In my last blog I covered a high level introduction to Emergenetics. Now, let's dive a bit deeper into the behavioral attributes that are measured. Before we do that, it is time to show you what a profile looks like so we’re all on the same page.
Here is an example profile:
As you can see there are three different areas of the profile, the purple bars at the bottom (Behavioral Attributes), the colored bars in the middle (Thinking Preference Percentiles) and the circle at the top (Your Brain’s Thinking Preferences). In this blog I am going to focus in on the purple bars down at the bottom of the profile, the behavioral attributes.
These purple bars represent the three behavioral attributes that Emergenetics measures for: Flexibility, Assertiveness and Expressiveness. You will also notice that there is a number in a white box on each of the bars. That number represent an individual’s personal percentile in regards to each of the behaviors. In the example profile above, Kimberly is in the 32nd percentile for Expressiveness, the 64th percentile for Assertiveness and the 48th percentile for Flexibility.
Each behavior is separated into thirds with 0-33% being the First-Third, 34-66% being the Second-Third, and 67-100% being the Third-Third. This is done because we have found that individuals in each of these thirds tend to display similar characteristics with others in the same third. In the profile above Kimberly is First-Third Expressive, Second-Third Assertive and Second-Third Flexible. It is important to note that all of us are flexible, assertive and expressive!
Lets look at the definition of each behavior and how the behaviors come to light with individuals in each of the 3rds.
Flexibility is defined as the willingness to accommodate the thoughts and actions of others. Remember all people are flexible, the percentile tells you your energy around flexibility or keeping focused and on track.
Someone who is a First-Third in flexibility is someone who is focused and firm. They like decisions to be made and once a decisions made they consider it final. If you were to come back into their office 5 times and change the decision that was made at your last meeting they are probably going to get pretty frustrated.
Someone who is a Third-Third in flexibility is someone who welcomes change and doesn’t consider a decision to be final. In fact, they are often okay with ongoing discussion and changes and don’t consider it necessary to have a final decision. If a decision was made at the last meeting and you came into their office 5 times to change the direction they would not get frustrated, they would change their direction and not think much of it, they may even offer additional ideas on how you could change it further.
Someone who is in the Second-Third is in what we call the ‘it depends’ group. Sometimes this individual will flex into the First-Third and be firm and focused and other times they will flex into the Third-Third and welcome change. It really depends on many things (the people in the room, how passionate they are about the topic being discussed, how much time they have invested in the project up to this point….and the list could go on forever). The important thing to note is that it is common for them to flex and display the behavior differently in different situations.
Assertiveness is defined as the style and pace with which you advance thoughts, feelings and beliefs. Remember all people are assertive, the percentile tells you how you will assert yourself.
Someone who is a First-Third in assertiveness is someone who prefers to be a peacekeeper. They prefer to build consensus in most situations and enjoy moving at a consistent gentler pace. Someone who is a Third-Third in assertiveness is someone who prefers to be driving in most situations and they probably enjoy a faster pace. Someone who is Second-Third will again sometimes have characteristics of the First-Third and sometimes the Third-Third. It depends on who is in the room, how passionate they are about the situation or task at hand…
Expressiveness is defined as the outward display of emotions toward others and the world at large. Remember, everyone is expressive, your percentile will show you how your expressiveness comes to light.
Individuals who fall into the Third-Third openly communicate, easily start conversations with strangers, and are energized by interacting with others. If I asked one of you who is a third-third expressive, about a recent accomplishment, I would get a very gregarious response about how excited they are. They would probably gesticulate a lot during the conversation and I would be able to feel (and tell by your facial expressions) just how excited or not excited they are. The conversation would probably go on as long as I would stay engaged and seemed interested in what you were saying.
Individuals who fall into the First-Third don’t waste words, they are seen as quiet and reserved, avoid participating in large group situations and are perceived as less emotional. If I were to ask them how they felt about their recent accomplishment, their response would be a bit different. They may tell me they are glad it is completed, they may not use any gestures or make any overstated facial expressions when sharing this with me. The conversation may end there.
If I were to ask a Second-Third expressive the response I got would depend on many things. It would depend on how well I know the person, and how many people are around to potentially hear the conversation – the Second-Third group will again sometimes display more Third-Third expressive characteristics and sometimes more First-Third expressive characteristics – depending on the situation.
Are you excited to learn about your Emergenetics profile? Let's connect today!
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