CHAPTER 3

WHAT TYPE OF CONNECTOR ARE YOU?

The more a personality theory can be for a person rather than about a person, the better it will serve that person.

Dr Elias Porter

This chapter will help you identify your connector type. Once you know who you are, you automatically connect to your areas of strength and other areas where you need support. It should help you understand why, in certain situations, you are doing great, while in other situations, all your efforts seem to be falling short. One of the most important (and yet neglected) aspects of an organisational culture is the ability to recognise and embrace people’s differences. It requires creating a safe environment where managers (and the people they manage) can become aware of themselves, have a voice and be able to recognise others for who they are. Such an environment empowers people to utilise their strengths, and seek support when needed. In organisations, or departments, that master the ability to create this kind of culture, employees’ morale is high, productivity soars and bottom-line results are maximised. Those organisations are healthier and contribute to everybody’s well-being. It sounds simple and yet naïve and unrealistic. One of the reasons for the hardship we experience in the workplace is the fact that we are often blind to the aspects that motivate us, to our needs, and what we can contribute. Knowing oneself is a first step towards the ability to function better in the workplace. It is the cornerstone in resolving conflicts and creating a productive work environment. It is really about understanding personality first.

This chapter will give you the ability to:

• ■understand what we mean by connector type
• ■identify your connector type and understand how it can help you
• ■become aware of the four connector types and recognise typical behaviours.

SHORT HISTORY OF PERSONALITY

When putting together IKEA furniture, some people will first read the instructions and follow them step by step. Others will systematically ignore the instructions and follow their intuition and will read the instructions when everything else fails. The difference is called personality, the unique set of qualities that make us who we are.

The word personality comes from the Latin word persona, which originally meant a theatrical mask. Hoffman (2002, p. 8) defines personality as ‘the unique and enduring bundle of motivations and needs, attitudes, and behaviour tendencies that makes each of us who we are’. The attempt to solve the mystery of what make us is documented in ancient history. Hippocrates (460–370 BC) believed that human moods, emotions and behaviours are caused by body fluid: blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm. Later, Galen, a Greek physician and philosopher, developed this concept and attached temperaments to each of the four fluids.

• ■Sanguine (blood) temperament is lively, optimistic and carefree. This temperament lends itself to behaviours like risk taking, love of adventures and the tendency to break the routine.
• ■Phlegmatic (phlegm) temperament seeks interpersonal harmony and close relationships. Phlegmatic people tend to avoid conflict and take on the role of mediators.
• ■Choleric (yellow bile) temperament tends to be goal-oriented, practical and straight-forward.
• ■Melancholic (black bile) temperament lends itself to being extremely orderly, accurate and having a tendency to follow tradition.

At the end of the 19th century, the physiologist Wilhelm Wundt explained that the four temperaments are four dimensions of human personality.

Modern psychology gladly picked up the baton of personality research and ran with it in a different direction. Carl Jung (1921), a swiss psychologist, was the first to pioneer the idea that there are normal differences between how people function. The natural preference for one of these functions over the others leads individuals to direct energy towards it and to develop habits of behaviour and personality patterns. The resulting predictable patterns of behaviours – in dynamic with the other mental functions – form psychological types. During the period after World War II, Briggs and Myers, mother and daughter, built on Jung’s concepts and developed the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator™ (MBTI) with the objective of promoting human understanding and avoiding loss of human potential. Hogan (2007) builds on this work and argues that one’s personality type is the bedrock of each person’s psychological being and the way by which each person guides and interprets his/her life.

UNDERSTANDING THE ROOT OF PERSONALITY

Most theories of personality development speculate that personality forms an interplay between temperament and environment. The set of interpretations, reactions, habits and behaviours that together constitute our connector type developed early on as a way to protect ourselves. As children, we were all overwhelmed in one way or another and needed to find ways to cope. While one child learns to distract, another child learns to deal with anxiety by being goal-oriented and self-reliant. After practising fending for oneself, this child will become a director. A child that gets scared when parents are fighting would learn to be a mediator in order to restore peace and harmony. When things get too much for another child, they go inside themselves and learn to keep their thoughts to themselves. They learn to collect details and plan and be ready for whatever happens, and a specialist is formed.

