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Do you work with people who seem overbearing and pushy? It could be that they have a driver personality. As negatively as you see them, believe me they are just as frustrated with you. Yet I have good news for you. There are tangible people skills steps you can take to work with driver personality types!

Tangible People Skills to Work w/ Driver Personality Types. Image by Björn Rudner.

Image by Björn Rudner via Flickr Creative Commons License.

3 Tangible People Skills Steps to Deal w/ Driver Personality

To interact with a driver personality and not feel run over, realize what the behavior represents. Many non-drivers think that drivers seek power. Although some do, most don’t. They care about one thing and one thing only — the end result. Knowing this secret gives you the power to be yourself and manage them with these tangible people skills steps.

1. See every statement drivers make as an end result. Example: The driver says: “I am cold. It’s cold in here.” That means, “I want to be warm. Please make it warm in here.” You, a non-driver, might respond, “The thermostat says it’s 74 degrees.” The driver is thinking, who cares? I didn’t ask you for the temperature. Are you also going to tell me when high tide is? I said that I am cold.

   Tangible people skills tip: To manage the driver, focus on their focus. Even if you can’t make the temperature warmer, at least state that so the driver knows you heard them. Otherwise they think you didn’t get it or are rudely sidestepping the issue. In that case, they will continue to push.




2. Move forward. Don’t state the obvious. Example: I was in my guest room at large Hilton Hotel. While I was in the shower, the lights in the bathroom went out. I thought it was a power outage. Yet as I opened the curtain, I saw the lights on in the bedroom. I contacted the desk. I told them the lights went out in the bathroom and I find that dangerous. The clerk replied simply, the bathroom lights go out after 15 minutes. I wanted to say, “I know that you fool.” The important part of my message was that lights going out in the bathroom is a dangerous condition.

   Tangible people skills tip: Address the problem don’t just state the obvious. Drivers communicate about end results. If you talk only about the status quo, they continue to seek the end result.






Dealing w/ Driver Personality
Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™


3. Start with the end result not the reasons why. Example: A driver type leader raised an urgent issue with a team. Two team members responded by giving the leader the reasons why the problem was occurring. They said nothing about fixing it. The leader saw them as uncommitted and ineffective.

   Tangible people skills tip: To manage drivers, first show them how important the issue is and your commitment to solving it. Then share details if drivers need them. If you do it in reverse, the drivers will continue to push because they don’t know you see the end goal.

When you learn to spot personality types and adapt, your success grows. Your tangible people skills lower your stress, show generosity to others, and build trust. You become the person that can work with or lead anyone. Your interpersonal competence shines far and wide.

Related Post:
4 Personality Types: Profitable Leadership & Team Secrets

©2017 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. I appreciate your sharing the link to this post on your social streams. However, if you want to re-post or republish the content of this post, please email info@katenasser.com for permission and guidelines. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.

Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on leading change, employee engagement, teamwork, and delivering the ultimate customer service. She turns interaction obstacles into interpersonal success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.

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Tags: agility, Career, communication, Driver Type, interaction, interpersonal skills, Leadership, people skills, Personality Type, results, Soft Skills, Teamwork