By Mara Miller
Effective managers understand their employees’ unique personalities and know what motivates them. It’s important to know your employees and what inspires different personalities. The IdealTraits assessment assists you in understanding the personality traits of your teams and helps you create a more positive and productive environment at work.
What is Persuasiveness/Convincing?
In the performance index in the IdealTraits assessments, Persuasiveness/Convincing measures how someone relates to or works with people. It determines how they build relationships with others. It evaluates how someone can influence those around them. It assesses how talkative they are and gauges their level of optimism.
Described as “the enthusiast,” individuals with high Persuasiveness/Convincing want to be the center of attention. They are good at influencing those around them and crave social acceptance. Others may view them as careless and disorganized.
High Persuasiveness and Convincing Personality Traits:
Positive Traits / Strengths:
An individual with high Persuasiveness/Convincing places a high priority on relationships and connecting with others. They follow their intuition and adapt quickly based on the person and situation. They bring positive energy with them that can change the environment. They can motivate and encourage others with their charisma and influence. They like to create an atmosphere for open communication and discussions where people feel comfortable brainstorming ideas. Due to their relaxed and casual manner, they enjoy the challenge of connecting with people. Building rapport comes easily to them. It does not matter if the person is an old friend or someone they just met. No one is a stranger to them. In the workplace, they are great at helping others feel comfortable and adapting to being a part of a new team.
Growth Areas / Areas that Need Support:
Due to wanting to be liked by everyone, they are more concerned with people and popularity than tangible results and organization. Despite their outgoing attitude, they are not particularly assertive or forceful. They do not want to risk offending someone or creating a possible confrontation. This means they may struggle with asking a prospect for a sale. They may give the impression of waiting to speak instead of listening and may give this away based on their facial expressions or interruptions. They tend to lose focus, especially if the conversation does not interest them or is too long. Due to getting easily distracted, it’s crucial to keep them on-task. They are very people-oriented and may struggle to limit their time with people and follow routines. It can be difficult for them to think of a career path. They may have trouble getting started and are slow to act. They tend to be overly optimistic and trust their intuition or “gut’ more than they should because they hope for the best in people and situations. Nevertheless, they will avoid making decisions in case it makes them look bad.
Motivated By:
They are motivated by in-person praise and public recognition. They want to be the spokesperson or main person to represent others. They love working with people and being a team player, but they will not take a backseat to them. They enjoy being the center of attention, even good-naturedly teased, but not to the point of embarrassing or humiliating them. They shape the environment around them by interacting with and influencing others.
Stress:
Individuals with high Persuasiveness/Convincing are outgoing and social. They love being around people and go out of their way to meet them. They do not enjoy spending time away from others or working in isolation. They may become exhausted and demotivated if they spend too much of their time working alone. They can feel stressed in environments that require them to be detailed, organized, and stick to timelines and processes. Although they are good at problem-solving, spending a lot of time researching the root causes of a problem can cause tension and anxiety. They would rather focus on the people around them; not on details, accuracy, or organization. If there is a public display of disapproval, it can be debilitating for them. A sign they are under strain is they will be sarcastic or verbally lash out at the other person. This is out of character for them.
Ideal Environment:
Individuals with high Persuasiveness/Convincing need an environment of flexibility and freedom, not to be controlled and micromanaged. They are happiest in places where people and opportunities are many and conflicts and arguments are few. They desire acceptance, social admiration, and recognition for their creativity, and their ability to lead and inspire others. They prioritize taking action, collaborating, and expressing enthusiasm and are often described as warm, magnetic, and convincing. Although they can adapt to different situations and rules, they do not want to be held back by them. They want their schedule to be flexible and to be surrounded by positive people. They are comfortable adapting to different rules and environments.
Communication:
When communicating with an individual with high Persuasiveness/Convincing, use a friendly and casual tone. Don’t dwell on the details. Instead, focus on the big picture. Use humor and positivity. They tend to get emotional, but keep them focused on the conversation and not distracted. They would prefer to speak on the phone instead of going through email. If sending an email, they should ideally begin with a warm greeting. Keep the content casual and friendly. Positively deliver feedback. Make them feel motivated to do better. If providing instructions, give it in writing with bullet points for easier reading and scanning.
Benefits to a Team:
They’re natural-born creative problem solvers who can think outside the box. They are great at creating environments full of encouragement and motivation. They maintain a positive attitude and sense of humor and respond well to the unexpected. Their enthusiasm makes them great leaders and accepting of others. They contribute powerful ideas in brainstorming sessions. These influential people are great team players and bring out the best in others. They may be informal at times, but this can provide a good change of pace. They see the bright side of challenges and tend to keep the atmosphere upbeat. They provide emotional support, maintain personal contacts, and inspire others. They are great at energizing others by discussing the benefits of an idea to get them on board.
Fears:
Others’ acceptance and approval is the primary desire. If the individual loses others’ support and approval or is ignored or rejected, it will result in an insecure feeling.
Management Tips:
Consider the management tips below when managing someone with high persuasiveness and convincing.
- If assessing them for an outbound sales position, check their motivation and drive. It is recommended the numbers be above 60 in combination with above 60 in persuasive and convincing. Consider providing them with coaching and training to keep them motivated, engaged, and on track.
- They may not realize how long they may spend talking with co-workers or even a client. Consider coaching them on being mindful of everyone’s time, including their own.
- They need a structured environment with direction stopping short of micromanagement. If a structure is not provided, it can be perceived as being ignored, not supported, or not liked. Everyone needs some degree of rules and boundaries. This can lead to low morale, lack of motivation, struggle with time management, and absenteeism.
- Consider providing goals and expectations from the beginning. Discuss a career path with them. Keep them accountable when they fall short and give them praise and recognition when they come through.
- They tend to make up their minds quickly and impulsively without conducting research or taking time to think. Consider coaching them on how to make an informed decision especially if it involves other people.
- They are great at problem-solving, brainstorming, and coming up with ideas. However, they struggle with turning those ideas into actions. They become overwhelmed with the details of bringing their idea to full fruition. Consider assisting and guiding them with breaking their idea down into small goals. This allows them to fulfill their goals and complete what they started.
- They need to be reminded to slow their pace for others that may need more time to cross t’s and dot i’s. Practicing patience and empathy. Also encouraging them to take a break if they feel they are becoming frustrated.
- They may talk too much and back themselves into a corner by agreeing to take on more than they can accomplish. They also do this because they want others to like them (the popularity vote). Consider keeping watch on their workload to ensure this does not happen. They can become overwhelmed and emotional and leave a bigger mess behind them. Remind them to come to you before this happens.
- Consider guiding them on structuring their days and organizing their workload or projects. Help them plan by making lists, prioritizing, and focusing on one task at a time.
Combination of Personality Traits:
Everyone has a blend of personality traits. Below are examples of how high Persuasiveness/Convincing can be affected when combined with other personality traits.
- High Motivation/drive & high Persuasiveness/Convincing: Clear goals in life with the determination and commitment to achieve them. Seek to maintain a position of control while being genuinely liked.
- High Structure/Routine & high Persuasiveness/Convincing: People-oriented; confident, warm, and friendly. Provides a sympathetic ear and a readiness to help others with their problems
- High Thorough/Compliant & high Persuasiveness/Convincing: Opposing behavioral traits. One is relaxed (high p/c). The other is more formal (high t/c). The situation determines how they come across to others. Close friends or colleagues bring out the confident and extroverted side. An unfamiliar or formal environment brings out the timid and compliant side.