Faculty of theology

Research and Interview

Presented in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the course:
REP 427 Pastoral Ministry and Leadership

Lecturer: Dr. E.A. Appollis

Student: JF Du Toit 03703

Date: 2017-08-15

Declaration of Academic Integrity

I hereby declare that this assignment/project is my own work. All material used from books or
journals or internet sources have been correctly quoted and referenced. I fully understand the policy on
plagiarism as found in the prospectus of the College. If I am found guilty of plagiarism even due to
negligence or ignorance, I will receive a failure grade for the paper or for the whole course; and may face
additional academic penalties that could include dismissal from the College.

Signature:
Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................1
1. Leadership Style.............................................................................................................................1
Literature review - Description.........................................................................................................1
Empirical study - Comparison of leaders...........................................................................................2
2. Leadership Development Capacity................................................................................................3
Literature review - Description.........................................................................................................3
Empirical study - Comparison of leaders...........................................................................................4
3. Communication Style.....................................................................................................................4
Literature review - Description.........................................................................................................4
Empirical study - Comparison of leaders...........................................................................................4
4. Teamwork Development...............................................................................................................5
Literature review - Description.........................................................................................................5
Empirical study - Comparison of leaders...........................................................................................6
5. Conflict Resolution Skills................................................................................................................6
Literature review - Description.........................................................................................................6
Empirical study - Comparison of leaders...........................................................................................7
6. Leader’s Balance of Family, Devotion, and Ministry......................................................................7
Literature review - Description.........................................................................................................7
Empirical study - Comparison of leaders...........................................................................................8
7. Loyalty to their Organization.........................................................................................................9
Literature review - Description.........................................................................................................9
Empirical study - Comparison of leaders.........................................................................................10
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................10
Bibliography........................................................................................................................................11
Appendix.............................................................................................................................................13
Introduction
“Leadership is essential to effective pastoral ministry. I has the power to direct people
towards good or evil, success of failure”(Arrais, 2011: 33).
In this paper, I will discuss the different Leadership styles, Leadership development,
Communication styles, Teamwork development, Conflict resolution skills, how to Balance family,
devotional and ministry life, and how to display Loyalty to the Organization. Within each of
these concepts, I will define and describe each concept followed by my reflection on two
interviews conducted with leaders within the Southern Africa Union Conference. The two
leaders were Pr. Potgieter, who is a district pastor in Cape Town, and Rev. De Klerk is the
chaplain at the South African Police Service in Somerset West, but also serves part-time as the
Minister of the local Dutch Reformed church.

1. Leadership Style

Literature review - Description

For Maxwell (2007: 219, 222, 224) leadership involves sacrifice. By using Martin Luther
King, Jr. as an example, he said in the chapter “The law of sacrifice: A leader must give up to go
up” that “the heart of good leadership is sacrifice”, but that “sacrifice is an ongoing process, not
a one-time payment”. Thus in order to be a good leader, according to Maxwell, means that one
need to put your personal interests second and the team’s interest first.
But when one considers the leaders’ role within the organization, McLean (2012) states
three roles as follows:
1. Appointed leader – designated by an authority to serve in that capacity,
irrespective of the thoughts or wishes of the group.
2. Democratic leader – elected or chosen by the group.
3. Emergent leader – contrasts the first two paths to the role by growing into the
role, often out of necessity.

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 According to Reddin (1970) leadership roles are different from leadership models. He
provides eight models as follows:
1. Deserter – uninvolved and passive.
2. Missionary – primarily interested in harmony.
3. Autocrat – shows no confidence in others, feels unpleasant and is interested only
in the immediate job at hand.
4. Compromiser – means a poor decision maker, which is over-influenced by
pressures of work, whom minimizes immediate pressures and problems rather
than maximizes long-term production.
5. Bureaucrat – primarily interested in rules and procedures for their own sake,
which wants to maintain and control situations by their conscientious
enforcement.
6. Developer – will trust people, and is concerned with developing them as
individuals.
7. Benevolent Autocrat – knows what he wants (from people and situations) and
how to get things his way without causing resentment.
8. Executive – a good motivator who sets high standards, treats everyone differently
and prefers team management.

