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Kantor Behavioral Profiles - Baseline Name: Moby Dick Date: November/19/2020 Copyright © Kantor Institute. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form, in whole or in part, is prohibited Page 1

Introduction In our earliest social system - the family - individuals explore a range of behavioral options. In doing so, we recognize some as a better fit than others. Over time, as we mature, our preferences become “hardwired” as our behavioral propensities. Through extensive empirical study, family systems therapist David Kantor, PhD, was able to identify and name the full range of behavioral options within a social system. From among these options, individuals become attached to certain behaviors and less inclined to use others. Your strongest everyday tendencies are called your baseline behavioral propensities. Your responses to the questions in the baseline profile helped to identify your behavioral patterns along three different dimensions: Action mode: Operating system: Communication domain: Why Behavioral Propensities Matter Because we spend a great deal of our lives interacting with others, it is essential to understand our own tendencies and to be able to recognize the tendencies of others. Doing so, will help you both broaden your own behavioral repertoire - meaning that you can engage comfortably in a wider range of actions - and have greater tolerance for differences in the behavior of others. Copyright © Kantor Institute. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form, in whole or in part, is prohibited Page 2

ACTION PROPENSITIES Based on your responses, your Strongest Action Propensity is: Follow Your action propensity reflects your most common contribution to a group conversation. In every interaction, there are only four basic vocal acts: the move, the follow, the oppose and the bystand. While these actions happen repeatedly throughout dialogue, individuals commonly make one or two of these vocal acts significantly more frequently than the others. Your propensity reflects the action to which you gravitate. A Move initiates. Movers are often the first to A Follow supports. Followers get behind others’ suggest a direction or to introduce a new idea or ideas and take the necessary action to carry the idea forward to completion. Follows finish the concept. Moves start the action. action. An Oppose challenges. Opposers push back on A Bystand bridges. Bystanders observe, add ideas, providing alternatives and helping to shore neutral perspective and integrate seemingly disparate ideas. Bystands connect the elements up weaknesses. Opposes correct the action. of the action. Copyright © Kantor Institute. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form, in whole or in part, is prohibited Page 3

ACTION PROPENSITIES Center of Gravity Not only do individuals differ in terms of their basic Behavioral Profile, they also have varying levels of ability to employ the other options within each Domain (Action, Operating, and Communication). For example, two individuals whose strongest Action propensity is Move may have varying degrees of comfort taking “Follow” as an action. One may almost never use it and the other may use it almost as often as “Move”. In that case, those two individuals could have the same basic profile but act very differently. In the instrument, we asked you questions to help us calculate your Action Propensities. We also asked you to rate the amount of time you spend taking each of the actions. The charts below compare what you believe about yourself versus how the instruments scored you. Calculated Move Follow Oppose Bystand 21% 31% 17% 31% Move Follow Oppose Bystand Self reported 15% 55% 15% 15% To consider: How significant is the gap between how you believe you spend your time and what the instrument calculated? To what would you attribute that gap? Are there any actions that are less than 20% of your profile? If so, you will be more effective if you can start to incorporate these actions into your profile. Likewise, if your strongest propensity is more than 40% of your actions, you are overusing this propensity. Your colleagues and family know this to be your default stance and may discount you or inadvertently try and block you because of it. Copyright © Kantor Institute. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form, in whole or in part, is prohibited Page 4

OPERATING PROPENSITIES Based on your responses, your Strongest Operating Propensity is: Open Your Operating Propensity is the set of basic rules that you implicitly follow when interacting with others. Different people prefer different rules and there are three distinct Operating Systems that have been identified, reflecting different system archetypes - Closed, Open and Random. Your Operating Propensity reflects the set of rules that you will follow when you are free to act as you prefer. Individuals with the Closed Individuals who have the Open Individuals demonstrating the propensity emphasize structure propensity emphasize process, Random propensity operate and planning and are more participation and teamwork. with no rules and few likely to value both tradition and They look for ways to include boundaries. They tend to hierarchy. They provide others others and place a high value emphasize creative expression, with clarity about individual roles on consensus. They believe autonomy and individuality. and responsibilities and expect everyone has a contribution to They rarely consider imposing a everyone to know and follow the system on others - they merely make. want the freedom to operate in rules. their own unique way. Copyright © Kantor Institute. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form, in whole or in part, is prohibited Page 5

