When interacting with people, we need the skills to comprehend other people's frames of reference, how they like to make decisions, how they prefer to respond to challenges, the pace of their environments, and the way they will respond to rules set by others.
We also need to be able to see their motivators and the effects of their emotions as they relate to what they want to listen to and what will engage them.
Getting others to focus on your desired results and take the right actions requires learning how to "people read," so you can select the best bosses, colleagues, mentors, and team members for you. There are three parts to people reading:
Communication Style: how you approach others
Motivators: why you do what you do
Emotional Intelligence: your ability to use your feelings wisely to guide your actions and make better decisions
When you have the ability to identify another person's preferred communication style, workplace motivators, and current emotion, you will have better conversations and be more effective. You will collaborate, lead, coach, manage, and serve in meaningful ways, by adapting to the communication needs of the moment.
People reading includes seeing clusters of behaviors and motivators and using this awareness in the conversations you have with others. Understanding the range of behaviors and motivators will guide you to recognize what is likely to emerge in a relationship.
Taking one or more self-assessments online is a good place to start understanding people reading; by first understanding your own motivators, communication style and emotional intelligence at www.SelfAssessmentCenter.com. For example, the DISC self-assessment will help you understand not only yourself but typical classic DISC profiles of others. The "DISC" dimensions stand for: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness which when combined create a profile pattern that is different for each combination.
Research has discovered 15 unique patterns that most commonly occur---and---aided in developing descriptions for each "classic profile" pattern to help individuals understand and describe their styles. For example, John G. Agno's classical profile is the "Developer Pattern" who tends to be an independent thinker and who searches for his own solutions (even his personal automobile license plate is THINK).
Once you understand the "language" of the DISC patterns, you are ready to apply them when communicating with the individual styles of others. A "Success Insights Wheel" graphic is included in "Conversations that Get Results and Inspire Collaboration" by author Shawn Kent Hayashi.
Source: Shawn Kent Hayashi: Conversations that Get Results and Inspire Collaboration: Engage Your Team, Your Peers, and Your Manager to Take Action
Daniel Goleman, Annie McKee, Richard E. Boyatzis: Primal Leadership
Realize the power of emotional intelligence in becoming an effective leader.
John Agno: Can't Get Enough Leadership