Empirical study - Comparison of leaders

I found that both leaders saw themselves as Appointed leaders, by the respective
organization, although they agreed that they were serving their calling, from God, within their
appointed roles (McLean, 2012). For Rev. De Klerk, leadership (in the Church) is a process
starting with Emergent leadership (pre-graduation), leading into Democratic leadership (post-
graduation – elected by the church after being approved by the “Ring”) and ultimately results to
Appointed leadership; in the SAPS it simply remains an Appointed leadership role.
Both leaders saw their leadership roles as Christian leadership roles, which are defined as
a servant- or ‘shepherd – flock leadership. This implies that the greater the responsibility is, the
greater the servant ship is, and to lead without forcing your own will upon the people.
In terms of the eight different models of Reddin (1970), both leaders strongly suggested
that the situation/circumstances call for the model of leadership that needs to be followed, thus
there is no one-model-suite-all approach. But for Rev. De Klerk leadership (at SAPS) may be
perceived as Autocratic (since rank is an important element) as orders are handed out, but he
treats everyone with the same respect, irrespective of their rank; here leadership in decision-
making comes down to gathering sufficient information in order to make good decisions.

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2. Leadership Development Capacity

Literature review - Description

In a broad sense, leadership development involves the leader to be optimistic, tactful, a
trainer, a dreamer, a lover (Arrais, 2011: 38–40). Maxwell (2007: 23, 25) approached leadership
development from a long-drawn-out timeous point of view. He makes the fundamental statement
that “Leaders are learners” in his chapter “The Law of process: Leadership develops daily, not in
a day”. Thus one could say that Arrais’ concepts of leadership should be manifested over the
course of the leaders’ lifetime.
For Maxwell (2007: 26–29) there are also 5 phases of leadership growth as follows:
1. I don’t know what I don’t know,
2. I know that I need to know,
3. I know what I don’t know,
4. I know and grow, and it starts to show,
5. I simply go because of what I know

But when one considers mentoring or coaching in term of leadership development, the
Center for Health Leadership & Practice (2003: 3–5) listed four key mentoring skills in a
publication from the University of Michigan as follows:
1. Listening actively
2. Building trust
3. Determining goals and building capacity
4. Encouraging and inspiring

Deans and Oakley (2006: 21–25) found seven key factors in successful coaching and
mentoring as follows:
1. Individual commitment and interest
2. Resources and organisational support
3. Taking a holistic, personal approach
4. Embedding the process in the organisational context
5. Skills and experience of coaches/mentors
6. Ability to work across cultures
7. Working within an enabling external environment

Thus one can conclude that leadership development occurs over a long period of time and
involves mentoring or coaching.

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Empirical study - Comparison of leaders
Both leaders do not currently serve in mentor roles, but they did serve as mentors in the
past. For Rev. De Klerk, mentorship (in the Church) focused on providing the intern with
exposure to different elements of the ministry and advises afterwards how and where are
potential areas for improvement. For Pr. Potgieter, mentorship extended to the laity.

3. Communication Style

Literature review - Description

The leader needs to understand that not everyone in the church knows the vision.
Maxwell (2005: 67) suggests that when the vision leaks, it “needs to be communicated clearly,
creatively, and continually”. This could be done by the means of electronic communication, the
printed bulletin, announcements before church etc. There are many ways of communication but
one needs to consider the communication style of the recipients.
Thus I have taken the description of the different communications styles from the
document of Mary Saphiro (2014) Communications Styles on Team Dynamics as seen in the
Appendix. Shapiro's approach is to consider the communication style of the recipient whereupon
leaders has to adjust their communication style in order to make the message acceptable for the
recipients.

Empirical study - Comparison of leaders

In our interviews, I discussed communication methods with both leaders and
concentrated upon the identification areas in order to determine their communication style
(Saphiro, 2014). Unfortunately, neither of the interviews took place in their personal offices and
thus I could not judge their office appearance and neither their handwriting. Based upon my
limited observation, I came to the following conclusions:
Pr. Potgieter seems to be predominantly a Driver, although I found that there are also
strong elements leading his communication style to a Seeker.
Rev. De Klerk seems to be predominantly a Planner, although I found that there are also
strong elements leading his communication style to a Connector.

