After identifying the other person’s style based on environment and behavior, you should use behavioral confirmation to corroborate your choice. Behavioral confirmation simply means looking for additional behaviors that are characteristic of the style you believe (based on your preliminary observations) a person represents. You have observed someone and made a preliminary classification; now check this against the characteristics of the various Styles as you receive further information.

If you have determined that the individual is a Dominant Style, look for specific characteristics that you expect from a Dominant Style—competitiveness, impatience, efficiency, decisiveness, fact-orientation, goal concerns, and so on. If you find that the person exhibits these types of characteristics, you have verified your choice. You can now feel comfortable interacting with him/her as a Dominant Style. Use the same behavioral confirmation process with the other three Styles. Always test and validate your initial style choice. The price for being wrong is much greater (if nothing else an embarrassment) than the time involved in confirming an initial assessment.