Interaction Essentials: 3 Keys to Effective Relationships in the Workplace and Beyond

The theme of Interaction Essentials, 3 Strategies to Remove Communication Barriers is self-leadership and conscious communication—skills needed in the workplace as well as in life. People recognize that we are all different, yet they often forget to honor those differences in themselves and others. They need useful, easy to remember frameworks for describing those differences. This book provides such a framework and helps the reader learn more about themselves and others as well as things to do to make a difference in their interactions with others. The book is based on a very powerful personality style model, Berens Interaction Styles, with relevance for business and anyone who wants better communication and more effective relationships. Berens Interaction Styles has a solid theoretical and action research background and has been used in organizations around the world with thousands. The book begins with an overview of the importance of interacting and relationships to individual well being, personal life, and workplace functioning. It also includes an overview of the three strategies, Know Yourself, Make Space, and Shift. In the chapters covering the First Strategy the reader is taken through a self-discovery process to better know himself or herself using the Berens Interaction Styles model. Data points are collected to help narrow down the selection of a ‘best-fit style.’ The reader is truly engaged in the process and can freely select among descriptions written in the first person based on interviews with people of each style. These and the other typology descriptions in the book have been used around the world for over 10 years. In the chapters covering the Second Strategy the reader explores how to make space for herself or himself as well as others. In these chapters, the book covers self-leadership, stress and recognizing the patterns in others. It also covers ways to accommodate the styles of others through actions. The chapters on the Third Strategy focus on how to actively shift verbal and non-verbal communications to build rapport. The Stages of an Interaction are explored through the lens of each Interaction Style so the reader can readily see what to change in their communications in order to relate better with styles different than their own. The last two chapters focus on putting the three essentials into action in the workplace and with family and friends. Topics covered include decision-making, management, conflict, teamwork, parenting, and life decisions. Appendix A is a Self-Discovery tracking sheet that can be used by the reader to aid the self-discovery process. Appendix B includes first person and third person type descriptions from the popular workbook, Sixteen Personality Types; Descriptions for Self-Discovery by Linda Berens and Dario Nardi to aid in the self-discovery process. Appendix C provides the historical basis for the model and relationships to other models of personality type.

Linda V. Berens, PhD, is a human and organizational development practitioner who has worked with theories of personality type since 1975. She has been training change and growth professionals and helping individuals and teams recognize their strengths, transcend their weaknesses, and work together better since 1983. In 1988, she founded Temperament Research Institute, which later became Interstrength Associates, a corporate consulting and training organization. In 2010, turning her attention toward even more comprehensive and integral work with individual differences, she laid the groundwork for Linda Berens Institute, which offers trainings, workshops, and a community of practice for those seeking to apply an integral approach to type to their own lives or to their professional work with other people. Over the last fifteen years, Linda has conducted extensive qualitative research into the characteristics of the sixteen personality types and the four temperaments, integrating the work of Carl Jung, David Keirsey, and a theory of living systems into a methodology for helping people understand themselves and others. In her most recent work, she refined the popular social styles theory to define patterns of interaction styles and added Berens Interaction Styles to the methodology. She has conducted thousands of training programs in this theory and its application to counseling, education, career development, and organizational development. She has also certified more than 2,500 people to administer the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® instrument and is frequently called upon to be the consultant’s consultant. Linda received a doctorate in psychology from United States International University (now Alliant), and a master’s in counseling and a bachelor’s in French from California State University, Fullerton. She has been licensed in California as a marriage and family therapist. Linda is the author or coauthor of multiple books and training materials, which have been incorporated into the groundbreaking Matrix Insights on-line coaching tool. Recognized internationally for her contributions to personality typology, Linda received the 2011 Association for Psychological Type International award for innovation in theory and applications of psychological type. In 2012 she accepted the role of President Elect of APTi.