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4. Teamwork Development

Literature review - Description

For Maxwell (Maxwell, 2007: 141, 245, 255) teamwork is the key to effective leadership.
In the chapter “The law of explosive growth: To add growth, lead followers – to multiply, lead
leaders” he discusses the importance of having great leaders in your team. For him the key is in
giving; “the more you invest in people and the longer you do it, the greater the growth and the
higher the return”.
This idea is greatly discussed in the chapter “The law of empowerment: Only secure
leaders give power to others” (Maxwell, 2007: 141, 146, 148, 150). This is emphasized in
Theodore Roosevelt’s words “The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good
men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while
they do it”. Thus great leaders empower others instead of enriching themselves; for them, it
becomes a shift from ‘position power’ to ‘people power’. James B. Stockdale summarized this
idea with the statement “Great leaders gain authority by giving it away”. Great leaders follow
this attitude because they understand that the opposite is also true: “To push people down, you
have to go down with them”.
But there are also very practical ways to develop a great team. Hall (2013) suggests that
there are 12 simple things a leader can do to build a phenomenal team as follows:
1. Don’t settle for mediocre
2. Be a thought leader
3. Trust is crucial
4. Forget the money… at first
5. Personal lives are important
6. Maintain systematic processes
7. Diversity brings innovation
8. It’s okay to be friends
9. Play to people’s strengths
10. Great teams read together
11. Invest in your first five hires
12. Give recognition

Maxwell (2005: 64, 65) said that there is seven great challenge that leaders face, but for
the pastor (and most definitely myself) the 6th challenge may be the greatest which deals with
“Championing the vision is more difficult when you didn’t create it”. The reason he provides is
that “leaders don’t like the change any more than followers do – unless, of course, it’s their

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idea”. He suggests that the key to successfully navigating the vision challenge is that “The more
you invest in the vision, the more it becomes your own”.

Empirical study - Comparison of leaders

Teamwork, for Pr. Potgieter, originates in the identification and use of potential. For him,
delegation is the key to good teamwork. For Rev. De Klerk, successful teamwork (in the Church)
is based upon the clarification of roles or functions in order to avoid conflict. In the SAPS
teamwork is greatly encouraged by teambuilding which focuses upon stress relief (due to the
stressful environment in which the officers work) by the means of social and sports activities.

5. Conflict Resolution Skills

Literature review - Description

For Arrais (2011: 37) the leader’s spiritual leadership becomes evident when conflict
occurs. He states that “Spiritual leadership is evidenced during times of conflict” that it is
important for pastors that their “Spiritual leadership expresses mercy to others without
being judgmental”. Now, since conflict comes with the territory of ministry (McNeal,
2000), we need to look into methods of dealing with conflict.
Limbare (2012: 173, 174) found that there are four management styles of avoiding
conflict and four more aggressive approaches as follows:
Avoiding Conflict
1. Resignation – the most extreme style in a helpless situation
2. Wedrawal – to create distance between the conflict situation and yourself
3. Diffusion – method to buy yourself time in order to deal with the conflict at a
later stage
4. Appeasement – there is an agreement, which provides temporary peace, in order
to postpone the conflict

Aggressive Approaches
1. Confrontation – the goal is to find a solution, even though it may involve a direct
fight
2. Compromise – the conflict is not necessarily solved, but a middle way is
accepted
3. Arbitration – an acceptable solution is determined by a third party
4. Negotiation – both parties explore the solutions while confronting the problem

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Empirical study - Comparison of leaders
Pr. Potgieter is often asked by the conference to deal with conflict issues outside his
district. He prefers to use Six Thinking Hat model (De Bono, 2000) when dealing with conflict.
But as a precaution measure, he suggested that a formal structure needs to be followed in
meetings which allow the chair to keep order and avoid potential conflict.
For Rev. De Klerk experience conflict (at the Church) mainly in meetings; when people
come together in one room. His approach is to know when to defuse the issue, or when to ignore
it in order for it to cool down in its own time. At the SAPS his conflict diffusion is closely linked
to teamwork development and teambuilding where diffusion techniques are discussed.

