The GROW Coaching Model is based upon a deceptively simple insight -- breakthrough performance comes more often, not from acquiring additional knowledge, but from removing interference that allows a person to better act on what they already know.  GROW is an acronym for a four-step process of Goal, Reality, Options and Way Forward.  It provides a framework for coaches to draw solutions from the "inside out".  By following this structured yet flexible process, coaches become more comfortable having coaching discussions and empowering others in their professional development. TRACOM's newest SOCIAL STYLE Connections Whitepaper looks at how Style and interpersonal skills support the GROW process.  It was jointly developed by TRACOM and Inside Out Development, the creator of the GROW Model.

This new downloadable whitepaper discusses how each step of the GROW process can be tailored to reflect  the behavioral preferences of each SOCIAL STYLE.  It includes a look at the SOCIAL STYLE of both coach and coachee, with specific advice for successful coaching interactions throughout the GROW process. 

SOCIAL STYLE and GROW is the latest in the SOCIAL STYLE Connections Series which looks at how SOCIAL STYLE complements and supports popular workplace programs including Situational Leadership, Crucial Conversations, SPIN Selling, The Extraordinary Leader and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.  All of the Connections Whitepapers are available for immediate free download.

TRACOM's Social Media sites offer you a place to connect with others to discuss individual and organizational performance and interact with others.  You can find us via the following links.

	TRACOMSOCIALSTYLE on YouTube
	TRACOM SOCIAL STYLE GROUP on Linked In
	TRACOM SOCIAL STYLE on Facebook
	SOCIALSTYLE on Twitter

Are great leaders born or are they made?  In their book The Extraordinary Leader, Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman look at research on leadership and show not only that leadership can be developed, but that essential leadership skills are relatively few in number. Further, virtually no leaders possess all of these skills, nor do they have the same patterns of skills.  The researchers found that there are different styles of leadership, but they can all be great.  SOCIAL STYLE and the Extraordinary Leader is a new whitepaper from The TRACOM Group and Zenger Folkman.  It looks at how these two popular workplace models can be used in conjunction to help leaders succeed.

The whitepaper includes:

• An overivew of The Extraordinary Leader Model
• A discussion of how SOCIAL STYLE & Versatility contribute to Extraordinary Leadership
• Discussion of "Leader's Style" and "Follower's Style" issues
• Research on interpersonal skills and leadership performance.

This is the newest paper in the SOCIAL STYLE Connections Series loking at how SOCIAL STYLE complements and supports other popular workplace programs.  Others in this series look at The Five Dysfunctions of Teams, Situational Leadership, Crucial Conversations, SPIN Selling, Strengths Based Leadership and Emotional Intelligence.  

Click here to download other SOCIAL STYLE Connections whitepapers.

By Rob VeVerka

As an executive coach, I’m always looking for ways to help my leaders become more effective. I find that SOCIAL STYLE is a very powerful tool for coaching.  Specifically it: • serves as a great introduction to the coaching process • provides a good discussion tool when we talk about specific situations or problems • helps the leader increase their overall interpersonal effectiveness In initial meetings with the candidate or boss, interpersonal skills usually are discussed.  They recognize that truly effective leaders have exceptional interpersonal skills.  After I explain the SOCIAL STYLE Model, most agree that Style is a tool they could use to help them improve their effectiveness.  Over the years, I have used Style in almost every coaching situation. I have found that it is a great foundation for coaching.

The multi-rater assessment is usually one of the first assignments they complete after we start the coaching process.  The data from the assessment provides insight about how they may be able to improve their effectiveness. The Versatility score is very revealing, since it helps them to quickly see how others react to them.  The Versatility score is often a real eye-opener for most candidates.  Even if candidates get the highest “Z” rating, that helps them to recognize their interpersonal skills as an asset, and we work together to maintain that strength. 

However, most individuals don’t get a “Z” rating for their Versatility with others.  Most often the score is in the mid-range, i.e. “X” or “Y” Versatility, which shows room for improvement and change. Some do get the “W” the worst rating, and my job as a coach is to help them understand that this score can certainly change.

