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Practical Uses of Perceptual Style in Your Life

Have you ever noticed how it’s the simple things that have the greatest impact? That’s true with Perceptual Style.

Learning what Perceptual Style Theory says about you won’t take long at all – it’s straightforward and easy (even though there's lots of science behind it!). And the benefits of understanding your Perceptual Style and applying that knowledge in your life are endless!

Knowing more about how you see the world helps you validate what you intuitively understand about your strengths, opens possibilities you haven’t yet dreamed of, and frees you from trying to be someone you aren’t.

Understanding how you see the world differently from the other people in your life allows you to close communication gaps, avoid unnecessary conflicts, create lasting connections, and so much more.

The practical uses of Perceptual Style are fun, easy, and full of impact. Just look at some of the most popular uses below:

Personal Empowerment

Picture of a lady happy about being able to implement personal empowerment in her life Understanding more about yourself is invaluable. The more you know, the easier it is to create happiness and success in your life.

Start with Celebrate You and the Perceptual Style Assessment. You'll discover your Perceptual Style and gain an understanding of how your perception impacts your natural skills and talents. Celebrate You also contains tips and techniques on how to harness your strengths to bring the very best of you to all that you do.

Unlock your full potential with Live Your Talents. The combination of your Perceptual Style awareness and our state of the art Recognized Strengths Profile assessment will allow you to discover which of your many natural skills you are currently using and which are just waiting for your to tap into. Follow an easy 5-step process to fully claim your talents, jettison activities that drag you down, align your actions with your strengths, and accomplish whatever you chose to do.

What you do to make a living is a very important part of your life – you’ll spend at least 1/3 or more of your hours each year pursuing a livelihood. Why not make it the most personally rewarding career possible? The Career Planning Guide will help you make your job the best fit for you!

Lasting Relationships

Picture of a multi-generational family inter-relating One of the amazing benefits of Perceptual Style is that it not only helps you understand yourself, it also enables you to understand other people – what strengths they bring to the table, the differences in how they make meaning of the world around them, what attracts you to them, and what drives you crazy.

Using Perceptual Style to guide your interactions with the people that matter in your life will get you past superficial differences and enable the authentic connections you truly want.

Making the most of your interactions with family, friends, and coworkers (actually anyone you want or need to interact with) begins with our Communication That Works guidebook. Written from the perspective of your Perceptual Style, it not only provides insights about your communication strengths and challenges, it explores the communication differences between you and people with the other 5 Perceptual Styles. Packed with tips on how to spot and mitigate communication disconnects quickly and easily, you'll be amazed at how quickly your communication skills improve. It's also a great reference tool for understanding the communication strengths of the other Perceptual Styles.

Science tells us that connecting with others is a core psychological need we all share. Relationships are all about connection. Relationships give us the feeling of belonging, of sharing, of supporting others, and being understood. Great relationships don't happen by accident. They happen by choice. That's why we created the Relationship Connection Blueprint. Designed for two or more people who want a strong and vibrant personal or work relationship, the blueprint clears the path for greater understanding, communication, and connection while honoring the strengths of each individual.

Transformational Leadership

Picture of a young manager leading a group meeting Everyone has the potential to be an extraordinary leader. If you aspire to be recognized as a leader, then Perceptual Style is the tool to turn your dream into a reality!

Start with our guidebook, Be the Leader You Were Born to Be, part of the Owner's Manual Series. You’ll discover the unique leadership potential you possess and learn how to capitalize on your strengths while mitigating your blind spots to become an effective and exceptional leader.

Developing your full potential as a leader takes practice. Once you understand the basics, grow your leadership skills with one of our Advanced Training Modules (provided in personal coaching or group sessions) on topics such as "Leadership Communication: Effective Messaging and Conflict Resolution," "Change Leadership: From Idea to Implementation," and many more.

Building Effective Teams

Picture of a work team wokring together to achieve a common goal Effective teams are critical to organizational success, and they don’t just happen by accident. There’s science in matching talents to tasks, in motivating each team member to contribute their best, and in creating a cooperative and productive working environment for all team members. Perceptual Style tools provide the science you need to build exceptional teams.