6. Leader’s Balance of Family, Devotion, and Ministry

Literature review - Description

Bresee (1997) discuss the issue of balancing personal time with work time. For him the
problem lies in the fact that “We don't "go to work"; we're surrounded by it 24 hours a day, seven
days a week” and his solution is to “put family first” by prioritizing 1 st God, 2nd Family and then
the ministry. (I personally love this suggestion; I’ll see to implement it in my ministry.)
Next, he suggests that the minister needs to delegate responsibilities by trusting the
congregation. He recommends the following four steps in church planning:
1. Visualize – be a window pastor, not a mirror pastor.
2. Organize – how can the church get from where it is to where it wants to be?
3. Deputize – follow the apostles' example in carrying out church plans.
4. Supervise – this includes training

Lastly, he discusses how to find a balance between spiritual life and advise the following
three solutions:
1. Never do spiritual things in a secular way
2. Have only one boss but plenty of partners
3. Give daily devotions highest priority

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 Kidder (2015) took a more practical approach. He suggests that the minister needs to find
balance through effective time management and provided seven tips for finding a balance as
follows:
1. Meet God every morning
2. Take time to dream
3. Take stock of  your  current  reality
4. Prioritize and make productive choices
5. Focus on building resources
6. Slow down to get ahead
7. Take time for critical thinking

He then suggests that time allocation is crucial in order to maintain a balanced life and
suggests five guidelines on how ministers could allocate their time as follows:
1. Praying for the church: 5–7 hours a week
2. Preaching/teaching preparation: 12–15 hours a week
3. Discipleship formation: 5–10 hours a week
4. Leadership/administration: 10–15 hours a week
5. Miscellaneous: approximately 5 hours a week

Empirical study - Comparison of leaders

I found the most contrast between the interviewed leaders when it came to balancing
family, devotional time, and ministry. Pr. Potgieter’s solution is that it requires a deliberate
action or choice of time management. He compared this process to budgeting, something that
needs to be done ahead of time but also needs to be set in stone. “Don’t compromise family- or
devotional time for ministry; it happens very easily if you don’t take precaution”.
For Rev. De Klerk, this was a very difficult task to control. Since he is working fulltime
with the SAPS and part-time at Church, he found that it became a matter of understanding for the
church members. At the SAPS balancing was not much of an issue since he would experience an
after-hours standby call perhaps once in six weeks. But at the church members would call him
for bereavement during working hours when he cannot leave his desk at SAPS to visit the
bereaved. His solution was leave and vacation. For him, family time occurred during leave
(which had to be taken at both employers for the same period). He tries to limit church meetings
to once a month but running two jobs has its challenges.

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7. Loyalty to their Organization

Literature review - Description

Loyalty to the organization is intrinsically linked to the role in which the leader serves as
discussed in leadership style (McLean, 2012). In the Seventh-day Adventist church organization,
the pastor is Appointed to a church, or Democratically elected to an office. Both these roles
demand loyalty to the organization.
In the article Loyalty to God and the Brethren, John McCoxaughey (1947) speaks of
loyalty in the light of finance or to earn an additional income. He suggests that since ministers
are fulltime employees, they should give their full-time to the ministry. He states that “Loyalty to
this message requires a full-time worker to devote his entire energies and interests to preaching
the Word. It is disloyalty to accept full pay for any service less than this”.
Branson (1933) approached loyalty to the organization from a sceptical age. He starts to
state that “It is considered "modern" to be sceptical. A man is regarded by the world as profound
in his thinking if he questions what has been held as foundational. On the other hand,
"orthodoxy" is considered old-fogyish”. But then he applies this idea to the concept of being
firmly established upon our foundation, the Rock of Ages which he supports with the following
quote from White (1882: 258–259)
"I saw a company who stood well-guarded and firm, giving no countenance to those who would
unsettle the established faith of the body. God looked upon them with approbation. I was shown
three steps,—the first, second, and third angels' messages. Said my accompanying angel, 'Woe
to him who shall move a block or stir a pin of these messages. The true understanding of these
messages is of vital importance. The destiny of souls hangs upon the manner in which they are
received.' I was again brought down through these messages, and saw how dearly the people of
God had purchased their experience. It had been obtained through much suffering and severe
conflict. God had led them along step by step, until He had placed them upon a solid,
immovable platform. I saw individuals approach the platform and examine the foundation.
Some with rejoicing immediately stepped upon it. Others commenced to find fault with the
foundation. They wished improvements made, and then the platform would be more perfect,
and the people much happier. Some stepped off the platform to examine it, and declared it to be
laid wrong. But I saw that nearly all stood firm upon the platform, and exhorted those who had
stepped off to cease their complaints; for God was the Master Builder, and they, were fighting
against Him. They recounted the wonderful' work of God, which had led them to the firm
platform, and in union raised their eyes to heaven, and with a loud voice glorified God.
(Emphasis added)

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 Thus Branson (1933) concludes with the statement that “Orthodoxy, in the sense of
loyalty to this message, is not a sign of weakness, but of strength”.