Awareness of this data is the first step in the change process. Then I help them analyze the data and  draw some conclusions about why they may have received negative reactions from the raters.  Discovery is the next step.  Typically, I will have them go back to some of their raters to get more insight into their Versatility score. Even though specific data is not revealed from the raters, my leaders get great feedback from them in the face-to-face meetings and come back to me with some excellent concrete suggestions.  Finally, we discuss steps they can take to help them increase their Versatility and effectiveness.

Throughout the coaching process, we are often discussion specific day-to-day situations where they are looking for help on what to do and how to do it most effectively.  SOCIAL STYLE provides a great framework and common language for discussing these situations.  For example, if they will be making a presentation to their boss and need help, I would be asking questions like: What Style is your boss? What’s most important to your boss in communicating with him? How are you going to adjust your presentation to meet you’re his/her Style needs? How much time are you planning? How much detail do you need? What decision are you trying to get? These questions really help them to think through their plan and not just present like they would like to present based on their own Style.

Finally, the most gratifying result is when candidates improve their effectiveness with others. I often use mini-surveys to stakeholders after three months to get feedback on their change efforts.  In almost every situation we see positive reactions from others in the data.  SOCIAL STYLE often gets the kudos for that outcome.

Rob VeVerka is an executive coach and associate of Tracom.  He is also president of Top Level Coaching  and Professional Learning Systems. Visit him on LinkedIn.

I'm at the Salesforce.com Dreamforce Conference in San Francisco this week.  There are 45,000 registrants from around the world here to learn more about the Customer Relationship Management program and related technologies.  The theme for this year's conference is the "Social Enterprise."

The focus is on how organizations are becoming more connected -- with customers, with employees, with partners -- and using that connection to improve performance and innovation.  There is a lot of discussion about how social media has or will change business.  As Marc Benioff, Salesforce.com CEO, asked in his keynote:  "Why do we know more about the friends of our friends on Facebook than we know about our customers?" 

Most of the vendors here are pushing technologies to automate sales, marketing, manufacturing, etc. and to integrate pieces of data about our customers.  All of this discussion has me wondering if you can have a truly "Social Enterprise" without SOCIAL STYLE.   We may know all about a person's hobbies, interests, past work experiences, etc., but if we don't know how he or she makes decisions and prefers to use time, will we be able to build rapport?  Isn't our ability to be Versatile and create a productive relationship with an individual at least as important as knowing where they attended college or that they follow Bill Gates on Twitter? 

But for those of us with SOCIAL STYLE knowledge, we know the benefits it brings on a daily balance.  Yet we are faced with the need to evaluate a person's behavior and Style in an increasingly virtual world.  Pace of speech and use of gestures aren't apparent in a tweet or e-mail. 

The Social Enterprise makes for a good event theme and certainly offers interesting benefits.  But don't forget that every enterprise is made up of individuals each with their own Style and behavioral preferences. 

Life-long educator Jim Bender has spent his helping local schools and their students succeed. Now he’s using that experience and created Kids Style, a unique character education curriculum to help build community and reduce conflict in schools.  Kids Style is a school-based character education program for children based on TRACOM’s SOCIAL STYLE behavioral preferences model. SOCIAL STYLE has been used by thousands of organizations and millions of people to improve workplace performance since the 1960s. Kids Style is the first effort to widely apply SOCIAL STYLE in elementary education.

“Getting to Know You,” the initial component of the Kids Style series, is geared to third and fourth graders because the social and emotional development of children aged eight through ten involves a discovery of “self.” This leads to a greater awareness of one’s own relationship with others. This developmental stage is well-suited to the concepts of “Know Yourself” and “Know Others” on which SOCIAL STYLE is based.

Originally developed in the 1960s, SOCIAL STYLE is the world’s best-known interpersonal skills model. TRACOM’s SOCIAL STYLE profiles and programs directly develop a person’s emotional intelligence (EQ) capabilities and teach how to put those skills to use in a variety of workplace settings. Numerous independent research studies have shown that people with high SOCIAL STYLE skills outperform others in managerial, sales and individual contributors. 

Kids Style offers a resource for children, as well as parents and teachers, that provides a framework of knowledge, understanding and appreciation for the value of worth-based relationships with others. The curriculum provides skills and strategies to help children reduce conflict and stress in their relationships—strategies that will serve them for a lifetime.    

