People Styles at Work and Beyond: Making Bad Relationships Good and Good Relationships Better »

Robert Bolton and Dorothy Grover Bolton (Cazenovia, N.Y) are co-founders of Ridge Associates, which specializes in people skills training, leadership development, interpersonal communication, and performance management. Their training and coaching clients include many Fortune 500 companies and executives. They are the authors of Social Style, Management Style.

At work, and in other spheres of life, how well you relate with others affects your ability to get things done. What you may not realize is that all people exhibit one of several different behavioral "styles," which determine how they think, make decisions, communicate, manage time and stress, and deal with conflict. By understanding which "people style" you're dealing with, you can establish rapport with someone more easily, become more persuasive, and avoid miscommunication and the possibility of rubbing someone the wrong way.

People Styles at Work ... And Beyond reveals the strengths and weaknesses of each style, includes a self-assessment for determining which style you are, and presents a proven approach you can use to:

Identify the best ways to work with others based on their body language and behavior • recognize how you come across to coworkers • make small adjustments that will dramatically increase the quality and productivity of your interactions • find common ground with different people • relate less defensively and more effectively-no matter how others act

Now including all new material on personal relationships, parenting, and more, this is the ultimate guide that has helped hundreds of thousands of people make even their most difficult relationships much more productive and pleasant.

Introduction 1

Part 1 Understanding Yourself and Others

1 No Wonder We Have People Problems 7

2 People Are More Predictable than You Might Think 16

3 What's Your Style? 24

4 Two Keys to Understanding People 28

5 See Yourself as Others See You 38

6 The Driving Style and the Expressive Style 43

7 The Amiable Style and the Analytical Style 54

8 Make the Most of Your Gifts 63

9 Backup Styles: Extreme, Inappropriate, and Inflexible Behavior 72

10 Coping with Backup Behavior 82

Part 2 Style Flex: A Key to Improved Relationships

11 The Style Flex Solution to People Differences 91

12 Four Steps to Better Relationships 99

13 How to Identify Someone's Style 107

14 Flexing in Special Situations 117

15 Three Keys to Good Relationships 127

Part 3 People Styles and Family Relationships

16 The Art of Loving Someone Very Different from Yourself 137

17 Style-Based Parenting 147

Appendices

I For Amiables Only: How to Flex to Each Style 155

II For Drivers Only: How to Flex to Each Style 169

III For Expressives Only: How to Flex to Each Style 187

IV For Analyticals Only: How to Flex to Each Style 202

Bibliography 219

Index 225