This perspective is important because it helps us to understand why we are so identified with our connector types. Those approaches worked in our past and we practised them for many years. They assist us in understanding our own behaviour as well as becoming empathic to others. This helps us to connect to others in a deeper and more meaningful way. Furthermore, this aids us to re-evaluate our own behaviour, cultivate compassion and find more adaptive ways to cope. The ability to be aware of oneself is the path to freedom and choice. When we become aware of our connector type and its impact on others, we can start modifying our behaviour to get the result we are looking for. This kind of understanding opens the door to connect and respond in a manner that is much more productive and impactful to achieve collaboration and mutually agreed goals.

THE FOUR CONNECTOR TYPES

The four connector types are:

1. 1.Director (gets things done).
2. 2.Facilitator (creates harmony).
3. 3.Innovator (makes things better).
4. 4.Specialist (makes the right decision for quality).

We have developed the connector types, being inspired by many personality theories and perspectives and our experiences with our clients. We wanted to give you a quick and practical way to connect to your own connector type as well as understand others. It is always optional and advisable to seek more information and increase self-awareness. This connector type tool is quick, easy and practical. It can help you gain rapid insights into any situation and, by doing so, improve outcomes.

To help you identify your type, together with the psychometric unit at Ashridge Management Education, we developed an online questionnaire. The items were developed based on each connector behaviour used to handle tasks at work, make decisions, express ourselves and resolve conflict.

The tool was then distributed to managers working in various sectors who were attending courses across Ashridge’s Executive Education programmes. The questionnaire was then validated, based on over 300 responses using an exploratory factor analysis. The reliability of the four connectors was assessed by analysing Cronbach’s alpha of the items.

You can identify your personal connector type by visiting https://public.virtual.ashridge.hult.edu/section/connector_type. A hard copy of the connector questionnaire is provided in the Appendix.

Connector type	Score
Director
Facilitator
Innovator
Specialist

It’s important to be aware that, as individuals, we can relate to all types of connectors and our personality is not one-dimensional. We all have all the connector types; it is a question of how dominant each type is in our tapestry. When we talk about a specific connector type, we mean that if this type is dominant for you, you would be able to relate to most qualities. In most cases, we can’t be dominant in all types and therefore need diverse teams with a combination of all connectors. This is especially important when we are delivering complex tasks. For example, an innovator type will need a director type to make sure that his/her ideas are translated into a final product. See Chapter 4 for more information on how different connectors connect.

Furthermore, each connector has a particular bias/lens through which they interpret the world. For example, a director type may view the facilitator type on occasion as both weak and over-emotional. Vice versa, the facilitator type will, most probably, view the director as, at times, too harsh and lacking empathy.

People are complex entities and we need to be aware that a ‘label’ of connector can’t fully describe another human being and their nuances. It’s important that we do not over-simplify complex human interaction. There are many other important influences/variables that need to be considered, such as culture and age. We’ll provide further information on these important topics in Chapters 8 and 9.