ACTION PROPENSITIES Center of Gravity Preferences for the Operating Propensity typically are much stronger than preferences for the Action Propensity. In fact, most people have a strong operating propensity, a weaker second propensity and then a third which they reject (commonly a 60 / 30 / 10 distribution). Both your calculated and selfreported operating propensity distributions are in the graphs below. Teams tend to experience conflict when the leader is operating according to the rules of his or her strongest propensity even when the majority of the team would prefer an alternative approach. For example, Closed Propensity leaders see it as their right to make unilateral decisions which can be challenging to a team which is strong in the Open Propensity. Those strong in the Random propensity often inadvertently alienate the team by operating far outside of team norms. Calculated Closed Open Random 25% 54% 21% Self reported Closed Open Random 20% 40% 40% To consider: How strong is your strongest Operating Propensity? Do you find yourself trying to “impose” your way of working as the “right answer” on others or do you have the flexibility to adjust your style based on the needs of the situation or the group? Can you see situations where your strongest Operating Propensity might not be the best approach? Do you and your significant other share the same Operating Propensity? How does being the same or different on this dimension show up in your relationship? Copyright © Kantor Institute. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form, in whole or in part, is prohibited Page 6

COMMUNICATION PROPENSITIES Based on your responses, your Strongest Communication Propensity is: Affect Individuals tend to focus on certain kinds of issues and topics more frequently than others. Communication Propensities represent what you pay attention to when you are interacting with others, either Affect, Meaning, or Power. Because of your interest in these topics, the language that you use most frequently is reflective of your Communication Propensity The language of Affect is about The language of Meaning is The language of Power is about connection between people, about thinking, logic and a accountability, competence and particularly emotional. sense of purpose. Individuals completion. Individuals with a Individuals with an Affect with a Meaning Propensity are concerned with “what we stand Power Propensity tend to Propensity take special note of speak in reference to specific others’ well-being and how they for” and with deeply goals and are highly conscious understanding how things work. of time. They enjoy crossing react to what is being said. They love exploring ideas and items off of their list and moving They emphasize trust and concentrating on the theoretical motivation and try to provide a underpinnings of a discussion. projects to closure. climate of warmth and caring. Copyright © Kantor Institute. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form, in whole or in part, is prohibited Page 7

COMMUNICATION PROPENSITIES Center of Gravity Not only do individuals differ in terms of their basic Behavioral Profile, they also have varying levels of ability to employ the other options within each Domain (Action, Operating, and Communication). For example, two individuals whose strongest Action propensity is Move may have varying degrees of comfort taking “Follow” as an action. One may almost never use it and the other may use it almost as often as “Move”. In that case, those two individuals could have the same basic profile but act very differently. In the instrument, we asked you questions to help us calculate your Action Propensities. We also asked you to rate the amount of time you spend taking each of the actions. The charts below compare what you believe about yourself versus how the instruments scored you. Calculated Affect Meaning Power 55% 24% 21% Self reported Affect Meaning Power 40% 20% 40% To consider: Are you able to speak in all three of the Communication Domains? If not, who do you know that is strong in your weakest Domain who could help you become more fluent? Can you think of a time when you came into conflict with someone else because you weren’t speaking the same language? How do the Communication Propensities help you understand this situation more clearly? What is the predominant Communication Domain in your current organization? How well does this match with your strengths? What are the implications for you? Copyright © Kantor Institute. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form, in whole or in part, is prohibited Page 8

BEHAVIORAL PROPENSITIES - baseline Your Baseline Profile is: FOLLOW IN OPEN AFFECT Behavioral Profile The combination of your strongest Action, Operating and Communication Propensities creates your baseline Behavioral Profile. Your profile describes how you tend to behave normally when you are free to be yourself, both at home and at work. Each profile has its own unique strengths and limitations. What is important for development is understanding your profile and how it impacts your ability to interact with others. The Talents, Traps and Tips below offer some insight into your characteristic behaviors. Your talents are Some traps you may fall into Some tips that may help you You’re very effective at Your behind the scenes Try to generate new ideas of building support around an commitment- building may your own rather than only initiative not be visible throughout the building on the proposals of organization others You often follow-up with others to ensure their Others may be impatient with Remember that involving comfort with a process or an your attention to people and everyone is not always the outcome process optimal approach to problem solving Others perceive you as a Recognize that others may genuine supporter and be less able or willing to someone who can always be engage with feelings relied upon Copyright © Kantor Institute. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form, in whole or in part, is prohibited Page 9

