According to the PCM, individual personality structure is composed of six types of personality. Each of us has all six PCM types of personality defined by Kahler, in differing orders and strengths.
All these personality types are arranged like the floors of a condominium (in the USA a name for an apartment building), with our core or “Base” type at the bottom, moving up through each floor to the least-accessed trait at the top, or attic. The Base is the easiest and most accessible and thus most highly developed personality type in us, which has the strongest influence on our behavior. The weakest and least accessible personality type would be the sixth floor.
Each floor has unique attributes, including a perceptual frame of reference, character strengths, communication and environmental preferences, motivational needs and highly predictable distress behaviours.
The six personality types are: Thinker, Persister, Harmoniser, Imaginer, Rebel and Promoter. They were identified statistically, then correlated with individual:
⇒ Character strengths
⇒ Management styles
⇒ Personality parts
⇒ Channels of communications (the way people prefer to talk to one another)
⇒ Environmental preferences
⇒ Psychological motivators/stressors
⇒ Perceptions (the way people experience the world)
⇒ Degrees of distress (predictable ways someone sabotages his or her personal and professional life through sequences of miscommunication and mismanagement)
The Personality Inventory
People who wish to use the Process Communication Model® will first complete a questionnaire which, once processed, will enable them to discover their personality structure. The teaching metaphor of a condominium helps us to visualise the composition of each unique personality structure.
Each of the six personality types is located on a single floor with the size of the bar within the floor indicating the level of energy available when the person wants to use the corresponding personality type. The metaphor of an “elevator” illustrates the person’s ability to reach all of the floors and use all of their resources.
The Base
The ground floor, called the Base, indicates the dominant, most highly developed personality type. Being able to identify another’s Base helps us to use the most effective communication channel and perception to connect with that person.
The Phase
The concept of Phase provides keys to understanding what motivates people. Satisfying the psychological needs of the Phase affects our motivation on a day-to-day basis and guides us on how to motivate self and others. Even better, it helps us to recognize when we or our communication partner enter a distress sequence and gives us the tools to tackle this situation.
This is useful for whatever context in our lives: personal relationships, sales and negotiations, education, project management, HR or simple social interactions.
Once one starts to understand PCM, it will become a (quite exciting) habit to identify the most energized “floors” (meaning, personality types) in someone’s personality. Doing this helps strengthen one’s understanding of PCM and the six personality types, making it easier afterwards in our day to day life to know how to better approach our conversation partners (or our team members, direct reports, line managers, life partners, children, etc.), to “speak their language”, so that we avoid miscommunication and distress and we get more things done smoothly and efficiently, while building high quality and trust-based relationships.
Below are a few more details about each of the PCM Personality Types and you can use the video at the end to find even more information. Enjoy!
Thinker
The Thinker is an exceptional organiser and a very detailed planner. They value facts and view the world by identifying and categorising people and things. They prize data and information. Their main character strengths are being responsible, logical and organised.
Consequently, they would gladly assume responsibility, which makes them a good to have around individual in both professional and personal relationships. They will structure their ideas logically and explain them quickly and clearly to others. In order to feel good and be efficient, the Thinker needs a structured approach and to be recognized for their thoughts and accomplishments.
When in distress, they tend to over control, take responsibility for more than they can handle – as they don’t delegate anymore and will criticise other people’s thinking.
Persister
Persister is a person who sees the world through the filter of their values, standards and beliefs. They value trust and view the world by evaluating people and situations through a belief system. They prize loyalty and commitment. Their main character strengths are being dedicated, observant and conscientious.
People often admire their moral conduct and ethics. They are very observant. When communicating with others, the Persister is willing to express his/her opinion and to hear others. In addition, they are extremely dedicated their personal and professional development.
When in distress, they become suspicious, push beliefs and start to preach. They will tend to focus on what is wrong, not what is right.
Harmoniser
Harmoniser is a warm, compassionate person who sees the world through the filter of feelings about people and situations. They value relationships, family and friendship. Their main character strengths are being compassionate, sensitive and warm.
They respect people who recognize the importance of their emotions. They brings empathy and harmony into relationships and in order to feel comfortable he/she needs to be recognized as a person.
When in distress, they tend to make silly mistakes thus, attracting criticism, and become wishy-washy in decision making.
Imaginer
Imaginer is an introspective and imaginative person. They value direction and view the world by reflecting about what is happening. They prize privacy and their own space. Their main character strengths are their capacity to be imaginative, reflective and calm.
They often observe themselves and think about life and all possible scenarios of different events. That is why they often need to be alone. When talking to people, they do not give a lot of facts. Rather, they like to analyze as many hypotheses and options as possible before reaching a conclusion.
When in distress, they passively wait, withdrawing and simply “spinning their wheels”.
Rebel
Rebel is a very creative person who tends to find solutions in situations when others see only problems. They value fun and view the world by reacting to people and situations with likes and dislikes. They prize spontaneity and creativity, and in their playful manner are able to turn a boring task into a game. Their character strengths show them as being spontaneous, creative and playful.
They are a source of positive energy and enthusiasm for others and is therefore gladly invited to numerous gatherings.
When in distress, they blame others and will start to delegate inappropriately and without direction.
Promoter
Promoter is a charming and likeable person. They value initiative and view the world by experiencing situations and making things happen. They prize adaptability and self sufficiency and are extremely resourceful and able to find solutions in every situation, as well as to get back on their feet after any setback. Their main character strengths are being adaptable, persuasive and charming.
They see the world through the filter of actions and need dynamic environments to feel comfortable and alive. The Promoter has a direct way of communication and likes to get to the point immediately.
When in distress, they manipulate, break the rules and will expect others to fend for themselves.
Practicing the "guessing" of one's base and phase personality types is one of the best methods of improving your PCM knowledge and, thus, using it to improve communication and reduce stress in your day to day life. Find HERE one of my most popular blog articles, focused on analysing the PCM Personality Types of the Harry Potter main characters, which can be a very good practice exercise. Enjoy!