Highlights:

* Learn your behavior styles by using this questionnaire.

* All of us use all four styles at one time or another, however, we usually have one or two dominant styles that we prefer.


Behavior Styles Self-Assessment

The purpose of this self-assessment is to get some idea of your behavior styles, Logical, Creative, Peacemaker, or Warrior. In my capacity as a university instructor I have used this assessment in classes, and my students have found it quite accurate and useful. This questionnaire is not perfect, however, so it is up to you to decide if your behavior styles are accurately reported by the questionnaire.

Consider the situation described in each question, and indicate how you usually respond. There are no wrong answers, and the questions do not measure abilities.
More than one response will appeal to you because your behavior pattern is a combination of several styles. Using the scale shown below, choose the response which you would most likely use and assign it a value of ‘4, ” then choose the next likely response and assign a value of ‘3, ” then assign a value of ‘2” to the less-likely response, and an value of “1” to the not-likely response.

4 – Most likely. 3 – Likely. 2 – Less likely. 1 – Not likely.

1. What I like best about watching television is,

_____ a. programs are on time, as scheduled.
_____ b. color pictures; cinematography.
_____ c. watching people; observing human behavior.
_____ d. remote control.

2. When I have several ways to get a job done, I usually,

_____ a. review the positives and negatives of each approach and then choose.
_____ b. review the approaches and follow by gut sense about what will work
best.
_____ c. discuss the approaches with others and choose the one most favored.
_____ d. choose the approach that I can begin to work on immediately.

3. I am willing to take a risky action if,

_____ a. there are factual data to support my action.
_____ b. it feels right.
_____ c. it will not hurt others’ feelings.
_____ d. it gets the job done.

4. If a potential business partner appears to invest in another company and not mine, what I probably would do is,

_____ a. calculate the stream of income she will receive if she invests in my
company, and then demonstrate to her that my company is the best
alternative.
_____ b. immediately phone her, and go from there.
_____ c. visit her with a mutual friend and try to come to a mutually acceptable
agreement.
_____ d. call my lawyer and confront her with a lawsuit

For the remaining questions, assign a “3” for the most-likely response, and a “2” for less-likely response.

3 – Most likely. 2 – Less likely.

5. During the course of problem-solving the activities I feel most comfortable with are,

____ a. gathering facts and analyzing them
____ b. brainstorming and seeing the big picture

6. When considering investing resources in a new project, the activities I feel most comfortable with are,

_____ a. implementing the project by organizing objectives and action plans.
_____ b. creating the original idea for the project, and generating enthusiasm for
it.

7. When I feel I am not performing as well as I could, the behaviors that usually characterize me are,

_____ a. being rigid, and critical, and overly pessimistic.
_____ b. talking when I should be listening, and being rash.

8. The behaviors that characterize my interaction with others are being,

_____ c. approachable, interdependent, supports others.
_____ d. assertive, competitive, independent

9. As a supervisor, the leadership style I prefer is,

_____ c. participative decision-making, personal, interactive
_____ d. directive, authoritative

10. When I feel I am not performing as well as I could, the behaviors that usually characterize me include,

_____ c. feeling indispensable, saying “yes” when should say “no.”
_____ d. becoming frustrated and impatient, with low tolerance for feelings and
inadequacies of others.

11. The kind of business objectives I prefer are,

_____ a. specific, quantifiable, and support the strategic plan.
_____ b. general goals, and innovative ideas.

12. I prefer business objectives to be established in the following manner:

_____ c. Team sets the objectives, and departmental objectives are mutually
supportive.
_____ d. I set the objectives, and the objectives encourage positive competition
between departments.

Your score:

Enter the value of each answer in the spaces below.

Sum of “a” answers _____ Logical

Sum of “b” answers _____ Creative

Sum of “c” answers _____ Peacemaker

Sum of “d” answers _____ Warrior

All of us use all four styles at one time or another. Shakespeare tells us, “All the world’s a stage… and one man in his time plays many parts.” Your highest scores are your dominant behavior styles and these are the ones you prefer. Knowing your dominant styles will help you be more effective in promoting collaboration and productivity.


The interaction of your preferred behavior styles determines your personality type. Once you understand the four behavior types, you see many things in business life that fit this model. The next set of articles illustrate the application of these behavior types to management/leadership activities.