DIRECTOR CONNECTOR TYPE

• ■Basic motive: to achieve the goal. The director type is motivated by the need to ‘get things done’.
• ■Main strategy: control.
• ■Characteristics: they like to organise projects, operations, procedures and people. They are determined and like to act and get things done. They live by a set of clear standards and beliefs, make a systematic effort to follow these, and expect the same of others. They value competence and efficiency. They enjoy interacting and working with others as long as they are responsible for meeting deadlines and completing assigned tasks. People with a dominant director type feel comfortable with planned change, structure and predictability.
• ■Strength: they usually have a strong presence. They are reliable in terms of getting things done. They usually are competent and knowable on how to find the information that they need. Most of them look confident regardless of how they feel.
• ■Challenges: they may struggle to deal with emergent and unexpected change. They have little patience with confusion, inefficiency and halfway measures. Many of them find it difficult to express emotions and be vulnerable. They operate under a lot of ‘should’.
• ■Triggers: they are confused when others are expressing emotions and/or when they perceive others are taking too long to react. They are triggered by silences and situations in which they perceive they have no control. They are triggered when things are not done the way in which they believe things should be done.
• ■In meetings: they are focused on outcomes and high energy. They prefer a structured agenda with each agenda item being discussed and with follow-up actions with specific timelines and action items for each team member. They are extremely annoyed with small talk which they deem a waste of time and resources.
• ■Decision-making process: their decision making is both fast and expedient and may view the consensus-building process as a waste of time. They like to depend on data but don’t want to have too much of it. They usually evaluate ideas based on an objective criterion which heavily relies on how practical these are in practice.
• ■Change: they are willing to change if they understand the purpose and the destination.
• ■Famous people: Jack Welch, Margaret Thatcher and José Mourinho.

FACILITATOR CONNECTOR TYPE

• ■Basic motive: to create harmony.
• ■Main strategy: being attuned and attentive to other people’s needs.
• ■Characteristics: they are highly empathetic and attuned to others, compassionate and use their EQ (emotional intelligence) to quickly understand emotional needs, motivations and concerns. They can be inspiring leaders as well as good team members who maintain harmony. They are interested in relationships and have a good understanding of how groups and individuals work. They are natural mediators. They are adaptable and like variety and new challenges. They are exceptionally insightful into possibilities. When change is introduced, their main concern is how it will impact relationships. When communicating, they tend to listen to and support others but also have definite values and opinions of their own. They bring enthusiasm and intensity to creating strong relationships. Others view facilitators as sociable and with a large circle of friends. They value authentic and intimate relationships and, at times, will take on other people’s emotions and work, which may result in burn-out and stress.
• ■Strength: they are good listeners, attentive and loyal to the people they are close to. They value people over outcomes and create a positive working environment. They are sociable and value others.
• ■Challenges: they are sensitive and at times vulnerable. They can lose sight of the goal and they have difficulty saying no.
• ■Triggers: being sensitive, they have thin skin and have the tendency to get hurt easily.
• ■In meetings: they are warm and friendly. They want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to express themselves. They are motivated by being liked and are in need for approval from others. They take responsibility for organising interactions with colleagues, friends or family so that everyone is involved. They prefer a collaborative and engaged decision-making process and prize harmony and cooperation. Feelings guide their decision making rather than rationale thinking and data. They are happy to support other people’s ideas, in particular, when they can see social benefits for the team/organisation or the wider world.
• ■Decision-making process: they are slower in making decisions as they tend to avoid conflict. They prefer to listen to different opinions before making decisions. They need to have a quiet space in order to be able to hear their own voice.
• ■Change: they accept the change as long as it brings safety and harmony to people around them. Usually, they are not resistant to change but need time to adjust. A gentle and soft environment during transitions is helpful for them.
• ■Famous people: Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa.