Empirical study - Comparison of leaders

Loyalty to the organization, for both leaders, was determined by one’s view of their call.
It was not as much loyalty to an organization which is at hand; it is about loyalty to God. Once
you realize that you are in the service of the Lord, disloyalty would not be an issue at all.
Pr. Potgieter emphasized that one need to take caution not to criticize colleagues or the
leadership. It is important to remember that the mission and church of God are always greater
than me.
For Rev. De Klerk the SAPS saw loyalty when one arrives on time for work. He
compared the rules of the SAPS to the 10 commandments; it is important to abide by those rules.
This could be seen in the respect for the uniform; if an officer does not respect the uniform, then
the public would not respect the uniform as well, but also not respect the officer.

Conclusion
I have found that leadership is most definitely essential to effective ministry; whether that
ministry is pastoral ministry or chaplaincy in the South African Police Service.
In this paper, I have discussed the different Leadership styles, Leadership development,
Communication styles, Teamwork development, Conflict resolution skills, how to Balance family,
devotional and ministry life, and how to display Loyalty to the Organization. Within each of
these concepts, I have defined and described each concept followed by my reflection on two
interviews conducted with leaders within the Southern Africa Union Conference, Pr. Potgieter,
and Rev. De Klerk.

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Bibliography
Arrais, J. 2011. Wanted: A Good Pastor. Silversprings, MA: General Conference Ministerial
Association.

Branson, W.H. 1933. Loyalty in an Age of Doubt. Ministry Magazine. 6(10):3–4.

Bresee, W.F. 1997. Balancing an Unbalanced Ministry. Ministry Magazine. 70(2):12–15.

De Bono, E. 2000. Six thinking hats. Rev ed. London: Little, Brown and Company.

Deans, F. & Oakley, L. 2006. Coaching and Mentoring for Leadership. [Online], Available:
http://www.hiproweb.org/fileadmin/cdroms/Biblio_Renforcement/documents/Chapter-2/
Chapter2_2/Chap2_2Doc4.pdf [2018, August 09].

Hall, J. 2013. 12 Simple Things A Leader Can Do To Build A Phenomenal Team. [Online],
Available: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhall/2013/01/29/team-building-leader/ [2018,
August 09].

Kidder, S.J. 2015. Balancing a Busy Life. Ministry Magazine. 87(5):21–25.

Limbare, S. 2012. Leadership Styles & Conflict Management Styles of Executives. Indian
Journal of Industrial Relations. 48(1):172–180.

Maxwell, J.C. 2005. The 360-degree leader: Developing your influence from anywhere in the
organization. Nashville, TN.: Thomas Nelson.

Maxwell, J.C. 2007. The 21 irrefutable laws of leadership: Follow them and people will follow
you. 10th Anniversary ed. Nashville, TN.: Thomas Nelson.

McCoxaughey, J.L. 1947. Loyalty to God and the Brethren’. Ministry Magazine. 20(6):5–7.

McLean, S. 2012. Business Communication for Success. Electronic ed. San Francisco, CA:
Saylor Academy. [Online], Available: https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_business-
communication-for-success/index.html [2018, August 09].

McNeal, R. 2000. A work of heart: Understanding how God shapes spiritual leaders. Revised
and updated ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey- Bass.

Reddin, W.J. 1970. Management Development. [Online], Available:

http://www.wjreddin.co.uk/content/35/management-development [2018, August 09].

Saphiro, M. 2014. Communication Styles on Team Dynamics. [Online], Available:

http://pmcommunity.huit.harvard.edu/files/huitpmo/files/article_com_styles_overview_07.
pdf [2018, August 09].

