt. Their focus will be on the immediate goal, with little room for anything else. If you talk to them too much about feelings or topics not obviously connected to the plan, they’ll likely interrupt you with a curt “What’s the point?”
Adaptive communication
If you have trouble figuring out someone’s style, your best move is to be direct. When discussing a particular issue, ask the person what his or her biggest concern is. “People almost invariably will answer in a way tied to their style,” says Susan Battley, a leadership psychologist and CEO of Battley Performance Consulting in Stony Brook, N.Y. A Feeler, for example, might reveal he’s worried about how an idea will affect coworkers, while his Thinker colleague might indicate doubts about the quality of your facts.
Being able to identify the style of the person you’re talking to is only one part of the puzzle, however. You also have to know your own style. Doing so will enable you to alter it to best reach others whose styles differ from yours.
“Most people have difficulty seeing that the world is not just like them,” says Glen. “It’s not ‘treat others the way you want to be treated.’ It’s ‘treat them how they want you to treat them.’”
DBM’s Little, for example, recalls a senior manager in a Fortune 100 company who was a Senser—to a fault. His voicemail greeting was all of two words; his e-mail messages never more than two curt sentences long. Result: “His style got in the way,” she says. “People couldn’t get beyond it.” When he learned to loosen up his manner, however, employees became less intimidated, and he was able to form more effective relationships with colleagues.
Another manager Little recalls, a Feeler, was so overly sweet in her e-mail messages that she irritated coworkers. She learned to keep her e-mails more to the point and minimize the amount of feeling language.
Once you get a handle on your own style, you can start figuring out how best to adapt it to specific people you’re addressing, a process Little calls style flexing. It’s a communication sleight of hand that can be tricky. If you change your style too much, for example, it might just be counterproductive.
“You have to try not to lose your authenticity, or people may mistrust you more than they might otherwise,” says Stephen Payne, president of Leadership Strategies in Princeton, N.J. Be careful, too, not to diverge too far from the overall communication style of your company. “Organizations have their own norms for behavior, which people generally follow in the way they deal with each other,” says Payne. Remember: Nonverbal cues, such as glassy-eyed stares, can quickly reveal whether you’re on the right track or not.
That said, here’s the best way to approach each style.
Intuitors. Although it may seem counterintuitive, the key to communicating efficiently with Intuitors is to take your time. A staccato, rapid-fire delivery will be sure to turn them off. Allow them to discuss all the dimensions of the topic at hand—its implications for the company, for the department, for themselves. Avoid too many details, or they’ll become impatient and bored.
“Give them the broad, beautiful picture,” says C2’s Glen.
In fact, one approach is to pose a question, then ask them what they think, and let them run with it. Turn up the pressure, if you want, and push them to come up with a response; they thrive on the challenge of coming up with new ideas.
Thinkers. An informal presentation of your ideas won’t cut it. You have to justify whatever you say not just with facts, but with careful analysis as well. That means presenting an organized, substantiated argument that leads logically to a conclusion.
“Speak in bullet points,” says Battley. In fact, don’t bother approaching Thinkers until you have all the evidence gathered; without it, they won’t take you seriously.
And don’t let feelings get in the way. The most careful analysis in the world will fall flat with Thinkers if you speak too emotionally.
Feelers. Here, again, by spending a little more time, you’ll come away having delivered a much more effective message than you would have otherwise. That’s because a Feeler’s feelings can be easily hurt.
So go slow and don’t put them under too much pressure or come on too strong. Break the ice with some personal comments. Then focus on the interpersonal implications of your message and how other people will be affected.
And explain how colleagues have reacted, since Feelers are influenced by the emotional state of others around them: “Your teammates really enjoyed this idea.” Ask questions to get them engaged: “How do you feel about this?” Feelers tend not to offer their opinions as easily as those with other styles do.
Sensers. With Sensers, brevity is key. These folks are all about action, so be direct and succinct. Forget the small talk; they’ll just be irritated. What they’ll want is to see all the relevant facts and step-by-step information to show them how to get from here to there. And expect interruptions if you’re too long-winded.
Finally, avoid challenging them. Sensers love a good fight, and you’ll just give them permission to get their dukes up. “It’s the Clint Eastwood effect: If you challenge me, you’ll make my day,” says Bette Price, who heads The Price Group, a management consulting firm in Dallas.
Style-flexing
If you don’t quite trust yourself to pull off a challenging conversation in a style that’s not natural to you, one approach is to bring in reinforcements. Glen, for example, recalls a salesperson for a software consulting firm as a case in point.
An inveterate Senser, the man tended to speak quickly, without presenting enough evidence for the engineers— mostly Thinkers—he dealt with. While the salesperson finally received some coaching in how to adapt his style, he also wound up taking along an engineer with him, just in case. “Even if they didn’t trust the sales guy, they’d trust the engineer,” says Glen.
Style-flexing is particularly useful when you’re communicating with teams or large groups. Although teams are made up of individuals, they tend to have a dominant style.
But be careful—misreading a group’s makeup can be all too easy. For example, Columbia’s Klepper recently made a business pitch to a pharmaceutical company. He’d already spent months working with 12 top executives; this forum was to be an opportunity for other managers to learn about the program.
Since the original group was largely populated by Sensers, Klepper, who didn’t expect a particularly large crowd, figured the rest of the audience would also have that style. Soon after he started speaking, however, he came to an unpleasant realization: Not only were there many more attendees than he’d anticipated—about 40—but they seemed to have a large assortment of Thinkers among them. So his informal talk, focusing on issues of innovation and long-range thinking, met with mostly dead stares and impatience.
As quickly as he could, Klepper regrouped and summoned as many facts and logical arguments as he could. He ended up getting the business, but the presentation was a lot harder than he’d anticipated.
But what happens when a group doesn’t have a dominant style, as in the example at the beginning of this article? The best strategy in that case is to hone your message to address each individual style. “Include bits and pieces aimed at each,” says Glen.
He suggests you begin with a message targeted at Sensers, since they tend to be impatient and quickly bored. So if you were presenting a product-development plan to a very mixed group, aim your message first at Sensers by talking about the project’s specific goals and expected results.
Next provide data and analysis for the Thinkers; if you wait too long into your presentation to produce the evidence and analysis backing up the plan, they’ll decide you’re not worth listening to. Then target the Intuitors with a big-picture discussion of where the project will lead and what its long range implications are.
Finally, sum up with something for the Feelers about the effect the new products will have on people; of all the styles, Feelers are the ones most likely to pay attention and stay engaged till the end.