INNOVATOR CONNECTOR TYPE

• ■Basic motive: to make things better, to improve and change.
• ■Main strategy: they love complex challenges and readily synthesise complicated, theoretical and abstract matters. They have global thinking and dreams for the future. They are focused on visionary ideas and concepts. They are independent problem solvers. Innovators are comfortable during change, ambiguity and exploration.
• ■Characteristics: they usually have high energy and are often restless. Many of them appear as daydreamers but, once they have created their general structure, they devise strategies to achieve their ambitious goals. Their plans can be complex and not always very practical. They are capable of mobilising resources to make these ideas happen. Innovators thrive on change/ambiguity and are comfortable with emergent plans.
• ■Strength: contributing with innovative ideas. They are the dreamer, the people that are many times ahead of their time. They have a unique way of thinking and their passion is often contentious. They are quick thinkers.
• ■Challenges: they have difficulties with practicalities. Most of them are allergic to forms and bureaucracy. They have the tendency to break the rules and, as a result, they get in trouble in organisations. They are often distracted and find following through a challenge.
• ■Triggers: routine. Little and/or no opportunity to contribute to projects and an emphasis on keeping to deadlines.
• ■In meetings: they express creative ideas, innovate, generate excitement and ‘outside of the box’ thinking. Innovators are restless and willing to challenge the status quo. Their presentation is ever changing, they can appear logical and rational and, a minute later, they can embark on a vision that seems completely out of touch. They struggle with a structured agenda and will tend to jump from one topic on the agenda to another.
• ■Decision-making process: when making decisions, their focus is on big ideas. They do not like a long decision-making process or discussions on minor/mundane issues. They prefer integrated decision making, drawing on various aspects/areas. They will get bored by following through on actions. They may find it difficult to follow up on issues/actions and do not like details and mundane tasks.
• ■Change: they actively seek change even though they may often feel tired by their own pace of new ideas.
• ■Famous people: Steve Jobs, Leonardo da Vinci and Richard Branson.

SPECIALIST CONNECTOR TYPE

• ■Basic motive: to make the right decision for quality.
• ■Main strategy: move slowly, collect data and avoid making mistakes.
• ■Characteristics: they are practical, sensible and realistic. They have a strong sense of responsibility and great loyalty to their organisations. Specialists are dependable and interested in applying their knowledge and expertise. They will do what is necessary to perform their job correctly and achieve a high-quality outcome. Most of them tend to be introverted. Specialists prefer to work alone and be accountable for the results within an environment where both jobs and roles are clearly defined. Creativity is not an area of strength, but they will be happy to support others with innovative ideas/projects, provided enough data/facts rationale is provided.
• ■Strength: they are good at contributing knowledge and facts. They are systematic, reliable and knowledgeable.
• ■Challenges: they tend instead to overthink. Many of them experience communication problems. They have difficulty making their voice heard.
• ■Triggers: when they are required to process a lot of information quickly, and when they don’t have time to process and collect what they perceive to be enough data to make a decision. They fear making mistakes and are worried when working outside their area of expertise.
• ■In meetings: they talk when asked. They take time to reflect before talking. They will use logic, relevant content and data in their arguments. They will come across as careful as they thoroughly apply a logical criterion based on their experience and knowledge. They are more comfortable providing input on their area of expertise rather than on general strategic areas. They do not like ‘small talk’. They are perceived as consistent and orderly and run meetings accordingly.
• ■Decision-making process: when making decisions, they will want decisions to be grounded in both data and expertise.
• ■Change: they accept change if they can continue to contribute employing their expert knowledge. They prefer predictable change, which allows them to bring their expertise into play. They are not interested in change for change’s sake. They will support change only when facts demonstrate that such change will bring better results.
• ■Famous people: Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Hippocrates.

Recognising styles

SUMMARY AND ACTIONS

• ■We all have connector types that define our motivation, needs and how we interact with others.
• ■In order to create positive connections, you need to be aware of your connector type, which helps you to continue to build on personal strengths and increase self-esteem.
• ■To improve relationships, you need to continuously improve your self-awareness of your connector type and recognise others so that you can achieve mutually agreed goals.
• ■It’s vital to own your connector type while being sensitive to other connector types.

Action plan for improving connections:

• ■Think of something that you want to achieve in your next meeting (e.g. increased budget, support for a new business case, introducing new IT system). Who is the key person? Using the table above, can you identify their connector type?
• ■How can your connector style help you (e.g. get things done, ensure harmony in the room)?
• ■What may be challenging for you (e.g. director: keeping silence; specialist: conversations on general topics)?
• ■What are the connector types of the other key people in the meeting? What may be the implications on how you would start the meeting (e.g. choice of words, body language)?