The Center for Health Leadership & Practice. 2003. MENTORING GUIDE: A Guide for Mentors.
[Online], Available: http://www.rackham.umich.edu/downloads/more-mentoring-guide-
for-mentors.pdf [2018, August 09].

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White, E.G. 1882. Early Writings. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association.

Page | 12
Appendix
The following tables are compiled from Mary Saphiro’s (2014) Communications Styles on Team Dynamics.

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 Communication style
Connector
The Connector combines people and
present behaviors. As one you tend to:
 prefer working with people and in
teams rather than working alone
 prefer a collaborative, friendly, and
polite work environment
 prefer verbal communication; one
person at a time; use a chatty
informal email style
 look at the details, and gather
perspectives from multiple people
 make decisions by consensus as a
means of building agreement and
ownership; often with subjective
criteria
 look at the impact on people when
making decisions
 prefer incremental change, with the
full participation of all affected
parties in the planning process
 appreciate others who are diplomatic,
accommodating, willing to
compromise
 prioritize people over the task
 enjoy solving people’s problems and
conflicts, harnessing synergy within a
group
Connectors tend to gravitate to those
careers/functions which most likely
appreciate their skills: teaching, Human
Resources, social work, arbitration,
negotiation, team leaders, politics,
customer service, therapy, public
defence, fund development for non-
profits. These are people who "grease the
wheel", getting people to work together
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Seeker
The Seeker combines the people and
future behaviors. As one you tend to:
 prefer leading people in new
ventures
 prefer an energetic, multi-focused,
fun and fluid environment
 prefer verbal communication in
groups; emails are short, pithy,
informal.
 look at the big picture and see the
“forest, not the trees”
 make decisions based on intuition,
spontaneously, often with subjective
criteria; rely on persuasion to build
agreement
 look at the impact on reputation as
innovator and change agent
 prefer the sweeping innovative
change, first of its kind
 appreciate others who are risk
takers, willing to try new things,
speak quickly, and energetic
 prioritize action over people and
task details
 enjoy taking the initiative, taking
the lead, taking risks
Seekers gravitate into sales, public
relations, acting and broadcasting,
marketing, courtroom law. Many of our
modern CEOs are seekers, creating a
vision for their organization and
motivating others to follow that vision.
Many of our top government officials and
policymakers are seekers.
Planner
The Planner combines task and present
behaviors. As one you tend to:
 prefer working independently on
tasks and projects
 prefer an orderly and efficient work
environment with clear roles,
authority, responsibilities, and
metrics of success
 prefer written communication;
emails tend to be textually dense
with many attachments
 look at details, data
 make decisions based on analysis, a
systematic deliberation of data with
objective criteria
 look at the impact on how work is
done; how the work process is more
error-free, efficient
 prefer incremental change with
complete plans and contingency
plans; keep what works, slowly test
and implement solutions
 appreciate accuracy, thoroughness,
punctuality, compliance with plans
 prioritize task over people
 enjoy being creative inside a
structured process
Planners tend to gravitate into
engineering, accounting, estate planning,
CPA, analyst, scientist, computer
programming, tax law, research,
librarian. Their primary challenge is
moving from being a functional expert
into management: leaving the functional
component of their job that they love, and
taking on the people-management aspect
Driver
The Driver combines task and future
behaviors. As one you tend to:
 prefer leading people towards task
completion
 prefer an efficient, fast-paced work
environment with clear authority
 prefer written communication that is
concise; emails are brief, in bullet
format
 look at the top level detail and data
 make decisions based on data,
quickly, with objective criteria;
prefer to make decisions unilaterally;
intent on besting past records or the
competition
 look at the impact on the bottom line,
and speed to results
 prefer whatever change is necessary;
thorough and deep so change only
needs to be made once
 appreciate task completion on time,
on budget, according to
specifications
 prioritize the task over people; focus
on the outcome versus how you got
there
 enjoy being in charge, in urgent
situations that require decisive action
 take charge of situations in a vacuum
of leadership
Drivers tend to gravitate into operations,
production, journalism, emergency
teams, any function where deadlines are
critical (ie, publication, news
broadcasting), any function where the
product has to get out the door by a
specified time, cost, specifications. The
prototypical American entrepreneur is
often a director.
across organizational silos, across which they would rather avoid
departments, across differences.
Identifying the Communication Style
Style\Identification Body language Decision making Writing Office appearance
Connector  stands or sits close to you,  slow, thoughtful  moderate,  comfortable and
touches you  concern for informal, “homey”
 hands are often open with palms people personal, chatty  loveseat and/or
up  prefers  details roundtable
 lots of gestures and animated consensus  pictures of family,
face teams
 appropriate eye contact  candy dish
 casual dress
Seeker  moves around and rarely sit,  fast,  concise, brief,  bold,
touches you spontaneous informal, chatty contemporary,
 uses wide gestures  concern for  lots of graphics, futuristic
 large gestures and animated future, photos  colourful artwork
face innovation,  flowers, play toys
 eye contact upward or long on change  pictures of them
you  unilateral with important
 stylish dress people
Planner  sits with a barrier between you  slow, calculated  dense text,  sparse or cluttered
 doesn’t touch you  concern for formal  standard-issue
 very minimal gestures and quiet process,  lots of office furniture
body accuracy spreadsheets,  PERT charts and
 often writing down what you  based on what tables, schedules on walls
say the data say appendixes
 often averted eye contact
 functional dress
Driver  stands while you sit  fast,  concise, formal  formal
 doesn’t touch you spontaneous  bullet format  large, heavy dark
 gestures often, arms crossed, or  concern for the desk, furniture