“Few of the typical ‘Character Education’ programs delve into the ‘why’ or motivations of personal or others’ behavior—just at the time when, developmentally, children clamor for such meaning,” said Bender. “Kids Style was designed to help children understand that ‘why’ to create more harmonious relationships.” 

Demand for character education and anti-bullying programs has increased in recent decades following several high-profile school violence and online bullying cases. Yet such programs compete for limited school budgets.  

In an era of unfunded educational mandates and shrinking school budgets, Kids Style offers an economical option to character education with its online delivery. Rather than charge a per-child fee, Kids Style enables teachers to download the storybooks and teacher’s guide. Bender will next develop curriculum for grades one to two and five through seven. 

“Kids Style is yet another example of how SOCIAL STYLE skills apply to all human interactions, regardless of age or context,” said John Myers, president and chief executive of TRACOM. “Using Style concepts can help create a productive and healthy school culture, work environment, or family dynamic. Improved relationships can ultimately benefit a whole community.”

Learn more about Kids Style. 

A debate is brewing among the TRACOM SOCIAL STYLE LinkedIn Group.  Does SOCIAL STYLE and Versatility affect political success?  As one commenter said:  "Was Al Gore 'too Analytical', or did he just fail to connect with the last .003% of votors because he wasn't versatile enough? Was Reagan the teflon president because he was in part so versatile? Probably."

People who are strongly committed to a political party are less likely to be influenced by a candidate’s Style since they’ve made their voting decision before a candidate is even named or nominated. It’s known that people make very fast judgments about candidates, so elements of Versatility are likely to be important for politicians, above and beyond their natural Styles.  

Visit or join our LinkedIn Group to read more on this topic or share your thoughts. 

We all know that team meetings can be a chore, and are sometimes downright painful. They can suck up critical daylight hours that could otherwise be productive.  Yet they are necessary and can be fruitful if well managed. While you can’t please all people all the time, there are some strategies you can use to strike a balance between meeting everyone’s needs and achieving the results you desire.    Putting your knowledge of SOCIAL STYLE to use can also make the meeting itself pleasant and improve the outcome.   Plan ahead. Recognize the Style of your team members and anticipate the types of input, questions, attitudes, etc. that you are likely to encounter. Think ahead about how you will interact with different members in ways that will satisfy them without diverting the team from its focus. Provide information ahead of time if this is possible, and even have one-on-one discussions with certain team members if you feel this will help.  This will allow you to tailor your interaction to the differing preferences of each Style and set the stage for an effective group meeting.

Develop an agenda. This will help focus your team on the most important meeting objectives and discussions. In particular, agendas that list meeting objectives, timeframes, and participant responsibilities will help your Driving and Analytical Style team members. It will satisfy Driving Style members’ need for results, and Analytical Style members’ need for an organized and efficient process.  Try and include agenda items that will appeal to people of each Style.

Have fun. Though it may seem like a waste of time or a distraction, a good sense of humor will help keep Expressive and Amiable Style members engaged and productive. Keep these individuals involved by utilizing group discussion and problem-solving strategies.

Only include people who are necessary. If appropriate, try to schedule meetings with sub-groups of the team to discuss specific issues. This will ensure that progress is made without needlessly taking up the time of team members who are not required for specific aspects of the project.

Follow these guidelines to make your meetings more productive and empower the individual members of your team.
 

Email communications represent a big opportunity for confusion and miscommunication.  One study found recipients only correctly interpret emails about 50% of the time. This often leads to misunderstandings, ill will, and the disintegration of trust and connectedness – all of which, if not managed or mitigated, negatively impact relationships and ultimately erode productivity. Dr. Fairlie Firari has conducted her own research and found that SOCIAL STYLE concepts can be applied to both identify Style-related email problems and improve electronic interactions.

For this study, the content of more than 300 business emails submitted by 32 managers from a variety of organizations was analyzed. Using the TRACOM SOCIAL STYLE Profile for validation, Dr. Firari was able to accurately determine the Styles of the majority of participants. Importantly, this was not based on personal judgment; instead people's Styles were determined entirely by a computer program designed to analyze Style attributes.

Click here to read Dr. Firari’s description of her findings and suggestions for improving your own email communication