The different Styles also try to sway, or influence, the group in different ways. This can become critical because every group at an early stage wrestles with the issue of who’s going to wield power.

Dominant Styles like to influence others by structuring agendas, tasks, and assignments and, if relevant, by using their formal position as leverage.

Influencing Styles are more inclined to use flattery or compliments to win over the group and get its members to feel good as a team. They’ll often use humor to defuse tension or conflict. They try to avoid a hard line that will lose them acceptance or recognition by the group.

Steady Styles, whether they’re anointed leaders or not, often take on the role of keeping the process moving along. They’ll elaborate on what others say and encourage everyone to speak. They seek to exert influence indirectly by keeping things mellow and moving.

Information and logic are the tools of the Conscientious Styles. They like to furnish information that, directly or indirectly, suggests their expertise and experience. They’re the most likely to focus on the “rightness,” or logic, of a solution, rather than spend a lot of time debating who’s personally helped or hindered by it.