It may sound basic, but one thing often overlooked is defining the specific interaction skills and behaviors your team members will need in order to excel at their job and contribute to the success of the team. That’s where our Manager Success Blueprint comes in to play. Learn how to identify needed interaction skills for each role on your team, the capacity of individual team members to perform the skills they need to succeed, and techniques for helping each team member maximize their performance.

Existing teams can take their productivity and effectiveness to new levels with the Team Dynamics Blueprint. Team members will learn how to best apply each person’s natural skills, fill talent gaps, improve intra-team communication, and reduce unnecessary conflict.

Authentic Coaching

Picture of a small group attending a coaching session There’s nothing more important for a successful coach than creating lasting connection with each client. The connection is what forms the bond that allows both coach and client to truly hear and be heard. There’s no better tool available than Perceptual Style Theory to help increase impact and meaning in a coach/client connection.

Understanding Perceptual Style (yours and your client’s) allows you to connect with each and every client in a way that honors and validates who they are. It will enable you to tune your coaching to build on each client’s natural capacities and strengths and help ensure their success. Incorporate the Perceptual Style Assessment into your coaching practice with ease. We can show you how.

If you want to accelerate your coaching success, then you will want to invest in one of our Perceptual Style Certification Programs. We offer two training programs and certification levels - Perceptual Style Guide and Perceptual Style Coach.

Group Training
Learning and discovery are a lot more fun as a shared experience. Group settings allow for interaction and collaboration that can be invaluable in learning about and applying styles theories. Whether it is a group of team members or strangers, you'll see and hear Perceptual Style in action!
Creating and leading unique learning experiences using Perceptual Style is something we love to do (and something we are really good at!). We've conducted hundreds of workshops for businesses, non-profits, schools, teams, and events. Did we mention we love doing this?
If you think you might be interested in scheduling or attending a Perceptual Style group training session, we invite you to peruse our Group Training Catalogue. We are only a phone call away to help you with your planning!

Use your natural strengths and skills in your daily life

Life is too short not to enjoy it fully.

There are people anxious to tell you what you should do better and that if you only try harder, you can improve and find enjoyment and happiness.

While doing your best and striving to improve are admirable goals, the trick is to make sure you are focused on your natural gifts and talents…not someone else's.

So how do you know what your natural gifts and talents are? The Celebrate You! assessment and action guide!

You’ll discover your natural strengths in critical life skills that you use every day:

Collaboration: Teamwork and Cooperation

Interacting in cooperation with others is a fundamental part of life, and it's a critical ingredient for families, friendships, school activities, and work and social environments. Practically every aspect of your life is an opportunity for collaboration.

Collaboration is at the core of participating in community—whether that community is your family, workplace, friends, or other groups of people.

Yet collaboration can be very challenging because we must deal with people who see things differently than we do and have different strengths and weaknesses. ...click to learn more about the role that Your Perceptual Style plays in your approach to Collaboration.

Relationships

Personal relationships can be the most challenging relationships – but you already know that! From a special someone, life partner, or spouse, to parents, children, siblings, grandparents and extended family, these are the people who form the inner circle of our lives, the people we love.

We expect more from our personal relationships than our friendships or work relationships because the emotional bonds are stronger and are built on shared experience that grow over time. These are the people we look to for love, understanding, trust, loyalty, respect, kindness, forgiveness, shared values, companionship, affection, attention, sympathy, encouragement, acceptance. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a relationship! It’s no wonder these relationships need extra attention and commitment.

One fascinating aspect of personal relationships many people overlook is related to Perceptual Style. It’s very likely your loved ones won’t share the same Perceptual Style you do. ...click to learn more about the role that Your Perceptual Style plays in your relationships.

Communications

We all want to be understood. So, we search for the right words and the right tone to convey our message. We often fail to recognize that each of us has a built-in communication filter and because of that filter, what we mean isn't always what others hear and vice versa.

Disconnects in communication happen to all of us. It’s not because we’re not smart enough, and it’s not because other people aren’t smart enough. It’s not because you aren’t listening or trying to connect. It’s because the words you choose, the meaning you intend, and the triggers you hear are influenced by your Perceptual Style.

