Communication Style

The styles of communications used with Leadership Framing come from the research of Barbara J. O'Keefe, dean of Northwestern's School of Communication.

In her research on what she calls "Message Design Logic," she argues that three kinds of communicator styles determine how we produce our own messages and interpret those of others; especially as the situations we face gain in complexity.

According to Dr. Barbara O'Keefe, there are three different types of communications styles: Expressive, Conventional, and Strategic. /

Here are your results of the Communications Style Inventory. There is also a brief explanation of what this means for your framing.

Based on your responses, you are:

Conventional

Most leaders are Conventional. If you are a Conventional, you generally are already a good communicator. Understanding the principles of framing will help you to be seen as an even more effective communicator and leader

Conventional have some sensitivity to the idea of framing because they generally follow the rules for communicating with others. Conventional do what is appropriate to the situation and readily follow social norms.

Ask a Conventional, "Why did you say that?" They will likely respond, "Because that is the appropriate thing to say for this situation." Conventional follow social norms for communicating with others very well.

To take a really simple example, when a person at your dinner table says, "Are those the rolls and butter?" a Conventional understands this remark as an indirect request to pass the rolls and butter. "Yes, would you like them?" is what a Conventional is likely to say based on proper etiquette for polite company.

The downside of being a Conventional is that most situations tend to seem rather fixed. That is, you minimize the opportunity to let situations work for you instead of against you by fixing the elements in the context in one particular way. You are more reactive to the situation instead of proactively trying to manage the meaning of the situation.

A Famous Conventional

Al Gore is a good example of a Conventional. In 2000, he aspired to be the President of the United States and surprised many when he lost to George W. Bush. But Gore's 2000 presidential debate performances were telling.

In his first debate, he was coached to be an alpha male and dominate the interaction, which he tried to do through frequent interruptions of then candidate Bush. After poor reviews, he was coached to be more affable for the next debate. This was seen as overly friendly and he eventually assumed a middle position by the third debate.

Ironically, many pundits believed that gore's best campaign performance was his concession speech, which is the only one he wrote himself. Gore gave himself over to his handlers, switching his style each time, because that's what modern-day presidential candidates (conventionally) do.