Getting Unstuck The ultimate goal of understanding your profile is to give you greater choice in how to behave in any situation. While our profiles are the unwritten playbook we follow when interacting with others, they don’t always help us produce the results that we want. In fact, sometimes the strength of our propensities causes us to be “stuck”, unable to take actions beyond our default positions. The chart below maps your propensities into Strong, Stuck and Weak zones. Propensities which are too strong may cause you to overuse them, such that others expect you to behave in predictable, repetitive ways. Those which are weak are often absent from your typical behaviors or can even be repulsive to you. Action mode Operating system Communication domain Stuck zone Stuck zone Stuck zone Over use zone Over use zone Over use zone Strong zone Strong zone Strong zone Weak zone Weak zone Weak zone To expand your Behavioral Repertoire, and therefore be more agile in conversations, look closely at your extreme propensities. For those that are in the Weak zone, you’ll want to try those on and see if you can incorporatethem into your behavior. At the very least, become curious about why your colleagues might be attending to a different Communication Domain or following the rules of a different Operating System. Think about what the situation demands and see if you can put your natural tendencies aside and use whatever actions seem to be the best fit. Copyright © Kantor Institute. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form, in whole or in part, is prohibited Page 10

PUBLIC vs. PRIVATE PROFILES One of the most common questions we get is “Does my profile change?” Profiles can change based on three factors: 1. The impact of the surrounding context on your behavior. Organizations, like people, exhibit a specific profile and send implicit and explicit messages about the behaviors which are valued and rewarded. 2. Whether you are in a normal “low stakes” environment or are feeling a high degree of stress and / or anxiety. In high stress situations, a different profile often emerges, one with a much more limited range. 3. The degree to which you are consciously monitoring your behavior and trying to expand your repertoire or acting purely from instinct. We find as soon as individuals become aware of their profiles, they can almost immediately begin employing a wider range of actions, making a better match between their behavior and the situation. In some of the questions in the instrument, we asked you to answer the questions in the context of a conversation at work. In other questions, we asked about your behavior in the context of your family. The charts below show how your profile differs between your work and private lives. Action mode Operating system Communication domain Copyright © Kantor Institute. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form, in whole or in part, is prohibited Page 11

To consider: If your public and personal profiles vary significantly, in which situation do you feel more like yourself? If your profile at work and at home vary significantly, consider whether your current organization is a good fit for you. What makes you behave so differently in that situation? Being able to maintain very different personas suggests you already have a well developed behavioral repertoire. Is there a cost to you of operating so differently from one context to the other? Copyright © Kantor Institute. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form, in whole or in part, is prohibited Page 12

Kantor Behavioral Profiles Deepening our understanding of individual, team and organizational dynamics David Kantor’s theory of Structural Dynamics describes the interplay of structures within a communication system and provides compelling insight into how individuals and teams can operate more effectively together. His model, used for decades by psychologists, organizational development professionals, and interventionists to improve performance, is now broadlyavailable through this suite of instruments and in his groundbreaking publication, Reading the Room. Kantor’s research, which was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Health in the early 1960s, aimed to create an empirical understanding of family function in situ. What he discovered was a set of fundamentalconcepts that explain how individuals communicate with one another, both successfully and unsuccessfully. Over the successive years, Dr. Kantor applied these ideas to families, to couples and then brought them into organizations. Because this theory links individual’s profiles with observable external behaviors, it has an actionable perspective on how to improve communication outcomes in all settings. Rather than just describe an individual’s profile as a static entity, these instruments provide coaching on how to expand your behavioral repertoire, manage your reactions in high stakes settings and find organizations that are the best fit with your own profile. Copyright © Kantor Institute. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form, in whole or in part, is prohibited Page 13