Words are a code we put on our thoughts and ideas in order to communicate our intention and meaning to others. The code you use daily to speak, write, and listen is highly dependent on how you perceive the world. ...click to learn more about the role that Your Perceptual Style plays in your communications.

Adaptability (a.k.a "Change")

Change is constant; it's part of your daily life. There are changes in the weather, the economy, relationships, work situations, etc. Just living each day and aging brings change.

Some changes are surprises, some changes you initiate, and some changes just feel inevitable. That's why adaptability is a critical life skill.

Adaptability is defined as the ability to adjust to new conditions or circumstances. Tapping into your strengths related to your adaptability can mean the difference between excessive worry and stress versus dealing with changes on your terms.

Embracing your adaptability strengths will help you choose work environments, relationships, and social situations where you will thrive and avoid those that will drag you down. ...click to learn more about the role that Your Perceptual Style plays in your view of change.

Conflict

You would think that human beings, given their hard-wiring to seek community, would have found a solution to interpersonal conflict eons ago. No such luck. In fact, interpersonal conflict is a natural outcome of human interaction. People see the world differently, have different values and expectations, and don't always share the same goals or options.

It's helpful to keep in mind that everyone wants to belong and be valued, and no one wants to be disliked. If you can start from the assumption that other people mean well and don't intend to irritate or insult you, it's easier to realize they just don't see the situation the same way you do (most likely, they have a different Perceptual Style).

When you keep this concept in mind, it takes some of the stings out of disconnects. It's not personal; it's a different perspective.

Some conflict in your life is inevitable. Whether the conflicts are minor or severe, you possess natural skills to help you deal effectively with opposition and disagreement. ...click to learn more about the role that Your Perceptual Style plays in your approach to conflict.

Leadership

The essence of Leadership is defined as inspiring and guiding a group of people to achieve a common goal. At the core, leadership combines art and science to attract followers, point out a direction, then guide and influence your followers to achieve objectives.

Many will try to sell you on the idea that effective leadership is a one-size-fits-all proposition. Or that if you're not naturally outgoing or authoritative or visionary, you can't be an effective leader. It's just not true. Real leadership success happens from the inside out - using your natural strengths to guide and inspire others to great achievement.

Everyone has the capacity to be an effective, even exceptional, leader. There’s not just one set of traits or behaviors that guarantee success. There is YOUR way to be a leader, built on your natural strengths. ...click to learn more about the role that Your Perceptual Style plays in your approach to Leadership.

Learning Preferences

Learning as an adult is a different experience than when you are a child. The primary driver of that difference is that adult learning is much more self-directed.

There are three general learning Methods: Visual (pictures, graphs, written word), Auditory (stories, songs, discussions), and Kinesthetic (experiential, activities, role-playing).

Because of your Perceptual Style, you respond to all three learning methods but prefer a unique combination of the learning methods to maximize your knowledge and growth. ...click to learn more about the role that Your Perceptual Style plays in your learning preferences.

Persuasion (a.k.a "Sales")

Persuasion is the act of convincing others to agree with your point of view, adopt a particular perspective, or take a course of action you suggest. It's the process of presenting information and reasons that motivate or change someone else's thinking.

Just like the word "sales", we think of persuasion as positive when the intentions and results are positive for both parties and negative when the intentions are manipulative and the results aren't in the other person’s best interest.

These skills help you interact effectively with others at home and work. Imagine what planning a family vacation would be like if you didn't have persuasion skills! ...click to learn more about the role that Your Perceptual Style plays in your approach to sales.

Self-Motivation

In its simplest form, self-motivation is the ability to get yourself to do something. It creates personal enthusiasm and inspiration to take action.

Self-Motivation is the catalyst for goals you make for yourself. Self-motivation creates your desire to accomplish your goals, establishes your commitment to action, and helps you overcome your fears of the unknown or failing.

Self-Motivation is a critical life skill because it keeps you putting one foot in front of the other every day. Self-motivation is what spurs you to action for both what you want to do and what you need to do. ...click to learn more about the role that Your Perceptual Style plays on your motivation.

MAKE CELEBRATE YOU! PART OF YOUR LIFE