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 pointing at you bottom line  diplomas,
 long direct eye contact  unilateral certificates on
 formal dress walls
How they interact with someone with a different Communication style
Connector Seeker Planner Driver
 stop by daily (no  catch them wherever you  take as little face-time as  take as little of their time as
appointment necessary) and can; meet “on the fly” possible possible
frequently  meet away from the office  make an appointment and  make an appointment and
 start with social/ personal to minimize distractions arrive/leave on time arrive/leave on time
topics  talk fast; talk big picture  keep emotions and  get to the point/ keep the
 ask about their personal life,  give bottom line first and personal life out of the discussion focused on
and share yours let them ask questions conversation business
 expect to spend a lot of time  use graphics and charts to  provide a regular reporting  give them the bottom line
 show emotions convey main points schedule/format up front and let them ask
 stand in close proximity,  allow them time to talk;  give report first, then meet questions
touch them give opportunities to later to discuss/decide  focus on results, bottom
 spend time with them in contribute  have most contact in line
social settings  imbed message in writing  bring solutions not
 use face to face colourful graphics  use attachments with e- problems
communication  use face to face mail  use executive summary
 use voicemail or video communication; voicemail  give them lots of lead time  use e-mail to keep informed
conferencing as back up as backup for decisions (no attachments)
 give them lots of lead-time  keep writing concise with
for decisions bullets, one page
 remember birthdays, etc.

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 How they gain their respect
Connector
 Spend time with them; be
patient with their slow pace
 Reveal who you are
personally: share
information about who you
are outside of work
 Ask them about their
outside-work life
 Handle conflict and
disagreement diplomatically
 Listen, don’t interrupt
 Be willing to compromise
and collaborate
 Be supportive of others;
develop a track record of
being “a team player”
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Seeker
 Make efficient use of their
time; keep up with their
quick pace
 Ask questions about them:
both their work and
outside-work lives
 Be energetic, fun
 Be willing to think outside
the box, take risks
 Allow time for their
creativity and “what if”
thinking by temporarily
suspending data and reality
 Show appreciation for
their creativity
 Give them opportunities
for visibility
Planner
 Be patient with their slow
pace; give long lead time
for decisions or advance
warming about changes
 Be accurate and do not
exaggerate
 Follow through on task
responsibilities and meet
deadlines
 Develop a track record of
functional excellence
 Be punctual and prepared
 Follow the rules, policies,
procedures…or have very
objective reasons for
changing or violating rules
 Keep emotions out of
conversations
 Be consistent and reliable
Driver
 Make efficient use of their
time; keep up with their
quick pace
 Be willing to take risks and
assume responsibility and
leadership
 Follow through on task
responsibilities and meet
deadlines
 Develop a track record of
doing whatever it takes
(including bending the
rules) to get a job done
 Be punctual and prepared
 Be willing to make
decisions quickly, without
full information or time for
full deliberation